Let's face it, for most of us, internet commerce is simply a fact of everyday life in the twenty-first century.
In addition to providing uncensored information and opinions on just about anything, the internet has become a global marketplace, a vast and sprawling "virtual street bazaar" where one can find absolutely anything one's heart desires with a few keystrokes.
And like any other street bazaar, its motto is Caveat Emptor.
| |
When looking for a purebred puppy online, Caveat Emptor takes on special importance, for reasons that most aspiring purebred dog owners cannot even imagine.
Remember when everybody's local pet shop displayed purebred puppies in their windows? Tired of having angry dog-lovers picketing on their sidewalks, many have thankfully given up the practice. The well-educated puppy buyer now knows that buying a puppy from a pet shop is a bad idea for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that it helps perpetuate substandard breeding.
Oddly, few people give any thought to where these poorly-bred puppies, and thousands like them, now end up. Once the market for local pet-shop puppies started to decline, did the large-scale commercial and "egg money" breeders producing them in backyards, kitchens, and kennels across rural America simply give up breeding? No, they did not. What the smart ones figured out was this:
They could now sell their puppies directly to the public over the internet,
for twice what the pet-shop brokers were paying them,
and make even more money than before.
God bless America.
|
| This is a Bad Thing for several reasons.
First, commercial breeders who sell directly to the public are not required to be licensed nor inspected by the USDA. Now, that agency's standards might be lower than your typical responsible hobbby breeder's, but at least they're something.
Second, because they can easily portray themselves to the public as "hobby breeders" with a few cherished family pets who live in the lap of luxury when they're not busy producing puppies, it's almost impossible for the average buyer to even identify, much less avoid, them.
|
This whole situation has become a lot worse recently because of changes in the internet itself, specifically in the area of search engines and how they work.
A very few years ago, a potential buyer interested in researching Maltese would type "maltese", "maltese puppies" or "maltese breeders" into a search engine like Yahoo! or google, and would find, on the first page, a link to the websites of the Maltese Club of America, the AKC, and several maltese breeders, all of which are reasonably good places to start.
Today, those same search criteria will yield several "sponsored links" at the top and side of the page
directing you to the websites of those who have paid the search engine several hundred dollars a month for that placement, but which reveals nothing about the quality of what they are selling.
Directly below those, and usually taking up the next several pages, will be links to the many "puppies for sale" and "breeder listing" websites that have suddenly appeared out of nowhere like dandelions on the lawn in June. There are so many of these now that some national Parent Clubs don't show up until the fifth or sixth page of search results on their breed.
These sites accept listings for individual puppies for sale (invariably pictured on baby blankets with clever names like "green boy", which one can only assume refers to the color of his collar and not his coat) or for breeders, who pay a monthly or annual fee for a listing. Some of these websites boast over 10,000 breeder listings encompassing virtually every breed and cross-breed known to man, and an equally wide cross-section of quality within each breed. Some even offer the listings for free and then charge the potential buyer to access them, which is frankly a pretty weird business model - sort of like if Bloomingdales charged you to walk in the door to shop.
Even more frightening are the broker's websites, which tend to be slick and very professional by comparison. These are chiefly identifiable by the fact that puppies are always listed for sale individually by the broker rather than by the actual breeder, whose name is nowhere to be found. The brokers always assure the customer that they "only work with the best breeders", though.
Now, at the risk of sounding judgmental, breeders who sell puppies to brokers, either through brick-and-mortar pet shops or virtual ones like these, are generally considered to be the bottom-feeders of the dog breeding world.
And although it is possible that there are some whose breeding stock have actually been evaluated against their standard for breed type, soundness and temperament, and thoroughly health-screened prior to breeding, it's also possible that you might be killed and eaten by a burmese python while grocery shopping at your local Food Lion. And just about as likely.
|
The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly....
sorting 'em out
|
Because buyers can no longer find their websites any more, many responsible breeders have now resorted to buying listings on these huge "all-breed listing" websites, along with the backyard breeders and the commercial guys posing as hobby breeders, and there's no easy way to tell them apart.
ALL ads for puppies from substandard breeders now state "Our puppies are raised in our home". (Well, what are they going to say- "Our puppies are raised in a shed out back" ?? )
Are the dogs pictured really their dogs? Surprisingly, the answer is often no. Responsible breeders find photos of their top-winning dogs on commercial breeders' websites all the time.
Those grandkids that grace so many "breeding is our family's hobby" websites?
Hard to tell if they're real, but the one you're looking at was a free download from an internet website that provides thousands of them. (They have very nice pictures of houses, too.)
So odds are, without "insider knowledge" they simply do not have, even the most intelligent neophyte puppy buyer won't be able to figure out who's who on the internet.
| |
The Responsible Dog Breeders Network was conceived and designed
precisely to solve this dilemma.
Utilizing the criteria laid out on our "Defining 'Responsible' " page, literally hundreds of hours spent poring through OFA records and breeders' websites resulted in the identification of a few responsible breeders in each of over 100 breeds both popular and rare, and invitations were extended to them. There are no doubt many more, and the network will hopefully continue to grow in the future, which will benefit both responsible breeders and conscientious buyers.
As with everything else in life, it should be noted that among these responsible breeders there exists significant diversity, and although the playing field has been leveled somewhat, potential owners still need to find a breeder with whom they feel personally comfortable, and whose philosophy of dog ownership generally mirrors their own.
After all, unlike commercial or casual (backyard) breeders, these breeders actually expect to be the first and primary resource over the life of the dogs they have produced should help be needed!
Some of these breeders have 40 years or more invested in their respective breeds are are well-known. Others are relative newcomers, but share the same commitment to responsible breeding.
Some breeders may own a dozen dogs or more (several of which are invariably retired from breeding as well as a few "young hopefuls") while others may only own two or three.
Some breeders' dogs are all full-time housedogs, while those with larger breeding programs often have kennels.
Although the Animal Rights Activists are working hard to make "kennel" a four-letter word, it should be remembered that in addition to socialization ALL dogs need adequate fresh air, exercise and sunshine, and in many cases clean, well-designed kennel runs may well be the best way to provide that.
Being crated full-time in the basement may allow breeders to claim "our dogs are not kept in kennels", but common sense should tell us it's not necessarily better for the physical and mental health and well-being of the dogs!
Responsible breeders all provide a written sales contract as well as registration papers, but all contracts are not the same. It is the buyer's responsiblity to read the breeder's contract PRIOR to putting down a deposit on a puppy, and to make sure they are comfortable with it before signing- this will avoid potential misunderstandings down the road.
The bottom line is this: Although the Responsible Dog Breeders Network has done a lot of the groundwork that the average concientious puppy buyer simply hasn't the background knowledge to do, the conscientious buyer still has to do some homework before committing himself to adding what will in essence be another family member to his household.
|
And, since this is the year 2010 after all, please understand that
the Responsible Breeders Network assumes no liability
for any transactions occurring as a result of information found on this website.
Inclusion of a breeder on this website does not constitute an endorsement
by the owners of the Responsible Breeders Network,
it merely means they met the general criteria for responsible ownership defined here
at the time of their inclusion.
Exercise some common sense, people.
|
|
