[ SHOWGSD-L ] hunte, dodge and more

From: Sheila Lieberman <sheilaofmiami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: thelist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:04:15 -0800 (PST)
IN MY OPINION only:
   
  When we decide as a group who is good and who is bad let us consider some 
issues that have yet to be brought up.
   
  Hunte has made his money from the dogs he buys, sells and breeds.  The 
Dodge's, Ford's and the others from the history of our breed who had many many 
dogs started with money and came into dogs.  They sought to increase the 
understanding and availability of our breed.  They used their money to help our 
breed.  They could afford to.  To bring the best from Germany at the time, to 
breed prolifically, and to care for proplerly all the dogs they had.  They had 
money first, dogs second.
   
  Hunte, and all puppy mill owners use the dogs to make their money.  That is 
the difference.  The rich getting in bed with AKC helped our breed and pure 
bred dogs overall.  But people who use dogs to make their money getting in bed 
with AKC is NOT a good thing.
   
  We do need to seek a defination of puppy mill versus large scale careful 
breeding programs.  I know now and have know in the past many kennels with lots 
of dogs.  The ones that care about the dogs, no matter how many they have, are 
obvious when you go to their kennel.  The dogs are excited to see their people, 
and friendly with new people.  
   
  Puppy mill dogs are not.  They are fearful of all people, no matter how 
familar they are or are not.
   
  It is not how many dogs you have, or how many litters you produce in a year, 
it is the care given, the time spent with, the conditions they are kept in.
   
  I have been to a kennel that has easily 30 dogs, in 3 different breeds.  Not 
one dog is fearful of the owners.  Not one dog backed away from me.  Not one 
dog appeard to be in poor health.
   
  Rather, each one of these dogs was ready to meet, play and have fun.  Each 
one of the barking monsters was ready for the show ring, more or less, with a 
bath.
   
  I would gladly put my dogs at that kennel, and for any length of time that I 
could stand to be away from my dogs.  The care there is above reproach.
   
  This kennel does have several litters a year, as I understand.  But they are 
committed to the care of their dogs, and are cautious about the home their 
puppies go to.  While the dogs are the center of their lives, they are not an 
income source.  That is a big difference.
   
  Can we say this about Hunte, or the 600 dog kennels around the country?  No, 
I doubt it.
   
  Sure, it would be great if this were actually profitable.  But we know 
better.  Very few of us on this list are making a usable income from breeding 
and showing dogs.  Only the professional handlers have a shot at making dogs 
their sole source of income.  And how many handlers have regular jobs?  Or 
supliment their income with part time jobs?  I can think of too many.
   
  Some professional handlers do have boarding kennels, grooming businesses, 
training businesses and more that are dog related, but no one is just a breeder 
and makes a decent living.
   
  We need to realize that we ARE hobbiests.  It is what dogs should be for 
everyone.
   
  Pet stores only play on fools' emotions.  And it works.  The industry exists 
only because people can be so gullable.  So does the beauty industry.  No one 
NEEDS to look 20 when they are 40.  But no one wants to look 40 when they are 
40.  So an entire industry exists only to play up our emotions.  The entire 
entertainment industry exists to please the common person.  And those actors 
make more money on one movie or TV show than most of us will see in our lives.
   
  And pet stores and puppy mills don't care what happens to the dogs when the 
purchaser realizes they cannot or do not want the dog anymore.  We have return 
policies of one nature or another.
   
  My ealier post about the 2 GSD's needing a home right away comes with the 
knowledge that the current owner did try the breeder.  She was not one of us.  
She had no interest in the needs of the dogs she had produced 5 years ago.  She 
was either a backyard fool, or out for profit, either way the current owner has 
come on hard times, 5 years later, and is desperate for help.  She is crying 
over having to let these dogs go.  The breeder does not care.  That alone makes 
her a puppy mill in my opinion.  I don't care if she has just one litter a 
year, if she does not care about and for her dogs for their entire life, she is 
a miller.
   
  So it is not how many dogs, or how much money, it is why so many dogs, where 
so much money is coming from.
   
  And thank you Evan for encouraging me to say what is on my mind.
  Sheila

Sheila of Miami
Mernydex GSD's
Loving Obedience Dog Training
                
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