Reputable Dog Breeders

pH wrote: »

And this is why "puppy farmers" are doing so well. Most people who want a dog, would love to get a well bred dog, but most (all?) breeders and clubs make this nearly impossible. The whole thing can be very snobby, stand-offish and off-putting for a well intentioned member of the public to get their hands on a dog from a reputable breeder in Ireland.

There are only a handful of people who would A/ try to figure out when shows are on, B/ Travel around the country to them on spec for C) the off chance some breeder might give them the time of day and reserve a puppy from a litter.

There has to be a simpler way for people to get in contact with good breeders with litters due.

Absolutely, so as Andreac says, for the rottie club website, the dogs have to be health tested before they are allowed on the site. So, why can a site such as the one in question not do the same thing? Surely then there could be no doubt that it is only reputable breeders advertising on it?

But you know what though, we seem to think that we have a right to own a dog, when really we should consider it a privilege, so people who want a well bred pedigree dog should be willing to jump through all the hoops that a good breeders put out there. I know we've said it on here many, many times before, but the laws need to be changed. Breeding should be heavily regulated, and we need to change the mindset of dog owners.

Pedigree Dogs wrote: »

Whilst looking at my site analytics last night, I seen that there were a lot of referring visits from this site to mine, so checked it out and that's how I came to this post.

My name is Paul Barry and I am the owner of the site pedigreedogs.ie

I'd just like to answer a couple of the questions / statements that have been discussed above

When ISDW refers to my site being not quite as bad as the buy & sell types, I expect that they are referring to the fact that we have a comprehensive advice section, and a very informative blog.

Under the advice section you will find the following

In relation to Pups on the site (or Dogs being offered at Stud) we would recommend asking the owner if the pups parents (or Stud Dog) has had the relevant breed specific health checks, and request to see proof of same.

On the blog you will find articles such as; To Breed or not to Breed (21-02-11) Yaris V Ferrari (20-02-11) and most Saturdays we post a video of a particular breed followed by the FCI Breed Standard, Siberian Husky (30-01-11)

To the right hand side of the blog you will also find direct links to some Breed Clubs in Ireland, that have taken us up on our free offer to place a link on this section (Including the Northern Ireland Rottweiler Club) as well as many of the top show kennels in Ireland. We want to push Joe Public towards these web sites so they can speak to a responsible person about the breed in question.

Under the section Why advertise you will also find the following

We would also advise people that if they are not buying a registered pedigree dog, then rescue a dog from their local shelter.

I'm sure most people have come across the site champdogs.co.uk This is a model that some day I would like to replicate, but Ireland is not ready for this just yet. The UK is a different market. If I started out on the same basis as this site, it would take years for pedigreedogs to start getting picked up on in the search engine rankings etc, and nobody would come across the information found on our Blog re Breed Clubs or Advice section or information re Microchipping

We will always come up against people who "Lie" in relation to what they are advertising, and in relation to the 1 ad mentioned there are 3 pictures, 2 that were more than likely from a previous litter, and one of a current pup. Our advice to people looking at our site, is that if you do go to look at the pups being offered, that is after you have asked all the questions of the breeder found under our advice tab, and the conditions or pups look different to the ones being offered on the site, walk away.

It's also stated that I am well known. I have owned dogs (Standard Smooth Dachshunds) for the last 10 years. This is the first and only breed I have had since moving from my parents where we always had cross bred dogs.

I have shown dogs for about 8 years, only going to about 7 to 8 shows per year. I wouldn't consider myself well known at all, but do get in contact with as many responsible owners / breeders as possible, trying to promote my site and seek their support in helping us spread our message.

I worked out that ISDW stands for Irish Sled Dog Welfare, which is a rescue. I checked your site and see under links you have linked Irish Dogs.ie which carries a direct link to DD.

As there was one or two ad's on my site that didn't meet with approval, and if my site is going to be tarred on that basis, let me relate the following

I have only bred 1 litter in 10 years. We had 3 pups, and kept 2. The one we sold on, went to a fantastic home that was pre checked.

I have only used my Irish Champion dog at stud once. A lady who had an IKC registered Std Smooth Dachshund wanted a litter, so we agreed to use our male. The mating was successful, and pups were due.

When the bitch was whelping, she had to leave the house for a while to check on something, and when she came back the pups were dead. The Mother had rolled over them. We were of course extremely upset, and wondered how could this person be so careless.

The person in question works for a dog rescue in Kildare. But I won't let that affect my opinion on how great some of the work that is being done in Ireland, by some dog rescues.

My final point is that we are experiencing a small problem since we added the paypal function where some ad's make it to the site before we get a chance to look at same. We hope to have this rectified over the W/E so our normal service can resume.

This is my only post re this thread, and I would ask anyone that has any questions etc, to please make contact with me via the contact details on our site

Wow.

Yes I have a link to Irish Dogs, who also have a lot of great information on how to source a reputable breeder and a lot of good advice on how to avoid puppy farmers. In fact, all the things that you say you have on your site, they have:D so a good source of information for people in my opinion. I do not have a link to any websites that sell dogs.

I don't have any questions for you, I have no intention of ever using your site, I was merely pointing out that your site is very like the others that sell dogs, you go on what your advertisers tell you, you don't go and do visits to their premises, so how do you know they are reputable, responsible breeders? A link to your site was put up on here as a good place to find a puppy, but in my opinion (which I'm allowed to have) there is little difference between your and other puppy selling sites. I wanted to redress the balance, so that people didn't think that every dog advertised on your site has been health checked etc etc etc.

I didn't say there were only one or two ads that didn't meet my approval, I had a very quick look at two breeds, and straight away saw the anomalies I mentioned. I don't have the time nor the inclination to go through all of the ads, you obviously do though, as they are all pre-approved.