Horror Story Dog Breeder

[kvalidir]

Bit of a long story, but some of you know I've recently got an Irish wolfhound pup from a lovely lady in Ireland and I couldn't be happier with either the dog or the breeder, however I'd had my name on her waiting list for a pup and he *** had fewer pups that people waiting so I was not down to get one initially. On that basis I put my name down on another breeders waiting list and paid a £200 deposit to show my serious intent. Meanwhile the first lady was being messed about by one of the people on her list who kept failing to turn up fro their puppy so rang me and I bought he. Lovely lady, lovely puppy- no problems at all. This left me with a deposit on another puppy from another litter, I thought okay there's no problem there I'll have that as well, so went yesterday to collect the puppy.
It was an absolute horror story of lies and nonsense from beginning to end. I had researched the people running the kennel carefully and the owner was a show judge for another breed, had done really well with them for years and nothing negative was coming up in web searches so I really didn't expect what we found.
We got there and there were dogs everywhere. I counted at least 7 different breeds and more kennels than I think I've ever seen anywhere. The poor puppy was in what was obviously a show room area, no sign of it's parents or the rest of the litter and it was small, not very well covered and very cowed, and freshly bathed, and the WRONG SEX. We immediately weren't happy as it was obvious it was a puppy farm but I did insist on seeing the parents anyway as I'd been promised and the rest of the litter.
The parents were nice enough dogs but dirty and rampaging and obviously only let out of their kennel to see us. We also couldn't go outside to judge their temperament, we were only ' allowed' to look at them through the conservatory glass, and whilst he was putting them away again I went outside for a nose about and found the rest of the litter, away from the ***, again not terribly clean and not good examples of the breed.
We challenged him about the issues with the puppy being the wrong sex and he said it was ll down to an inexperienced kennel maid! We were really fed up by this point, but felt so sorry for the pup so against our better judgement were going to take her anyway ( even though I know you shouldn't as it only encourages them to breed again) but then we asked to see he pedigree and KC reg, and were handed a pedigree with no dogs name on it only mother and father etc and no KC certs. I asked where they were and this is what he said. Lie #1 ' You never get those until you've owned the dog for 8 weeks'.
Yes you do.
Lie #2. ' It take 6 weeks to register a dog'.
No it doesn't.
Lie #3.
'Breeders never register a litter until they re all sold'
Well why did we have to have THAT puppy then if they were not all sold?
We called Bull on all of this and told him so. Then he disappeared into the kitchen, we could her raised voices and he came out with what finally might be the some of the truth.
'We haven't got the export pedigree for the mother yet so we can't register the pups yet but we will and send you the certificate.'
Yeah right.
We asked for our money back a we've been told we could have a full refund if when we saw the pup we didn't like it. We ordered an un-endorsed KC registered puppy- we were offered something with no papers and that didn't look great at what was obviously a puppy farm.
He finally agreed to a refund but 'hadn't got any cash on him' so said he would do it later via bank transfer. I'm still waiting...
I've just fired off emails to the Kennel Club, Champdogs where he advertises, his local council and other advertising websites that insist dogs are KC reg to be sold, but I am really, really angry about this and kicking myself that I ought to have gone sooner ( he made excuses he was in hospital for surgery and then couldn't be reached on the phone for ages). Awful breeder, needs closing

[kvalidir]

That's very true Lankeela, the difference between the 'puppy farmer' git and the breeder we got our other Wolfie pup off is imeasureable. She was insistant that if we ever couldn't keep her for any reason we contact her as she would have her back and we've been in constant touch since we got her home, not because of any problems but because she's nice and we have formulated a friendship because we have been entrusted with one of her fur babies. you really wont get that with a rescue. We ended up with two ponies that a girl had originally re-homed from the RSPCA and when her father had a stroke and she had return to her native country urgently wouldn't have them back. Not all rescues are responsible, least of all the RSPCA, who kill more animals than you could shake a stick at. I support some local re-homing charities but only the ones who are ' no kill' shelters and whose ethics I don't have problem with so that counts the RSPCA right off Christmas list.
for anyone whose interested we did finally manage to get our deposit back, which is good but doesn't help the dogs they're breeding.

[viv38]

And the reason that so many are killed is because there ARE so many and not enough homes to go around and yet breeders keep on breeding - MAD !!!

[woofgang]

I am not sure about "no kill" rescues. If this means that dogs who aren't rehomed spend years in kennels or dogs who aren't rehomeable ditto, then maybe that's not what is best for the dog?

I may be unlucky, but three times we tried to rehome from a rescue.
The first time, we were told "We don't rehome during December" We tried to explain that we had no children of our own or family visiting, we didn't go out and would be able to take two weeks off work over christmas and new year to settle the dog in, after which i would only be working a max 4 hours a day anyway. They wouldn't even listen because "Its our policy" This was the local branch of a national dog charity.
The second time it was a small local rescue who said "We will bring you a dog" when we tried to get some kind f choice in the matter we were told "that's not how we work"
The third time it was a breed rescue. We were offered a b*tch who seemed perfect. We met her and she seemed quiet but fine. A few days after we got her home she started indiscriminate attack on us and our other dogs. She seemed to have episodes, like fits when she would attack blindly, before and afterwards she was sweet, gentle and trusting. When we contacted the rescue we were told "either you can have her PTS or bring her here and we will"
This was some years ago and maybe rescues have improved and become more adopter friendly. Maybe we were unlucky. Maybe.

[Retrochic]

Hi -I'm late into this discussion but would like to make a few points -firstly kvalidir what a horrible experience and you were right not to take the puppy. secndly why come down on people who want to buy pedigree puppies? Buying a pedigree known breed from a responsible breeder you are purchasing a puppy that you know will be suitable for your situation, its breed characteristics etc. Taking on a rescue dog is a lottery and dogs going back and forth from one unsuitable home to another is unacceptable. Difficult dogs to home should be PTS to leave money and space for the good dogs. All mongrel dogs male and female should be 'fixed' by giving vouchers that can be redeemed at Vets and funded by licensing. All dogs should have to be micro chipped and wear a collar provided by the licensing board. Yes, it would be difficult to police but better than what we have -willy nilly breeding of mongrel dogs whose owners abandon them knowing some soft hearted animal lover will take them on -so they can go buy another mongrel puppy bred in someones back yard. So please don't chastise people for wanting a nicely bred pedigree dog , they are the ones being responsible.

[anneasquith]

that is so unfair to anyone who owns a cross breed dog, believe it or not we are very responsible owners. and to suggest that pedigree dogs are better looked after is dreadful, im amazed at the snobbery surrounding owning pedigree dogs.

[kvalidir]

I wouldn't say pedigree dogs are better looked after at all Anne, they have their own special crazies in some instances who have bred for certain characteristics to the detriment of their breed, only recently in some breeds have people actually thought of the well being of the dogs they have bred. We've had lots of mongrels, know people who have lots of mongrels and they have all been a pleasure to own and are owned by other responsible people. I think however retrochic's post comes from the idea that some people have posted that pedigree breeders are in some way responsible for the huge amount of dogs in shelters which tends not to be true, you see very few pedigree dogs in shelters, you mostly see some sort of bull terrier mix, which are there because the UK has become utterly hysterical about ' Pit Bulls' because of the trend by some for fighting them. They are also fought in other countries of course but on other countries they are also recognised as pet breed and don't have the legislation stigma they do here. You hardly ever see a Borzoi or a Great Dane in a rescue, and when you do it's a breed rescue run by breeders of that breed to ensure the well being of any of their 'children' who fall by the wayside.
I chose to buy a puppy because in theory assuming the breeder was responsible, you know what you are getting. I wanted a wolfhound I got a Wolfhound, I don't think that adds to the problem of thousands of dogs in rescues because I wouldn't have found a Wolfhound there. I already have a Wolfhound, Deerhound, Greyhound, Saluki bred Lurcher, so although Lurchers are a breed apart in my eyes, they come in all shapes and sizes depending on what you want them for, she' still a mongrel. I love all dogs, but I think it's wrong to say that people who opt for a purebred are contributing to the problems other people have created with the literally thousands of corssbred bull terrier types in rescue because we honestly haven't, that's been caused by indiscriminate breeding of people's own pet dogs and then they either can't get rid of the puppies, give them away or sell them to unsuitable homes. Either way they often end up in Rescue through no fault of their own. I don't think there is a way we can cure the problem, but that is undoubtedly imho what the problem is.

[lankeela]

The difference is responsible breeders only breed when there is a very good chance of finding good homes and many have a waiting list - I do. Backyard breeders just breed their pets without any thought for who is going to have them, and end up selling them cheap or giving them to friends, often youngsters who don't know what is involved in keeping a dog. They will then breed it to a mate's dog and the cycle starts all over again. None of the dogs I have bred have ever ended up in rescue and the people who have them would not have wanted any other breed. Puppy farmers will sell to anyone who turns up on their doorstep with the money or sell them through the internet so have no idea of people's circumstances and definitely will not be around to take them back if there is a problem. I will not be made to feel guilty for producing healthy, happy puppies for lifelong homes. I have over the years had plenty of rescue dogs myself and have done a great deal for rescues raising funds etc. There is no quick fix, and as a pedigree dog breeder (occasionally) I would be happy to pay a hefty licence fee if a law was brought in that people had to have a licence to breed. How many of the backyard breeders would?