Who Do You Trust - Page 21

How come he looks like he has a bullet hole in his forehead? LOL  I always meant to ask you about that pic. Was that something on him or on your phone? Nice pic though. He's not bad...for a fluffy. I hear his aggression & performance make up for his fluffy teddy bear exterior. That's the word on the street, anyway. 

There are several breeders I would trust. I will be nice to them and not associate them with me, the PDB Antichrist.  So, if anyone wants my suggestions, tell me (email or PM) what kind of dog you're looking for and I will tell you who I would go to first. I really don't think the world is such a dismal place and that you can't trust anyone. Trust is a two way street. Buyers can't expect to establish a relationship of trust if they are not trustworthy and ethical themselves. Be honest and up front in your wish list, must-haves, as well as your actual experience. Not having a lot of experience will NOT be an automatic DQ, so don't overstate your handling skills.  Buyers, please don't take offense to questions from breeders. Though it may seem intimidating to be screened, it's truly in your best interest. There is no sense getting a puppy sold to you that isn't what you wanted. It's a bad situation for everyone when that happens. While my contract is pretty basic and  much more of a guarantee than a "contract," I try not to judge breeders who do have extensive contracts in place. Their concern is (usually) for the dogs. There are exceptions, of course. But that's where personal references come into play. Google is your friend, too. Check ripoffreport.com and others.

Look at the contract and see if it is slanted toward the dog or the breeder or buyer. If you don't like something, ask about it. Don't just sign it then plan on ignoring it later. That's no more ethical and honest than it is for a breeder to sell you a dog who they know is not what you're looking for. I think it is really more about relationships than "who's trustworthy" and "who's not trustworthy." While there are con artists out there and greedy breeders and everything in between, more often than not, they're just people. Be truthful and up front. I think it can be a good experience for all. I would honestly have to call nearly all of my buyers friends, and a few I've never met are friendly acquaintances. Certainly everyone posting on this thread is considered a friend. We are in contact frequently, as we both genuinely care about those dogs. 

It really doesn't have to be such a daunting, scary experience to buy a dog. JMO....and I've bought a few. Not a ton, but enough to think it's not just good luck.

It's not from my phone it's something on his face when i took the pic.  I think it's dried milk from my daughter shaking her feeder bottle near him and having droplets of milk fly everywhere.  Apparently it's very hilarious to do that and lots of fun judging from how she laughs and carries on about it.  He gets weird stuff like that on him every once in a while from her.  This is the strangest and he said "most embarrassing thing" she put on him. 

You can see in his eyes he is thinking "OMG don't do that with the camera guy standing right there!"

And thanks for the kind words Pete.

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I only saw one pic. 

OMG. What is it about shaking milk all over the dogs??? James thinks that is hilarious, as well. Then I get sticky dogs. Yuck. You'd think they would move out of the way, but no. 

Are these the bday party pics? I saw those in an email. 

We're derailing!

Not to get completely off topic, but Nadeem - that picture is too cute. Poor Bravo, I can see the embarrassment on his face. What a great pic! That speaks miles for his temperment and the type of dog Jen produces, IMO.

That speaks miles for his temperment and the type of dog Jen produces, IMO. 


dawulf , you can see all that from looking at a picture , you must start a business , scouting dogs , LOL

duke,
Perhaps instead of training and titling and doing health checks as you do now,
from now on you can just post pictures of your breeding dogs

When I read the latest,I felt like I woke up watching one of those infomercials
that always throw in a set of free steak knives

To stay on topic, I would recommend duke1965 as a breeder, he works/tests/titles his dogs.
He also keeps back and continues on with progeny, and works/titles/tests them too.
He has produced some pretty damn nice dogs

Personally I like to see a dog who I know can work allowing a little kid put a tiara on him. Yes, that speaks a shitload about his temperment. And yes, kudos to Jen for producing a dog who can do serious work (like SchH) and also play dress-up at the end of the day. To me, that is a real GSD.

WHEW...

We've been hearing a lot about breeding dogs without titles. When do we get to hear about all gsd's being bred from titled dogs I wouldn't piss on? I'm not at all trying to diminish the importance of titling, but it would seem by some of the garbage being bred and getting titled that it is the GSD community's actions that have diminished the value of them, especially when trying to determine what is, and is not, a quality breeding. As in all things, I am quite confident that just as there are occasionally some really crappy dogs being bred from titled parents, I have to be just as confident of the flip side. Honestly, as a buyer, I'm looking for the whole show, titles, bloodline, reputation, etc. I'll put it this way: I happen to (really) live in a state with perhaps THE worst school system in the country. Within that state, I live in a county which consistently ranks among the lowest scoring in the state. As my 4 childrens' education is of extreme importance to us, my kids are home schooled. They're level of education happens to be ahead of the curve for their ages, and we intend to have then as prepared as possible for college. We realize, that having been home schooled, college admissions will be more a more difficult task than if they had been in the school system. The scrutiny they will see by the schools is not unwarranted, but it would be ignorant for anyone not to recognize the intelligence and work ethic the kids set forth, and the potential they possess.

I feel sure there are a lot of breeders producing dogs that get on well with kids that make wonderful family pets. Most here could post cute photos of kids and their dogs and temperament is very important to most of us.

It is also important to buy dogs from breeders who take advantage of every health check available so these dogs can continue to be excellent companions for a long time. I do not know if Jenni DNA tests her dogs for DM; so far I've seen no mention of that, only justification for using a dog that may or may not have passed OFA or attained a hip clearance from the SV. That is her right to do so just as it is the right of those who own her dogs to express their satisfaction with their dogs. I assume they knew up front about the sire's hip status  and opted to buy one of the puppies anyway. No harm no foul that I can see.

The problem with coming on a breed board like this one and promoting a litter where all the appropriate health tests haven't been done and the dogs are not titled or in the process of being titled is that it sends the wrong message to the novices reading this. It's like reading an ad on Petfinder; it says it's OK to buy dogs from breeders who don't have their dogs' hips certified, that don't test for DM, or dogs that haven't earned titles. Novices will apply that notion to every breeder and breeders who take a lot of pains to do it right will be offended.