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Finding
Ethical & Good Breeders
You're looking for that
Shorkie dream puppy. You think you know just what you
want. But do you? Before you adopt or buy, please
consider if you have chosen a truly good breeder. You
deserve a happy, healthy, wonderful puppy! You'll be
living with your choice for more than a decade- take the
time to choose carefully!
Here are a few thoughts you may have. Click on
the links to find out the myths or facts! Wherever
possible, I have also tried to include useful links for
more information.:
Show Dogs
Versus Pet Dogs
Genetic
Testing and Health
Dog Shows
and Registries
Choosing a
Breed
Advertising
and Finding a Dog
Checking out
Breeders
About the
Author
I don't
want a fancy show puppy. I just want a good pet.
The most important job that any dog has is to be a
good pet!
The qualities that a Shorkie needs to have to be a
good pet. It should be healthy, well-socialized (to
children, other people, and other animals)
If someone simply breeds any unevaluated shih tzu and
yorkie together, the offspring may not look or act like
a true shorkie should. If these offspring are bred to
other unevaluated dogs, pretty soon you will have dogs
that are Shokries in name only but that look and act
nothing like a well-bred Shorkie.
In addition, anyone who buys a dog as a family pet
want to ensure that the dog is healthy. Responsible
breeders will ensure this by doing the proper genetic
testing to ensure that the parents of their puppies are
healthy. Less reputable breeders are unlikely to know
that such tests exist, let alone do them.
Your best chances of getting a healthy shorkie puppy
are to buy one from someone whose motivation for
breeding is to produce the finest possible shorkies.
That means someone who breeds only dogs that are
themselves good pets and good representatives of what
their breed should be. It also means someone who tests
their parent dogs to make sure that they are free from
any genetic defects before they are bred. It means
someone who knows the background of their dogs well
enough to know what they should produce.
In most cases, the people who are truly responsible
breeders keep their dogs as house pets, so they know
that their offspring will be good pets as well.
Links
-
I just want a nice pet- An article from Diane
Blackman's wonderful
Dog-Play
site on one person's experience with her "nice pet"
-
Who Cares?- An impassioned argument for why we
should care about dogs bred to be "just pets".
Top of Page
Do
breeders get rich breeding puppies?
Responsible breeding is not a business. Most good
breeders lose money on their litters. As an idea and an
example, a breeder of a litter of 6 Golden Retriever
pups may have paid:
- $150.00 for an OFA screening and evaluation
- $30.00 for the yearly CERF screen
- $80.00 for a cardiac exam
- $85.00 for a brucellosis screening and
pre-breeding exam
- $500.00 for a stud fee
- $600.00 for shipping the bitch to the stud and
boarding the bitch, then shipping the bitch back
- $100.00 for pre-whelping vet visits
- $200.00 for extra food and supplements during
and after the bitch's pregnancy
- $75.00 for a whelping box
- $50.00 for needed supplies for the delivery
- $240.00 for 2 days minimum off-work for puppy
delivery and care
- $50.00 for an after-birth checkup
- $300.00 for puppy food
- $300.00 for puppy checkups, shots and wormings
- $100.00 for miscellaneous puppy supplies
Thus, at a minimum, the breeder has spent over
$2500.00 on this litter. This doesn't count any medical
emergencies, such as a caesarian delivery. It also
doesn't count all the fees for performance activities,
such as conformation showing and obedience, that
responsible breeders engage in to prove that their dogs
are breed-worthy. This can easily cost several thousand
dollars.
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The
breeder said both parent dogs had been checked by a vet,
so I guess the pups should be healthy.
Most vets are not experts in canine reproduction.
They also may not want to lose business by telling their
clients not to breed. In addition, the breeder may have
heard only what he wanted to hear, not what the vet
actually told him!
No vet can tell that a dog is free of genetic disease
just by looking at the dog. Most genetic tests require
special examinations by qualified veterinarians. Your
best bet is to know what genetic tests are needed for
the breed that you are interested in, and to ask the
breeder to show you the results of those tests.
Links
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Only fancy
show dogs need testing before they are bred.
Genetic disease in dogs is devastating. Every year,
uncounted families are heartbroken when their beloved
pets are crippled from hip dysplasia, go blind from
progressive retinal atrophy, are found to be deaf, die
of cardiomyopathy, or suffer from many other disorders.
Many of these tragic incidents could have been prevented
with proper genetic testing before breeding and/or
screening of the puppies. Responsible breeders do this;
irresponsible ones do not.
By conducting thorough genetic screening programs,
responsible breeders can greatly reduce their chances of
producing an affected puppy. Irresponsible breeders can
make no such claim.
Links
Top of Page
What's all
the fuss about genetic disorders? I haven't ever seen a
dog with one.
Have you ever seen an old dog with "arthritis"? A
young dog that couldn't move around very well? Chances
are they had any of a number of genetic defects such as
hip dysplasia, Legg-Calve-Perthe's disease or patellar
luxation. Ever met a blind or deaf dog? Except in
extreme old age, most blind and deaf dogs become that
way because of genetic disorders such as PRA and
congenital deafness of white animals. Ever met a dog
with extreme allergies? This tendency is inherited. The
list could be a very long one. Many times, we just don't
think of our dogs' problems as genetic when, in fact,
they are.
Links
Top of Page
I don't know
what OFA or CERF are. What are they and why are they
important?
Dogs- both purebred and mixed-breed- can have a wide
variety of genetic defects. Responsible breeders test
that their dogs are free of such defects before they
breed them, thus a purebred dog from a responsible
breeder is more likely to be healthy than one from an
irresponsible breeder that does not test. Here are some
of the common abbreviations and terms you may see...
- OFA-
Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. They are most
well-known for certifying hip x-rays to determine if
a dog is free from hip dysplasia, a crippling
malformation of the hip joint. Your best chance of
getting a dysplasia-free dog is to choose one from a
pedigree where at least the last two generations
have OFA clearances. OFA also screens dogs for a
wide variety of other genetic maladies, including
elbow dysplasia, copper toxicosis, etc. Their
databases are searchable online, so you can check if
a certain dog has been certified by OFA.
-
CERF- Canine Eye Registry Foundation. This
organization certifies that a dog's eyes are free
from visible genetic disease. A breeding dog should
have a current CERF, done within the last year.
Their database is also searchable online.
-
Penn-HIP- This is a test of hip joint laxity.
The lower the number, the tighter the hip. It does
not an indication, on its own, of
whether a dog has dysplasia.
-
SAS- Subaortic stenosis, a heart defect common
in several breeds, including Golden Retrievers and
Newfoundlands. Responsible breeders of possibly
affected breeds have their dogs screened for SAS by
a canine cardiologist.
-
Thyroid screened- Hypothyroidism is a common
defect in many breeds, and responsible breeders
screen susceptible dogs to make certain that they
have an acceptable thyroid level.
Top of Page
I am
looking for a working dog. They don't need all those
health clearances.
Yes they do. A working dog needs the health and
stamina to run and perform all day. Don't buy this
excuse.
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The puppies
and Parents are AKC, so they must be healthy.
The American Kennel Club
is only a registry. AKC registration does not guarantee
you a quality puppy any more than DMV registration
guarantees you a quality car.
Links
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The
puppies have a "champion background"!
Most times where this is used as a selling point, the
puppies have one grandparent who is a champion. This
means nothing. It is too far-removed to have much effect
on the pup. It is the general background of the puppy,
and the specific background of the pup's parents that is
important.
Top of Page
The
breeder says these dogs are registered with the
Continental Kennel Club!
The Continental Kennel Club (as well as many other
supposed registries such as the Universal Kennel Club,
Worldwide Kennel Club, etc.) are not true registries as
the AKC is. They will register any dog, even if
parentage is unknown, as long as they are give the cash.
They do not hold shows or any other performance events.
They are for-profit businesses designed to give "papers"
to anyone who wants them. For more information on the
ConKC, please see the
Continental Kennel Club FAQ.
Links
Top of Page
I
don't want to pay $600.00 for a dog! I'd rather have the
$150.00 dog from the paper.
The purchase price of a dog is one of the
smallest investments! After you buy the dog,
you still have many years of paying for feeding, vet
checks, etc. That "bargain" Shorkie puppy becomes less
of a good deal when, at 10 months of age, you find that
the dog needs $3000.00 worth of surgery for hip
dysplasia. The "cheap" Chihuahua isn't such a bargain
when it grows up to be a temperamentally-unstable
kid-biter.
Top of Page
The pet
store said they don't use any puppy mills.
Of course they won't admit that they do! Any breeder
that sells to pet stores is not an
ethical breeder. Good breeders don't send their precious
puppies away to be bought sight unseen by anyone with a
whim and a wad of cash!
Links
Top of Page
OK, I want
to get a puppy from a responsible breeder. What do I do
now? How do I find one?
This subject has been rather thoroughly covered on
the Web, so I refer you to the sites below.
Top of Page
What's
a "backyard breeder"? Aren't most dogs bred in the
backyard?
"Backyard breeder" or "BYB" is a slang term for the
casual breeder; the person who breeds for money, or
because "Fifi is such a nice pet", or because "She's a
purebred and we want our money back", or "The kids think
it would be fun". BYBs are responsible for producing the
vast majority of unfit, unsound puppies.
Links
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The breeder
has been in business 25 years! They are licensed with
USDA approved! Isn't that good?
No. Only "volume breeders" need such licensing. Such
people are producing puppies for profit. They are not
good choices when you are looking for a caring,
responsible breeder.
Links
Top of Page
The
breeder said I couldn't see the parents.
Then walk away! You must meet the mother of your dog.
If she is shy or aggressive or unhealthy, then expect
her pups to be the same. It's OK- in fact a good sign-
if the father isn't on the premises-
Top of Page
so MANY websites About
Shorkies??
Part of building a successful on line business is getting the people to
your website. After all
The
internet
is full of websites offering the same things some not as good as
others, but still the same.
Every Shorkie breeder wants to
be number one in Google when it comes to shih tzu and yorkie mix
puppies. The higher you are on the search engines
the better your traffic will be. So you need to
build a a good solid approach to your website. One way you can do this
is thru linking strategies.
But you must build a solid ethical
source of increasing natural liking to your site, because
if you have a good
reputation you don't want to link to unethical business or an in
unethical
manner. So we have built many
informational websites with shorkie content on them all
linking back to our main site.
On each of our websites have abided by and applies all Google
Guidelines.
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