Buying a second Husky

[jmscott]

I like the various articles that are available from wonder puppy on choosing a responsible breeder.

But no matter who you get your puppy from, whether they are AKC, UKC, or CanadianKC, all the rules of ethical breeding still apply.

http://www.dogplay.com/GettingDog/checklist.html

[raindog]

Let's be honest here. There are several reasons why someone dumps their dog at the shelter ranging from impulse buys, lack of knowledge about the breed, not having the financial resources to care for it to having health problems, owner health issues and so on. This occurs whether or not it's a registered breed. It's the owner that has to act responsibly whether registered breed or a mutt...

I understand what you are saying, but the statistics simply don't bear it out in reality. The simple fact is that dogs that are registered with their national Kennel Club (KC, AKC, CKC etc) are, statistically much less likely to end up in rescue than are unregistered dogs. This reflects two things - firstly that all good, ethical, responsible breeders will take back any of their dogs which their owners cannot keep at any age! Secondly, I believe it reflects upon the method used by breeders to "screen out" unsuitable owners - with good breeders it tends to be very strict, with puppy farmers, backyard breeders and "pet" breeders it tends to be non-existent.

As an example from our own rescue, of the almost 600 dogs taken in by us over the past five years or so, only about 10% were KC registered, of these, less than 1% were bred by what we would regard as ethical, responsible breeders. In fact, only 3 of the 600 or so dogs we took in were bred by responsible breeders.

Mick

[calvinandmommy]

I was looking last night at labrador breeders. There is one about 45 mins from us but their website kind of seems like they are a byb. They don't say whether the dogs are AKC or not but they keep talking about the health guarantee. I like this one because they want 750 for a black lab which is what we want (we are still deciding between a husky and a lab) but if they are not AKC and the health guarantee is just crap then I am not paying 750. Also they don't breed just labs they also breed Golden Retrievers. Golden Doodles, and Labradoodles. Any breeder that breeds more then one kind of dog kind of screams puppy mill. I found another breeder that is about 2 hours from us that asks 1000 for their puppies. I emailed them last night to ask and the lady told me more then I asked for which I like. She told me how much for a deposit all about the health checks that they do and what is included with the cost (shots, deworming, microchip...)and told me that when the husband and I are ready to get a lab and if we choose them to just give them a call and that we are more then welcome to come visit them some time too. Just everything this lady told me made me feel like I want to save up the money and get one of her labs. She sounds like she knows what she is talking about and what she is doing.

[Povodny]

Nicola wrote:

The health testing that the KC recommends for each breed relates to the most common genetic issues that each particular breed may have. In Siberian Huskies, those are hip and eye problems. Even though they are the most prominent issues involving our breed, they are still mercifully rare. Other issues, like epilepsy, liver and kidney problems etc do occasionally occur as in any breed (or indeed in humans) but not often enough to be regarded as an issue to be flagged up within the breed. So, while your situation is tragic and we pray that your girl recovers, her situation should not be regarded as a failure of sensible puppy-buying guidelines. The only thing I would add is that obviously, if your girl's liver problems are found to be genetic in origin, then the parents should be removed from any future breeding plans and neutered.

I do know how you feel. A few years ago we had a baby puppy with major intestinal problems who had to be put to sleep at 12 weeks. We still miss her now!

Mick

I didn't suggest the system was a failure. Just that it's not infallible