How do you justify breeding dogs?

Question

with so many homeless and stray animals - how can you justify breeding and buying from breeders?

you make a good point alambre

Answer 1

Good question by the way, personally its a choice of course, and sometimes people want a certain temperment in a dog, or the size that matters........speaking for our family two retired (retreaded folks) and an elderly father we love the special antics of our minidoxie.......shes brought more silliness into our home when we sorely need it,
i also advocate people choosing to get dogs/cats from animal shelters we have two great places in our local area.
some people just do what they please no matter what the personal cost..........so hon, it ultimately comes down to personal choice..........we cant live other peoples lives for them, and thats been a hard lesson for me to learn..........have a great Christmas and say I love you often to your loved ones, you will be glad you did...........ST from OHIO, land of the buckeyes and other worthless nuts, ahahha, i like to see some humor in everything if i possibly can!!!! :-)<>{

Answer 2

I think there are two parts to this question.

First, there are breeders, and then there are breeders. An ethical breeder is one who works to improve his or her breed, and strives to produce the soundest, healthiest dogs possible. I suspect there's not more than a handful of quality breeders that do more than break even on the puppies they sell, and the large majority lay out more on their dogs than they ever get from puppy sales. OTOH, there are those that are making money off breeding, the puppymills, both large and small scale. Their concern is volume, not quality so they don't spend the time and money for generic testing or health screening, breed a b"tch as often as possible, and so forth. A quality breeder may not use their females for more than three or four litters over her lifetime. If you have one litter a year from about ages 2 to 5 or 6, it pretty much limits how many puppies you produce. If you breed her every time she comes into heat until she's unable to produce any more, you get a lot more puppies. That's the philosophy of BYBs and puppymills. Then there are those who are just careless or ignorant. And, since mixed breeds make up a huge proportion of dogs in general, who was breeding them?

The second thing to consider is that virtually every dog that's in a shelter or wandering loose as a stray had an owner at one time or the other. Why did they dump their dog at the pound, or just along side the road somewhere? What happened to all the former owners of pound dogs? Owner responsibility has to be a part of the picture, as does owner education. Often people get dogs for all the wrong reasons, without taking the time to find out what it really takes to own that dog, whether or not the dog is compatible with their personal situation, and so forth. With Christmas coming on, there are going to be who knows how many puppies given as gifts to people who may not want them, don't know how to care for them, may not have the resources to care for them, etc. About June or July all those cute puppies bought on a whim are going to be adolescent dogs, and many of them will end up in the shelter.

I wish I knew how you could educate people as to what's involved in having a dog, and instill responsibility. If you had a formula for that, a lot of the shelter problem would simply go away.

Answer 3

Because I work my dogs. I require KNOWING how they turn out as adults. I spend countless hours training them from the moment of birth (yes, there are things you can do with newborn pups that increase neural networks) and throughout their puppyhood. I need to KNOW that they are genetically sound and unlikely to have structural issues well before they are able to be tested for them. I need to KNOW the temperament they are likely to have based on the research I've done not only on the parents but on the last 10+ generations.

For the rest.. reread Loki and Alambre's well written answers, as well as Tom's. I guarantee my pups. *I* require return to me if the dog should need to be rehomed. I microchip my pups IN MY NAME- new owners can add their information but cannot take mine away.. so if a dog of mine ends up in a shelter (hasn't happened) they will phone me.

I've rescued many more purebred dogs of my breed than I will EVER create... NEVER have I found a high quality dog in a shelter that was obviously bred by a responsible breeder. What I find are low-quality backyard bred dogs who may be purebred.

Answer 4

Reputable responsible breeders aren't the ones who are producing the homeless stray animals. Those are coming from the folks who got their pets from the pet shop, back yard breeders and those owners who let their intact animals run and breed at random.

Before they breed a litter responsible breeders have done all the health checks on their dogs, they have made sure that they dog matches the standard for their breed, and they have enough folks on their waiting list to make sure the puppies all have homes waiting. They also place the pet quality pups from their litters on neutering contracts and enforce those contracts. The pups from the litter they are placed as potential show or breeding quality are placed on contracts that require their owners to get their health checks, etc before they are considered for breeding and if they don't pass they must be neutered. They also are prepared to take back any puppy they have bred at anytime during its life if the owner can't keep them for any reason.

Why do I breed? I breed because I want to provide top quality puppies to the folks who want them and to give them an option other than supporting a backyard breeder or puppymiller.

Why do people buy from a responsible breeder? They do their homework and buy from a responsible breeder because they want a healthy well bred dog of a specific breed. They buy from responsible breeder because they don't want to support backyard breeders and puppymillers.

You really need to educate yourself about where the homeless stray dogs are coming from before you continue going around condemming responsible breeders.

Answer 5

People believe that they love the breed so much that breeding them shares that love with other people. Others think that every "good looking" animal is breedworthy. It's crap, you are right. People just think that the homeless animal problem has nothing to do with them and their "AKC" dogs- like they are exempt from the problem because their animals are so special. It makes me so mad.
I got my dog from a breeder 8 years ago before I really knew anything about the situation. Now that we want another dog, we are looking into rescues to find older dogs that no one else wants because I am better educated about the problem. Breeding isn't wrong- this is just the wrong time! I say keep the best lineages around and neuter the rest. At least give us a few years/decades to catch up so that there aren't as many homeless animals around. Then you can breed and keep up the lineages. Breeding should cost a lot of money in licensing and permits, with the money going to keep up shelters for the homeless animals.
And may I ask what makes people think that breeding 2 dogs and adding "poo" or "doodle" to the name makes it a breed??? It's NOT! Stop ruining the poodles!

I had to add this: I've worked with animals for a long time, and yo'ud be surprised how many purebreeds end up in shelters because people get them not realizing what they are in for. It's not just the people with mutts and bad breeders and pet stores that are at fault. It's breeders that put no restrictions on the pets and don't neuter them before adoption. I met a woman with a dog once that had to sign a contract saying that she would neuter the dog within one year, otherwise they could come and take the dog back. She also had to show proof of puppy training as well. THAT is a breeder that wants to protect the lineage, as well as make sure the pet is well cared for after purchase!

Answer 6

A good breeder has an extensive process of putting a dog in a home. If the owner ever decides to get rid of the dog the breeder insists the dog is returned to them. There is nothing wrong with buying from a good breeder that ensures you get a great dog that you will never want to get rid of.

Also, depending on the family situation you need a dog that suits your specific needs. Most dogs at my local city shelter are all pit bulls or rottweilers ... two dogs I don't want to mix with my young daughter.

Answer 7

I have a mutt that was adopted and yes there are alot of dogs that are homeless out there but, if everyone were to stop breeding their poorly bred dogs for money, there wouldn't be. A reputable breeder that breeds for betterment of their breed, will make sure they have a stipulation in the contract that their buyers sign that states they get the dog back if for any reason the owner decides they no longer want the dog or something. A puppymill or BYB will not do this, thus those dogs in pounds that you are concerned for.

If you want the pet overpopulation to cease to be so, boycott buying from petstores and make sure you always meet the breeders and see the dogs they breed and the championships that those dog have won.

Added: People that breed responsibly, do NOT make money by doing so!! They simply love the breed and want to make it a part of their life!

Answer 8

I'll tell you why we bought from a breeder.

My husband has severe allergies and asthma, and yet, understood my need for a pet (I grew up with tons of animals so going from that to zero was awful). he also loves dogs.

I researched all kinds of breeds to make sure it would be okay living in an apartment and most importantly, shed as little as possible (there is no magic non-shedding breed). We researched temperment and trainability, lifespan, grooming requirements, health problems to watch for, etc. and came out with a list of breeds we could potentially have.

We eventually got our baby- a Toy Fox Terrier (single-coated breed, she hardly sheds at all). We run air filters and I vaccum with a Dyson every 2-3 days. She gets a bath once a week. This all so we can have a dog and keep my husband from getting very sick. We love her to bits and have never regretted for a second getting her.

I would have loved to rescue a dog from the shelter, but there was no way we'd be able to single out one that wouldn't make my husband sick.

Good breeders who show dogs in reputable shows and breed responsibly (health of mom and pups foremost) and breed for the love of the breed are fine by me. There are lots of different breeds that are unique and serve a sepcific purpose. Backyard breeders and puppy mills who do it for money or foolishly because "puppies are sooo cute!" or "I wanted my kids to see the miracle of birth" should be slapped into next week.

Adopt from a shelter if you can. But that's just not an option for everyone.

Answer 9

Alambre, Loki, and Tom have summed it up...
Responsible breeders aren't the cause of homeless animals.....irresponsible ones are.

Answer 10

Many people buy dogs for different reasons and for those reasons you have different sellers for example if you plan to show your dog in a dog show and have the time and money then you will buy from a breeder if you are smart you will do your research first, others buy dogs from shelters because they want a family dog and dont expect to use their family pet for shows or breeding. As far as breeding goes some people do it because they are greedy and money hungry with no experience what so ever and then you have the experience breeder that supposedly knows what they are doing and controls the breeding cycles instead of having puppies year round I personally do not believe in breeding animals uncotrollably but it is hard for some people that have a dog thats been with them for a long time that starts to get older and they decide to breed their dog so they can have a pup to remember their dog by. Any dog can be trained for special needs I have seen pitbulls as therapy dogs and some as rescue dogs but people who buy from breeders do it because they want their dogs to have papers and it increases the value of their puppies when they are sold which in some cases means if someone is willing to pay $1000 for a pup maybe that pup is going to a good home not only that but they can put them in the shows as well vs. if you have a dog from a shelter you cannot have them in the dog shows because that dog doesnt have its papers and pedigree family tree line. I rescue pitbulls everyday and I make sure I find good homes for them I have seen too many pitbulls out there that need homes and that is why I dont believe it is right to breed.