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Originally Posted by sylvan I'm with Villette on this one. I personally don't dress my dogs for fun, theirs or mine, because it's mostly pointless, the other kids undress the dressed ones as fast as I can put the stuff on! though I will admit to the occasional funny hat. We do have sweatshirts for chilly outings, but that's about it.
My view on the mill thing is this...mass production of dogs is wrong, they ought not be viewed as a commodity, because they quality of what is produced in that manner is poor. Go look at the sick/training threads for examples of what bad breeding practices result in. Dogs need to be nurtured in a household environment to become good household pets. Even healthy dogs, screened and vetted and fed and kept clean and not over bred that are raised in a mass production environment lack important behavior/socialization skills that are essential to a good dog. Brokers that perpetuate this situation are abhorrent. Backyard breeders are equally as bad when producing puppies without the knowledge of the genetic health background of the dogs bred, especially in a breed with as many potential problems as the yorks can carry without showing in the breeding pair. The ignorance is inexcusable. Anyone promoting the breeding of dogs without this essential background information is just doing a great disservice to the breed. Just because someone has two intact dogs with 'papers' (or without) does not mean they should have pups. Unfortunately they are told the dogs are 'cute' and healthy enough and it's their right to do what they want.
I don't think you can place a number on the amount of dogs a good breeder should have. It is a case by case situation regarding the amount of help each one has in caring for the animals and the space they have in the home. Common sense should rule here. It is obvious to me that I alone could not possibly love and care for 30 dogs properly by myself. There are just not enough hours in the day.
To address one other comment made...buying the mill pups to get them out of the situation only fosters the problem by providing continuing income to the producers. It is tragic to walk away from the sad pups, and I admire all the work done by Bichon rescue in buying auction dogs to rescue, but I don't know if that is a real solution. I believe the only hope for real change is education for the general public to eliminate the market for the mass produced dogs. It's a long shot, but worth trying for. |
This brings up another good point that I have always thought about but you expressed it better than me.
There are a lot of members here who say they wouldn't buy from anything other than A ytca show breeder, but yet, in my opinion, the hobby breeders I have met and spoken to treat their dogs so much better than most, not all, show breeders who seem to view their dogs as "collectibles" rather than loveable creatures who just want to give unconditional love. Even the dogs being shown leave their home to live with handlers in crates in hotel rooms afraid to let them run around and play for fear of messing up their show coat.
The worst kennel I ever visited was that of a show breeder and she kept the males outside in a covered, partially enclosed patio area with lots of water, igloo dog houses and hammock beds. There was a misting system for hot days. Her breeding females were in a separate building that I never saw. Then she had her favorites which were "house dogs" inside with her and her family.,
There is a prejudice too where show breeders talk badly and refuse to associate with "pet breeders" and they want to have us believe that we should not buy from hobby breeders because they do not "follow the standard" or do not know the lineage of their dogs, or are doing it ourely for the money. I think we need to wake up and look at the real reason show breeders bash pet breeders. It is not complimentary for them in my opinion.