Why are the same people complaining about dogs in shelters, adding to the problem by being breeers themselves?

Question

I havent been on here long, but one think I have noticed is that people sure are complaining an awful lot about people breeding dogs with the large amount of dogs in shelters needing homes and the number of dogs being putdown, and how people should be adopting these dogs instead of buying a purebreed puppy, yet after reviewing some of their profiles and previous answers, I have discovered that some of these same people are dog breeders themselves. Looks to me like they are hypocrites. If they are so concerned with the dogs in shelters needing good homes, maybe they need to stop adding to the dog population by breeding dogs themselves. They just seem to think it is alright to do it themselves, but not for the rest of us to do. I have heard them refer to people on here as back yard breeders, but that sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. What do you think?

torbaynew: You got a good point, but as one person I saw on another question said "if people were not continuing to breed these expensive purebreeds, then these purebreed puppies wouldn't be taking the homes that rightfully belong to the dogs already in shelters".
I'll be the first to admit, I have added multiple wolf/hybrids to the dog population many times over. But there are two things that I can assure you about me.

#1- I have my vet neighbor check out every pup I have, they all get their shots and wormings, flea treatments, and I don't just pick up a cool looking hybrid from some idiot on the street and breed it with mine. I also give all my new owners the same contract you talked about. I still talk to all the people who have bought one of my dogs.

#2- I don't tell anyone that they should buy a shelter dog. I tell them to get whatever type of dog they think fits into their family. A shelter dog, one of mine, or a purebred. Its what works best for them that counts.

Answer 1

I know that some of the "real breeders" on here are going to totally disagree with me, but I have wondered the exact same thing before. Anyone who breeds dogs is adding to the dog population. I will be the first to admit that I have been one of those. I purposly bred a litter of registered Siberian Huskies, and a stray got into our backyard and knocked up my sons dog. I admit I should have already gotten that dog fixed, but besides having a bad experience with that once, I just didn't grow up in that kind of area.
The majority of people in the small rural country town that I grew up in, didn't get their farm and ranch dogs fixed. My parents included, other than that one dog I had that died on the operating table.

But beyond that, I know that I have added to the population. I also know where every dog that my huskies had are at, and they all also got a contract that asks them to bring the dog back to me if at any point they can not care for it. I still have the mutt litter, but I am going to do my best to place them in good home, and not dump them in a shelter.

Anyways, I completely agree with what you said.

Answer 2

Not ONE of my dog or puppies is clogging up the shelters. I know where each and every one of them are, and will take ANY ONE of them back at any moment if needed.
Good breeders are the people who breed to IMPROVE a breed and keep it the way it should be....not to go and make a mutt. We show our dogs and breed ONLY when we want a pup to add to our breeding program. The rest of the puppies are sold on LIMITED registrations and a spay/neuter contract. They are microchipped and I am the emergency contact for the microchip. I will take back any of them at any time. I do not care if the dog is 14 years old. I do not care if they show up at midnight on my doorstep. I am responsible for all the dogs I have produced and except that responsibility.
If you want to breed a "new" breed and do it right, then go ahead. You do not seem concerned about a certain breed, just making a breed. As long as you do the required health screening,place them properly,and take full responsibility for what you produce FOREVER, then go ahead. But do not think for one second that my dogs have contributed to the shelter overpopulation. And I work in a shelter and the purebreed dogs that come through our shelter ALL have come from backyard breeders. Some of the people have called the "breeders" they got the dog from and have been told, "you bought it,it is YOURS!".
I am all for people adopting from shelters, but if they want a purebreed dog, they can go to a breeder. It would just be nice if all breeders were doing what they SHOULD be doing.

I do not go around telling everyone that they should get a shelter dog either. If you read any of my posts on shelter dogs you will see that I do have a shelter dog, BUT I have also had a BAD experience with one and am not real keen on telling people to ge them under certain situations. They are frequently someones "problem" that they are dumping on someone else. We all must face the fact that many of these dog would not have been dumped if they had not had a behavior probelm. I do not want to deal with that, and I like to do certain things with my dogs and want a certain personality in a dog. Hence the reason I have Newfies. I am all for purebreed...if gotten from soemone doing it the right way. Frankly, the reason there are backyard breederes is because doing it the "right way" cost a ton of money and they do not wish to do that. they are doing it to make money and if you get the health clearances on the parents,and show them,and get working titles,and feed a good food,and get puppy aptitude testing done.......you are WAY in the hole for a litter. I also have a breed that requires puppies to see a cardiologist BEFORE they go to new homes and that costs a lot and it costs more if some of the pups have to be echoed or dopplered. It is a loss on each litter and that is just ONE reason why there is NEVER more than one litter per year.

My problem with the Wolf hybrid thing is that you cannot do hip and elbow screening on them because they are not "legal" in the dog world. So how do you insure that the breeding stock is healthy????????????? I have also seem a Wolf hybird that attacked a child in the family it was in. Does that make them all bad???? Of course not. Could they be good in the right hands??? Sure. Do I want one living near me??? No. I think they are like Pitts. There are too many idiots and some can end up with these dogs and that can be trouble.
If you are breeding the "right" way and doing all that can be done for the "breed" you are doing, then that is fine. There is no "breed standard" for you to follow, no conformation shows to see that you are no the right track, nothing to "improve".

Answer 3

I think there is nothing wrong with someone breeding a litter of pets, as long as they know what they are doing. The people wondering how to get there dogs "unstuck" do not have the knowledge to be breeding and should learn more before doing it. But, if all breeding were only done be show people, where would all the pet buyers go to get their puppies? Show breedings are a very small percentage of all breedings, like 5% or so. Better a BYB that loves her dogs, or even a commercial breeder, than a puppy smuggled in from another country that may not even have basic laws against animal abuse.

The whole "only me and my 3 friends should breed" mindset is a huge problem with show breeders. It is buying into the AR propaganda and the laws that are passed because of that mindset hurt ALL dog people, show people included.


You quoted - "if people were not continuing to breed these expensive purebreeds, then these purebreed puppies wouldn't be taking the homes that rightfully belong to the dogs already in shelters".

Ridiculous, at least for most of the people I know. I show and course my Hounds, I couldn't do that with some LabX from a shelter. If I couldn't have my Sighthounds, I wouldn't have any dogs at all and would do more traveling.

These people advocating no breeding should rather be railing against all the people who are to stupid or lazy to manage their animals and let them wander the streets making their own breeding decisions. But no, it is much easier to rant and rave at breeders than to do something about the irresponsible pet owners.

Answer 4

Backyard breeders are generally inexperienced breeders that breed for quantityand not for quality. This produces dogs that often have severe physical and behavioral problems, which makes many owners give up the dogs because they can't handle the problems, which causes overpopulated shelters.
Responsible registered breeders, breeding by AKC standard are breeding for the betterment of the breed, a purebreed, both by physical standard and for good temperment and personality in the dogs. The owners of such dogs are often well educated as to what to expect from the dog, and health problems due to a poor genetic line aren't going to happen frequently, hence these people don't give up the dogs to shelters.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with mutts, they make great pets, but there are enough mutts in shelters to go around, since some people's dogs might have gotten knocked up by accident.

Answer 5

Like she said, any reputable breeder wouldn't be on here asking questions, being a breeder you should be trying to better the breed, minimizing health and tempermant problems. I am all for a reputable breeder selling puppies and older dogs, but not for people just breeding their dog to another dog of the same breed just to get some cash or wanting to see puppies being born. I rescued all of my animals from shelters and will continue to do so, but I am not opposed at some point getting a dog from a breeder. Just do your research when buying a dog and if you can adopt a dog/cat from a shelter, they need a home more than anything.

Answer 6

Good breeders screen potential owners to make sure they are good match for their breed & turn away people they feel aren't - they don't just sell to anyone who has the cash. They will take back any dog that doesn't work out & re-home them with the support of their breed's rescue club, if needed, not just tell the person to drop the dog at a shelter. Good breeders belong to their breed's club & screen their breeding dogs for known genetic faults & weed out the ones with problems. Their breed clubs raise money to fund medical studies at Veterinary hospitals to research & fix problems in their breed. They show dogs to championship titles, proving they adhere to the breed's standard (i.e. they look & behave as the breed is supposed to). They study pedigrees carefully before breeding to make sure they are making a good match for healthy, quality pups. They do not breed dogs every heat & will have a waiting list for their carefully planned & bred litters.

Backyard breeders & puppy mills breed their dogs every or nearly every heat with the same or most convienent male around, sell to whoever has the money, offer no support after the sale ("You bought it, YOU deal with it" mentality), and know & care nothing about the genetic problems their pups have & pass on. THAT is the difference! I hope this clears it up for you.

It boils down to this: good breeders love the breed, and care about it's welfare as a whole - they breed to improve the breed & offer healthy pets to people (as only a small percentage of each litter is show quality, the rest are perfectly healthy pet quality {i.e. muzzle may be too long/short for showing but has no effect on health} sold with spay/neuter contracts), and generally lose money. It is a hobby & labor of love. It is much easier & more profitable to do it the wrong way - this is why there are so many bad breeders out there. Therefore, people must do their homework - research the breed & the breeder before buying!

Answer 7

Oh, if ANY person is on here asking questions about breeding dogs, they are DEFINITELY backyard breeders. Any reputable breeder would know the basics and look to a qualified vet for answers to any other questions. People getting on here and asking questions about breeding their animals and then claiming to be "seasoned, responsible breeders"....psh, yeah, right. A reputable breeder wouldn't dare think they could get sufficient answers to their questions from an online community.

And those people who are complaining about the dogs and cats in shelters and then breeding their own animals....definitely hypocrits. Back yard breeders, hypocrits, morons.....all in the same:) So right on!

FrankieWebber06 just furthered the point. Yes, backyard breeders are those who breed for quantity, not quality. They are uneducated and don't care about the well-being of the animals, just how much money they can make off of them.....and those are exactly the types of people who come to Yahoo Answers to get answers to serious questions....because they're too cheap and too lazy to consult a vet.

Answer 8

I AM ALL FOR REPUTABLE BREEDERS BREEDING THEIR DOGS, BUT, PUREBREDS GET PUT ON THE STREET ALSO BECAUSE OF CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. AS FAR AS BACK YARD BREEDERS THEY NEED TO QUIT ADDING TO THE PET POPULATION AS THESE DOGS STATISTICS ARE NOT GOOD. MOST OF PUPS THAT COME FROM BACK YARD BREEDERS GO TO SHELTERS OR ABUSIVE HOMES, BUT SAD TO SAY A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF PUREBREDS GO TO SHELTERS ALSO OR RESCUES. I HAVE A SAINT BERNARD THAT CAME FROM A BAD BREEDER. A LICENSED BREEDER, BUT AT 6 MONTHS OLD HE WEIGHED 40 POUNDS AND CAME DOWN WITH PARVO. HE DID NOT CARE FOR THE ANIMAL HE ONLY CARED ABOUT THE MONEY HE MADE ON THESE DOGS.
NOT ALL BREEDERS ARE REPUTABLE.
I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH THE COMMENT THAT MOST OF THE DOGS THAT END UP AT SHELTERS HAVE SOME KIND OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS. THIS IS NOT TRUE AS I HAVE RESCUED FROM SHELTERS DOGS THAT ARE GETTING READY TO BE PUT TO SLEEP AND THEY ENDED UP BEING THE BEST DOGS AND NO PROBLEMS WITH BEHAVIOR.
THE ABANDONED DUMPED DOGS ARE NOT ALL BECAUSE OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS EITHER, I RESCUE DOGS, AND I HAVE PICKED UP MANY DOGS FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEIR BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS LACK OF FOOD, SHELTER AND LOVE.
AT THIS MOMENT I HAVE 20 RESCUED DOGS ALL SPAYED AND NEUTERED, WAITING FOR NEW HOMES, BUT THE PROBLEM IS I RUN INTO IS ARE THEY SPAYED OR NEUTERED?????? WHEN I SAY YES THEY DO NOT WANT THEM ANYMORE BECAUSE OF THAT. PEOPLE KEEP WANTING TO BREED, BREED, BREED.

Answer 9

Well I have all mine fixed. Don't want to breed. Like people say there are to many UNWANTED animals out there. I agree with you.

Answer 10

all dogs should be fixed and we should be adopting dogs from shelters to savee other dogs from dying in a shelter