Back yard breeders

[LucyR]

On several forums now, posters have offered/solicited breeding mates for their dogs. These individuals are clearly backyard breeders. The responses have been very polite and informative. However in view of the increasing frequency of such posts, I am thinking that we are not getting our message out there about the dangers of BYBs. These are the kinds of activities that various state legislators are trying to shut down. Rightly so. Many of these dogs will wind up abandoned, in shelters, or in the wrong kinds of homes. Dogs that have been obtained as a "gift from a relative" are not in "screened" homes. How do we know the conditions under which such dogs are kept? I am horrified at these posts and am puzzled as to why they are appearing so frequently? The popularity of doodles is growing by leaps and bounds and this is one of the very sad side effects. We have heard about this, but are now beginning to see it among our doodle owner groups. Creative/helpful suggestions/comments needed for action!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Holly, I'm so glad you replied, because I did want you to know that I mean no criticism of you or any of my other DK friends who knowingly or unknowingly got their doodles from questionable sources. Bear is a great doodle, and you are an amazing doodle mom!

[Holly Paterniti]

none taken :)

[Adina P]

I agree with Lucy. I do NOT condemn you for your choice. YOUR story turned out great and you LOVE Bear with all your heart.

But even some people who have puppy mill pups (Straight from a place that inbred neglected, filthy, sick dogs) can end up with nice doggies. Doesn't mean that puppy mills aren't horrible places hurting dogs in the process.

BYB's aren't that horrible...usually dogs are family pets not just caged machines....but they are still irresponsible in their breeding practice. Their dogs may be well loved, but their dogs CAN pass on genetic disease unknowingly even if the breeder 'didn't mean to' cause harm. The reason we want to put out these warnings is that each person's decision affects more than their dog. Each time someone buys from a BYB or even a sweet kind person that doesn't do health testing it reinforces their decision to breed again. It PAYS them for doing things irresponsibly. Someone who does NO health testing makes a lot from a $600 sale.

And this is not to you...but anyone else who is struggling with the prices of doodles..PLEASE consider getting a rescue. If you are patient, the right dog WILL show up!

[Wendy and Eddie]

I think I maybe posted this somewhere else, but when I run into other doodle owners at the dog park who like the size of my guys, they often say their dog was "supposed" to be the size of mine, but kept growing. Their dogs seem great, happy and healthy, but without going through a breeder there is less guarantee of getting what you think you are getting. That said, without my parents' help, I couldn't have afforded buying from a breeder and I'd never heard of BYB until I had done research on the web, so I might have bought one from an ad in the paper. It's complicated!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amen, Lauren, thank you for those words:

"Although I have wonderful and healthy dogs, purchasing from a BYB (or pet store,) helps to support irresponsible breeding. It's a stamp of approval for that type of breeding to continue..."

If everyone could understand this, there wouldn't be thousands of dogs living their entires lives in absolute agony.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's an excerpt from an interesting newspaper article on the subject of "designer dogs" in shelters, which tells the BYB story perfectly; Bear, the doodle in the story, is now with a rescue group:

"Every rescued dog’s story has chapters of heartbreak and, not often enough, happy endings, say experts. Bear’s is a typically tear-stained but heartwarming rescue tale.

Like a good share of dogs who end up in shelters, risking euthanasia if not adopted, Bear was the product of an amateur breeder’s moneymaking plan that went awry. Conchita Ray, who lives on a farm in South Carolina, says she aimed to make a profit selling labradoodles when she got a chocolate Labrador retriever to breed with her black standard poodle. The result was a litter of 13 pups advertised for $600 to $800. Only six sold. Before she could “fix” her dogs, they mated “accidentally” again, producing a second litter of 13, including a fuzz ball she named “Bear.”

Overwhelmed by the cost of feeding the busy pups, she began advertising to sell them for a fraction of the initial cost. “The first litter was fun … but they all didn’t sell. I felt bad after the second litter because it was an accident [and] there are so many animals out there,” Ms. Ray said in a phone interview Wednesday. Her remorse seemed trebled by the death in a deer chase that day of Bear’s Lab sire. “I will not contribute anymore dogs to this world.”

In October, when he was 4 months old, Bear found his first home with Gerry Green, a retired US Small Business Administration procurement officer who was recently widowed and wanted company in her new hometown of Tuscaloosa. It was a happy match until major surgery left Ms. Green less steady on her feet and the owner-pet balance of power slipped. When the rambunctious, 48-pound Bear jumped up to his full, almost 5-foot-height on his hind legs and plopped his paws on Green’s shoulders earlier this month, she fell and bruised her hip. Green was devastated to realize that she was overwhelmed by his playfulness.
Green can’t contain her tears when she talks of her guilt about having to give up Bear. "