The Gardener At It Again On His Website

[Steve]

Mita said I'm with Sheridan that purebred dogs should be promoted in a sound and realistic way

Maybe - Except this time it isnt purebred dogs which are being attacked - that org has both purebred and non purebred breeders.

It is the way they are being bred and selected for by those who are accused of placing too much emphasis on the way the dogs look - show breeders working to a breed standard. Just as the RSPCA and PDE and Mcgreevy etc are and the momentum has only just started to build.

I meant ANKC-registered purebred dogs, when I agreed with Sheridan.

I put it in the context of having good experiences from dealing with ANKC-registered breeders who do well.

As to the comment that Kennel Association breeders put too much emphasis on 'looks'.

Here's the mission statement of the registered breeder who bred one of my pet dogs:

My goal is & I feel dedicated to, breed with healthy animals, only breed with animals that have good temperaments, and frame them as close to the breed standard as I can, to give lives to (breed label) puppies that have the best chances for a good long life and a loving home for the rest of their lives.

Notice how health and temperament come first? Also the emphasis on the dogs being loved as companions in homes.

This breeder comes from Sweden and her dog won Best of Breed at the 2012 Crufts in London.

A far-sighted and discriminating Australian ANKC-registered breeder had already imported a couple of her dogs.....which included my lovely natured girl.

Yes Mita - you are preaching to the converted and over the years you have told us how wonderful your breeder is and I've met some of the best breeders in the world who would never select how a dog looks over health or temperament but so far I haven't seen anyone telling the world why they do show their dogs, why they think testing them this way is important and what it is that makes it so much of an issue to be breeding to a standard.

Discussing examples is all well and good but its the system - the show system , not purebreds or even the registry which is under attack and they are showing their own examples .

[bluedeer]

I had a look at the forum on Don Burke's site and one of their members are planning a dog park with tunnels, sand pits and even a swimming pool for the dogs. I wonder if all their members go to these lengths or if this is a one off? If this is the way these large "breeders" are going, at least they are planning good facilities for their dogs compared to some of the dingy places that the Animal Liberation turkeys keep promoting. I am not a fan of breeding for a profit but I would much rather see all these types of places go this way rather than trying to hide their dogs from view.

As Steve has stated many times on this forum, these people and their dogs are not going away and it is much better for the dogs if they are monitored by government authorities than not. It's easy to blame the gardener for the popularity of the "designer breeds" but in truth there is no central body promoting these breeds but there are an enormous number of these dogs out there and it is their owners who do the promoting. Most of these owners that I have come across while out with my dogs genuinely love their dogs and are more than happy and proud to tell people that they have a cross or hybrid or designer dog or whatever else they call them and recommend them to other people who ask about them.

Just as there are some terrible ANKC breeders that I wish the state bodies (DogsVic etc) would get rid of, there are those that indiscriminately pump out poorly bred "pure bred" and x breed pups. The emphasis needs to be on the health and welfare of the breeding dogs and puppies that they are breeding in terms of health and temperament as that is essentially what is the difference between an ethical breeder or not. If the oodle breeders are building their own dog parks with pools for the dogs etc, it is going to be a losing battle trying to convince joe public that they don't care about their dogs like we do. Speak to enough members of the public who are only interested in a family companion and don't have any interest in shows etc and they could not care if their dog is a pure breed or a xbreed. They just want a healthy dog that will fit in with their family's lifestyle. Trying to convice them to choose a purebred because they have a family tree on a "piece of paper" is lost cause unless that "piece of paper" hold value as a sign of a reputable breeder.