Economy vs. Breeding - Page 1

Just curious,  with the state of the economy, do you think most breeders take that into consideration?  Or, do they just keep on breeding?  More pups = more $.  But,  these days probably more and more people are saying "no, we just can't afford that".  So,should/do breeders take that into consideration and adjust the breeding to the economy?  Otherwise, there are so many dogs/pups that never bought/sold and then what is to become of them?  Some make a living out of it but  the dogs should come first!

Jen

I agree with you and I am very worried about the breeders and thier living, along with the dogs they will not be able to maintain. It is a no win situation, if they are not breeding puppies, they are laying themselves off. If they are breeding and not selling, the puppies will now eat away at what little money they have. I would hope at this time the "hobby" breeders quit breeding and leave it those who have to eat.
Before anyone rips me, please think in realistic terms.
If you think this thru, maybe this is why so many cities are pushing for spaying all dogs. They know what lies ahead. There is just to many of them all at once, trying to do this and in states where they value individual rights and yet...

Bob, there are alot of good kennels that have good dogs that do depend on the income from the pups. Not all of them are mills.  Lets get real, you breed 2 dogs and if you are lucky, 1 or 2 that you may keep for your breeding program or have planned this litter for a friend, the rest of the pups are sold, maybe to a home for work or just as pets. I do not breed and I do love the dogs, it saddens me to think so many will end up in shelters, and if to many they will be pts. Breeders need to be planning on getting caught with litters on the ground and can the keep them, feed, and vet them.

As a breeder i dont worry about the economy, the number of people that want a dog from, or the price that i will charge for them ( i saw an ad recently that stated they were lowering their price due to the current economy). 

i have only and will only plan a litter of pups if in fact i can keep and support each and every one of them.  granted im not perfect and i have had an accident litter.  actually 2 in 9 years.  didnt plan on my male having such sex drive to go through 2 fences and climb a third.  anyway, thats my fault, not the economies.

if people will tighten their collective belts due to tough economic times and that causes the "casual" breeder to not want to breed, then good.  hopefully they may decide to not want to breed in the future. 

as i see it,  it is the "casual" breeder who has caused so many of the tempernment and health issues we see today in the breed.  " i have a shepherd and so do you, lets breed them 'cause we can sell them and make some money."  

then again, if one doesnt have the knowledge to know what good breeding is, whats to make them second guess what will become of thier pups when they have to sell them for less because of the "current economy".

good dog breeding is good dog breeding, and puppy mills will always be puppy mills. 

john

Do not breed this Year . Pups are just getting older in the kennels  . That's from a small dog breeder that I know . As we all know even in forcloseuer small dogs can go to apartment homes with the owner . Big dogs go to the pound .

I'd like to suggest that we drop the 'casual' breeder term and call them 'back yard breeders'. I know many breeders who only see breeding as a hobby and produce quality animals. To be fair, there are quite a few 'major' kennels out there that rely on puppy income, and they are not producing quality animals (despite the fact that they say they do). You can be a hobby breeder and still produce quality animals, but I suppose this is not a topic about that.
As for the economy affecting breeding, I think that breeders should keep the economy into consideration. It was pointed out that a lack of demand in the business, would mean less puppies being sold, and with litter numbers being so high, I think it would be advisable to cut back. If you have normally 2 or more litters a year, just produce one. That is my own opinion anyway.

All I know is I have raised 8 children, and in the beginning I struggled with making ends meet, then when I had
my 5th child I got hired at a good job, I didn't need a high school diploma, for which I didn't have cause I dropped
out of school.
  I was married to a dumb ass, and could probably write a book and make millions, but I choose not to drudge up the
past.
  I am happy the second time around,  he didn't have any kids when we met so, I said what's one more....
After being married for 17 years to a real prize, and now ending up with the opposite man for 13 yrs, life couldn't be
better, I'm retired, got my GED, (instead of my x always telling me I was a dumb Polark...) I own my home and a vacation
home and also have apartments to rent, granted I lost about $ 20,000.00 in my 401K, but hay, that's money I never
had to begin with, far as I'm concerned, if I'm doing OK right now, then I can't be the only one,.

You can't sit around & dwell on the bad stuff, cause there's plenty of it, you need to think positive & take some chances
in life, when I got hired at my job, within that first year I had a baby that had medical problems, and I said to the nurse, should I stay home or should I go to work, will my baby be OK, and they said go to work, don't worry.
    My baby is all grown up now,and with all the medical problems she had is now  employed full time taking care of the elderly,  watches an autistic boy, goes to college, I'd say she turned out to be more than OK! 

I must say that I am very glad I am not just starting a new family, the price of everything has gone up,
If I was in danger of losing my home, guess what, I'd start taking in boarders, I guess that is what people
are starting to do.
I think after looking out for my kids through the years, I have been able to learn alot of survival skills.

As far as the Economy vs. Breeding thing goes, if my kids that live at home with me can all be holding jobs at the moment, than why is that, it's only what you make of it.......

     As far as I can tell, you don't know too much about breeding dogs, what's with the $$$ signs, I spend alot of $$$$ on training, and quailty meals for my mutts, and not to mention, tomorrow we go for hips & elbow x-rays for OFA, estimated between $ 400.00 --$ 500.00
and she may need a filling for her tooth that seems to have a cavity, and then I'll probably pick up some Advantix flea med, and also some Intercepter heartworm medication, and then if I pick her up early enough, I'm going to go to training with acouple of my other dogs ($ 20.00 a night)  I have entered in the upcoming obedience shows $154.00.........not including gas money..........My dogs are my outlet for relaxing with, enjoying their company, they are my friends and companions.

  Good luck with any future ventures, and don't be afraid to stick both feet in the water!

puppy mill,  back yard breeder, casual breeder,,,,,,,  call them what you want, it all means the same thing.  no use in getting into semantics.  i breed my dogs in my back yard.    would that make me a back yard breeder?   i also train and show my dogs,  but never been on the podium,  does that make me a hobby breeder? 

as George Carlin said " its not the word that makes it bad, its the context in which the word is used"

john