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If you are wondering what is the right dog for you, this is the place to be. In this introductory forum we talk about topics such as breed vs. mix, size, age, grooming, breeders, shelters, rescues as well as requirements for exercise, space and care. No question is too silly here. This particular forum is for getting and giving helpful, nice advice. It is definitely not a forum for criticizing someone else's opinion, knowledge or advice. This forum is all about tail wagging and learning.
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Zack
Temporarily- wingless flying- monkey |
 | | Barked: Tue Jun 30, '09 10:20pm PST | |  | |  | | I found it really bizarre that the lady in the video kept saying over and over how much she cared about her dogs, but yet she never mentioned anything she does to make sure the puppies go to good homes. So basically, she cares about them until she gets a paycheck, and then she starts "caring" about the next litter. 
I only have one dog, and providing him with what he needs is expensive. I can only imagine how much mulitple dogs cost, even if she does keep them in sub-standard conditions. You'd have to charge an awful lot for each puppy to make any sort of profit, and sell quite a few at that price to make a living at it. If this is her only way of supporting her family (didn't she say six children?), she must have a lot of dogs, which made me think puppy mill. |  |  | |  |
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Millie/Drake
EAT -- and be happy! |
| | Barked: Tue Jun 30, '09 11:26pm PST | | | | | | Part of her video showed her walking down a row of wire-cage kennels on a concrete floor. This looked much like the pound from which I got my newest dog.
Ugh. Don't people know not to get animals from a pet store YET? This is sad. | | | | |
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Addy, CGC
Let's go for a- walk! |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 6:37am PST | | | | | | Part of her video showed her walking down a row of wire-cage kennels on a concrete floor. This looked much like the pound from which I got my newest dog.
Yes, exactly. Puppy mill.
Shelters and pounds hope to be the dog's home for only a short time, between real homes. This is the only home the breeding dogs will ever know, and what the puppies learn to regard as "normal" during their formative weeks. | | | | |
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Riley
Too smart for my- own good!
moderator |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 7:35am PST | | | | | | Another thing that bugs me is that her retired breeders are also sold to new homes. To me, a responsible breeder will keep their retired dogs until they pass. I can understand rehoming one or two but if a person basically breeds their dogs for money then discards them, then that is the lowest of the lows. | | | | |
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Addy, CGC
Let's go for a- walk! |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 8:44am PST | | | | | | Twenty-two small breed dogs is not an abnormally high number for a good breeder, if she's counting puppies.
Rehoming retired champions--very good breeders do that all the time. You can't keep an infinite number of dogs, and some dogs, once they're retired from showing and breeding, will be happier in a smaller pack, or in a home where they can take up a new career, like agility or therapy pet or obedience.
Good breeders try to make the right choice for every dog.
This particular breeder--I see both good things and things that concern me, and unfortunately I have to get out the door right now. If somebody will pawmail me the link to this thread, it will remind me to come back to it later. | | | | |
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Addy, CGC
Let's go for a- walk! |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 1:56pm PST | | | | | | Okay, I'm looking over the website now.
Good things:
Most of their breeding dogs are Champions, including their own bred-by dogs, meaning they do show, at least some. There are fewer "winner" brag pictures than I'd expect, but, hey, that's a matter of individual preference.
They post some pedigrees, and some of those pedigrees are really impressive, Champions occupying most of the slots on the pedigree.
Spay/neuter contract for pet sales.
Puppy pictures but no prices, and no "easy" way to buy or place a deposit; you have to contact them.
They at least say they provide ongoing support.
There's some excellent advice on their "Tips & Tidbits" page. I have to confess to being pleased by this useless-in-a-practical-sense defense of the English language:
A mature female dog is called a bitch all the time, no matter how sweet she is.
If you go through all the pages of Cutie Pie News, they talk about the difficulties and risks of breeding, as well as the rewards. And they do it in a matter-of-fact way, talking about their own dogs, a couple of the more difficult deliveries, the little runt puppy who went from one dog mom to the next before he was finally ready to wean after the third mom, but who then grew up to become their "babysitter" dog.
Bad things:
Some of those posted pedigrees are fantastic; others aren't. They have just small number of champions scattered through, and not in the parents' and grandparents' generations.
They do not say anything at all about what health testing they do, if any. They talk about a "health guarantee" but no details are provided, so you'd have ask questions to find out if it really covers genetic problems that won't likely present for a few years, or if it's a pet store/puppy mill kind of "health guarantee" that covers only immediate health, is impossible to collect on without returning the puppy, etc.
Reading through the Cutie Pie News pages, it appears that they breed more litters per year than I would like. I will add the caveat that because the toy breeds often have tiny litters and singletons are not uncommon the way they are in larger breeds, some of them like to have the two litters a year close together so that if they do get singletons, the pups can still have the experience of growing up with another pup. But it appears that the year Brutus was born, they had three litters in fairly rapid succession.
My suspicion would be, high-end BYB, doing a lot of things right, but not everything. But if I were in their area, and wanted a chihuahua, I'd probably give them a call and ask lots of questions to find out if I'm right or wrong about that. There's a lot that's on their site that says they have an attitude towards pups and puppy-raising that I like, and sometimes a good breeder won't do nearly as good a job of presenting the right image as a sleazy skanky puppy miller or the nasty kind of BYB. | | | | |
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Princess
Let me approach- thee! |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 3:12pm PST | | | | | | I found them about 5 months ago, thought they were good, learned more about good breeders on these sites, thought they werent , and now I dont know at all bol. One of the reasons I asked is because they are a really good example of how borderline some breeders can be. All the pics are taken outside in a beautiful garden setting and not a kennel in sight. But as you say, not all the dogs are Champions and she doesnt say if they do health testing. Is she a good breeder going bad or a bad breeder going good She either didnt have homes lined up for some dogs or the buyer backed out because some of them have been there on that site for 4 months and her site has been updated. I am afraid this is the closest to a reputable Chihuahua breeder within driving distance to me. If anyone looked through the puppies, doesnt Crumbs look like he would be so cute next to Princess?
Thank you very much for your research , Addy, I think it has been informative to everyone | | | | |
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Bruno
Brunoski
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| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 3:14pm PST | | | | | | So lets say your ARE a responsible breeder. Where do you keep all your dogs? Are they kept in kennels, run loose in the house like most of us do? Seems like if you had more than 6 dogs, including some litters of puppies, that would be impossible to do just for sanitation reasons. | | | | |
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Jasmine
Such a Happy- Girl
moderator |
| | Barked: Wed Jul 1, '09 3:23pm PST | | | | | | There's also no indication of how well socialized the pups are during their stay with this breeder. I wonder if they stay in the kennels the entire time, because that's also bad and setting the pup up for a rough transition into real home life. | | | | |
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