Why Should I Buy A Pure Bred Dog?

[Crisovar]

In my experience as a pedigree puppy buyer, I thought I was paying a lot of money for a good dog.......wrong

Buying from a quality Breeder - you won't know until you have a pup with a problem (maybe you will be one of the lucky ones)

Don't believe anything they say about themselves. Also being members of dog clubs doesn't make them good breeders.

You have a problem with Breeders?

Obviously you have had a brad experience, life is like that, we all come across something that cheeses us of once in a while

but don't let one experience tarnish your view.

There are many excellent Breeders out there who go out of their way to support puppy buyers all the way, you will meet a lot of them on here if you hang around.

[Steve]

All mammals get HD and joint problems but few of them have the benefit of knowing the problems in earlier generations or results of scores before they breed.

Professors in genetics cant agree on what causes it and there are some great research papers which show evidence of correlations to various things including diet and diet of previous generations,environmental factors including vaccinations and heartworm meds etc. Even something as simple as a case of intermittent runny poos during critical growth periods may have an impact.

Breeders who guarantee against genetic issues are stupid because there are thousands of them that may show up through no fault of anyone because its a live animal.even if they do what the guarantee involves is just as variable so the buyer needs to know what the details are in this guarantee when they take the dog home. No point in being upset if the breeder will only refund if you return the dog when you knew that in the beginning. No point in expecting the breeder to pay thousands for repairs if the guarantee says they wont or that they will but only under certain circumstances.

They need to say what they have done to try to prevent genetic issues and what they will do if and when a genetic disorder does occur. Everyone needs to know before the pup goes home what to expect from each other if something happens because there is not a person on this planet who can guarantee that any animal or human will live its entire life without something showing up that someone will say is genetic. Puppies are not born with HD and anything could impact on what happens between when a dog is born and when it gets diagnosed with a problem - at what point is it a shared blame rather than only breeder blame - who knows ?

[ruffpup]

When anyone works out a fool-proof way to find an ethical, good breeder please let me know.

I've been thinking of getting a Lhasa Apso for ages now. A work colleague bought one last year (from a breeder who advertises on DOL) and it hasn't turned out well at all. It's the most frightened little dog both the owner and I have known. There were also a few minor health queries and when the owner mentioned them to the breeder, the breeder went on the attack - including abusive email and a major blast on the breeder's own website about how there is nothing wrong with this puppy and everything is the new owner's and vet's fault. (I saw those on the internet myself).

My colleague never contacted the breeder again and the dog's problems haven't improved. He has a really unattractive temperament, and gets quite aggro - now a year old. And not a particularly good looking dog at that, most people think he looks weird.

Well, after seeing all this happen to someone else I'm now really wary about buying a pure-bred, maybe more so in case I picked a loony, nasty breeder.

[poodlefan]

When anyone works out a fool-proof way to find an ethical, good breeder please let me know.

Word of mouth from satisfied puppy buyers or a recommendation here would be how I'd proceed.

[Erny]

Well, after seeing all this happen to someone else I'm now really wary about buying a pure-bred, maybe more so in case I picked a loony, nasty breeder.

Yes - even purchasing a pure breed through a registered breeder can be disappointing when you're unlucky. But would you not be even more wary about buying either a purebred or a non-purebred dog through an unregistered breeder?

Edited April 24, 2010 by Erny

[Skruffy n Flea]

i have two mutts i've never had the pleasure of owning a purebred dog and someday i surely hope i will...

as for this topic, i reckon for the few bad things that happen with pups from breeders, there's thousands that succeed ... it's human nature to recall the negative rather than focus on the positive and i reckon if peeps could just turn their minds instead to all the successes, they'd be a lot less stressed about the whole thing...

jmho

[Skruffy n Flea]

oh, sorry, i forgot to give my best regards to the OP

i sincerely hope it works out for you and your dog and i hope i never experience what you're going thru ... it's bad enuf the health problem, let alone the lack of breeder support

[ruffpup]

Well, after seeing all this happen to someone else I'm now really wary about buying a pure-bred, maybe more so in case I picked a loony, nasty breeder.

Yes - even purchasing a pure breed through a registered breeder can be disappointing when you're unlucky. But would you not be even more wary about buying either a purebred or a non-purebred dog through an unregistered breeder?

Hi Erny, yes indeed, I wouldn't buy a purebred from an unregistered breeder. As for buying a mutt/heinz/whatever, I guess I'd have to expect the unexpected.

imo, the worst thing with this little dog I wrote about before is not just his problems, and he has a few, but the attitude of the breeder verbally attacking a buyer. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to me.

[hoffpig]

I haven't had anything but a rescue since my 16th-birthday-present bull terrier, who crossed the globe, cost my parents a fortune, died at a ripe old age in a foreign land, was well and truly loved and broke hearts on her exit. All family dogs since have been rescues, mostly mutts, all different, all characters, all totally marvellous. A great dog is a great dog. Pure-bred forum, but ... well, the mutts were - and are - sheer heaven, each and every one, and fit the bill for us. Unique is good, too, and sometimes a life is saved.

This afternoon I trawled GumTree and the Dogs For Sale and ... yeuch! What's the line between breeders, dogs and profit?? There's a bloke selling his "very favourite" blue staffie "only because" they've too many dogs and he's no longer breeding from her??!! Ad includes two pictures of him cuddling dog just so you can see how much he REALLY cares. What's the difference between people who discard their breeding stock and the pups that don't shape up, and BYB or anyone else who has a dog to offload for a possible $?

Seriously, I am bamboozled by it and cannot tell the difference.

Edited April 25, 2010 by hoffpig