Y'know, this thread is just terrible to read. It's just rotten to read about a number of people having bad experiences with a breeder. I live in Alberta and not too long ago went through the process of finding a breeder. Of course I had come across Deana but I knew immediately I wouldn't even bother contacting her. What is her purpose for breeding? Is she just breeding to produce more dogs?
I believe people should seek out a show breeder, one that they feel comfortable with, for a number of reasons. A show breeder is trying to produce the best dogs they can. That would involve not only things like health testing, but also things like being able to analyze pedigrees, keeping up to date on genetics research, and so on. So they should, from a statistical standpoint, have much better odds of producing healthy dogs. They breed to better the breed. And there's a number of breeders out there who say that but they won't elaborate on what that means to them. A show breeder is breeding for things like health, temperament, and conformation. And those features are more likely to be present in their dogs because they've worked really really hard for years. And they tend to be very passionate about the breed.
Genetics is involved, usually quite strongly, in nearly everything; including many health issues which are congenital and even the susceptibility of some health issues that are acquired. A show breeder is basically doing eugenics for dogs as a means to better the breed and improve the genetic quality. When I was contacting breeders, I wanted them to impress me by telling me all about the science involved in how they select which dogs to breed together (and I think you tend to get that with show breeders more so than others), and then after that I wanted to see how much time, money, and effort they put into caring for the puppies. I think too often potential buyers will maybe see a picture of a dog on a website and become emotionally attached without giving much thought to these issues. Or perhaps don't understand that two healthy dogs can produce an unhealthy dog because of recessive genes and other factors as well. And that might not be something people think about unless they've perhaps studied genetics in high school or university. There's definitely a lot that goes into somebody being an amazing breeder and producing quality healthy dogs. That's why I insisted on only purchasing from a show breeder - because I knew I would have better odds of getting a healthy dog.
In regards to this Deana woman, perhaps she's taking every precaution to breed the best dogs she can. But I doubt it. If she was breeding like that she'd probably be showing her dogs. And it's kinda suspect with this thread and all the people talking about getting an unhealthy dog from her. Certainly even with the most thorough pedigree analyses and everything else, an unhealthy dog can come about perhaps because of 'genetic noise' or whatever other reason. It's just something that can happen, but health issues can be reduced if the breeder is breeding in a thoughtful manner. But much more telling is Deana's response to this thread. There was a different way for her to respond. I can understand that she's probably upset about this thread. But to respond the way she did, all I can say is that I'm very glad I decided not to deal with her. But I knew that ahead of time. She's not a show breeder. She's just breeding for the purpose of producing more dogs. |