"Delicate subject" - Page 1

 Argh...no, I could never do it. I am admittedly over-protective. Unless I knew the specific homes they were going to, no way could I just ship them off and count my money. 

ABSOLUATELY NOT!!!!  I would prefer to keep every puppy we produced if I couldn't place them myself...NO $$$$$$$ is worth an innocent little life and the time and effort put into carefully planning a breeding.....Thats MY opinion....  If anyone else does this, than my hat is off to you......Its just a matter of opinion and doing what you think works best for you as an individual....

 I think for a lot of breeders overseas, breeding is purely a business . . . 

Guppyfry,
I agree with you and for some, saying its purely a business, is a nice way of saying puppy mill....JMO

As opposed to all the noble-minded breeders here in the USA?
We don't really have to worry about whole litters being shipped overseas from the U.S. because who would want them over there? I know there are a few pups that get shipped overseas from the U.S., but, basically they already have everything that they want over there and it is available much cheaper than it is here in the U.S., so, it isn't really an issue.

OGBS,

Can I assume then, than you are pro shipment? And do you believe that it’s not business but responsible breeding to better the breed – because somebody in USA wants to have “Import from Germany”? How many people do you know that wanting to have a German dog, actually went to Germany, met the parents, seen conditions in which those puppies were raised, etc.

OGBS, my question was not about American vs. German but about: “ Do you think it’s ‘responsible’ on a breeder side to create puppies and sell them through middlemen overseas/ out of the country/ on the internet (shipping worldwide) to unknown buyers.”

There's a vast difference between a true puppy mill and a German kennel breeding titled, surveyed, xrayed dogs and exporting them in quantity. I know it's easy to use the label "puppy mill" but I think we do ourselves, as fans of purebred dogs, a disservice.

A puppy mill breeds dogs with no regards for their health or the health of their offspring nor for their welfare in life--these are the places with multiple dogs in small cages and puppies born and living their first 8 weeks on gratings. These are the puppies who are never handled and who live in feces and who have minimal care and whose parents might be 2 dogs of the same breed or not, just depends.

A kennel can be run as a pure business and not be a "puppy mill" --whether or not it's my choice or your choice to do it that way--but I think we play into the hands of the HSUS and anti-pet activists if we say that "you must treat your dogs as though they were family members and your children and selling them for profit is wrong."

I think it's perfectly fair to "vote with your dollars" and to support only those who breed in the way you would like to see it done, but I still think we should be more discriminate in our willingness to condemn every other breeder as a puppy mill. If you want to know what a puppy mill really is, go to youtube and search on "puppy mill."

BlackthornGSD,

I am hoping and waiting for somebody to post a message that the dogs that they import are from a kennel they personally know and have a good relationship with. That they know the parents (both dogs), that they know the condition those dogs are kept, etc. Somebody who knows that those two dogs are good match not just good titles...Anybody?

Many times people are looking for blood lines not available in the states, I know a very reputable working line breeder who from time to time imports whole litters.  This person has very good friends in Europe and is able to aquire outstanding litters that would not be available to someone without  connections.  The procedure for vetting prospective owners of these pups is no different than the procedure for vetting prospective owners of pups whelped in the USA.