Hi all, I am new to the forum. I live in Missouri, and I breed and show Pointers. I am a RESPONSIBLE breeder. I have not had a litter in 4 years. Recently I allowed a friend of mine to use my import from New Zealand for free in lie of a puppy back. Since he has been in the states for 3 years, we have no pups by him. I do have his sperm frozen for future use in case I ever want to use it.....lol
Anyhoo, I only breed when it is a litter I think will improve my breeding practices. I screen buyers VERY diligently, educate them, and demand to meet all members of the family, especially children. I also temperment test the pups and place them in homes according to where their personalities will best mesh with their owners. If they don't pass the test, they don't get the puppy! My dogs are my four legged kids. I don't have children so they are
I love my babies.
So anyway, my imports litter is due this weekend!!! I am sooo excited.
I can't wait to see my new baby!!! It is a litter of 3, according to x rays.
She keeps one, I get one, and the other is already spoken for
Well, I look forward to chatting with you all.

How fun for you - expecting puppies! It is so amazing when they are born and so little, I always find it hard to imagine how they grow so big. Best wishes.

IloveGrindee

Hi there and welcome to you and your doggies. I hope all goes well with the puppies keep us posted.------AGGY

Hello, we register AKC although in my opinion it is just a piece of paper means nothing, unless you are competing. Rescue dogs are just as wonderful as an "AKC" registered dog. I am not discouraging or bashing anyone who does.
I would also like to add that if someone is wanting a particular breed of dog (after they have researched) most AKC breeds have there own rescue. The dogs are spayed, neutered and temperment tested and applicant must be approved. I can trace my dogs lineage pedigees for MANY generations I have have books that were written by an archivists to our breed that go to the beggin of the breed.She has even amailed me personal pedigrees, 10 pages long...lol On each dog
YEARS ago when I first started, hips were not important to me...at least I THOUGHT so. So now I do Hips, eyes, and microchip. I was the list owner of our Breeds Health and research guide for our breed and planned a blood drive at our Nationals, to send samples to MU for research on Epilepsy in our breed. They are also researching other breeds, but ours had low numbers So I had donations of gifts and baskets...to coerce breeders to the drive. All of my dogs have donated blood, even my puppy at the time. He was a good boy too, and didn't even squirm. I am not a BYB and frown upon such practices. I find it appalling that people try to make money off of their dogs, or just want to see fluffy have puppies. I can tell anyone, a responsible breeder does not make one dime, we lose money in our breeding. That is why my litters are so very important to me, and few and far between. A responsible breeder, should have their dogs tested as I do now, since I learned the importance of it. Find out what might be lurking out in the pedigree. Just because a dam and sire are clear doesn't mean it can't skip a generation. A responsible breeder keeps track of faults and health in the pedigree and removes them from a breeding program by spaying or neutering. When a companion dog is sold, I withhold all paper work until I receive a vet record with the vets header on top, and I will call if it looks fishy. Once I get that, then I release papers. On AKC papers now, there is a box that I check, that prevents any companion dog I sell, who has puppies those puppies can NOT be registered with the AKC. A responsible breeder will ask TONS of questions about you. I temperment test all puppies so I know what kind of home they would be suited for. If they pick one, I steer them towards another, but will not sell them that puppy if I feel it is a wrong match. I tell people the health issues in our breed, such as epilepsy. Epilepsy is a sneaking thing. At this point we don't know how it is past on. I would NEVER breed an epileptic dog. I have epilepsy myself, and do not wish that on any human or animal.
I would ask them to donate blood and have the the vet send it to MU. It is very simple. Just a prick of the needle I tell them I did breed a puppy once that developed distemper from vaccination (vaccination induced distemper) It is not contagious, but it is a low threshold in the dog. Threshold is a term that means what a dog's tolerence to different stimuli. . No breed is free of all health issues. If a breeder tells you there is not then do not buy from them! run!!! Ask your breeder the health issues in the BREED, and what do they do to keep from passing it along to unsuspecting owners. By the way, from the litter that that had the distempter pup, all pups were kept by me (there were only two)
I tell all owners to bring the dog back to me if a problem arises. I do NOT want one of my children in a shelter. This is emphatically stated and in my contract. Most of my owners have email and we keep in touch, they send me tons of pictures, and I enjoy to see the love they are getting.
Ok...was that enough??? LOL Heck, I am leaving out a ton....will write more as I go along. Excuse any typos it is 1:00 am.

Originally Posted by MGM

Welcome to the forums! What have your dogs been tested for? What about lineage records? Do you register AKC? You didn't mention any of this in your post, so just curious. We have had a number of BYB's on here in the past, so the good ones need to educate.