cuddleparty

Discuss it all here... share your opinions but don't be a.s.s.holes about it...

taxtell

Tough call really.

BYB can be ok if the people have their hearts in the right place and some semblance of knowledge.
Puppy mills...I wish there was a way we could just do away with them.
Frustrating as all hell to deal with the puppy mill puppies we get at the clinic (most of the time). Then we get the rescues who take the mill puppies and adopt them out...which is another kettle of fish.

I was going to go with a breeder for our Spoo pup, one that I knew was probably a BYB, but I knew two dogs that came from her,and they are both nice, well behaved, smart dogs. And then I just happened to look on Petfinder(which I usually know better than to do!) and saw Flip with a rescue. We really have no clue what his story was, aside from that he was a 'breeder relinquish' in Alabama, and ended up with a local rescue here in Milwaukee. I am guessing he is back yard bred, but who knows? Until he can learn to talk, we're SOL

I am a firm believer in 'knowing' when you see the dog, if it is going to be a good fit for you. I trust my gut...and every time I haven't trusted it, I regretted it.

So, if you end up saving a dog from a puppy mill, a rescue or a BYB, be ready to deal with issues.
That isn't to say that an impeccibly bred dog won't have issues either, but probably less likely.

Do what is right for you and your family, is the moral of the story. Know what you are prepared to deal with.

Harley_chik

IMO, any large scale breeding program, where money is the top priority is a puppymill. They can be clean, do health testing and even have show titles, but the dog's are getting the attention they need and the puppies won't be socialized.

A BYB is a small scale breeder that doesn't do health screenings or prove their dogs in some way. The may ignorant of what responsible breeding is or just not want to put the effort and finances into breeding responsibly.

While I don't agree with going to BYBs, they are an improvement over buying from a petstore/fleamarket/online broker. You can see your pups parents and evaluate their temperment and you see how your puppy was raised. This is only if your willing to take the innitiative and go to their home though.

cuddleparty

Cheers Taxtell.. I was trying to put an end to one of my other threads by bringing the discussion over here

spoospirit

Really like your answer, Taxtell!

Cdnjennga

IMO

BYB are people who might have their hearts in the right place but have little knowledge about breeding. They tend to just throw 2 dogs together who are of a low standard with no health testing behind them. BYB may be nice people, but by some estimations they are the biggest source of unwanted dogs in North America. Most dogs at shelters and rescues come from BYB.

Puppy Mills breed for profit only. They have little to no concern for their breeding dogs or pups and do the bare minimum to keep their "breeding stock" alive. They also churn out a very high volume of puppies per year.

Breeders split into many categories - there are many breeders who I would not feel comfortable going with. I will focus on reputable breeders. Reputable breeders get their dogs from good lines, put titles on them of some variety (confirmation and or performance), do all the standard health testing and more, have their dogs living in their home with them, have no more than 2 or 3 litters a year, raise the puppies in their home, care about where their puppies go and stand behind them if the owners have any problems down the line. There's not many breeders who actually meet my criteria for "reputable".

IMO if everyone only got their dogs from "reputable" breeders or rescue/ shelters, that would be great. Hey if noone got dogs from BYB or puppy mills, then shelters/ rescues would almost go out of business! Wouldn't that be great.

I should add I would be happy if people got pups from breeders that do the bare minimum of what I think they should do. Quality dogs, health testing, stand by the puppies.

Sivaro

Simple, reg'd purebred breeders and papers showing generations of parantage. They do the required health tests and keep trying to improve on the breed. No reg'd breeder wants an unsound puppy being bred causing pain to the owner or pup.

BYBs yes some care but still do not do the required tests and it doesnt matter which dog they put their bitch to. They use the one dog in their yard and seem to make a little profit along the way where the difference is that a reg'd breeder doing the test and one that does show spend a small fortune on a breed they dont want to die out over genetic problems. BYBs dont have enough info on health and think a normal vet saying the pup is healthy is good enough, they dont realise we have specialists in the field that we pay a small fortune to.

Puppy mills need a bomb up their ass....... simple

Purley

Oh for sure. BYB's are way above puppy mills. They might do it for the money; they might not do health testing or care about the temperament of the dogs, but they are still way above keeping dogs in the disgusting conditions that I have seen on TV in shows about puppy mills.

When I was first looking for a Shih-tzu, I phoned an ad in the paper for shih-tzu puppies. I was really surprised in my discussion with the woman selling the puppies, when I pointed out to her that really, she could not guarantee that what she was selling was actually a "purebred" shih-tzu. I said that in the past maybe someone bred a Bichon to a Shih-tzu and took the most Shih-tzu looking puppy and bred it later on to another unregistered puppy that looked like a Shih-tzu and really she could be selling Bichon/Shih-tzu crosses -- and she actually agreed with me. But I doubt that she stopped doing it. At least that was the only "breed" of puppies she was producing - she wasn't breeding multiple different crosses, at least she said she wasn't.