Dog over-breeding - Page 1

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is over-bred in the UK so much that there are more pups being born than people are buying. Does the KC have restrictions on dog breeds that are over-bred? Would they register new breeders that breed staffies or would they put a cap on how many breeders can breed a certain breed if it is currently over bred?

I love the staff possibly just as much as I love the GSD but I would never consider buying a staffy bitch to breed from cause it would do no benifit to the breed or the pups i would be breeding.

So like i've asked above does the KC or other registries have restrictions on dog breeds that are considered to be over bred in their countries and if not do they have any plans to make restrictions in the future?

I can only answer for US, The AKC and other registeries do not care how many dogs are being bred.  They are making their money from the litter registeration fees and show fees.  So yes AKC would register new breeders and litters with without any fuss. 
Amy

I have a stray dog pound in UK and am at the sharp end of the Staffie population explosion.  I'd say the majority of these dogs are not KC registered anyway so nothing the KC did would make any difference, they are mostly from cottage industry breeders operating from every housing association/council estate countrywide and casually bred by people who are just as casual about their own breeding habits so you will never make them understand the enormity of what they are doing.  For the last 3 years at least, over half the strays for the three local authorities I work for have been Staffies and if you take the Staffie crosses into the equation, the figure is more like three quarters, 2 years ago it was around a third pure Staffie with the crosses bringing it up to around half.  Around half of the strays that come in are not claimed and around three quarters of the unclaimed dogs are Staffies and Staffie crosses. The trickle is now a torrent, yet I get people who claim their Staffie (having already proven they are not responsible owners by allowing their dog to stray in the first place without the legally required collar and tag, sometimes on multiple occasions) asking if they can adopt a stray of the opposite sex because they want a puppy from the one they already cannot confine!  I see no end to it I'm afraid.

Margaret N-J

Thanks Margaret and thanks Amy.
Its such a shame cause Staffies are fantastic dogs but their looks and their fighting history has put them in the eyes of the wrong sort of people. I live on what most people would consider a council estate and 90% of my neighbours who have dogs have Staffies or Staffy Crosses. I think alot of people get a pure bred staffy thinking it would make the perfect street cred dog but quickly learn that the majority of the modern breed have no fighting instincts at all against other dogs or people so they quickly loose interest and staffies are very destructive when they are bored so alot of them do like to chew things they shouldnt.

I think I even read somewhere online that alot of the staffy crosses that appear in the news are normally crossed with UK Banned breeds or are just that badly bred that they are just generally unpredictable.

Its for them poor dogs that i generally think there needs to be laws introduced to bring some sort of order to the breeding world and i think there should be a law that no one can breed from a dog who isnt registered to certain registries. Am not sure how such laws could be enforced but with the right people involved am sure it could work.

I think that this happens with many breeds over time.  For a long time it was the GSD, then Rottie, Pitbull/Staff and really any other bully breed seems to be the over bred dog of the decade.

aceofspades certain breeders using their dogs to keep up with the fashion market i guess. If the money is there then the greedy ones will be expoloiting it

Actually, a lot of the Staffies that come in are nice natured family dogs, wearing pretty pink collars, whose owners are on benefits and cannot afford the fees to get them back or belong to rootless people who either lose the dog and have no means to get it back or have given it to someone equally rootless who cannot keep it, these dogs do seem to get passed around a lot, you would not believe the number that are chipped and the phone numbers are out of service or you manage to get through to someone who tells you they gave the dog away ages ago and don't know who they gave it to.   Because of their compact size, easy care coats and love of home comforts, they are the ideal family dog.  I don't even think the majority are bred just for the money, it's more along the lines of the dogs having the right to breed irrespective, some puppies would be nice around the kids for a while and no thought to the future, much the way they live their own lives, when you have little hope for advancement in life, I guess you live for the moment and let tomorrow take care of itself, plus "The Council" take care of everything don't they?

Margaret N-J

Kaffirdog, that is pretty much what it is like where I live.  The people around here who are selling bully puppies (I can't call them breeders and I'm just lumping them all of the bully breeds together) are generally thugs, wanna be thugs, drug dealers, bums and low income men, people on welfare, renters and in general people who don't have roots.  If you go to animal control here at least 3/4 of the dogs are bullys or bully cross, and when you read the paper or local buy/sell column the majority of adult dogs being sold are bully breeds.  It makes me very sad.  I personally am not a huge fan of any of the bully breeds.....except one of my close friends has a deaf Dogo that is pretty awesome, but it pains me to see them so exploited.  Just as the GSD and the Rottie have been subject to, it seems as though the bully breeds are even more exploited though.  It is very sad.

"low income men, people on welfare, renters and in general people who don't have roots" correct me if am wrong aceofspades but it sounds as if your saying any of those people you have listed are not capable of being honest good breeders cause of their backgrounds.

I was agreeing with everything you were saying untill i got up to the bit I copied and pasted

Nope did not say that. But in our area it is the same "group" of people who are "breeders" if you respond to a pit bull ad in my city you will be going into the "hood" to see the dog and it will be chained up and the owner living in a house that is disgusting and the dogs won't be registered.

In my experience, People on welfare generally aren't members of a breed club, nor do they have the means to properly raise a litter. I wouldn't sell a German shepherd to someone on welfare. People on welfare generally don't have roots, they don't own homes, the likelihood of them having to move and not be able to keep the dog is higher than someone who owns their own home, or who has been someplace long term. Someone on welfare can't generally afford emergency medical care in the even it should arise.

Renters is Perhaps too broad but when reading my lead in to that portion of my post my brain was pigeon holed and seeing the one area of the city where you would go if you answered an ad for a Pit Bull. Even the other Bully breeds....Cane Corso, Dogo are all sold by drug dealers and people with known gamg ties around here. People who own homes in that neighborhood do not live in those homes) You don't answer an ad for a Cane Corso or Dogo or pit/staff and find yourself driving into an affluent neighborhood where drs and lawyers live. Nor do you find yourself at some nice country family home. You find yourself driving into the skid row parts of town where three year old kids run the streets after dark and you have to watch where you walk because there Are hookers and needles.

I'm not stereotyping, that's just the way it is in the little corner of the world I call home. I am glad to hear it is not that way in other places. My experience around here is that pretty much the only people that own bully breeds are the people exploiting them and those who perpetuate the crappy stereotype about the breeds. Sad? Yes. True? Yes.

Also I should probably ad that where I live people who rent are generally young and just starting out or thugs and losers with no goals in life. We live in a place where most people buy homes within a few years of leaving their parents and/or finishing college or university. I can not think of a single person in our circle of friends who is or was a long term renter. I remember hearing Dave Ramsey speak once and he said Canadians are raised to believe that having a mortgage after you turn 50 is bad and that is pretty much what I grew up understanding. You did not have a family without owning a home. I DO often forget that it is not like that in many or most other places (and maybe not even so much in Canada for the next generation). I know (but forget) that in some countries renting in adulthood is more common than owning. So you can take the comment about renters as ignorance on my part. Here if you are 35 years old and married with or without a partner and children and you are still renting, then there is a problem somewhere. Personally we pay less for our mortgage than we would for rent for the house we live in (1100sq fr on 5 acres). It is nothing fancy but we own it. I sincerely did not intend to offend anyone. The statement just shows my inexperience and lack of knowledge in some areas I suppose :-/