Are you considering breeding your companion animal?

[cosmiccorn]

Then please consider the following:

A Letter from an Animal Control Officer
I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As an Animal Control Officer, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 4 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 96 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.

Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 96 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, injected with a painfull sting of sedative and hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. Finally they are injected straight into the heart with a fatal dose of "Blue Juice" with a guarentee that they will never wake up.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT

[wildarabella]

Thank you for this. I volunteered for a number of years at one of our larger local Sonoma County shelters and I wanted to know everything that went on to run a shelter and yep - this is what happens - everyday.

Shelter staff have the rare job of caring & healing their "guests" and then having to kill many of them a few days later. Sorry if I sound morbid but this is the truth.

Adopt do not buy .

(And volunteer too - kittys and pooches love to be cuddled and walked and, to reassure you, one doesn't ever have to go "in the back"! Lets help the shelter staff get them out alive)

Then please consider the following:

A Letter from an Animal Control Officer
I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As an Animal Control Officer, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 4 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 96 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.

Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 96 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, injected with a painfull sting of sedative and hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. Finally they are injected straight into the heart with a fatal dose of "Blue Juice" with a guarentee that they will never wake up.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT

[edie]

Please- if you did not so already, publish this article - in LARGE LETTERS- in ALL news papers from the South- to the North- pole! thank you.

[Icssoma]

we in the horse rescue community, are looking at "humane euthanasia" as an good alternative to out sourcing our horses to Auschwitz like transport (terrified horses, traveling packed to the max, no food no water), gruesome slaughter (dismembered, frequently before brain dead). cause: outlawing horse slaughter in Ca. & then quickly in the US. Exacerbated by the horrible economy. More difficult because fewer people have had positive exposure to horses. We would like to be 1/2 the way to where dogs and cats are handled, that would mean tremendous progress. Most horse have rescued dogs & cats.

Solutions:
volunteer: we train & offer educational and riding opportunities for our volunteers (the greatest reward, is to see a horse alive, and thriving when knowing just a month ago they were headed for across the boarder torture--slaughter, is not synonymous w. torture, in slaughtering houses legislation was enforced where horses were put down where they were immediately rendered brain dead)
ride in a quality non "commodity" barn, see Welcome to Icssoma Farm for criteria for choosing a barn where they don't add to the problem
donate: shovels, wheelbarrows, pushbrooms,plywood, usable lumber scraps sand, rock, baseboard scraps for a 5&7 bathroom 50 other items (see website for wishlist)--please, all items in good working condition
gifts: for a birthday or other special occasion your special friend will receive a picture & story of a horse whose life they are helping to save, re-habilitate, re-home.
shop for animal supplies where a portion of profits go to rescue (rescue an inadequate misnomer for what we, & other quality rescues do: educate, work w. youth at risk, offer educational clinics to volunteers, send out 300 emails 2-3 times a week for healthy, and sometimes neglected or abused horses which we re-habilitate & re-home when ever possible (or have them "humanely euthanized")
educate: we offer tours ("field trips" at no cost to public schools, with age appropriate information), fun, funny, touching, & educational on many levels (differences between horses & dogs/humans, why a horse has "5 hearts", watch a horse take a bath, the way they would in the wild. the forms for this & more will be up next week. we have been taking in house requests, lst.



Thank you for this. I volunteered for a number of years at one of our larger local Sonoma County shelters and I wanted to know everything that went on to run a shelter and yep - this is what happens - everyday.

Shelter staff have the rare job of caring & healing their "guests" and then having to kill many of them a few days later. Sorry if I sound morbid but this is the truth.

Adopt do not buy .

(And volunteer too - kittys and pooches love to be cuddled and walked and, to reassure you, one doesn't ever have to go "in the back"! Lets help the shelter staff get them out alive) [/quote]

[Tars]

And now, an opposing viewpoint -

Omnipotence save us from well-intentioned-but-harmful pound volunteers!

I suggest that people wanting to have a "companion dog" NOT get the dog from a pound. Instead, they should get their new friend/family member/packmate from a reputable breeder. And that only after researching breeds to find one that will comfortably fit into your lifestyle.

I am a "dog person", and I breed dogs of a particular breed and size. I am meticulous about researching the background of any dog I purchase for inclusion in my pack, trying to insure as much as possible, to avoid inbreeding. And to perpetuate particular traits. I have a particular number of dogs that I can incorporate into my life, so as to insure that each dog feels very valued by other pack members (from the dog's point of view), including myself and my mate.

My mate is a dog person as well. She is an excellent example of why people should NOT "adopt" dogs from the pound. My mate leads a very physical outside lifestyle, on a relatively large piece of fenced property. She did and does really feel attracted to Rottweilers specifically.

Right after we were married, she surprised me with a dog she'd adopted from a pound. She told the pound volunteer that she was looking for a Rottweiler. The pound volunteer ( well-intentioned nitwit): "Oh yes! I have just the dog for you! A sweet Rottweiler cross, that needs a new home!"

When my mate introduced the dog to me, I immediately saw that it had no discernible Rottweiler features, other than it was brown and black. It was instead, a large mixed-breed, which seemed to be predominantly of some hound variety. I begged her to take it back, as I knew enough about hounds to know that it wouldn't be a comfortable fit in our household. Unfortunately she had already bonded with the dog. We ended up keeping it.

Over time it became obvious that the dog did not fit where we lived, and with our lifestyle. Due to (I think) lack of breeding care, the dog ended up developing some antagonistic behavior patterns towards humans and other dogs as it became an adult. I ended up taking it back to the pound after a couple of years, and arranged for it to be put down, so no one would inadvertently "adopt" a vicious animal.

Please, for the sake of the animal, and those you love and come in contact with, Do NOT adopt a dog from a pound UNLESS:

You are certain of the dog's lineage. You can talk to the previous owner, and learn about the dog, and find out why they gave it up.

You have done research to find the breed that you can easily integrate into your life.

It's very sad that so many dogs are euthanized in pounds. It's a necessity though. The problem isn't that there are too many dogs. The problem is that there are too many humans who acquire dogs on impulse.

[edie]

... there are to many humans who acquire animals and have no idea about them.

I had only stray dogs and from the pound. All of them had problems but spending LOTS of time with them and caring and learning about them all of them turned into "good" dogs with their own personality.

Dogs need time and understanding AND professional training, including with the owner of the pet if needed.

A dog is not a toy, or just something that can be left alone in the backyard for decoration...

If you get a dog, part of your live will be a "doglife" for up to the next 16 years (as my German Shepherd was) think about that BEFORE you get a dog.

My dogs are good to me because I am good to them, they can learn that.

First you have to know how to treat them right and do so- they depend on you, they need you- even so its just a dog.

I'll admit once in a wile there will be a dog thats so messed up by humans he will get aggressive. I feel always sorry for them the way they have to go.

[Tars]

You're absolutely right Edie. There would be fewer dogs in the pound by far, if pet owners took the time to research breeds before acquiring a dog, no matter what the source. I'd like to see the required classes similar to what they have in some port cities for people who want to buy motor yachts. The hopeful buyer is required to take a class that teaches them the legal and practical implications of having and operating a motor yacht. These classes save countless boaters from killing themselves or causing damage to others.

A big problem with getting dogs from a pound is, that no matter what the local pound volunteer says, the new dog owner has adopted an unknown. This has potentially horrific consequences. The large majority of pet owners get a dog because it was "so darned cute". They didn't realize that "Bounce" is inbred, and is going to grow up into a neurotic Pit Bull, that doesn't play well with the neighbors' toddlers. Or less severe, maybe it's a breed that has chronic coat problems that stink, or is genetically prone to displasia.

[edie]

Yes Tars, I can see all of it with your eyes, and all of it can come true, but not that often.

As with the classes, it would help- there is one catch. With the boats you have laws. With the animals not. I know people who had five cats and through them out; then they had six little dogs and got rid of them; then two big dogs who killed the neighbors cat; later one of the dogs got run over by a car... on and on.. there is no law to prevent people like that from having no more animals, etc.

As for the potentially horrific consequences... yes, I can understand that too.
Same as I could get married to someone I knew for a long time... should he-she turn horrific on me, I would let him-her go because I know he-she is able to stand on two feet and might THINK it over... A dog you can get to a professional trainer and most of the time you get a great good dog back...

I am not sure a "bounce" is inbred- a trainer would know. My german shepherd was a jumper till I figured out every time someone lifted an arm she jumped- perhaps the last owner trained her to do so. I stopped her fast.

She also started to have a doggy smell and a crummy dry coat which she tried to scratch the bloody hell out of it. I had to figure out something quick.
1. NO more food or dog-cookies with CORN in it. That was for all my dogs from then on.
2. Summers in California are hot and dry. I started to moisten her coat with a water bottle spray every afternoon if need to be and brushed her often... it helped. Was she too dusty, she got a quick sponge-bath with her scruff- dog-rag. After a bath, once in a wile I used a bit olive oil in my hands and rubbed her dry spots (not on sore spots!) she can lick that without getting sick.

I try to figure out things of how to help. Of course that takes time, but I have a better dog afterwards, that's rewarding.

My husky- I didn't know had some wolf in him. I got him from the pound when he was a half year old. He was so cute! He was wild. Chewed up everything including two car seats. I couldn't leave him alone but I had to. I got him to a professional trainer... he came back to me as a great good boy! When he was two he started chasing cats- then trying to kill them. One day we where sitting on a meadow overlooking the Bay. He not just brought me a gopher he ate him. From then on I could NOT EVER let him of the leash except in his yard or a few designated areas where I really had to watch him at all times.. But we where OK- he was beautiful, we where best friends for a long time, he died when he was 13 years old.

I could not ever return any of my animals back to the pound. I worked with them and learned how to help them and therefore myself in the long run.

I never met a killer dog; with the help of people they don't have to be, they shouldn't be, but as you say, there might be a few "born" exceptions.

Tars, dogs smell... babies smell... kitchen smell... a hot wild night with a partner smells... its OK...

[Sciguy]

I must say I am taken aback by the assurance expressed by three successive posters that dogs from the pound are somehow inferior because they are not a recognized breed. At least that's what I took away from the posts.

I got two dogs from the pound about six years ago and they have grown up into two of the sweetest dogs I have ever known. They have no hidden hangups or tricks or deformities. One thing I like about them is that they look like what I think of as DOGS!. They don't have bobbed (cut off) tails or ears, they have doggie snouts, not pushed in wrinkled faces like rotten tomatoes, they have abundant coats not foo foo cuts. They are just plain dogs, friends, loving companions. Their tails wag and they lick my face. I can't imagine where this breedism is coming from.

Paul Palmer

You're absolutely right Edie. There would be fewer dogs in the pound by far, if pet owners took the time to research breeds before acquiring a dog, no matter what the source. I'd like to see the required classes similar to what they have in some port cities for people who want to buy motor yachts. The hopeful buyer is required to take a class that teaches them the legal and practical implications of having and operating a motor yacht. These classes save countless boaters from killing themselves or causing damage to others.

A big problem with getting dogs from a pound is, that no matter what the local pound volunteer says, the new dog owner has adopted an unknown. This has potentially horrific consequences. The large majority of pet owners get a dog because it was "so darned cute". They didn't realize that "Bounce" is inbred, and is going to grow up into a neurotic Pit Bull, that doesn't play well with the neighbors' toddlers. Or less severe, maybe it's a breed that has chronic coat problems that stink, or is genetically prone to displasia.

[Tars]

I must say I am taken aback by the assurance expressed by three successive posters that dogs from the pound are somehow inferior because they are not a recognized breed. At least that's what I took away from the posts.

I'll try to say it simply:

If one desires to acquire a "companion" dog they should in advance:

Research. Then do some more research.

Different breeds, different biologically-programmed behaviors. Try to find a breed that will integrate into your lifestyle. Otherwise, 10-15 years can be a long LONG time to deal with the consequences.

What kind of environment did the dog come from. If it's in the pound, why?

I believe the pound is one of the worst places to get a dog. It's dog gambling, much more so than getting a dog from a reputable breeder. It may be that the dog is there because of a lazy owner. Or did it have soma anti-social behavior? It's a gamble. Similarly, it's a large gamble to get puppies, purebred or not, from someone whose dog was bred by accident, or without planning.

A reputable breeder is one who takes care not to inbreed; and breeds for specific traits. Find a breeder whose breed and pups have the specific traits that fit into your lifestyle. A reputable breeder is one who is known by other breeders, belongs and participates in breed-specific associations. They will have a good idea of a pup's lineage, usually back several generations. AKC or breed-specificic registrations, are not a guarantee.

Don't want to do the research? Better hope you're lucky. Otherwise the results could be anything from annoying to you and those around you, to horrendously dangerous. Been to a dog vet lately? They're getting more and more expensive. Are you willing to pay the expenses for 10-15 years, if your dog has bred in problems? How about the potential legal expenses? How about the dog's happiness over its lifetime if it doesn't fit your particular lifestyle?

Research. Research. Reputable breeder. Those are the ways you can minimize potential problems. It's the best thing you can do to minimize the number of dogs that end up in the pound.

[santarosie]

maybe it's a breed that has chronic coat problems that stink

I find your "pound dogs are smelly" argument rather silly.

It's nature vs nurture...Any researcher or scientist worth their salt knows they both weigh in.
A purebred canine doesn't assure you anything except physical attributes, and even then, doesn't guarantee against deformities. Those purebreds (aka homogeneous off-sping) are just mixes going back a few generations or so. Mixing (heterogeneous off-spring) is what has given us so many breed types, and the development of new breeds continues (the names just keep getting stupider). Desirable traits can be bred for, but personality and behavioral outcome is not guaranteed by breeding homogenous offspring. That is much more dependent upon nurture.

Undisciplined is undisciplined. As edie so eloquently stated, training is what you can do to overcome problem behaviors. And undesirable characteristics (barking, digging, stinkyness) can be worked with and resolved, usually in simple ways if you are committed to making it happen. I've seen people give up way too easily because they're busy, lazy, and for a million other reasons.

I worked in the shelter as a volunteer for many years, and as a consummate dog lover of ALL dogs, have talked to thousands of people about their dog experiences. I have more examples than I can count of people having wonderful loving relationships with the dogs they adopted from shelters, whether homogeneously or heterogeneously bred. Also, with a "mutt" the guessing of breed types can be quite fun, and has led to some great conversations about dogs. They can be quite unique looking, which (to me) is more endearing than the homogeneous ones.

I adopted a 4 year old dog from the county shelter two months ago. She was big and black and looked very very very scared in her kennel, but responded well to contact with people and another dog. She had been at the shelter for at least 10 days, and I knew she didn't have long, so I got her. She's awesome. Sweet, loving, responsive, calm, enthusiastic, and silly. She obviously had some physical mishandling in her past, and was devastated by the loss of her family, but is working hard to love and trust again. She was also pretty sick with a respiratory infection when I got her, but loving care (and antibiotics) got her through it and she is now healthy and happy. I rescued this animal from pretty certain death; I feel good about that, and she is a really great dog.

My last dog, Rogue (RIP pretty girl), was amazing.
I adopted her spontaneously on a road trip through Montana in 1996, and the relationship changed my life. The offspring of a female ranch dog (they didn't knows who her Daddy was), she was a husky, malamute, and german shepherd mix (maybe wolf too??), and she made friends wherever she went. She was sweet, strong, loyal, and incredibly healthy for all of her 13.5 years.

My advice: do your research about different dog breeds and learn about their inherent characteristics, and just as important, decide what "characteristics" and "personality type" will fit into your life, and search for a dog that fits you. Also, adoption should be for the rest of the animals life, so intend to be totally committed to that. And most critically, a puppy of any breed(s) is still a baby who needs to be raised into a good dog. Puppy raising is hard work and requires months and months of diligent monitoring and extensive training. And if you can't or won't do that, PLEASE DON'T GET A PUPPY. Adopt an older dog, whether heterogeneously or homogeneously bred, and look for one that has the characteristics that match your life style: active or sedentary, talkative or quiet, grooming needs, social skills, etc. And be prepared to deal with adjustment issues and unanticipated annoyances. Enjoy growing old together...what a gift!

P.S. Tars, I don't expect your mind to be changed by my opinions and experiences, and you'll probably continue to disagree because you need to justify your breeding program. I wish you and so many others didn't feel the need to breed, but unfortunately, wishing isn't enough to stop the overpopulation of dogs who become unwanted and turn into the victims described in the original post.

[Tars]

I find your "pound dogs are smelly" argument rather silly.

Okeydoke. Whatever. You used quotes. I neverf said, "pound dogs are smelly". I said that if one doesn't do research and depends only on luck, when picking a puppy/dog, then they will have to deal with the consequences for 10-15 years. If they want to do that with their time, their choice. But, if they take the time to do some advance research, and then get their dog from a reputable breeder, they can greatly reduce the odds of adopting a dog with signifcant (time consuming, expensive) built-in problems.I was silly to suggest that?

My advice: do your research about different dog breeds and learn about their inherent characteristics, and just as important, decide what "characteristics" and "personality type" will fit into your life, and search for a dog that fits you.

As I'd said...

you'll probably continue to disagree because you need to justify your breeding program.

Huh? I don't need to justify my breeding program to you or anyone. I know I'm doing the right thing for the breed, dogs in general, and pet owners in general. Hope you have luck with your all dogs are wonderful perspective; you'll need it.

[Sciguy]

Tars:
Santarosie implied that you are a breeder of dogs. Is that what is going on here? Is that why you are over the top arguing for "research into breeds"? I haven't followed every post so maybe you even said it publicly but I missed it. If that's the case, I would discount your heavy pressure to invest in a recognized breed, which, frankly, I could not understand.

So do you have a personal and financial investment in breeding?

Paul Palmer

Okeydoke. Whatever. You used quotes. I neverf said, "pound dogs are smelly". I said that if one doesn't do research and depends only on luck, when picking a puppy/dog, then they will have to deal with the consequences for 10-15 years. If they want to do that with their time, their choice. But, if they take the time to do some advance research, and then get their dog from a reputable breeder, they can greatly reduce the odds of adopting a dog with signifcant (time consuming, expensive) built-in problems.I was silly to suggest that?



As I'd said...



Huh? I don't need to justify my breeding program to you or anyone. I know I'm doing the right thing for the breed, dogs in general, and pet owners in general. Hope you have luck with your all dogs are wonderful perspective; you'll need it.

[santarosie]

You are correct Paul:

I am a "dog person", and I breed dogs of a particular breed and size.

The reason so many dogs are euthanized in shelters is simple. There are many more dogs being bred than can be cared for by humans who are inclined to do so. And when they are not properly cared for, they become a burden to society.

They wind up in shelters and rescue groups when they are no longer being cared for by a particular human, and many (WAY TOO MANY) are destroyed every day; some because they become unmanageable without proper care and guidance, many because they become ill or injured, and most because there are too many and their time runs out.

It's a tragedy.

[santarosie]

Okeydoke. Whatever. You used quotes. I neverf said, "pound dogs are smelly".

You are right, those were not your words. I was paraphrasing.

An indirect quotation, or paraphrase, is a restatement of a thought expressed by someone else that is written in your own style that needs to be documented.

We definitely agree on advising people to do their research on dogs to find one that fits their lifestyle.

As a volunteer, I never tried to push a dog on someone just to find it a home. I asked many questions and worked hard to recommend a dog that was a good match based on personality (which is based only partially on breed type(s), and I always encouraged people to think it through carefully and do their homework. This is one of the important functions that most shelter workers I have encountered try very hard to accomplish. People do make emotional decisions about adopting a dog, and like your wife, wind up taking one home that may not be appropriate for them. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with a shelter adoption, but hope you won't hold that against shelter dogs forever.

ADOPT from a shelter (or rescue group) and save a life

[Tars]

Santarosie implied that you are a breeder of dogs. Is that what is going on here?

Best to read a thread before jumping in.

you are over the top arguing for "research into breeds"?

"Over the top"? Are you over the top for making comments about something to which you admit ignorance? Get your own house in order before you criticize someone else's.

I haven't followed every post so maybe you even said it publicly but I missed it.

Blatantly apparent.

I would discount your heavy pressure to invest in a recognized breed,

What "heavy pressure"? Because I disagree with the viewpoint of your apparently-preferred poster, I'm applying "heavy pressure"?

Again try to read before you speak.

So do you have a personal and financial investment in breeding?

If you'd read before talking, you'd realize that's a dumb question. Read before you ask.

I think I'm going to bow out of this discussion at this time. I've given my opinions on the subject. The thread looks like it's starting to devolve, so you all can continue with that process without me.

I wish any of you who choose to have dogs in their life the best of luck. I love dogs, and I know they've had a great impact on my life. I hope they do the same for you.

[Sciguy]

Tars:
Pretty lowdown, trying to divert attention to whether or not I read and remembered your golden words or had the temerity to ask a question that had been answered, had I but done some research. Sounds to me like you've got something to hide, maybe in plain sight.

Yes, in my opinion you were over the top. It wasn't that you simply stated your belief that pure breeds were far better than dogs from the pound, it was that you were so cock-sure of it. You kept saying that we should do research. I couldn't really figure out what kind of research we were supposed to do so it didn't make sense. Can you research breed qualities and then be sure that each member of that breed was a clone and sure to evince breed qualities? I always thought individual dogs were as variable as individual family members. The pound sometimes lets you take home a dog for a short time to get to know it. This seems more valuable than some kind of research to me. Maybe the pound is a better place to do meaningful research. But you were so certain that getting a pure breed was best. Now I know why. You have an iron in that fire.

So forget all that crap about how I should have known you are a breeder. I think I finally figured out what I needed to understand in my conversation with Santarosie and I don't need your second guessing us.

Paul Palmer

Best to read a thread before jumping in.

"Over the top"? Are you over the top for making comments about something to which you admit ignorance? Get your own house in order before you criticize someone else's.


Blatantly apparent.

What "heavy pressure"? Because I disagree with the viewpoint of your apparently-preferred poster, I'm applying "heavy pressure"?

Again try to read before you speak.

If you'd read before talking, you'd realize that's a dumb question. Read before you ask.

I think I'm going to bow out of this discussion at this time. I've given my opinions on the subject. The thread looks like it's starting to devolve, so you all can continue with that process without me.

I wish any of you who choose to have dogs in their life the best of luck. I love dogs, and I know they've had a great impact on my life. I hope they do the same for you.

[bill shearer]

I want to point out that in addition to the clear benefit to our companion animals of not breeding more of them when we do not have homes for the ones that already exist, the benefit to yourself. You are ever so much more likely to get the companion you seek by adopting instead of breeding. When you adopt you and your family can meet and evaluate the individual animals to find someone that is a good fit in your life. Breeding in hope of getting just what you want is a crap shoot by comparison.
Adopting is win-win.
Cheers,
Dodie

["Mad" Miles]

Just wish to point out that the headline for this old thread reads, "Are you considering breeding your companion" because of its length. And in reply to that I say, Yes! Whenever I have one and she is willing to "breed" with me. Or at least willing to go through the motions of "breeding." Yes, that's a most definite yes.

[Moon]

Read One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter by Diane Leigh and Marilee Geyer, and then, if you have a heart at all, I can't believe you would either intentionally cause more cats or dogs to be born or buy from a breeder, no matter how supposedly conscientious. If you want people with hearts to be able to breed dogs or cats in the future, work for near-universal neutering now.