Should all Pet Quality puppies be altered?
 

I am posting this because I am a firm believer that puppymills and other irresponsible breeding would take place if pups were s/n before leaving the homes. I truly believe it would, just wanted to know the opinion of others.

Hugs,
Irene

I agree with you that they should be s/n before leaving the breeder. Brutus wasn't but we did it at 6 months. The only penalty for us if we didn't would be that we couldn't register him with the AKC. I don't think that's much of a penalty if I wanted to breed him.

I voted YES -- all pet quality pups should be spayed/neutered. :thumbup:

Type-O

ok I am a little bit confused, when you guys say "pet quality" do you mean that they are not up to show standards? And are pet quality not "good quality" I am just a little bit confused on what you mean. Also if they are "pet quality" does that mean that there is something wrong with them?

That they were sold to someone as a PET by the breeder, for whatever reason.

Irene

I think by 'pet quality' they are talking about dogs that are off breed standard, too tiny to breed (YES tiny = don't breed!) or purchased solely for the purpose of a sweet little confidant and pal. I am just assuming, I may be wrong.

I think they should be s/n, especially coming from a pet mill. However, at the cost of s/n I don't forsee this as being likely to happen. I just paid $250 to have my little girl spayed. I think it would be GREAT, but unlikely in my opinion.

If a yorkie does not meet the standard then, yes, they should

I voted no. I don't think all should, but I do understand where you are coming from.
Toby is pet quality, and he wasn't neutered when I got him, and didn't have limited registration either. I am debating whether or not I am going to neuter him, b/c I am afraid of the change in personality, and of drastic weight gain. I have experience with getting 2 dogs fixed, both dogs personality changed, they both became very lazy, and both gain a substancial amount of weight even though they weren't eating any more than usual, and were getting the same amount of exersize.
Don't get me wrong I know where you are coming from, but I am not for sure if I will get Toby fixed at all, unless he starts marking, but so far he is doing awesome with house training. I have no other dogs in the home, but if there were and there was a chance he could cause a pregnancy, he would def. be fixed.
I hope noone bashes me on this, I am just saying that under my personal circumstances, I dunno if I would, but I do think that it's generally a good idea to have them fixed.

I voted yes! If you have no plans to breed or show I don't
really understand the reluctance. At my last obedience
class one of the other members dogs came into heat and
she didn't have a clue. She even had to ask if she needed
to keep her male and female seperate. The lack of knowledge
drives me beyond crazy! I would welcome getting a puppy
that was already altered because my interest is soley to
have a new family member. It was horrible on me to take
Ted to be neutered and if I could have saved those feelings
of worry it would have been worth gold to me.

Only if they don't meet standard. There are alot of dogs that meet standard that are not 'show worthy.' I see nothing wrong with breeding them so that others, not interested in show, can have pets. I am sure that in a perfect world, we would all have Yorkies that could win in any ring, but in this world, that ain't gonna happen.

Let me add this...what if you (speaking third party) sold a puppy as a "PET"? Regardless of the quality. The agreement between the breeder and buyer was that the puppy was going to be a PET. Let's for get everything else for a second. And think of all the puppies that are sold with S/N contracts no actual enforcement is where I see the problem..anyone agree or disagree with that? Just curious what the thoughts out there on that?

If I was a breeder and I was selling my pups as PETS only, I would spay and neuter them before they left my home. If I was selling a pup to someone who shows dogs, then obviously I would leave the dog unaltered.

I personally think spay/neuter contracts are silly because someone can easily SAY that they had their dog spayed/neutered but in reality could be lying. For my own piece of mind, I would have it done myself before they go to their new home.

Jenn! Exactly my thoughts!..CKC (Continental Kennel club) would be happy to registered a litter that has parents that are Limited AKC registered..

uuummm....hhhhhmmmmm....
 

I do not have a spay/neuter contract with Wosie. My breeder does not sell her dogs with one, and her point of view is if you pay for a pup, you can do what you want with it. Is she a BYB? Maybe. Her facility was awesome with some high tech features that made me quite confortable that she does not consider herself as such.

I do agree with Jennifer, and if breeders are so adamant about the fact that the pups should be spayed or neutered, then the pup should not leave the breeder without this being done. Otherwise, it's all talk, no action. The cost of spay/neuter would not raise the price of a pup all that much, and proves that the breeder is indeed a responsible inhabitant of this earth that has too many homeless pups now.

Breeders: How do you control your spay/neuter contracts? Do you withhold AKC (or whatever country) registration? What do you do to guarantee that this has been done by your buyer?

Would I purchase a pup that had already been spayed/neutered? I would. Would my husband? Probably not. We bought a Sheltie 12 years ago, and she came from an incredible championship line on both the sire and dam's side. The breeder sold the pups at one price with a spay/neuter contract, and at a higher price without, and if you did not give her the pick of any first litter, the price was higher still. With her it was not a question of protecting the breed, but of money. But was she a BYB? Not at all. She had all home-raised gorgeous dogs that she had invested a boatload of time, money, and energy (showing) in.

I do agree that in the interest of protecting the breed and cutting down on homeless animals, perhaps enforcing spay/neuter contracts is a good thing. But for the price I paid for my pup, I would prefer to make that decision myself. I am happy that my breeder agrees.

I am not trying to bait or entice anyone to kill me. I love being here and don't want to upset anyone. But I know this thread is going to incite all kinds of riot anyhow, so OK, I'm ready! BLAST AWAY if you must! :p