An alarming number of dogs being bred
A down turn in the economy and what do some desperate people do? They breed anything with a uterus. That thought came to mind just now when I was at lunch reading one of those local free newspapers. The growing amount of ads for dogs and puppies is alarming. Most of the ads are for “purebred no papers” puppies, which is equal to the wonderful world of MUTT! The prices these people want are outrageous. There were 2 ads for Australian Shepherds one “purebred no papers” and the other one “AKC registered”. The no papered ones were listed for $350 and the AKC for $275 each. I am betting that both of them are from pet quality parents that were bred on a whim of fast cash 90 days ago or more.
What these poor saps don’t realize that is when the unsold puppies are about 6 months old they are not only not as desirable as when they were pups but now are costing them more money in food and vet visits (if indeed they are responsible pet owners and have routine vet care for them). Their little litter of puppies are now big dogs which are usually given away to friends and neighbors. My sister-in-law was sucker enough to actually buy 2 puppies (Golden Retrievers) about 3 years ago from a “breeder”. They were not even weaned yet. No papers and $600 each!!! The dogs are now full grown and look like the worse example of what a Goldie should look like. They are more like short, fat, very wide, long haired Labs. Thank goodness she had the common sense to have them both fixed after I talked her into it. She was actually thinking about breeding brother to sister!!!
I have noticed that this sort of thing with the breeding of dogs, horses and other assorted animals by inexperienced pet owners happens every time the economy takes a down turn.
Most people that have quality dogs that are bred to improve the breed have homes lined up for them even before the parents are bred. Those types of breeders show or enter their dogs in performance events to prove that the dogs are worth breeding on. Their puppies are actually worth the higher prices that they command simply because the generic defects have been bred out and the pups have had vet care from day one. Take for another example a boss I had years ago. She bought a Shih Tzu puppy from a “breeder”. The puppy got very sick within 2 days after she bought it. She told me the poor little thing was puking up spaghetti. She called the breeder and got no answer from her so she took it to the vet. I knew immediately that it was round worms and the vet had told her the same thing. The pup had to be wormed by the vet and watched since it was also found out that the pup was only 4 weeks old and not 10 weeks like she was told. The breeder just wanted her money and didn’t care about the pup at all.
Please stay away from these backyard breeders. By purchasing pups like these you are only encouraging them to breed more.
