I'm working on a post about dogs from millers to petshops, and an additional post about millers to auctions to millers. Those are more intense research and I'm probably having a surgery next week, as well. So, some shorter topics would be best right now for me.
What would you like to hear about? Craigslist throwaway dogs? Newspaper ads? Puppies and dogs sold at flea markets, in an illegal way, which is how I can tell the story of a dog that someone close to me got, and what happened to the dog in the end, which is sad, and had nothing to do with the care he got. That one might make everyone cry. Yeah, you know, that's what it will be. Feel free to list what you want to hear in the comments, and I'll do my best to keep up during the next couple of weeks.
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22 comments:
Are there any confirmation errors for different dogs that aren't obvious, but can lead to disabilities?
(conformation!) You mean like hip dysplasia? Oh, hell yeah. Epilepsy, immune disorders, elbow dysplasia, patellar luxation, tons of shit. Good idea.
How about something about bullshit registries and about how even papers from legit registries aren't a sign of quality?
I don't have a dog. I have two ex-barn-cats. Both are sterilized. They were free. I don't pay money for cats, I get free ones and have them fixed and get them shots and so forth.
However, some years ago, my older brother bought a Shih-Tzu dog directly from the breeder, who had both parents on the property. He met and played with both parents. He inspected the property, talked extensively to the breeder, played with the litter. He did all the right things, near as I can tell. He did a bunch of research to find an apartment-sized dog that would be okay with his lifestyle. He didn't go to a pet shop or buy something wildly inappropriate (border collie, say).
After brother bought the dog, he had the dog neutered (an expected expense, part of having-a-dog). Then, the dog needed (and GOT) hernia surgery (less than a year old) for two hundred dollars. O-kay. Shouldn't the breeder have mentioned the hernia thing?
Dog went stone blind at four (which apparently is something that "just happens" with Shih-Tzu dogs). You don't get a refund when your four year old dog goes blind.
At twelve, the dog is still blind. He's fine as long as you don't move the furniture around much. He did real well on a leash (would slow down and feel for the curb and stuff if you told him "Careful, careful") until he went totally deaf about two years ago.
So now he's blind and deaf and still in no apparent pain. He's an indoor dog with an owner who knows of and adjusts for his issues and who has kept a blind dog as a pet for eight freaking years. Yay.
My thing, here, is why are the Shih-Tzu people making dogs-with-issues? Honestly, aren't you supposed to be spending money with the breeder in order to get a quality dog without issues? WTF?
which_chick, breeding even under the best circumstances has an element of crapshoot to it. You can stack the odds as much as you want for many things, and sometimes you (and the pup) get dealt a bad hand. I'm not sure of the heritability of the particular condition your brother's dog got, or if it's something that was or currently is testable.
I would hope that if the breeder really were a good one s/he would at least have offered a replacement pup (if you brother could have taken and would have wanted two).
There are some breeders who are somewhere between Good Breeders and Puppymills, who do many things right but miss a few, and there are some Truly Awesome Breeders who get a nasty yet genuine surprise in their breeding program.
Which_Chick:
Actually, having both sire and dam can be a red flag. I can explain that more in another post. Just meeting the breeder, seeing that things are clean, and playing with the puppies isn't enough research. You need to make sure the proper health tests are ton that are appropriate for the breed, ask the breeder what kind of health problems are in the related dogs for at last three generations back, as well as across the pedigree, so they should know what problems the littermates of the sire and dam had, that sort of thing. And yeah, the hernia should have been noticed and mentioned as soon as that puppy was picked up to be looked at.
It's unfortunate your brother's pup ended up that way. Going deaf as an elderly dog might have happened no matter what. Going blind at age four? I bet the breeders never CERF'd their dogs and bred them young before health problems started. And if the bitch were blind when he visited, but there wasn't anything like clouding on the eyes, he may not have noticed and of course the breeders wouldn't have said anything.
Why do they do it? MONEY.
Rescues and pounds that push Pit crosses off as Lab crosses.
I'd also love to see an article about why "AKC registered" doesn't actually mean anything about the quality of the pup, and how the other registries are suspect.
An article on "designer dogs" would be a good addition, since they aren't produced by responsible, reputable breeders.
I agree with citydog! Howsa bout a post on "registries."
This is a typical ad in my local paper:
Mini-DACHSHUND PUPpies $250, $300, parents on premises ACA Registered
Ooohhh -- they are "ACA Registered"! Should I be impressed?
If we're looking for multiple future post projects I vote for shit registries and designer dogs!
Don't really know what to say about the rescues pushing pits as other breeds. I think its probably irresponsible, but can't imagine what can be done about it.
My neighbors got a 'lab mix' puppy from the pound. Turns out the dog is a whippet. Makes you wonder if people who work at the pound actually know anything about dog breeds? Maybe the 'pit/labs' are just mistaken identity?
Sled dogs, the whole industry.
Jax,
I volunteer at a shelter.
Re: Breed misidentification. In most cases, it isn't a scam. There are a number of factors:
1) Staff may not know "less common" dogs. As such, most mixes wind up being terriers (small); beagles (small with floppy ears); labs (black, floppy ears and medium sized); or shepherd (pricked ears and medium to large.
2) Misidentified by owners, staff take their word for it. You should see the huge "Chihuahua mix" that we have currently! Sometimes owners were scammed by BYBs that sold them "rottie puppies" that turned out to be mixes.
3) Pit mixes. Confession time -- there were a few "boxer mixes" that were adopted out that were probably pit mixes. Policy at this particular shelter (in the past) was to euthanize pits or pit mixes -- hence we had a few wonderful pit mixes that were adopted out as part boxer. They really were wonderful dogs...
My mother's best friend adopted a "terrier mix" from the shelter. The dog was extraordinarily well trained, so much that the BF was shocked. The dog was even trained to know to hold it to get out of their condo and to the ground floor before going.
BF took the dog to the vet after adopting it. Turned out, it was a purebred Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, which is actually a hound. Not a very common dog here, at all.
How about $1500 poodle mutts with no health testing, no showing, no nothing other than someone having an intact lab/golden and an intact poodle?
Definitely designer dogs. Labradoodles seem to be the most popular right now. They ask anywhere from $500 dollars to over a thousand each. One ad I saw was someone with a "purebred" labradoodle looking for someone with the same for breeding. Please. Also terripoos, lapsoshitz etc-any small breed cross is some new made up breed commanding big bucks. There ought to be a law. But as long as there are morons out there that will pay big dollars for these dogs, someone will keep breeding them.
Moontoad: I know a fellow who had almost the exact same thing happen, except that the dog was very shy and undersocialized and also was a Fauve rather than a Vendeen (and if I've missed up the name difference and there's a PBGV aficionando here, I apologize but neither breed is my specialty). Very strange, IMO.
On shelter mix-ups, also, I've seen pit mixes misidentified as Lab crosses and vice versa. I'd personally guess that it's as much because various lines of both breeds can look so very similar, especially when crossed, as because shelter personnel would really prefer that perfectly good bullie mixes not be killed or passed up for no reason.
My own terrier cross (possibly PWC? long, heavy build and a bent, natural bobtail) was mislabeled a "Cockapoo mix" despite looking nothing like either breed, or the multi-generational, true-bred Cockapoo from a reputable breeder next door, for that matter. (These people do exist. They are rare, and of the designer breeds I have heard of them only in Laboradoodles and Cockapoos, but they DO exist and I have met some wonderful dogs from such breeders.)
Anyway, my personal bone to grind is with people who don't bother to do their research before they pick up a breed, or who let hearsay define their opinions of said breed. Is it really too hard to find out that a JRT is not a good dog to keep if you must be gone 10 hours a day and leave the puppy in the kitchen? (I met the actual dog in this situation in a shelter--the perople in question had also refused to neuter him "because he's purebred!!11" despite the fact that he was one of the more fugly examples of shortie JRTs that I've seen, with way too much bone for a decent dog. Sweet boy, but definitely not breeding quality. And he was unregistered.)
"On shelter mix-ups, also, I've seen pit mixes misidentified as Lab crosses and vice versa. I'd personally guess that it's as much because various lines of both breeds can look so very similar, especially when crossed, as because shelter personnel would really prefer that perfectly good bullie mixes not be killed or passed up for no reason."
Good point (above).
On that note, I request a post on BSL/breed bias and how it's landing lots of perfectly good pit mixes in high kill shelters. Not only is irresponsible breeding, but irresponsible portrial of breeds in the media causing perfectly good dogs to have miserable lives.
On a personal note, I have a "lab mix" that I adopted from a shelter in GA and was transported up to MA where I live. She's a GREAT dog and was due to be put down the morning I faxed in for her. Just makes me mad that people are wasting time breeding mutts with fancy names when there are perfectly good mutts with great tempers in shelters.
Speaking of designer dogs, I'd love to hear your comments on this breeder: http://dakotawinds.homestead.com/
Gotta be the worst example of misguided breeding I've ever seen... and some of the worst grammer, ie. "20% of dogs brang to the Human Society". Wow. Just wow.
As someone who works in rescue, I think it would be great it you would discuss the craptastic "designer dog" breeders out there. I also work as a groomer and groom a lot of these train-wrecks. If you're looking for a website to base an opinion after, check out www.carolscanines.com . I hear horror stories from my customers all the time about her, and she sells at a local flea market
Still can't see how whippet looks like a lab (he wasn't a tiny puppy when adopted, at least 4 months and he looks exactly the same as he did then), but I can definately see how mix ups can occur with mixed breeds! I'm still trying to figure out what mine is, and I had a Dalmation/wirehair pointer mix years ago who's breeding would have boggled anyone who looked at her! I got a lot of 'I didn't know Irish Wolfhounds came in that colour..." comments..
OMG, the designer dog breeders at DakotaWinds breed Gypsy Cob crosses, too! OF COURSE THEY DO! Argh.
I found this site through Fugly horse. I am SO happy someone is actually blogging about this.
My biggest pet peeve would be designer mutts and poorly bred purebreds. I personally stay away from AKC, preferring instead to deal in rare breeds and breeds with working lines that are traceable. It is sad how uninformed and flat out stupid the public is about not only what breeds were originally bred to do (and why they will or won't fit into your lifestyle), but in what a well bred dog is period! Now we need pictures/examples as on Fugly horse. It is not only puppy mills creating trash, but the backyard dog owners who have 2 (or more) breeds and create a new one for sale or that have 2 purebreds and breed them because they "have papers" and the show breeders who are breeding dogs so far removed from what the breed was originally intended for all in the name of the latest fad that places in the show arena.
Breed quality, people.
Back your pups up for health and temperament, know what you are producing and for gods sakes, cull from breeding what does not make the cut and do not expect someone to pay big bucks for it and yes, some dogs who are bad enough off genetically in health or temperament will need to be put down.
I do not breed and I only deal with responsible breeders who do the above.
Thank you again for creating this blog.
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