I`m sickened by the attitude towards breeders here.
My parents breed dogs (Dobermanns) since years. Around 30-40 years. They took over an old breed, one of the last, likely even the last, breed of dobermanns not bred for show and looks but for labor. (A side effect is that our dobermanns look better than any others, are more intelligent and live far longer than the odinary dobermann. Our dogs have won several championships.) My mother is a very educated dog teacher- Indeed, she even was invited to the K-9 in the USA once in order to teach them some new tricks and has probably forgotten more than most so called "experts" learn in a life time. One of her dear friends is that one guy who live(d) or still lives with wolves, being accepted as a member of their pack. His name always slips my mind, though.
So, i`m proud and frankly offended when people say "Breeders are the evil". How much do we earn per litter, one might ask. We demand 1000€ per puppy, which is just and fair for puppies hailing from such an, let`s call it exquisite, breed.
And how much do we earn? Almost nothing, perhaps one or two thousand € per litter of around 7 or 8 puppies. Feeding, ordering the papers, having them inspected by veterinarian, vaccinating them, providing free education for the dogs and their owners etc. costs much. My parents breed those dogs not for money, but for the sake of keeping the last good breed of dobermanns alive.
1000€ might sound much, but if we`d demand anything less we would actually lose money.
Now, serious breeders like my parents aren`t the problem. The people and unserious breeders are.
People don`t like to spend money. If they see a dog for 200€ and one for 1000€ they will almost always choose the 200€ dog. Which is funny, since they often end up paying more for that 200€ dog than they would have to pay for the 1000€ dog, since those will often have serious medical problems.. And usually only live half as long.
Yet people are idiots and want the cheap dogs. Many, many breeders are happy to provide those- They mostly hail from eastern europe and simply throw their dogs together, let them breed, harvest the litter and sell them out of the trunks of their cars. They often have 20-30 breeding "pairs" of dogs, living in horrible conditions and misery. The puppies are malnourished, mongrels without papers and neither vaccinated nor educated. It doesn`t matter how many die, the sheer numbers will grant them a profit.
In contrast: We have several breeding pairs but never more than two litters at the same time. Our dogs don`t live in kennels but in our very house. As i write this one of our dogs sleeps in our living room, while 5 members of our pack play in the garden.
The animal shelters are also another huge problem for us honest breeders. The dogs sheltered there are often those from such shady breeders- After all, only idiots (Or people in great hardships) would throw a 1000€ dog into a shelter.
We, for example, let every customer sign a agreement which prohibits them from giving our dogs to shelters- Instead we offer to take them back.
The sheer availability of dogs in shelters make it hard for breeders to sell their puppies- No one is able to sell them cheaper than shelters. Which forces the breeders to breed more and to demand less money for their dogs, resulting in even bigger "mass breeding" grounds. Which in turn leads to more dogs given to the shelters etc. It`s a circle, which keeps repeating itself because people want to be cheated.
And not to forget that dogs from shelters often have no education at all, and few people today are able to educated their dogs well.
Well, enough ramblings- Here are some tips:
1. Don`t play too much with your dog. Honestly, a dog doesn`t need as much excitement as many think. Grant him periods of long rest- Walking two, perhaps three, times a day with your dog would actually be enough. A dog being alone for 6-8 hours? Completely legit and no problem at all.
2. Only show him good things and he will recognize bad things on sight. Some of our dogs aren`t trained- We simply don`t have the time for it. Yet, by simply being reasonable the dogs learn far more than those of most other dog owners. They know what is good and what is evil. Our neighbor is laboring next to us with several workers each day, right when our young and still "untrained" dogs are playing in the garden. They don`t mind him or his workers at all. Once they acted funny, though. And lo and behold- One of the workers was a convict from a juvenile hall. (They lend those out to people who need workers.) and he fled that day. So, even if you don`t have the time to train the dog, show him only good and reasonable stuff and he will learn enough.
3. Get a good collar/leash. Many people turn up to the lessons of my mum with insufficient gear. Try to buy a collar made from steel rings- Though, thick, rings. A few months ago someone had lent me his collar.. It looked like a good one but the rings where too thin. They snapped during exercise with my dog. Now imagine that those could have snapped in a life or death situation..
4. Never panic; Never show insecurity. Be confident! If your dog acts up while on the leash or something don`t panic. Keep a cool head, say "NO!" or whatever command you want to use for such a situation and make a quick tug on the leash. Not hard, and don`t keep the leash taut- Be quick, earnest and firm and the dog will learn. No dog learns anything if you "dance around" with your leash or if you keep the leash taut shouting "no, no, no!".
When you pass another dog or something else on the street that might cause your dog to act up don`t panic. If you think "Oh my god, now there will be trouble!" your hound will sense that and will likely act up. Ignore the "danger" instead, walk by, pet your dog and show him that he doesn`t have to mind the other dogs or bikers. You have to be a leader, someone who shows the dog what to do. If you don`t he will try to be the leader- Which causes almost all of the problems people usually have with their dogs.
Wow, well, too exhausted to write more. If questions come up i`ll write more.
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Topic: Getting a puppy, internet advice (Read 6779 times)