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How can we promote proper breeding of Mutts?

   
Missie

Teeth kisses for- everyone!		 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 18, '06 10:16am PST 
I am a mutt lover. Prior in my life I adopted or took in adult dogs, but now I can no longer physically take care of big dogs. It is incredibly hard to get a dog under 20 lbs from shelter here, and after searching a few years on line and in our shelters, I ended up purchasing two puppies. I had to do a lot of thinking as I did so, and want to pass on some thoughts.

Being involved in rescue, I really did not want to support a bad breeder, but at the same time I wanted a mixbred. I did only eventually find one mixbred from a breeder who actually had proper health certification and only a few dogs. My other is a purebred, but I have a rebellious attitude about purebreds and really resented being pushed into one. (Love him dearly though.)

I do believe that there are many other people who love the uniqueness of a mutt as well, but are restricted to small. I do not know if they are hard to find in shelters elsewhere, but by market and popularity alone it seems a great many people are willing to pay as much for a small mutt from a petstore as for a purebred. This issue alone should be addressed if we actually care about the breeding stock living in cages in mills. Should there not be a way to legitimize the "good" mixed breeders, and encourage them to follow breeding guidelines? Maybe a registry where health checks, number of breeding dogs pet breeder, and litter numbers per dam were kept track of. Would this not differentiate them from the mill breeders, and help to keep concerned people out of the petstores?

It is hard for me, and I am sure a lot of others, to swallow the idea that getting a "good" dog, means getting a purebred from a show breeder, which seems to be the accepted "right" way to buy a dog.

I am sure that the idea of people only wanting a small dog does not sit well with a lot of rescue people. I do feel sad for the big dogs, but like I said I also realize that the issue of buying designer dogs and supporting puppy mills is an issue that has to be addressed as well, for the sake of the breeding dogs living the tortured mill life.


***I would like to point out that I am from a small community close to Edmonton, Alberta, and have children under 12. Our pet overpopulation problem is not as bad here I guess, and when I did find hopeful rescues they were child restricted.

Edited by author Tue Sep 19, '06 10:55pm PST

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Furio

Who's a Tough- Guy?
 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 18, '06 1:07pm PST 
Very interesting topic. In our area, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of any kind of dog, but that doesn't mean that they're bred properly.

We don't mind if someone wants to get a purebreed. Some people have specific preferences or want show dogs. But we're a mutt family! We love adopting a unique, sweet-faced little orphan!
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Missie

Teeth kisses for- everyone!		 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 18, '06 8:46pm PST 
I hope no one takes this to mean that I don't think purebreds are great for some people. I am suggesting myself, I am more comfortable with the idea of mutts, and obviously there are a whole slough of other people who are as well. These people will always ends up buying from the "wrong" sort, unless we provide some way to breed mutts properly. This may not be an issue at all where there are lots in rescue, but I also do not believe a lot of people would be convinced to rescue. I am really thinking about this from the perspective of trying to give people what they want with the better option of buying from a good "mutt" breeder, than a petstore or puppymill. Of course, if they could be convinced to go to rescue first that would be the best. (I love my puppies, but adult dogs are so much less work and concern.)
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Mocha Bear- (Mokie),- VGG, KPA,

CEO of Rewarding- Behaviors Dog- Training
 
 
Barked: Wed Apr 30, '08 7:17am PST 
This is unbelievable. There is NO such thing as a "good mutt breeder." Millions of mutts die every year in shelters across North America. I'd get a mutt there, and would never support a breeder intentionally contributing to this genocide.
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Fun On The- Run Kennel- Racing

09 Junior- Iditarod 8th!		 
 
Barked: Mon May 26, '08 7:55pm PST 
Mokie- I would like to point out that there are perfectly good mutt breeders that health test, do not breed past a certain age, and do not breed before a certain age. I am not saying that is is wrong to adopt, but simply that if you can buy from good purebred breeder, why not from mutt breeders? There are millions of purebreds in shelters too, you know.

I, for one, will probably wind up being a breeder after I finish college and vet school. I will breed mutts(I have ever owned a purebred and plan to keep it that way for a while) and I will breed them responsibly. I will breed simply to better my racing team which, to me, is perfectly good reason to breed. I will heath test my dogs, I will not breed before age 2, I will not breed past age 7 or 8, and I will not breed a female more than 3 times in her lifetime(Possibly even 2). Would this make me a bad breeder? If I bred purebreds, would you have anything against me?

So, in answer to your question, I believe we can promote proper breeding of mutts simply by dong what we are doing now...posting in a public forum where all can read.
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