Would you get a dog from a breeder who had multiple breeds available?

[Anonymous]

I am getting a Japanese chin puppy. I tried finding one even a senior from a rescue but the closest one to me was 800 miles away and they wouldn’t adopt out of state so now I’m buying a puppy. I haven’t purchased a dog in over a decade so I’m not sure what is correct anymore. I was always under the impression you should get a dog with a pedigree from an in home small scale breeder. My last dog was from a woman who was not really a breeder but wanted a puppy from her dog for herself and her mom and needed to place the third puppy she had and never bred again. The puppy was very well cared for and loved and I had 13 wonderful years with him. I used to update her on the dog with a holiday card and photo every year. I found a puppy I like on the AKC website and I went out to visit it at the breeder’s home. I found out the breeder also has bulldogs, Maltese, and havanese dogs in addition to the Japanese chin. They looked well cared for but ultimately this is a kennel with a large breeding program. Should I pass based on this?

[Anonymous]

Pass. Commercial breeder with no human socialization. They screen for genetic issues, etc but dog will likely be neurotic. Plus you don’t want to support that type of exploitative business.

[Anonymous]

Depends completely on the situation. I want akc. We used a breeder who did multiple breeds and most were her pets.

[Anonymous]

If you are ok with back yard breeding and puppy mills, enjoy! I would not because those dogs are more likely to be inbred and have health issues.

[Anonymous]

Well my cat came from a famous breeder and she’s wonderful and sitting on my lap right now.
OP you are looking for an obscure (at least to me) breed. Where else are you going to get it from?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t buy from a kennel situation, no. I would buy (and have) from a breeder who uses companion homes. Meaning the moms and dads are all placed in family homes and only come to the breeder for insemination, birth, and weaning. When they’re done breeding, that same companion family has full ownership of the dog.

[Anonymous]

Puppy mill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t buy from a kennel situation, no. I would buy (and have) from a breeder who uses companion homes. Meaning the moms and dads are all placed in family homes and only come to the breeder for insemination, birth, and weaning. When they’re done breeding, that same companion family has full ownership of the dog.

Companion homes are still large puppy mills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well my cat came from a famous breeder and she’s wonderful and sitting on my lap right now.
OP you are looking for an obscure (at least to me) breed. Where else are you going to get it from?

Yes the breed is not a common breed and finding one at your local shelter is unlikely. There are less than a dozen dogs of that breed being advertised as available right now.

[Anonymous]

Yes I would and I have. These are the same puppies that may end up at “rescues”.

[Anonymous]

Pass! That first home puppy situation sounded way better than the multiple breed situation. I can only imagine what some of those dogs have suffered and would not want to give them funding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t buy from a kennel situation, no. I would buy (and have) from a breeder who uses companion homes. Meaning the moms and dads are all placed in family homes and only come to the breeder for insemination, birth, and weaning. When they’re done breeding, that same companion family has full ownership of the dog.

That seems pretty terrible for the parent dogs too, to be taken away from their families.

[Anonymous]

No. No kennels either. You want a breeder who has done this for years, and lives with their (very small number of) dogs and trains them like pets. You want a breeder who does genetic testing on all breeding pairs and only breeds the the "clean" lines. You want someone who spays their dams after just a few litters (2, 3 max), out of regard for their health.

AND NO SHIPPING PUPPIES.

[Anonymous]

That is a puppy mill. Please avoid. (I ask on behalf of my rescued toy poodle who was traumatized and overbred for years satisfying people’s desire for maltipoos.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes I would and I have. These are the same puppies that may end up at “rescues”.

They end up at rescues because these breeders are unethical. if they can't sell their dogs they call rescues to take them telling them if they don't they will be killed. Same goes for the parent dog. When they are done breeding them they throw them away/pawn off to a rescue. These dogs arrive at rescues poorly socialized, often terrified of people and not at all well cared for. These types of breeders do not care about health issue or temperament and will still breed dogs that have known genetic issues.

Buying from these types of places/puppy mills just keeps this cycle going. Sure you can rationalize it with "well if I don't buy this puppy it may end up at a rescue or be killed by the breeder." Do you really want to support this type of "breeder"? Do you really not care about how the parent dog is treated and their quality of life? Volunteer with a rescue that gets these types of cases, if it doesn't make you cry you have no heart and don't deserve the love of any dog.

No, I am not 100% anti breeders. There are many that treat the dogs incredibly well, where they live in their homes as regular pets. The puppies are well socialized and genetically tested. Where they only breed each dog a limited number of times and only breed when there is demand.