I understand what you are saying there, but i still don't like to give a commercial breeder who does have a very fine facility and takes pride and good care in his/her dogs and puppies the tag of "puppy mill" because around here in the midwest puppy mills are the ones with the manged dogs and the poor falling in kennels and all the horrible treatments. I am from MO and it has been listed the puppy mill state of the USA, however, i know several personal friends that would be considered commercial or backyard breeders who have beautiful indoor kennels with individual areas for each family of dogs and that take very very good care of their adults and pups and do a wonderful job of it, they have more than one breed and more than one mommy in their facility and some of you automatically label them a puppy mill. IMO these people should not be given the label puppy mill because they are not the same thing as the puppy mills that you see on Oprah or on ASPA commercials, they are VERY VERY different things entirely...

i guess it's just the world we live in though, labels and stereotypes that give everyone a bad name when not everyone really is as bad as the labels they are given.

IMO, there are puppy mills and there are dirty, filthy puppy mills. To me, any facility that mass produces dogs for profit, where the dogs are kept in cages or kennels for the majority of their lives is a puppy mill...no matter how clean or modern the facility is. I would prefer to get a dog from a breeder where I know the dog has recieved one on one tender love and care, inside the breeders home where the dog is valued for more than just how much money they can make.

The very term "mill" means:

a building or group of buildings with machinery for manufacturing or processing something; factory

That's why commercial kennels were nicknamed "mills".

As I said, though, the term as come to be associated with the condition of the kennel, not just the volume of puppies produced.

The Hunte Corporation that Nancy mentioned above is a perfect example. They have state-of-the-art facilities, but the sheer volume of puppies they produce still makes them a "mill".

CKC does inspections as well as limited registration for litters ,all info is here
Continental Kennel Club
Having a dog that is AKC registered can be misleading to buyers.
I think we need to make it more important to check out the breeder first ...including records,enviroment,breeding stock just to name a few.
AKC does not automatically mean they did not come from a puppy mill.
I have seen so many who buy their pet store puppy and say but he /she is AKC and think this means automatic did not come from a puppy mill.
I think we can all agree the buyers should be more informed on all fronts before purchasing a puppy.

:thumbup:I agree completely

Lol, don't get me wrong, the Hunte Corporation buys their dogs from a variety of sources, and the one in their video was really nice, but they made the video. To get a better idea of the type of breeders Hunte buys from see this video. For those who aren't familiar with puppy mills I urge you to watch these videos. View Investigation Report

Just to go on record here... CKC can be
The Canadian Kennel Club, which is MUCH like the AKC, or it can be the...

"Continental Kennel Club" which is basically a pet registry for un proven purebreds... that's to say no proof of breeding/pedigree, just some snap shots, and a signature of someone who agrees/believes the dog is purebred.

You are absolutely right about the Continental Kennel Club. This is taken from their website:

2. Dogs over 6 months of age which have no previous Registration history may be registered by providing 2 witness signatures attesting to the purebred status of the dog along with 3 photos (front,left and right) of the dog to confirm it is ‘of proper breed type".

It's important to note that these so-called witnesses do not have to be a vet or have any expert knowledge of the breed. A signature from Joe Smoo down the street who says, "Yup, she looks like a Yorkie to me" will do just fine!

That is just for those who are in their recommended breeders program though and does not apply to all, which is unfortunate, but better than nothing. :)

That is often the case, but not always. It doesn't mean that every single dog registered with them did so by merely submitting a photo. :rolleyes: (Although that certainly does mar their credibility.) So assume that every CKC reg dog obtained their registration just by submitting a photo would be inaccurate.