northernmastiff
Well-Known Member
I have been researching a lot of breeders over the last two years and I have really begun to sit on the fence about whether a large breeder is really the best way to go for puppy people. I keep coming across all these threads that keep saying small breeders (2 to 3 dogs) are backyard breeders and I really think this needs to change. If the breeder is doing health tests and doing something with their dogs, number of dogs shouldn't matter. Actually, I would feel more comfortable with a breeder who doesn't show but the dogs are living in the house, the puppies are raised in the house and get 100% of the breeders attention than one that does all the showing and has 10 to 20 dogs. (Health tests would be the same, both doing health tests just one not showing).
I have been feeling really disillusioned by the breeder game lately and the way that they are. One thing that I keep going back to is that big breeders aren't always best whether they do showing and testing or not. I keep going back to some of the breeders that I have known who are big and the ones who remain small. It starts to become a cash grab for the larger kennels. I was talking to a friend about a large scale Neo breeder who studs out her champion male for 5k per stud fee. She has counted his use over 20 times in one year alone yet this same breeder looks down their nose at smaller breeders and says they are only in it for the money. Over a 100k in stud fees in a year...ummm...who's in it for the money. Add to that the 10 litters she produces in a year and that is big bucks, regardless of the amount of money you put out. This particular breeder has quit her full time job, as has her husband, and they bought a large farm to only breed dogs. If there was no money in the large kennels, then why is this possible.
Another large breeder of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers has a huge set up and he is actually breeding his dogs 6 or 7 times. Yes, they live longer but when you are using a 10 or 11 year old dam for a litter, something is wrong with the picture. I don't care how many awards the dog has or how many clearances, 11 is too old for a dog to breed.
I have also been watching the litters of another big breeder and found that she has produced over 97 puppies (that she has advertised on her website, I know that she has had more because I have talked to her and she only puts pups up that haven't been sold). That was in a 9 month period so we are looking at 242k in puppies alone. Again, that doesn't include the stud fees she gets (she has 3 males) or the puppies she doesn't list. I know her vet bills are high but I think she said it was somewhere around 35k for a year.
And then you come across all these posts about how small breeders are really no good. My friend has had a few rumors started about how she is just in it for the money. All small breeders are in it for the money and not for the betterment of the breed. I find this disgusting. With her last litter, she was actually in the hole. She takes the first three weeks of the puppies lives off work, she feeds them the best, feeds the dam the best. The puppies are actually whelped and raised in her bedroom so she can keep a 24/7 eye on them. She is already looking at lines that she wants to use for her females (the one is less than 6 months old) and she puts her heart and soul into every puppy she produces. But she knows her limitations and she doesn't want to have more than a few dogs in her kennel. She wants to enjoy them as a companion before she gets any profit from them.
Sorry if I am ranting. I was just reading the Merckle thread and was going to post in it but when my post got a bit too long, I stopped reading. I really think we need to change a few views on breeders. I am not bashing all large scale breeders as I knew a few when I was involved with labs and they were amazing but big is not always best. I was wondering if anyone else was beginning to feel like I do about this topic and what your view was.
Would you prefer to go with a reputable small scale breeder or a reputable large scale breeder?
I have been feeling really disillusioned by the breeder game lately and the way that they are. One thing that I keep going back to is that big breeders aren't always best whether they do showing and testing or not. I keep going back to some of the breeders that I have known who are big and the ones who remain small. It starts to become a cash grab for the larger kennels. I was talking to a friend about a large scale Neo breeder who studs out her champion male for 5k per stud fee. She has counted his use over 20 times in one year alone yet this same breeder looks down their nose at smaller breeders and says they are only in it for the money. Over a 100k in stud fees in a year...ummm...who's in it for the money. Add to that the 10 litters she produces in a year and that is big bucks, regardless of the amount of money you put out. This particular breeder has quit her full time job, as has her husband, and they bought a large farm to only breed dogs. If there was no money in the large kennels, then why is this possible.
Another large breeder of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers has a huge set up and he is actually breeding his dogs 6 or 7 times. Yes, they live longer but when you are using a 10 or 11 year old dam for a litter, something is wrong with the picture. I don't care how many awards the dog has or how many clearances, 11 is too old for a dog to breed.
I have also been watching the litters of another big breeder and found that she has produced over 97 puppies (that she has advertised on her website, I know that she has had more because I have talked to her and she only puts pups up that haven't been sold). That was in a 9 month period so we are looking at 242k in puppies alone. Again, that doesn't include the stud fees she gets (she has 3 males) or the puppies she doesn't list. I know her vet bills are high but I think she said it was somewhere around 35k for a year.
And then you come across all these posts about how small breeders are really no good. My friend has had a few rumors started about how she is just in it for the money. All small breeders are in it for the money and not for the betterment of the breed. I find this disgusting. With her last litter, she was actually in the hole. She takes the first three weeks of the puppies lives off work, she feeds them the best, feeds the dam the best. The puppies are actually whelped and raised in her bedroom so she can keep a 24/7 eye on them. She is already looking at lines that she wants to use for her females (the one is less than 6 months old) and she puts her heart and soul into every puppy she produces. But she knows her limitations and she doesn't want to have more than a few dogs in her kennel. She wants to enjoy them as a companion before she gets any profit from them.
Sorry if I am ranting. I was just reading the Merckle thread and was going to post in it but when my post got a bit too long, I stopped reading. I really think we need to change a few views on breeders. I am not bashing all large scale breeders as I knew a few when I was involved with labs and they were amazing but big is not always best. I was wondering if anyone else was beginning to feel like I do about this topic and what your view was.
Would you prefer to go with a reputable small scale breeder or a reputable large scale breeder?