In a message dated 3/23/2006 9:33:59 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, InquestGSD@xxxxxxx writes: So what is a puppy mill? Is it someone who breeds a lot of pups every year? Or could it be someone who studs their top male out 200+ times each year? Surely they are not being very discriminating. Top dogs who are being bred to in the 100s of times every year. These breedings are not necessarily show breedings, or we would see those pups at the futurities and nationals. These breedings are done with money as a motivator. Does this not count also as puppy mills? Or do we justify this by saying these are pure breed dogs, done by top breeders? Do we not complain about some of these pure breed dog breeders whose facilities are in less than desirable conditions? Whose pups always have coccidia, giardhia, dogs are always getting their ears bitten off, suffering injuries? Remember the arguments weeks ago, how many dogs are too many dogs? 4 - 12 - 60??? Can 1 or 2 people take care of 50+ dogs everyday? I don't think so. Sure they will be scooped and fed, but that isn't enough. Shelters do that everyday, that's why people rescue the dogs out of shelters !!! Let's be careful, we are risking sounding a little hypocritical. Yes, there are puppy mills out there, and they meet the demand of uneducated buyers, who think NOTHING about paying $1,200. for a LabraDoodle. I have a client with a GoldenDoodle who paid $1,500 for the pup. Bought this pup off the road, the sellers happily met her half way. She will NOT deal with breeders, they are too neurotic for her. Like Amy, I think we need to take a look at this situation and see if we can make it work for the breed. It could be this person just wants a "ribbon winning sire" for his breedings. It could be he can be turned around for the good cause. It could be he could care less about associating himself with people who already made up their minds about him. It all goes back to EDUCATION, ETHICS AND BETTERMENT OF THE BREED. Ileana WELL said;) Kathy three generations of Dual Titled Champions live here! visit _Pine Hill German Shepherd Dogs_ (http://www.geocities.com/pinehillgsds/) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================