Recognizing
an Unethical Breeder
When
you talk to breeders about their puppies, there are a few
warning signs that you may be dealing with a disreputable,
unethical, or irresponsible breeder:
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The
"breeder" lacks knowledge about the breed |
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The
"breeder" shows ignorance or denial of
genetic defects in the breed |
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The
"breeder" has no involvement in dog sports |
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The
"breeder" doesn't let you observe the
puppies or adults, or let you see the kennels |
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The
"breeder" doesn't ask any questions about you,
your family, lifestyle or accommodations for a dog |
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The
"breeder" has no documentation of health
testing and cannot
provide a pedigree |
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The puppies are not social or look sickly |
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How
to read those ads!
Here
are a few more things that you ought to look out for.
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"Champion
lines" ~ look instead for Champion sired or
Champion parents. All Champion Lines means is that there is a
dog somewhere in your puppy's family that was a champion - it
says nothing about the quality of the parents at all. Anyone
can buy a puppy from a champion, but it does not mean that
they have any other interest in the breed but to bank on the
name and make money. The puppy may have been sold as a pet
and an unethical person did not have the dog spayed/neutered
and is still breeding puppies. Having a Champion in a
pedigree is for example like having a billionaire relative.
It doesn't mean that you are rich unless each generation
from that relative has passed down the money. |
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"AKC
Registration" or "AKC Papers"
~ So what? AKC registration does not guarantee quality.
AKC papers are much like the title of a car - papers are
issued to the junked Chevy on blocks in your yard just as
easily as they are on a brand new, shiny Jaguar. AKC does not
control breeding, approve litters, or guarantee temperaments.
Unfortunately, in the hands of some unethical breeders, it
doesn't even guarantee that the dog is purebred.
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AKC
Registration ~ is automatic if you buy from a
reputable breeder - they will provide all necessary paperwork
when you buy a puppy. It is not a selling point, and shouldn't
be treated as one.
Be
wary of other "registrations", as well. There are
several groups that are registering dogs, even
mixed breeds, for a fee. This registration means nothing, and
is of no value to you. Not that AKC papers really mean much,
either.
Click here
to read more about the imitation registries out there.
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"Extra-Big",
"Extra-Small" ~ breeders trying for extremes
are rarely raising healthy dogs, and any ad that has to stress
the size and weight of the dog to sell the puppies is suspect,
in my opinion. Usually, these dogs are outside of the breed's
norm and are subject to their own medical problems due to
excessive size or lack of it.
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"Rare"
~ Why? Are there too many defects for
the animal to be bred? What kind of problems does this
"rare" color or size or pattern entail? There are
many people buying "rare" white Boxers and
Shepherds, not realizing that they are not show-prospects, and
that they are buying a dog with medical problems from lack of
pigmentation, and possible behavioral problems as well.
In Springers, unethical breeders are known to market "rare
colors" such as lemon, sable and tri-colors. Tri
colors are not rare and if they were, unethical breeders wouldn't have them to
market to unsuspecting buyers.
There
are even some people selling unusual cross breeds as
"rare" dogs, and people buy them thinking they are
getting some unique treasure. I don't want to be too harsh
about this, -- every breed we see today is the result of
some specialized breeding to create a
certain look or behavior. Spaniels flush, Retrievers
retrieve...because we have selectively bred them to do so. A
breeder who is trying to 'recreate' a lost breed may fall on
either side of the ethical divide. Shop with care.
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"See
Both Parents" ~ As noted in questions
to ask a breeder , this is not usually a good thing.
Rarely will a good breeder have the luck to own both dogs for
the perfect litter. If you can see both parents, it may mean
that the person had two dogs in the back yard and didn't
supervise them carefully enough, resulting in puppies or that
they bred to a dog of convenience they already owned.
There
are some good and very reasonable reasons to have both parents
on site. However, you need to ask the right questions and
understand why this is true. If the breeder doesn't
have an answer, or the answer is something like "well,
they were just such cute dogs..." or "we bought
another dog so we could have puppies" you need to
evaluate whether this breeder is doing the right thing. They
might be, they might not. It's up to you to ask.
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"Must
go now!" Why? Are they too big to be cute
anymore? Need more money? Is there a problem? Usually because
there are more on the way. Be very wary of
this one.
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Re-printed
with permission from:
http://www.phouka.com/
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