Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I'm back
Both my neurosurgeries are done with. I'm at the point with the second one that I can sit up for more than a couple hours at a desk and type. I have about 7 more months of recovery for it, but things are overall going well. It was a helluva rough ride these last few months.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Upcoming posts
This is what I have planned, in no order of preference, but I'll probably start with designer dogs.
shelters misidentifying dogs and pushing off pit mixes as something else
designer dogs
sled dog industry
BSL/breed bias
poorly bred purebreds
Feel free to put specific breeders in the comments that you'd like me to showcase, ala FHOTD. I have one "breeder" I'm working on, as soon as I can stop heaving over it.
shelters misidentifying dogs and pushing off pit mixes as something else
designer dogs
sled dog industry
BSL/breed bias
poorly bred purebreds
Feel free to put specific breeders in the comments that you'd like me to showcase, ala FHOTD. I have one "breeder" I'm working on, as soon as I can stop heaving over it.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Ellen fiasco
A quick post on the Ellen DeGeneres fiasco.
Ellen was wrong to give the dog to someone else because of the contract that she stated she didn't read.
The rescue was wrong for many things. They didn't make her sign paperwork, apparently, didn't do a home check, didn't alter the dog prior to adoption (which is illegal in California, I believe). They also didn't handle the relinquishment of the dog well. There was some sort of weird standoff in the yard of the hairstylist, which can be seen here.
I can't comment on what the video says because it's not captioned. The rescue owner, Marina Baktis, owns Paw Boutique in Pasadena. I have no idea what kind of pet store that is, they have blocked their website. The Internet Archive let me down as well.
Ellen paid 600 bucks to adopt this mix (which I suspect came from a miller or pet store directly, you don't find that many Brussels Griffon mixes running around, and this one was just 4 months old. Perfect age to be dumped for lack of sales from a pet store). She spent a total of 3 grand on the adoption and training. Holy hell is that some expensive obedience training! I honestly don't see how a few weeks of obedience training can run almost 2500 dollars. I bet she also didn't give the dog enough time to learn to be with the cats, from what I understand she only had the puppy couple weeks or three weeks, max.
In this situation, given how lax the rescue was with the rules when they adopted the dog to Ellen, they could have waited and did a home visit on the home the dog was placed in by Ellen, instead of creating the PR fiasco they did. I wonder how soon their store is going to fail as a result of all this.
Some new info: Apparently, Iggy was the second dog from Mutts and Moms that they returned because it didn't get along with their cats, both dogs were puppies. And Ellen has supposedly adopted four dogs since 03, returning them all except Iggy. She really can't claim ignorance of the issue. I have some more info to add later.
Ellen was wrong to give the dog to someone else because of the contract that she stated she didn't read.
The rescue was wrong for many things. They didn't make her sign paperwork, apparently, didn't do a home check, didn't alter the dog prior to adoption (which is illegal in California, I believe). They also didn't handle the relinquishment of the dog well. There was some sort of weird standoff in the yard of the hairstylist, which can be seen here.
I can't comment on what the video says because it's not captioned. The rescue owner, Marina Baktis, owns Paw Boutique in Pasadena. I have no idea what kind of pet store that is, they have blocked their website. The Internet Archive let me down as well.
Ellen paid 600 bucks to adopt this mix (which I suspect came from a miller or pet store directly, you don't find that many Brussels Griffon mixes running around, and this one was just 4 months old. Perfect age to be dumped for lack of sales from a pet store). She spent a total of 3 grand on the adoption and training. Holy hell is that some expensive obedience training! I honestly don't see how a few weeks of obedience training can run almost 2500 dollars. I bet she also didn't give the dog enough time to learn to be with the cats, from what I understand she only had the puppy couple weeks or three weeks, max.
In this situation, given how lax the rescue was with the rules when they adopted the dog to Ellen, they could have waited and did a home visit on the home the dog was placed in by Ellen, instead of creating the PR fiasco they did. I wonder how soon their store is going to fail as a result of all this.
Some new info: Apparently, Iggy was the second dog from Mutts and Moms that they returned because it didn't get along with their cats, both dogs were puppies. And Ellen has supposedly adopted four dogs since 03, returning them all except Iggy. She really can't claim ignorance of the issue. I have some more info to add later.
Monday, October 15, 2007
ah, life
Car accidents, punctured lungs, 6 blood tranfusions, defibrillations took up my time the last couple of weeks. Not me, a close relative.
I'm working on all the bad registries I can find. There are probably more than I can ever list, however. Generally, none of these have any guarantee that your pet is actually a purebred. They may have shows, offer pedigrees, etc but they do not track anything and go simply based on what the owners say. They are most often used with puppymillers and BYBers, because it gives a false sense of legitimacy. It's also cheaper than AKC, especially now with AKC rules requiring DNA testing on animals that have been bred a certain amount of times. The AKC also randomly visits breeders, especially large scale, and does DNA tests, which have resulted in many of them being dumped from AKC membership. Not a single one of the bad registries do that.
American Canine Association It says it tracks veterinary health, but no where on the page does it allow for searches on health status, unlike OFA. However, it's the only registry endorsed by Petland, which says a lot.
America's Pet Registry, Inc. This is the old site. The new one is a work in progress. It was founded by retailers of pets (commercial breeders and resellers) and is "dedicated to the preservation of the professional pet industry", as the site said in at least one incarnation. You can buy a pup through them, and have no recourse if the seller doesn't want you to have contact information on them.
American Purebred Registry Registers any dog or cat, no proof of purebred status
Animal Registry Unlimited They register all animals, encourages cross breeding. Discounts for bulk registrations.
Continental Kennel Club The biggest crap kennel club out there. In it's early days, they accepted photos of animals that were not dogs as dogs. It accepts fake breeds, like like Mi-Ki, as a purebred. Gives discounts for bulk registration, registers dogs not recognized by other registries
Dog Registry of America, Inc. Just another registration that registers anything, even if you have no registration papers. If you want to create "new blood lines", which they mean to be if you want to create a labrapekadoodleuggle, you can. A selling point is that they don't and won't ever require DNA.
Federation of International Canines NOT to be confused with Fédération Cynologique Internationale. This site also accepts registration based on a person's oath that the dog is what they say it is. It caters to commercial breeders, offering a discount if you register a shitload of dogs at a time.
International Kennel Club is simply a pet shop that sells puppies. Their sister store is here.
National Canine Association Slightly better rules than the others, but accepts dogs as purebreds from scam registries. The "slightly better" seems to come through as requiring rescues to be altered. It allows "breeds" like the Mini Pei, aka Miniature Shar-Pei, which isn't a breed, any more than Miniature Aussies are.
National Kennel Club You just need a vet or an NKC official to look at your dog and voila! It's a purebred and gets full status. The AKC has something similar, you send in a few pictures of your dog when applying for ILP. But your dog does not get full status. It has to be altered. Any dog with an ILP can't be shown for conformation. It may participate in obedience, agility, that sort of thing.
North American Purebred Dog Registry I'm just putting quotes in from their Foundation Stock page, which sums up the crappiness of this registry. First section,
Purebred Canine International Registry Service has become APRI. APRI has swallowed a few other registries to become the monstrosity it is.
United All Breed Registry It has a lot of things supporting "pet professionals", which is another term for commercial breeders. They run this Gold Label Pets program, which is apparently supported by the USDA (not necessarily monetarily). It certifies breeding facilities. The only breeders that have facilities are large scale breeders, which are commercial breeders.
United States Department of Agriculture Only has large scale, commercial breeders that must register in the US to carry out their business. It gave a lot of money to the Hunte Corporation, probably the biggest millers in the US. More on this in another post.
Universal Kennel Club International Caters to commercial breeders, has no code of ethics and is proud of that. It doesn't like to penalize anyone and has only kicked out five members in over 65 years of existence, registers mixed breeds for breeding purposes.
World Kennel Club Registers all dogs that are purebred, which don't have to be registered with any other kennel club coupled with not having to even know the name of the sire or dam.
World Wide Kennel Club Registers any dog recognized by any other registry, as well as any purebred, new breed, or rare breed. New breed is just a euphemism for things like labradoodle, puggle, boggle, etc.
I'm working on all the bad registries I can find. There are probably more than I can ever list, however. Generally, none of these have any guarantee that your pet is actually a purebred. They may have shows, offer pedigrees, etc but they do not track anything and go simply based on what the owners say. They are most often used with puppymillers and BYBers, because it gives a false sense of legitimacy. It's also cheaper than AKC, especially now with AKC rules requiring DNA testing on animals that have been bred a certain amount of times. The AKC also randomly visits breeders, especially large scale, and does DNA tests, which have resulted in many of them being dumped from AKC membership. Not a single one of the bad registries do that.
American Canine Association It says it tracks veterinary health, but no where on the page does it allow for searches on health status, unlike OFA. However, it's the only registry endorsed by Petland, which says a lot.
America's Pet Registry, Inc. This is the old site. The new one is a work in progress. It was founded by retailers of pets (commercial breeders and resellers) and is "dedicated to the preservation of the professional pet industry", as the site said in at least one incarnation. You can buy a pup through them, and have no recourse if the seller doesn't want you to have contact information on them.
American Purebred Registry Registers any dog or cat, no proof of purebred status
Animal Registry Unlimited They register all animals, encourages cross breeding. Discounts for bulk registrations.
Continental Kennel Club The biggest crap kennel club out there. In it's early days, they accepted photos of animals that were not dogs as dogs. It accepts fake breeds, like like Mi-Ki, as a purebred. Gives discounts for bulk registration, registers dogs not recognized by other registries
Dog Registry of America, Inc. Just another registration that registers anything, even if you have no registration papers. If you want to create "new blood lines", which they mean to be if you want to create a labrapekadoodleuggle, you can. A selling point is that they don't and won't ever require DNA.
Federation of International Canines NOT to be confused with Fédération Cynologique Internationale. This site also accepts registration based on a person's oath that the dog is what they say it is. It caters to commercial breeders, offering a discount if you register a shitload of dogs at a time.
International Kennel Club is simply a pet shop that sells puppies. Their sister store is here.
National Canine Association Slightly better rules than the others, but accepts dogs as purebreds from scam registries. The "slightly better" seems to come through as requiring rescues to be altered. It allows "breeds" like the Mini Pei, aka Miniature Shar-Pei, which isn't a breed, any more than Miniature Aussies are.
National Kennel Club You just need a vet or an NKC official to look at your dog and voila! It's a purebred and gets full status. The AKC has something similar, you send in a few pictures of your dog when applying for ILP. But your dog does not get full status. It has to be altered. Any dog with an ILP can't be shown for conformation. It may participate in obedience, agility, that sort of thing.
North American Purebred Dog Registry I'm just putting quotes in from their Foundation Stock page, which sums up the crappiness of this registry. First section,
Domestic canines of unknown ancestry that are used in the development of a breed shall be permitted for registration purposes within the Foundation Registry only. Non-domestic canines , pure species or non-domestic x non-domestic hybrids are considered non-domestic and are to be registered in IPDBA's affiliate for non-domestic canines, the International Progressive Exotic Breeders' Alliance (IPEBA), Canine Division.Non-domestic canines? That means they are allowing wolf hybrids and coyote hybrids. Even worse,
Progeny of crosses between domestic and non-domestic canines shall be accepted for General Registration as a domestic dog.Anyone who has owned a wolf hybrid knows that they are anything but a domestic dog and have major issues living with people.
Purebred Canine International Registry Service has become APRI. APRI has swallowed a few other registries to become the monstrosity it is.
United All Breed Registry It has a lot of things supporting "pet professionals", which is another term for commercial breeders. They run this Gold Label Pets program, which is apparently supported by the USDA (not necessarily monetarily). It certifies breeding facilities. The only breeders that have facilities are large scale breeders, which are commercial breeders.
United States Department of Agriculture Only has large scale, commercial breeders that must register in the US to carry out their business. It gave a lot of money to the Hunte Corporation, probably the biggest millers in the US. More on this in another post.
Universal Kennel Club International Caters to commercial breeders, has no code of ethics and is proud of that. It doesn't like to penalize anyone and has only kicked out five members in over 65 years of existence, registers mixed breeds for breeding purposes.
World Kennel Club Registers all dogs that are purebred, which don't have to be registered with any other kennel club coupled with not having to even know the name of the sire or dam.
World Wide Kennel Club Registers any dog recognized by any other registry, as well as any purebred, new breed, or rare breed. New breed is just a euphemism for things like labradoodle, puggle, boggle, etc.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
whoops, sorry
Things didn't work out as planned, regarding getting the posts done. I've had my surgery, spent my 24 hours in the hospital, and I'm home. 6 weeks before I can even think about riding again! I had, apparently, "frozen hip". Usually people get "frozen shoulder". The capsule around the joint contracted and formed scar tissue. It was going to get to the point where I couldn't move my leg at all, so it had to be done. I should be putting the real posts in starting tomorrow. Thanks for the well-wishes!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
More posts coming
new post coming tonight, most likely. Going away for the weekend for familial obligations, then surgery on the 19th, so I'm going to try to squeeze in three posts before then.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Dog Registries, the "good" ones
And where I try to tone down my swearing, because I just realized how much I was writing like that. Unless there are votes for it to continue.
Anyway, speaking of North America, there are two main "quality" dog registries where the parenthood of your dog is guaranteed. In the US, that registry is the AKC, American Kennel Club, http://www.akc.org. In Canada, that is the CKC, Canadian Kennel Club, http://www.cke.ca, not to be confused with the CKC, Continental Kennel Club, which I refer to to as the ConKC since it fits.
Dogs can easily be dual registered in CKC and AKC. The CKC accepts more breeds, I believe, at this point, but the AKC's Foundation Stock Service (FSS) has more breeds than ever, but not necessarily the same breeds. The CKC has the Barbet and that's nowhere to be seen in the AKC. There are something close to 200 breeds in the US, and close to 450 or maybe a bit over internationally, to give you an idea of what you can choose from.
In the AKC, new breeds have to hang around in the FSS for a while once they've been through the hoops that the AKC asks of them, and they sit there while those hoops are held for a while. After one to three years, the AKC decides whether to give them full AKC status. The AKC takes over ownership of the studbook (which is the history of the mating of the dogs, to say it simply. Studbooks write down names of sires, dams, the amount of puppies they have. Nowadays, some studbooks kept by breed clubs even include health information in them. Notice I said breed clubs). They make sure that the dog is truly a distinct breed, and they specifically say no labradoodles or cockapoos or puggles, ever, or even those hideous mi-ki things with their shaved heads and feet, since crosses of two distinct breeds or even a dozen distinct breeds do not a breed make. While in the FSS, as things move forward the dogs are allowed to compete in "Companion Events" which are things like agility. Once the breed can do those, they may be allowed in "Performance Events" if that's what the breed does, like hunting.
No where in the AKC do you see where quality is required. All new breeds entering the AKC have to have a three generation pedigree. All existing breeds in the AKC just have to mate with an existing AKC dog to create more AKC dogs. Which is why just because AKC is tacked on to a dog's advertisement, it doesn't mean anything. The AKC does cut off bad breeders when they go out and visit after several complaints, but they don't have enough people to do that everywhere in the world, and millers have essentially given up the AKC name because the general public believes that any registry tacked onto the dogs is just as good as AKC. "Look, look, my dogs are REGISTERED!".
There is one other major registry in the US, the UKC, United Kennel Club. It's not like the CKC or the AKC. It's mainly there for performance events, and mainly for performance breeds. Some terriers are lumped into the terrier group, others are lumped into the companion group. Yorkies are stuck in the companion group, while Jack Russells are in the terrier group. Looking at the site, they do not state how many generations back the pedigrees must be, nor how long the dog has been a distinct breed. AKC expects proof that the dog has been a distinct breed for decades. The UKC though, hosts probably more events for dogs to compete in than the AKC, and you don't have to be UKC registered to do them. The UKC also holds conformation shows, but that's tricky. Many times in many breeds, there's simply no dog to show over. Points are gotten by winning over other dogs in that breed group (such as gun dog or herding or guardian dog, according to the UKC's breakup of breeds). So there's no true comparison to other dogs of the same breed, and you can get a UKC championship on your dog without ever showing over the breed of dog you own. So, want to compete more often in hunting/lure coursing/tracking/weight pull/ terrier races etc? Look for UKC sponsored shows. Just remember that a UKC breed can mean that you're getting a made up breed of only a couple generations back, since I see no where in their standard to avoid that.
Some may have heard of the IKC. International Kennel Club, which holds a huge show in Illinois every year. This is just a club that is part of the AKC, and is specific to Illlinois. In 07, over 100,000 visitors came to see 10,000 dogs show. It's huge. And a few years ago, I won two majors two days in a row at the show, thank you very much! My doggie is niiiice. He wakes me with kisses, er, he washes the morning grease off with his tongue. Actually, dog shows are often about luck and connections, but not always. My own story proves that, and I'll get to that in yet another post. Please don't confuse this http://www.ikcdogshow.com with this horror of a pet shop in NY http://internationalkennel.com/ which has at least one other website for a second store in NY, or with The International Kennel Club Consortium, for which I was unable to find a website, which is one of those "scam" registries.
The CKC I know less about, but the breed I'm in has many Canadian fanciers so I've gained some information by osmosis, since the website is not as forthcoming with information as the AKC site is. It seems a bit more friendly towards registering specific dogs from another reputable registry (more internationally than the country below Canada, and not talking simply about the AKC. I don't know if the UKC would qualify, but I'll ask). They were ahead of the AKC in giving guidelines to avoid petshop puppies, and they seem much more quick to make changes for the welfare of the dogs. But, again, a CKC on the dog's papers doesn't mean quality. It just means that it's really truly that breed.
Unless the breeders lied.
You just can't rely on those three little letters when choosing a dog. These registries were never set up to watch for the health of the animals. That's not their purpose, and that is what many people seem to misunderstand. The letters do not guarantee anything about the health or behavior of the dog your get. Letters != quality. Repeat that mantra when you go about looking for a dog. And, maybe shockingly, there are dogs that are high quality, well bred, known pedigree, in a studbook, that are not recognized by the AKC or CKC that I would personally be thrilled to own.
Note: my own shorthand for a dog that has been bred with health and temperament in mind, including any and all health tests possible and appropriate for the breed, is the word quality.
Anyway, speaking of North America, there are two main "quality" dog registries where the parenthood of your dog is guaranteed. In the US, that registry is the AKC, American Kennel Club, http://www.akc.org. In Canada, that is the CKC, Canadian Kennel Club, http://www.cke.ca, not to be confused with the CKC, Continental Kennel Club, which I refer to to as the ConKC since it fits.
Dogs can easily be dual registered in CKC and AKC. The CKC accepts more breeds, I believe, at this point, but the AKC's Foundation Stock Service (FSS) has more breeds than ever, but not necessarily the same breeds. The CKC has the Barbet and that's nowhere to be seen in the AKC. There are something close to 200 breeds in the US, and close to 450 or maybe a bit over internationally, to give you an idea of what you can choose from.
In the AKC, new breeds have to hang around in the FSS for a while once they've been through the hoops that the AKC asks of them, and they sit there while those hoops are held for a while. After one to three years, the AKC decides whether to give them full AKC status. The AKC takes over ownership of the studbook (which is the history of the mating of the dogs, to say it simply. Studbooks write down names of sires, dams, the amount of puppies they have. Nowadays, some studbooks kept by breed clubs even include health information in them. Notice I said breed clubs). They make sure that the dog is truly a distinct breed, and they specifically say no labradoodles or cockapoos or puggles, ever, or even those hideous mi-ki things with their shaved heads and feet, since crosses of two distinct breeds or even a dozen distinct breeds do not a breed make. While in the FSS, as things move forward the dogs are allowed to compete in "Companion Events" which are things like agility. Once the breed can do those, they may be allowed in "Performance Events" if that's what the breed does, like hunting.
No where in the AKC do you see where quality is required. All new breeds entering the AKC have to have a three generation pedigree. All existing breeds in the AKC just have to mate with an existing AKC dog to create more AKC dogs. Which is why just because AKC is tacked on to a dog's advertisement, it doesn't mean anything. The AKC does cut off bad breeders when they go out and visit after several complaints, but they don't have enough people to do that everywhere in the world, and millers have essentially given up the AKC name because the general public believes that any registry tacked onto the dogs is just as good as AKC. "Look, look, my dogs are REGISTERED!".
There is one other major registry in the US, the UKC, United Kennel Club. It's not like the CKC or the AKC. It's mainly there for performance events, and mainly for performance breeds. Some terriers are lumped into the terrier group, others are lumped into the companion group. Yorkies are stuck in the companion group, while Jack Russells are in the terrier group. Looking at the site, they do not state how many generations back the pedigrees must be, nor how long the dog has been a distinct breed. AKC expects proof that the dog has been a distinct breed for decades. The UKC though, hosts probably more events for dogs to compete in than the AKC, and you don't have to be UKC registered to do them. The UKC also holds conformation shows, but that's tricky. Many times in many breeds, there's simply no dog to show over. Points are gotten by winning over other dogs in that breed group (such as gun dog or herding or guardian dog, according to the UKC's breakup of breeds). So there's no true comparison to other dogs of the same breed, and you can get a UKC championship on your dog without ever showing over the breed of dog you own. So, want to compete more often in hunting/lure coursing/tracking/weight pull/ terrier races etc? Look for UKC sponsored shows. Just remember that a UKC breed can mean that you're getting a made up breed of only a couple generations back, since I see no where in their standard to avoid that.
Some may have heard of the IKC. International Kennel Club, which holds a huge show in Illinois every year. This is just a club that is part of the AKC, and is specific to Illlinois. In 07, over 100,000 visitors came to see 10,000 dogs show. It's huge. And a few years ago, I won two majors two days in a row at the show, thank you very much! My doggie is niiiice. He wakes me with kisses, er, he washes the morning grease off with his tongue. Actually, dog shows are often about luck and connections, but not always. My own story proves that, and I'll get to that in yet another post. Please don't confuse this http://www.ikcdogshow.com with this horror of a pet shop in NY http://internationalkennel.com/ which has at least one other website for a second store in NY, or with The International Kennel Club Consortium, for which I was unable to find a website, which is one of those "scam" registries.
The CKC I know less about, but the breed I'm in has many Canadian fanciers so I've gained some information by osmosis, since the website is not as forthcoming with information as the AKC site is. It seems a bit more friendly towards registering specific dogs from another reputable registry (more internationally than the country below Canada, and not talking simply about the AKC. I don't know if the UKC would qualify, but I'll ask). They were ahead of the AKC in giving guidelines to avoid petshop puppies, and they seem much more quick to make changes for the welfare of the dogs. But, again, a CKC on the dog's papers doesn't mean quality. It just means that it's really truly that breed.
Unless the breeders lied.
You just can't rely on those three little letters when choosing a dog. These registries were never set up to watch for the health of the animals. That's not their purpose, and that is what many people seem to misunderstand. The letters do not guarantee anything about the health or behavior of the dog your get. Letters != quality. Repeat that mantra when you go about looking for a dog. And, maybe shockingly, there are dogs that are high quality, well bred, known pedigree, in a studbook, that are not recognized by the AKC or CKC that I would personally be thrilled to own.
Note: my own shorthand for a dog that has been bred with health and temperament in mind, including any and all health tests possible and appropriate for the breed, is the word quality.
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