Relationship with your dogs breeder

Fran101

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#1
Just curious :)

whats your relationship with them like?

how important do you think your relationship is?

would you buy a dog you like from a breeder you don't really "click" with?
 

sammgirl

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#2
Here is my take...

I would go with the bloodline I wanted, then worry about the relationship later. Besides, if you're in the position that I WAS in, my breeder would have been almost 6 hours a way. My true mentors would have been in the local Sammy breed club anyway, and I did click with them.

They're a fantastic group.

A breeder doesn't HAVE to be a mentor, IMHO.

I know that some of the best information that I've gotten has been from people who live across the continent from me through an email correspondance.

I'm sure that if you're actually going to breed, this may be altered abit.
 

vmills

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#3
Two Dogs - Two Totally Different Breeders

Breeder #1 (Alvin, 6+ months) from Missouri did not reply to a message that the pup she just sent me was scratching a lot. This is not a breeder I would recommend. Interaction was okay during the purchase but a little support would help once I had the dog.

Breeder #2 (Simon, 11 weeks) from Lilly, PA is informative, helpful, and supportive. We are still emailing because she appreciates news about the pup. Her dogs are well-cared for and people-friendly.

These relationships are extremely important to the pupppy's welfare. The 2 breeders are totally different in their approach to dog breeding and IT SHOWS.
 
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CaliTerp07

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#4
vmills, I don't want to burst your bubble...but while your #2 breeder may be a lovely woman, her health guarantee policy is pretty crummy. A one year genetic guarantee? I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that most of the genetic tests can't even be performed on a dog under a year old. She claims to have done a lot of research and determined that Royal Canin is the best food ever, too...which is bogus. A quick google search will show you dozens of better foods.
 

Laurelin

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It depends. I am great friends with Summer's (and Beau, Rose's and Nard's) breeders. Mia's breeder is great but I doubt we will ever have that kind of a relationship. She's much more business like but she cares about her dogs, everything was more formal (I guess) with her. I knew her dogs though and knew people with her dogs and decided to go on with it despite not being immediate bffs with her. Both breeders care which is the main thing, they just go about it different ways. Both breeders will answer any email and any question I have. Both adore pics and updates on their 'babies'. I just doubt I'll be going to Mia's breeder's house for tea like I can with Summer's. We actually just go visit the breeder sometimes for no real reason. I will probably still board my dogs with Summer's breeder too.

Both breeders have given very vocal advice about the dogs I've gotten from them. Some I've listened to, others I haven't. For example I am not feeding either of them the recommended food their breeders wanted me to feed. Though Summer's breeder has admitted that she's doing much better on the food I feed and is even looking into switching her dogs. Mia's breeder said no table scraps and the first day home I gave her a french fry, lol. And Summer's breeder really wanted Summer to be an only dog for some reason. Ah well, there's only so much control a breeder can have over their pups after they leave them. If I didn't sign specifically that I wouldn't do something, I'm making my own best judgement.

It's nice to have breeders that are good friends but there's always points we disagree on too. I haven't actually told Summer's breeders about Mia yet as they don't quite like the other breeder. I don't want to hurt feelings either but that's complicated sometimes. Ugh politics... part of why I'm really considering getting a mentor that is OUTSIDE the breed, lmao.
 

Laurelin

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#6
vmills, I don't want to burst your bubble...but while your #2 breeder may be a lovely woman, her health guarantee policy is pretty crummy. A one year genetic guarantee? I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that most of the genetic tests can't even be performed on a dog under a year old. She claims to have done a lot of research and determined that Royal Canin is the best food ever, too...which is bogus. A quick google search will show you dozens of better foods.
LOL, I have yet to meet many breeders that recommend good food (well by my standards). Most show people will push Purina as that's what's fed. A few breeders feed raw or high quality kibble but I haven't met many. My breeders pushed Purina and Eukanuba respectively. That's not a deal breaker for me.
 

Fran101

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#8
You learn something new everyday :)

Is the 30 day defect/1 year genetic thing standard too?
The food thing I agree with, I have seen many awesome breeders that feed purina, etc.. and swear by it

the health/genetic thing. no way. maybe its popular, but its definetely not "standard" for a GOOD breeder
 

sammgirl

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#9
:yikes:The breeder I was going to get my puppy from swore by Eukenuba, and quite frankly she's about as good as they come. She's like Mia's breeder in that she's not Ms. I-want-to-be-best-friends, but she's a good lady.

I agree with the other posters. I don't think I'd ever take advice from someone who I viewed as unethical, and for me, the breeding of mixed breeds is unethical, on top of the fact that the person also has poor practices regarding health guarentees.

Only one year for genetic issues? What if the puppy has hip displasia?? That's as genetic as it comes and frankly, even if a dog comes down with hip displasia at 2 is a tragedy, IMHO.

Definitely not someone I'd want to mentor me.

This is just my opinion, and you can take it with a grain of salt.
 

LMPOO

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#10
Thanks vmills for the kind referral.

CaliTerp07, I respect your opinion since we all have them, however I feel I give a very fair health guarantee (considering some breeders do not give any at all). In the 9 years I have been breeding Cockapoos I have never had any genetic health problems with my puppies. We do have genetic testing done to insure healthy puppies. At the beginning of this year I had a customer whom purchased a puppy over two years ago send me a very sad email that their dog had died (the dog did not die due to any genetic or hereditary illness). Very sad time for them. I called them to give my condolences and to offer them another puppy. His first reply was, we do not have enough money at this time but do want to get another from you in the future. I replied no I want to give one for free. I am not heartless and care very much about my puppies and their new family. If any of my bloodlines were to have any genetic illness (outside of the one year time frame), I would do the proper thing.

Now on to the food. I love Royal Canin, it is a very high quality feed (most vets even sell it). There are many other high quality foods on the market, but for my cockapoo's I prefer Royal Canin and think it is best for me. It is high in protein with a balanced daily nutrition and it is a very small nibble. The price has gone up a lot ($41.99 for a 16 lb bag) so I have been looking into other feeds possibly a raw diet, but I still recommend RC.

Sammgirl, again I respect your opinion, however the Cockapoo has been a hybrid for a very long time. I am sorry you feel that breeding mixed breeds (as you called it) is unethical. I was raised with Cocker Spaniels as my mother breed and showed them to their championships. I LOVE Cocker Spaniels and I am allergic to them. When I was 18 I got a Cockapoo puppy and my allergies were not bothered by my new Cockapoo puppy. This is how I began to breed Cockapoo's. Not only are Cockapoo's low in dander but the temperament and health problems the pure breeds are susceptible to are diminished significantly by the cross breeding. Cocapoos have a wonderful temperament and are great family pets. While I love pure breeds and we need them, the hybrids are also very nice. One breed is perfect for you and another is perfect for me.

As far as hip displasia goes I have never seen this in a small breed dog such as a Cockapoo. Now if I were to buy a large breed (40 pounds and larger) I would expect the hips be tested on both parents and a guarantee.

Have a great day!
 
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#11
I am a breeder and I love when a future owner tries to get to know me and how I raise and treat my dogs. I will not let anyone have a pup from me who is not full of questions. One line emails or one sentence phone messages are a nono :nono: I want to know my pups are going to a good home and I want to know that they will contact me with any problems the dog has. I love to get pics often too :D . I do not, however, like emails everyday. That gets very annoying. I am also on the new owner side of this. I am buying a new puppy in a few months from the same breeder I got my Gracie from. She emails me with news, and I email her with questions. That's the way most breeders prefer it. If you email or call a breeder and they do not get back to you within a week, that's not a good breeder (Unless they have a good excuse of course). They do not care.
 

babymomma

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#12
LMPOO: First off, it is unethical to breed mixed breeed dogs.. Period.. There are enouogh MIXED BREED (which is what a "cockapoo" is, a mixed breed dog)dogs dying in shelters without you supplying more.. JMO.

And second. Vets know NOTHING about food, unless they research it on there own.. They push crap food to make *Gasp* Money!

Royal canin wouldnt even come into my home.. I warn you, I know people who's pets are Dying of kidney failure bcause of tainted royal canin.

And Fran, to the original question. I have an amazing relationship with keely's breeder. She is a very friendly person and always checks in on her puppies... She is JUST like me. even our odg situiations as children were the same! :p.. Its scary sometimes how much alike we are.
 
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#13
On the mixed breed issue. I am against it. Each breed has genetic health problems (unless a breeder is careful and does testing... most don't)... when you mix two, you get the health problems from both sides.. so you have double the risk of having a sick dog later in life.
 

Cheetah

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#14
I think my relationship with Shippo's breeder is very important. I like her as a breeder and as a person (although some of her ideas about training and medical I tend to disagree with but I can overlook those). She's always been supportive and is always there to this day, more than 3 years later, to answer any questions I might have. I send her updates and she passes them on to all of Shippo's litter-mates' owners, and she passes on any of their updates to me.

She does health testing and finishes all her dogs before breeding them, and offers a solid health guarantee and contract. I fully plan on getting a show dog from her in a couple years. She just got a gorgeous imported, tailed pembroke bitch that she is showing right now - can't wait to see pups from her in a few years!

Quite honestly, I can't see myself getting a corgi from anyone else.
 

Laurelin

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LMPOO: First off, it is unethical to breed mixed breeed dogs.. Period.. There are enouogh MIXED BREED (which is what a "cockapoo" is, a mixed breed dog)dogs dying in shelters without you supplying more.. JMO.
I disagree. Now mind you I haven't looked at the breeder in question's site or health guarantee but I believe it's perfectly possible to responsibly breed mixed breeds be it for companion, working, or sport purposes. All are important reasons to breed dogs. Just judge the breeder by the same standards you would a pure bred breeder. If they just throw a cocker with a poodle then no, they're not responsible but if they do all their health tests, genetic tests, stand by the dogs they produce, are HONEST about what they're producing then how are they any better or worse? Just different...

There are purebreds dying in shelters too. They are not generally coming from responsible breeders so I'd assume the same was for crossbreds.

But I've been through this many times and have actually changed my opinion lately.
 

Beanie

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#16
Auggie's breeder recommends a good food, but her husband's degree is in animal nutrition... so I guess that's sort of cheating. X3

We have a great relationship. We're very similar people so that helps. She has never minded when I call her with some hysterical question and she has always been happy to help me out, even when it was "How exactly do you take a rectal temperature???"
 

elegy

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#17
I like Steve's breeder very much, as a "dog person" and as just a person. I don't expect we'll be BFFs, but I don't think I'd buy a puppy from someone I didn't like. There's too much riding on that relationship, imo. I want somebody I trust and can turn to should an issue arise, somebody I feel comfortable with.

I don't have a problem with purpose-bred mixes. I do have a problem with lousy breeding, and sorry, but that's the impression I get from the cockapoo site (not to mention being classified as a class four kennel- that's a lot of puppies). And IMO, anyone who says they've never had a genetic issue in one of their puppies in nine years is either not looking, not asking, or lying. Genetic issues happen even to excellent breeders. One of the things I appreciated about my emails back and forth with Steve's breeder before I bought him was that when I asked about seizures in her lines she said yes, there was one dog who seizured (distant relative to Stevie) and that yes, Steve's grandpa did sire a severely dysplastic puppy. But as he's sired mostly sound puppies, I'm willing to take the risk of that one puppy.
 

Fran101

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#18
Thanks vmills for the kind referral.

At the beginning of this year I had a customer whom purchased a puppy over two years ago send me a very sad email that their dog had died (the dog did not die due to any genetic or hereditary illness). Very sad time for them. I called them to give my condolences and to offer them another puppy. His first reply was, we do not have enough money at this time but do want to get another from you in the future. I replied no I want to give one for free. I am not heartless and care very much about my puppies and their new family.
... Its a VERY nice thing for you to do, but if they couldn't afford the BASIC price for a puppy, are you sure they could afford the cost of maintaining a puppy? (food, vet care, toys, etc..)
 

sammgirl

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#19
Fran, it seems as though your thread has been hijacked. I don't know you, or your experience level, so if I sound redundant then please forgive me. You seem like you're pretty on track with what you're willing to tolerate from a breeder and mentor.

Things with breeders and mentors are not black and white. Trust your instincts and you'll find someone good for you, whether or not they are the breeder of your puppy.

While at risk for sounding didactic, I just would like to give a little warning to any newbie reading this thread on WHO you choose to mentor you. My suggestion would be to make sure that they are in good standing with their peers, and that they're just not breeding dogs in a vacuum.

Also, no one here is trying to villianize back yard breeders in a personal sense. No one is making a character call. However, being "nice" and being and "excellent breeder" are not synonymous, and that is important to differentiate.
 

Laurelin

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#20
I don't have a problem with purpose-bred mixes. I do have a problem with lousy breeding, and sorry, but that's the impression I get from the cockapoo site (not to mention being classified as a class four kennel- that's a lot of puppies). And IMO, anyone who says they've never had a genetic issue in one of their puppies in nine years is either not looking, not asking, or lying. Genetic issues happen even to excellent breeders. One of the things I appreciated about my emails back and forth with Steve's breeder before I bought him was that when I asked about seizures in her lines she said yes, there was one dog who seizured (distant relative to Stevie) and that yes, Steve's grandpa did sire a severely dysplastic puppy. But as he's sired mostly sound puppies, I'm willing to take the risk of that one puppy.
Oh I don't disagree with you, I just felt like addressing that one point that mixed breeding is what makes a breeder bad, because imo it's not. I also agree it's important for breeders to be honest about what they produce. My breeder and I have both been screwed over by dishonesty and that's the only reason we lost Hiro so early.

Sorry for the hijack earlier. :eek:

Anyways since I know some people preach against it I'll also add I actually found Mia online through her breeder's website. I know you should be cautious doing so but I had met several of her dogs at shows, knew she was a member of the national breed club, knew people with her dogs, and could look up her records, etc. I talked quite extensively to her via email and asked questions of each other. I did travel to her house to pick Mia up but prior to that had never met her or seen Mia other than pictures. If you go that route just make sure you get good references and if you go pick up your pup make sure everything about it feels right. If not, walk away. I would never have bought from a breeder I had never heard of via the internet.
 

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