Does the popularity or rarity of your breed bother you?

[SummerRiot]

I personally love the fact that Riots breed - Belgian Tervuren isn't a common breed.

I chose specifically a breed that wasn't popular. I dont like the fact that there are SOO many Goldens/GSD/Labs etc around and most aren't even WORKED/SHOWN.. just pets for breeding etc..

Riots breed is fairly "untampered" with, which is nice
He has solid lines from bother working and conformation.

 

[pitbulliest]

yes..the popularity of my breed (pit bulls) bothers me..because too many azz holes own them!!!

 

[ihartgonzo]

I feel very, very upset about what has happened in the past few years to Border Collies. Again... since the AKC recognized them in 1995, it has been all downhill. Shelters are seriously flooded with purebred adolescent Border Collies, after they lose their puppy cuteness and they actually start to show real energy/drive, uneducated people dump them for a different puppy. I've helped out with BC rescue of Northern California several times - they used to have a 3-5 purebred BC's at any one time for all of Northern California. Now, they cannot find enough foster homes to hold them in! There is currently 20+ dogs and countless BC's waiting in shelters to be helped. And, for most of the BC's, it takes at least a month or two to place them... several high-drive BC's have stayed in a foster home for over 1 year before finding the right home.

I HATE that, especially with the AKC, Border Collies are being turned into black & white Golden Retrievers - both physically and mentally. It really upsets me when crappy BYB's advertise their BC puppies as "rare low drive" & "family dogs only", etc. These dogs are not meant to be mellow, aloof & adoring of any stranger that approaches them. They aren't meant to be happy laying around in a backyard/living room all day long. I see way too many Border Collies now without the intelligent look in their eye, and without even a glimmer of drive, and that really kills me because without that they might as WELL be a completely different breed of dog >;/

 

[LabBreeder]

ok, i've only read the first page so i may be behind...but let me tell you about some people who are TRULY ruining 2 breeds!
first - they had 2 rottweilers. one female, one male (not much past a puppy). they were both left outside constantly, minimal food and water only filled once a day. the female ended up with an eye infection that was made worse by her scratching her cornea...she also had cancer that was never noticed until they brought her to the vet due to her eye...she may have had heartworms, but they didn't check her because everything else was wrong anyways, what would it matter...she was also very underweight and pretty shy
she had to be put down because of their neglect!!!

second: the male puppy. he was very feisty when you went to feed him. he never got played with, minimal human interaction except at feeding time. they let their 6 yo son feed a hyper, wanting to play, rottweiler. the boy got knocked down many times, cried, went to the hospital once *no injuries, shoulder was hurting after he fell*. instead of training the dog(s), they traded him back to the original owner and got a ................drum roll please...............PIT BULL!
i have no problems with pits....except when owned by these people.

third - they got the pit to be a guard dog. she has blue eyes and is bowed in the chest from them tying her to cinder blocks all day outside. she was a beautiful puppy. they thought she'd be a great breeding dog because of her blue eyes and big chest...LOL...how do you tell a complete moron that those are faults in the APBT group? especially when they think their dog is "the target dog" (bull terrier, i believe) because that's what the vet said? they think they got a good deal by trading in their rottweiler for a faulty pit bull that they want to breed and use as a guard dog without actually training it. why do i think these people will end up with a maimed child (one boy, 7 and one girl, 2)???

 

[LabBreeder]

no, they aren't "ruining" in the technical sense...but they sure "ruined" that male rottweiler...and they are "ruining" the female pit bull they now have.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

The popularity of labs terrifies me. They're wrecked right now, and I realllllly hope they'll go back to being what they're supposed to be. Border collies seem to be on the same path as labs

 

[MyIrishWolfie]

I like that I own a rare not so popular breed. I think Im the only one in my town that has an Irish Wolfhound... infact, I think Im the only one on the board that owns one.. lol

 

[Brattina88]

Its sad to see that labs and BC's and many other breeds are heading down the same exact path that ruined many cockers years ago. ACS breeders are still to this day trying to pick up and fix everything that was ruined, and its not an easy task! When it comes to health and even behavioral problems the Cocker is at the top of the list, and that makes me very sad. And guess which breeds are following in a close second third, ect ect ?

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Popularity is a curse for almost every breed it happens to.

People who are not educated breed dogs without the proper testing that should be done, both in competition rings and health wise.

It leads to poor quality dogs with health and temperament issues flooding the market.

Next the media takes hold of a few bite issues and next thing you know your breed is the one at the top of the breed ban lists.

I thank GOD my breed is out of the top ten in AKC registrations and still falling.

Responsible breeders will be cleaning up the mess that ignorant people have made of the Rottweiler for the next 15 years or more.

 

[MomOf7]

The popularity of labs terrifies me. They're wrecked right now, and I realllllly hope they'll go back to being what they're supposed to be. Border collies seem to be on the same path as labs

I agree.
You have the bybs and mills messin things up. Then you have the split in the breed making extremes. Its quite frightening and honestly I havent ran into one field breeder like myself who is concerned at all that the field labs are getting smaller and smaller and really look nothing like a lab..Look at my Molly in the pic below. To me she doesnt have a lab head, face, or features but she is a retrieving fool and very agile and fast.
I am worried as well.

 

[Zoom]

Yes, the popularity of "my" (Australian Shepherds) breed does bother me, mainly because the same thing going on with BC's has been going on with Aussies. They are getting bred down to be a big fluffy spotty-type golden with no drive. There is such a split in the Aussie world now; there are so many breeders who don't even bother with herding instincts or lines anymore and instead are focusing on "conformation, agility, flyball." Those are great secondary events, but they shouldn't be the primary titles. They are all also breeding for LOTS of copper and white, something that was heavily discouraged a decade ago. But, it's flashy and looks good in the show ring. Now, you're very hard pressed to find a dog that doesn't have a ton of 'chrome' on it. My dog has white on him, but almost no copper and it's very faint. He gets confused for a BC all the time. But his coloration is very hard to find...mainly in the working lines.

The next two dogs I want to get are a BC and a Rottie, so it follows that yes, the popularity of those breeds bothers me as well.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I totally feel ya Zoom! =P

For the past almost 2 years, I was searching for working Aussie breeders... I wanted an Aussie that was not 65 lbs of fluff, and not yappy & brainless! Seriously, this is primarily what I have seen in show Aussies. I found a whopping 2 Aussie breeders in California at trials, and they had lists backed up from local trialers for years for their puppies. I definitely feel the same for Aussies, I have met some wonderful working Aussies, but many more badly-bred show Aussies... by badly-bred, I mean completely unable to do what they were originally bred to do. One of my friends bought an Aussie from straight show lines (he's blue merle with TONS of white & tan and he is super fluffy... and 10 lbs overweight at 1 year old), he is a terror! He will not listen to a single command, is completely aloof to everything, and he just basically bounces around. He's cute, but a poor excuse for a focused herding breed. He was kicked out of agility class for being out of shape and for barking non-stop !

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I totally feel ya Zoom! =P

For the past almost 2 years, I was searching for working Aussie breeders... I wanted an Aussie that was not 65 lbs of fluff, and not yappy & brainless! Seriously, this is primarily what I have seen in show Aussies. I found a whopping 2 Aussie breeders in California at trials, and they had lists backed up from local trialers for years for their puppies. I definitely feel the same for Aussies, I have met some wonderful working Aussies, but many more badly-bred show Aussies... by badly-bred, I mean completely unable to do what they were originally bred to do. One of my friends bought an Aussie from straight show lines (he's blue merle with TONS of white & tan and he is super fluffy... and 10 lbs overweight at 1 year old), he is a terror! He will not listen to a single command, is completely aloof to everything, and he just basically bounces around. He's cute, but a poor excuse for a focused herding breed. He was kicked out of agility class for being out of shape and for barking non-stop !

Being 10 lbs overweight and untrained really has nothing to do with his pedigree and everything to do with his upbringing and lack of training.

Barking is an extremely common behavior among many herding breeds.

Dogs are not born understanding commands.

I submit that if you want a working herding dog, you do as you are doing, and look for it among those who compete with their dogs.

I also submit that you can do this without maligning every person who chooses to compete in the Breed ring with their dogs.

Unless you have seen every "show" Aussie tested on stock, you can not state that most of them are "65 lbs of fluff, and yappy & brainless".

You might have to go out of your state to find the working dog you want.

http://www.stockdog.com/breeders/aussie.htm

 

[suzanne118]

hi
i have 2 cavaliers, and i dont seem to see many about i think they are quite rare.

 

[casablanca1]

I'm torn - I'd love to be able to find a Beardie for $100 at a shelter instead of paying $1200 for one from a breeder. On the other hand, I would *hate* to see Beardies in shelters. Illogical, huh? I guess I got lucky once - my first Beardie was $35.

Being 10 lbs overweight and untrained really has nothing to do with his pedigree and everything to do with his upbringing and lack of training.

The weight issue is one thing, but it is possible that the dog's training problems - which were described more as personality issues than simple lack of learned skills - are due to its pedigree. A herding breed is not supposed to be aloof and scatterbrained. Maybe this is just a young, neglected dog that needs good training and some time to settle down, but there's also the chance that there's a genetic factor, and that gonzo had a point.

 

[Melissa_W]

I feel very, very upset about what has happened in the past few years to Border Collies. Again... since the AKC recognized them in 1995, it has been all downhill. Shelters are seriously flooded with purebred adolescent Border Collies, after they lose their puppy cuteness and they actually start to show real energy/drive, uneducated people dump them for a different puppy. I've helped out with BC rescue of Northern California several times - they used to have a 3-5 purebred BC's at any one time for all of Northern California. Now, they cannot find enough foster homes to hold them in! There is currently 20+ dogs and countless BC's waiting in shelters to be helped. And, for most of the BC's, it takes at least a month or two to place them... several high-drive BC's have stayed in a foster home for over 1 year before finding the right home.

I HATE that, especially with the AKC, Border Collies are being turned into black & white Golden Retrievers - both physically and mentally. It really upsets me when crappy BYB's advertise their BC puppies as "rare low drive" & "family dogs only", etc. These dogs are not meant to be mellow, aloof & adoring of any stranger that approaches them. They aren't meant to be happy laying around in a backyard/living room all day long. I see way too many Border Collies now without the intelligent look in their eye, and without even a glimmer of drive, and that really kills me because without that they might as WELL be a completely different breed of dog >;/

That makes no sense! If someone wants a dog that acts like a golden, why don't they just get a golden?!? Why do they have to screw up the border collie?

 

[Zoom]

Here's another great kennel listing. You do have to know how to 'read' for a good breeder, but there are a lot of working kennels listed on here, as well as a lot of show kennels and a couple rather crappy breeders.

http://www.blueearthnet.com/australianshepherds/location.html

 

[AmberwayGSD]

I hate what American and Canadian breeders have done to GSD's.Quite alot of them only care about the flying trot.Not herding ability,proper temperment nor breed standards anymore.So many are breeding for oversize largeboned puppies.I have found many dont care and breed poor temperment and non recognized colors.That is why I bought German.I will always buy European now.GSD's are supposed to be able to trot yes but also to run and not on there hocks,on the feet.

 

[whatszmatter]

I've never seen a working GSD that couldn't run, trot, whatever all day long. It saddens me to a degree what a lot of people have done to the GSD especially the north american, american whatever you want to call it GSD.

They are above all else working dogs, its what they were designed for, it was the intention and dream of its founding father to be a working dog. Sadly, as evidenced by our trial and show recently, hardly a person showed up for the trial (obedience, protection, and tracking) but the show portion the following day was packed. Most people could care less what the GSD should be able to do, they just wanted to see it look pretty running around a ring.

So yes, i'm discouraged by the popularity. They developed a reputation as being intelligent, loyal, and a tireless worker became popular for that reason and everybody wanted one. They've become a hollow shell of what they used to be for many reasons. SOme are breeding the drive out of them, because some people don't want to deal with a high drive dog. That disgusts me, if you don't want a dog with drive, there are more than a few breeds that don't have that drive in them. Who in their right mind wants a working dog that doesn't have the drive to work?

yeah, I'll take the indy formula car but replace the engine with a 3 cylinder from that 88 Yugo. That way I can look cool, but won't have to drive fast cause it scares me.

Anyway, its bad when you have breeders that are trying to breed the working ability out of the dogs on purpose, and then you have to throw in all the $hithead byb's and mills breeding absolute crap on top of that. No wonder I see far more spooky, driveless, headcase GSD's (out in public) than I do true German SHepherds.

I do like the popularity cause it keeps the people I don't want around, away.

 

[yuckaduck]

That could not have been said better by anyone.

GSD's were never meant to be paraded around a ring.

They were meant to work...true work!

Not sport, ie schutzhund...I mean true work.

I like the European GSD's..much less corruption in the lines, and they tend to stay truer to the breed.