Comment for breeders.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Ok I may be idealistic but I personally have a problem with breeders who treat pups like livestock. I know some breeders have farms/acreages and whelp the puppies in barns or whelping shacks where the puppy continues to live until it is adopted. Now in the case the puppy isnt adopted until it is several months old it roams the land like a wild sheep with no house manners whatsoever?! I would not want to adopt a dog like that for fear it would be near ferel and not well socialized. Like taking a sheep or something home to live.Thats why I looked for a breeder that house raised the puppies and they were treated like pets. (Yes I verified this) These are pups not sheep. I love to see breeders that only pre-sell puppies so there are no 'leftovers' so to speak. But if there are extras they arent kept in an open barn left to wander the back 40 like livestock.

I would like to hear any comments or justifications regarding farming dogs. Just a footnote: I am talking certain Canadian breeders I have seen on websites, I am not referring to any breeder on this board because I dont know any of you - just like to hear what you have to say about this.

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

HI Loraine, That is a lovely tribute to Lavina. TY for posting it. It has educated me. Hope U send her a copy. These are things we breeders need to hear. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk

[Lorraine Bromley]

As I said before though I may be a bit anal but I should have asked even more questions especially since I had been researching the breed for a couple of years. I should have brought my own garauntee form to sign since they do offer a two or three? yr warranty. They had a simple warranty statement on the bill of sale. The vet on the other hand said it was a mute point as long as you have a statement of warranty against genetic defects the diagnosis alone is enough. But it isn't written that you get another puppy or money back just her word. I hope I never have to find out. But with the vets ok that genetic testing has been done on all their breeding stock I feel comfortable.
I also wish we had of gotten all the registration information the day we purchased the puppy as being a mennonite they do not have fax machines and all the electronics. She did mail all the parentage and lineage of the fathers side of the family but I didn't get the lineage of the mom who is also registered. I didn't follow up with her to get the info from the mommies owners for her paper work.
There were definetly other breeders sites that I would have liked to see personally but we had decided to buy as locally as possible so we could have post sale support if needed.
I have been hesitant to tell people who our breeder was until the age of two or so because I didn't want to say that he is non shedding like he should be from the history of the other puppies that pair have had. That is probably the only thing others might base their purchase on and I didn't want to perpetuate a myth to give doodle haters any more ammo against us owners and you breeders.
I don't care at this point about his shedding as it will never be like our lab shepard x even if he does end up shedding. He is an extremely smart dog He never had any adjustment period at all to our house the crate nothing. He has a bit of, lets say respect for cats so far though.
I did find in my research the names of breeders that were unscrupulous and unhealthy as well as puppy mill providers and these farmed animals face an uphill challenge especially because the breed is so smart. More brains more challenges.
I do wish vets would take some effort to shut down these mills more publicly so people would know not to go there.
Lorraine

[Debbie and Thomas]

I am afraid I cannot remember our GD Thomas' parents names amd because we are moving-I have packed away all of the paperwork, However-I am positive that his mom was Daisy also. She was there with the litter in the kennel when we went to pick Thomas up last Nov 25th/08. She was a red GR and very calm. We met some of dad's too but they were outside with two of the son's and it was very dark. Because we had friends that got a puppy from Lovina and they were research freaks-they had investigated breeders for several mths and decided to bring one of her pups into their home, we did not look any further. There dog is outstanding in every way and we trusted that our pup would also have the same attributes. Our pup was from a litter of 10-5 boys and five girls. We literally talked to her on the phone a few times and then went to look at her puppies. We brought our boy home and after sleeping in a kennel with all of the nine other pups and his mom for 8 weeks-he came home to us and slept from 10 pm until 8 am the next morning curled up with a teddy bear!! He breezed thru potty training in two weeks, has never chewed anything important in our house and has the best temperament I have ever seen. We started training classes at 12 weeks, and the trainer always used him to display commands to the others-he learned all of his commands so quickly. So I guess what we are both trying to say is that this "farm breeder" is a responsible and her pups are from fine parentage. I am sure that there are other breeders though that are not this impeccable in their process, but we got lucky and I would recommend Burkhart to anyone who wants a lovely doodle. BTW-we are in the GTA.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Lavina sounds great. The original post was against the farming of dogs. Not "farm-dogs". You can definitely have a responsible breeder that lives on a farm. But there are many people who actually farm (verb) dogs. Like raising sheep to sell. Glad you are happy with your purchase.

[Stella]

Burkhart Kennels might be thought of as farming dogs - none of the dogs live in the house. They all live in kennels and runs.

Although, I have heard many people who are super happy with the dogs they got from there. We decided not to, even though they are close to where we live, we wanted a puppy that had been home raised.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Yes Stella-this is what is confusing me. Yes the kennel is on a working farm and yes, the dogs do not live in the house. But I could not say that they are "farmed dogs" like cattle or sheep. This end of the business is strictly Lavina's thing with the children. I looked into Home breeding and to tell you the truth my husband and I liked the fact that she treated it like a "business" and took care of her "products" (parents and puppies) with compassion and integrity so that her business would flourish. I think Burkhart kennels is a special case in describing farm breeders. Some I am sure are inferior. Would I buy another dog from her?? Absolutely, with no hesitation. Would I buy a home raised dog from a responsible breeder-yes for sure we would. So-I guess what I am trying to say is that we all follow our instincts and do what we think is right for us at the time.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Yes. And again there is that! I feel pups should without a doubt acclimate themseves to the inside of a house. No harm- no foul if the kennel-raised dog goes to a home by 8 weeks of age. From teet to home. But how does the Burkhart pup turn out if it doesnt get adopted. Has Lavina ever had one kicking around til it is 6 months old? Then what? If I were to adopt it would it be housebroken? Thats the thing. They need to get started on house manners right away.

[Debbie and Thomas]

You are probably right. I really have no idea if Burkhart kennels have leftovers, but I check their web site all the time and it seems that the puppies are sold out before they are born. I am not so naive to think that Lavina at Burkhart is doing this out of the goodness of her heart. She is a shrude business woman. That actually sounds bad when I say it but she is so strict with her breeding practices, vet appts. for the breeding dogs and the puppies that one cannot argue that her puppies have excellent heritage and care. However, having a six month old left over and living in the kennel all of that time?? Yes I would have issues with her over that too. I totally see what you meant in your original post and understood it at the time you posted. (wow what a conversation this has turned into!) In my original post, I was just trying to describe our experience. I can just imagine other breeders leaving the dogs out in a kennel for many hours-no food or water until they got around to it. Never cleaning up after them and then removing a few pups and clean them up for perspective buyers to make it look good. From what you described there are breeder like this-non caring jerks. This post has been great and I have learned a lot. Thank you, Deb

[Lorraine Bromley]

Hi there. I have an answer about a left over puppy at Lavina's.Our Neely is two now and my friends just went to Burkharts to adopt a puppy and she had a few older puppies still from one litter. A this proves she keeps them and doesn't sell off to puppy stores ect. B this puppy is adorable smart well behaved a quick learner all the things that Neely was as well. He is house broken after two weeks home with them. Had a great play date at our house. Nothing to say about having an older puppy that is negative. I agree this was the best place for us as every other home breeder we went to were no where near as impressive as the FARM we went to adopt Neely. I would recommend her

[Debbie and Thomas]

I am sorry-here I started this tangent about farm kennels. But-remember none of Lavina's dogs live in her house. She has enuf to deal with having 11 children. (Can you even imagine this) But seriously, it was an awesome experience-we have nothing but repsect for her kennel and would buy another one again from her.(we are actually considering it now tht we are moving) Am I crazy??

[Stella]

Tangents are fine!! It keeps the discussion interesting!! At the end of the day as long as we get a happy healthy puppy that has been well looked after, from happy healthy parents - isn't that what really matters?
So, another puppy??!! Good luck! I'm sure Thomas will appreciate a play mate.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Geez...only 2 rs late answering you...Thomas is now 2 1/2 yrs old....his mom was Pansy his dad was Goldie.  He was born Sept 30.2008