Posted on 04/15/2005 4:36:46 AM PDT by Salamander
EMERGENCY!
THERE ARE 20 IBIZAN HOUNDS IN OMAHA NEBRASKA
IN IMMEDIATE NEED OF HOMES!
"Papers" are issued with total disregard for the record keeping of the breeder. They are pretty much issued to anyone who sends in the money to the AKC (as long as the paper-buyer is shown on the AKC records as owning a dog of the same breed as the papers requested for a new litter -- even if the alleged parent dog has long since died, or been sold to a new owner who didn't re-register it with the AKC). Do a little research if you don't believe me. The AKC has even continued to issue papers to puppy mill operators after they have been legally shut down by animal welfare authorities in their state. One mill in Pennsylvania, found with dozens of mistreated dogs in filthy conditions and all clearly of unknown parentage, was shut down by the state. Within a year the AKC was issuing papers to a "different" mill, at the exact same address, and with the new registered breeder being the spouse (same last name) as the first one who was legally prohibited from breeding dogs in the state.
And "purebred"? What a joke. My vet has told me some wild stories about the "purebred" dogs with "papers" that have been brought to his hospital -- including a "golden retriever" with so many black spots on it, that the vet seriously thought one of its parents must have been a Dalmatian. The vet actually spoke to the breeder of this dog, as the new owner was distraught over the dog's clearly congenital health problems and trying to get some financial compensation from the breeder. The breeder kept insisting to the vet that it was a "purebred" golden retriever. And of course it had the "papers" to prove it!
Has somebody tried going to the county commission or whoever's over the shelter to get a special dispensation? Perhaps if a breeder steps forward to adopt and guarantee responsible breeding for the best of the dogs and 2-3 bitches?
I'm not going to worry about the "extinction of domestic dogs" while we're still euthanizing millions of unwanted dogs every year -- many of them young and healthy, and quite a lot of them "purebred".
As for the "extinction of purebred dogs", I seriously doubt that will ever happen, but it's a prospect that I find far less worrisome than the continuing abuse and suffering of so many dogs -- both purebred and not. The world can live without purebred dogs, just as well as it can live without purebred people.
Yes, but people are more likely to care for something if it costs a lot. Which is why pet adoption agencies insist on a fee, even if the money isn't enough to compensate for the cost of running the shelter.
You are obviously not part of the problem. If all dog lovers took the approach you take, there wouldn't BE a problem.
I just get my rant button pushed every time I see a suggestion that a "rare" or "special" purebred dog might somehow be more desirable as a pet than any other kind of dog. However unintentionally, it tends to promote the mindset that fuels the overbreeding of "purebred" dogs.
Over the past few years, I've seen two of my neighbors (both dimwits) and my boss (definitely not a dimwit, except in this narrow area) pay outlandish amounts of money for "purebred" dogs (ranging from $1500 to $2200), and then rave to me about all the supposed "special" or "rare" qualities of these dogs that justified the outlandish prices. None of these people had bothered to set foot in a shelter to see all the wonderful dogs about to get put to sleep there, or to call a breed rescue group to find out about all the dogs they're desperately trying to find homes for. And the breeders (or brokers, as was clearly the case with my boss's dogs, though he didn't realize it) run off and buy expensive toys with their latest fistful of cash, already dreaming about the cash and expensive toys they'll get from the next batch of dogs they breed sell, and eager to perpetuate the myth that these dogs are so special that they're worth paying lots of money for and much better to have than some "mutt". They don't give a hoot how many of the dogs they produce end up neglected and/or euthanized in a shelter.
One of the boss's dogs is an especially vicious Maltese, that snarls and bares it fangs through its flowing white locks, at anyone other than my boss and his wife -- they have to lock it away whenever they have guests over. You couldn't pay me to have that dog in my home, but you guessed it, that's the $2200 dog.
Keep up the good work!
You've been a FReeper about as long as I have, but I don't remember any of your posts until lately. Now, everywhere I go, it seems like I find you there. Maybe I'm stalking you. ;)
FWIW, your information is a few years out of date. The AKC has tightened up on breeders a LOT. The publicity such as that generated by incidents such as the "Camp Collie" episode in Montana a couple of years ago forced it. Puppy millers are now forced to go to orgs like the "Continental Kennel Club" to get their worthless papers.
While I in many ways agree w/your facts and assessments, I'm 1 who would rather get a puppy from a breeder (and have). Sorry, but as if mutts themselves are unpredictable, imagine an adult dog of unknown history! Sorry, some of us just aren't willing to risk *our* lives for a totally unknown quantity.
That's not to say it's not nice for you to take them in and help them out, but to impugn every1 else who thinks it's better to use a controlled quantity is kind of disingenuous.
As for money - believe me, NONE of it matters. Truth is, no matter if you pay ZERO or 1000s, you can get CRAP or you can get a JEWEL.
My own absolute JEWEL was $500 in the '80s (pretty standard AKC show price) from a top German Shepherd handler w/good German and American lines. Shana was "no good" to AKC show ring hacks, but she was the greatest *dog* I have ever even HEARD of, much less had the blessed privilege to own. None of the pound mutts my family had had came close, nor even the previous papered-from-local-farm German Shepherd. Money means nothing for a pet - you have to assess the dog. I did greatly on that assessment and I was just a teen (1st time ever getting into the AKC world). Don't denigrate a dog just cuz it cost money. Not all are out to get us.
But all that said, I agree about AKC generally. They don't impress me as being really serious about stopping bad people. Maybe record-keeping is their only job, but for all the talk they do, they should really put their money where their collective mouth is. Or not talk about it at all. I don't understand all the defense of do-nothing AKC when the ancient example of the original German Shepherd Club is out there for how authoritative a mere club can be.
(Indeed, last dog before Shana was from a local city-dweller selling thru classifieds. She had bogus papers [but we stupidly went thru & bought - cheap! - anyway], saying pups were AKC German Shepherds. Well, she had the gaul to have both parents there - and daddy didn't quite look like a pure GS. Elsa turned out to be a skinny-type thing w/soft slightly upturned hair - and retriever-like ears. Rip-off. We did our homework MAJORLY next time.)
"As for the "extinction of purebred dogs","I find far less worrisome than the continuing abuse and suffering of so many dogs --.. The world can live without purebred dogs, just as well as it can live without purebred people."
You don't mind if purebred dogs die because other dogs are dying. Death as a solution is pretty standard fare for animal rights types as well as calling for death for some peoples.
Sounds like she at least had the real parents there. The not-quite-GS dad probably had papers saying he was all GS, and maybe the lady even believed it. Not all of the puppy sellers are so honest, however. My boss got his Maltese from someone representing herself as a breeder. My boss and his wife went to her home and saw a litter of adorable Maltese puppies, with their Maltese mom, who they were told was a family pet with champion bloodlines -- and no other dogs in sight or mentioned. They thought about getting two puppies, but decided not to get carried away and just bought one as they had originally planned. After a couple of days, they thought about it some more, and decided they should have gotten two after all. They called the "breeder" and asked if any were left, and she said 2 were left, but couldn't guarantee they'd still be there when my boss and his wife could return on the weekend (they couldn't get there sooner). So the weekend came, and my boss and his wife headed over to the breeder's home again. Funny but there wasn't a Maltese in sight -- no puppies, no mama. But a litter of Yorkies and their mom had magically appeared. The breeder made some non-credible explanation, but my boss and his wife didn't understand what was really going on, and ended up going home with an expensive Yorkie pup, with "papers" and "champion bloodlines" and a mom who was a "family pet".
German Shepherds have been one of the real horror stories of the AKC. Forget puppy mills, the real champion dogs were bred with more and more exaggerated hip angles, to please the AKC judges, who regarded the deformed hips as an ideal for the breed. Eventually it got so bad that police and other professional handlers of working German Shepherds couldn't use American-bred dogs anymore, because their hips kept giving out on the job. Most working German Shepherds are now imported from Europe, where the AKC didn't have the opportunity to destroy the breed.
I don't want ANY dogs to suffer or be euthanized while healthy. And most people wouldn't have a clue how to evaluate the health, soundness, and genuine pedigree of a puppy they're considering purchasing. Even most vets wouldn't be able to identify a lot of the common problems in a young puppy. And the irresponsible breeders count on this -- all puppies are cute and loveable, and most people looking for a pet don't approach a litter of pups with a scientific checklist and a plan to analyse the pups for technical soundness. Determining whether a young puppy is actually "purebred" is utterly impossible for anyone, if the puppy is at least mostly descended from the claimed breed.
"But all that said, I agree about AKC generally. They don't impress me as being really serious about stopping bad people. Maybe record-keeping is their only job, but for all the talk they do, they should really put their money where their collective mouth is."
The AKC is saying the same things now that it said 40 years ago when I first used their advice to look for a dog. They don't recommend breeders but they do recommend that you go talk to various reputable owners and breeders. This isn't what people want to hear though. Most people want the AKC registration to be a kind of good housekeeping seal, it just doesn't work that way and never has.
"German Shepherds have been one of the real horror stories of the AKC. Forget puppy mills, the real champion dogs were bred with more and more exaggerated hip angles, to please the AKC judges, who regarded the deformed hips as an ideal for the breed. Eventually it got so bad that police and other professional handlers of working German Shepherds couldn't use American-bred dogs anymore, because their hips kept giving out on the job. Most working German Shepherds are now imported from Europe, where the AKC didn't have the opportunity to destroy the breed"
I'm quite aware of that, altho Germans aren't perfect either. Seems to me their "fad" for "better movement" meant greyhound-like roach backs, instead of too-long-legs (not really angulation, just plain too long) like Americans. Both for the same purpose - make the famous GS trot more outrageous (American dogs can't WALK). The Euro/German fancy is further split into REAL working vs. "show" dogs. Guess who has the roach backs? They are still good working dogs, but not built like they should be.
As for Americans, I'm not sure as much it was hips (all GS had this problem) as just the plain lousy gaits making them wear out (believe me, if they were made to trot for up to a 1/2 hour instead of the 1 min total in the ring, they'd give out just from unnatural legs & gait) - AND the less-than-tough attitudes. Not all are bad, but too much "nice" is there.
My dog was halvsies - all-breed American and WORKING German. Fantastic. Even her conformation fit more w/the dogs of the '30s, say. Not "good enuff" for today, in either continent.
Both have problems, I suspect, w/"cliques". Hell, 1 well-known shower/breeder when I was looking at her pups openly blabbed about it to me, how cliquish it all is. I suspect the "in" people at some point coalesced into the backbone of the big clubs and decided what THEY liked to SEE in the breed, and that would be what would win. Note the standards have hardly changed at all for 50-some years - but the dogs have drastically! How could that be?
They simply ignore the written document and pay lip service - just like the Constitution w/our Lib pals.
I also suspect this happens in most breeds.
Why do you think most Border Collie people have been hyper-resistent to being AKC-recognized?
My deepest condolences on the loss of your Sparky.
If I didn't have two big dogs and three cats, I would adopt at least one of these wonderful dogs. As it is, I have passed this information along to other dog lovers I know. Thank you so much for all you do for these sweet creatures -- praying they find wonderful homes.
Every little bit of help is appreciated, Ellery.
Prayers, greatly so.
You have all helped me, too, since I can sure use the "emotional support" because these dogs are "family" to mine and it's weird how whatever happens to one of them feels like it's happening to *my* "kids".
I've spent the day pampering and cuddling my own so much they probably think I've gone mad.
[not that they're complaining about it or anything]...;))
I am *so* sorry he has that problem.
For years Ibizan breeders were absolutely psycho about keeping the breed intact, health-wise.
Then, someone buys a couple "pet" quality dogs and the next thing you know, the problems start creeping in.
*Most* reputable breeders -insist- on a spay-neuter contract before they even let you take the dog home.
One of the rescue Dobes I had was from the Ahrtal kennels and he was perfect in every way.
Absolute show quality.
The breeder offered him for adoption through the Bowie area rescue branch because her stud dog beat up on the pup.
Before I could even take him home, I had to pay for a physical, all his shots *and* his neutering.
Arthur lived to an amazing 15+ years old....:)
Merlin, his gal-pal was a PA ASPCA adoption and her age was indterminate due to the terribly hard life she'd lived.
[she'd surived distemper and living in the wild, eating mice for months before anyone could get near enough to catch her]
She was *this* close to being killed because she was afraid of people and looked -horrible-.
She had open running sores, skinny as a snake and her fur was sunburned to a straw-brown.
6 months later I took her back for a visit and no one there even recognized the magnificent, glossy dark-chocolate brown Doberman bitch I was leading.
So many people visit the pound and see only what the dog is *now* and not what it will be *later*.
God bless your daughter for giving a good home to a dog who ~needs~ one.....:)
We had to agree to neutering.
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