Showsight - September 2017

Going Extinct: BY CARA RYCKMAN Breeders in Hiding

I am a responsible breeder—a Breeder of Merit, given that designation by AKC. I breed only a few litters a year – and often only have 1 to 2 puppies per litter. When I do place a puppy, I utilize limited registration and spay/neuter con- tract, or the puppy is already spayed or neutered before placement. I am in no way a business – but I enjoy breed- ing and exhibiting dogs as a lifelong hobby. What I spent on my dogs in 2016 goes into 6 digit figures. What I made on my dogs in 2016 was NOTHING! In fact if my CPA took a look, he’d tell me I’m crazy. I am indeed. Crazy about my dogs. When I place an older puppy or adult, it is gen- erally for the fee of the spay or neuter, and I allow the buyer to pay directly to my vet. I am in this for the right reasons – the betterment of the breed. As I’m preaching to the choir, I think we can agree I’m one of the good guys. Unfortunately, I am finding it more and more difficult to advertise an available pet because of the rage of the anti- breeder crazies. I did a paid ad on my facebook page to try to get more “likes” and more visibility of what I post, due to Facebook’s policy now where most who belong to your page do not see your posts. This was prior to Facebook’s new policy of no animal sales. I had to block 5 people. On a show quality bitch I was placing due to her breeder no longer showing dogs, I had a ranting woman screaming for her to be spayed. This same bitch was reposted by an individual begging rescue to “save her!” I let this person know that she did not need saving, that in the past I have kept a dog for over 2 years who I was trying to place because I had not yet found the right person. One woman was going completely nuts on me “Facebook does not allow people to advertise pets!” (Well apparently they did at that time, they certainly took my money.) One was saying it was “sad” that I would place a retired breeding bitch in a loving pet home where she would receive more attention. Another lady was crying out that everyone should boycott me, the evil breeder, as long as there were dogs in shelters. I considered strongly answering publicly each and every one of these detractors, yet in the end I just deleted their posts and blocked each of them where they can’t see or post on my page. It is officially “cool” to hate dog breeders. I do not often have dogs for sale. I have given dogs to friends I know will provide them with excellent homes. There is a young lady who I allowed to buy one dog from me for $100, and her second dog from me I gave to her. It is a wonderful home where she posts pictures to facebook continuously…I have been able to see these babies grow over the years. Would that every home be like that! But, inevitably there are times that I need to place a dog that I may not have a definite home for in mind. I feel very strongly that a retirement home is a wonderful thing for an ex show dog/breeding dog to get to experience that pet life

where they don’t have to compete for attention as one of many. They don’t have to see that RV pulling out for the next dog show and they are staying at home, but they get to accompany Mom to work or help Dad around the house. Even the best breeder will have pet puppies to occasionally place. Many years ago, when a responsible breeder had a pet to place they would put it in the newspaper. I remember you could always tell the responsible breeder vs. the back- yard breeder or even worse, the “puppy mill” type ads. You could look to see what registry a breeder was using, if health clearances had been obtained on the dogs prior to breeding, you could see if a breeder showed their dogs and see how the dogs and puppies were described in the ad. There were many articles out there at the time on how to tell the responsible breeder from the pet breeder who was in it to make money. People don’t read a newspaper any- more – just about everything has gone to online. Magazines also are not somewhere people go to look for a puppy. Craigslist is an interesting animal. Craigslist policies state in its prohibited offerings are “pet sales (re-homing with small adoption fee ok)”. Of course, anyone who checks out Craigslist can see that is completely ignored. It is the mecca of the money breeders who sell puppies for $100-200. Any responsible breeder advertising would be flagged, but due to the price of these puppies, these back- yard breeder ads often slip by. Savvy money breeders know the terminology to use, actually stating they are “rehoming” the puppies. There are (truly crazy) people who apparently do nothing all day but sit ‘flagging’ craigslist ads that do not fit the less than $200 “rescue” guideline. Puppyfind or some of the breeder referral pages can lead to mixed results – an occasional sincere good home, a few educatable people, down to people just simply trying to obtain breeding stock for money breeding. Many ads of dogs that do not even look like the breeds they are repre- senting crowd the few pets from responsible breeders. I believe it is possible to find a good home there, but unfor- tunately it’s national…you can see dogs in your area by refining the search, but a person on there looking for a companion may not be able to find a dog in their area. Hoobly. I have never advertised on Hoobly, but at first glance it’s a scary place. Many “micros” and “teacups” advertised for huge prices, and these are terms in our breed that are used by pet breeders. Interestingly enough, their puppies without health cleared parents bred for par- ticular colors or size are priced higher than my show pup- pies. There are a few ads who do appear to be pet puppies for normal prices. The ads I pull up on Hoobly not local – pet families are looking local. I just can’t see that Hoobly

164 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017

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