Dogs from “Breeders” Can Mean BIG Problems

This video describes issues within the dog breeding business and how dogs wind up in the pound. After watching this you will be more likely to consider adopting a dog, whether purebred or mutt. You will probably think twice about supporting breeders and pet stores. With regard to breeders, no matter how high end, breeders breed dogs for appearance traits that follow a “breed standard” determined by the specific kennel club of a breed. Beware – they do NOT breed for any standard of health, only for physical attributes. The second video describes the health issues that are bred into show dogs.

How dogs get into shelters?
-One reason is behavior issues. People use questionable training methods (i.e., Caesar Milan) or shock collars that make behavior issues worse so people surrender dogs. There are so many misconceptions about dogs and behavior and many people are not able to address issues effectively. Are breeder methods creating unhealthy dogs?

-The “inconvenience” of having a pet (moving, baby on the way…).

-Didn’t expect a puppy to be so much work (a big reason why I would only adopt a full-grown dog).

-No longer wants that Christmas puppy gift.

-The puppy got bigger (as puppies do).

-How about this one – the dog is too old.

-The dog sheds.

There are a litany of ridiculous excuses!

Aren’t dogs from breaders superior dog?
In the film, Dr. Radosta of The Florida Veterinary Behavior Service and co-author of From Fearful to Fear Free: A Positive Program to Free Your Dog from Anxiety, Fears, and Phobias discusses breeders and breed registration papers. “I just want to make it super clear that registration, any registration whether it be AKC, UKC, it doesn’t matter is like the DMV.” Dr. Lisa Radosta continues, “just because my car is registered, does that mean I have a high quality car? What I don’t want people to think is that papers mean quality. They mean that papers have been sent in about the parents, not that your dog is of any particular quality at all.” Dr. Radosta, also stated, “It’s never ok to buy a dog from a pet shop or online.”

Again, the goal of breeders is to create offspring for aesthetics of physical appearance. By doing so, the result is dogs with physical traits that are tailored to a specific “standard” which often results in health issues. I JUST discovered a great blog that describes that point – Pedigree Dogs Exposed. This website illustrates the horrible consequences of messing around with mother nature. You can read about the problems that are bred into breeds like German Shepherds and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.