How much for a KC registered chocolate labrador?

thorsoak

rockiedog wrote: »

Why do these KC dog breeders keep breeding puppies when there are so many in animal shelters waiting for homes? Do you know how many dogs are destroyed every day in the UK? Over 1000, I feel they are adding to this number, A dog is worth £2000? I don't think so! Instead of paying that for a dog to breed from why don't you donate it to the RSPCA or another animal charity? And do some good, for a change.

(1) I do not, and never will donate to the RSPCA - who are guilty of destroying animals unnecessarily, and who will do nothing to take an animal away from a horrendous situation if it has a bowl of water and a bowl of food - despite it having no shelter/no human contact.

(2) As a good breeder, I support breed rescue, and have fostered/home checked homes for dogs which sadly find themselves in breed rescue. I won't have any more litters now because, in my opinion, I am too old to possibly be able to fulfil one of the conditions in my contract of sale of a puppy - which is that I will ALWAYS take back any puppy that I have bred.

We need to educate people to get their puppies from good breeders - whose prices, incidentally always seem to be lower than those of the puppy farmers - it is the puppy farmers who keep Rescue in business - and let's be honest, some people running a Rescue are running businesses - they aren't all registered charities! When anyone purchases a puppy from a puppy farmer, they are financing the next litter - and the next batch of puppies for Rescue

yorkshire_terrier_owner

thorsoak wrote: »

(1) I do not, and never will donate to the RSPCA - who are guilty of destroying animals unnecessarily, and who will do nothing to take an animal away from a horrendous situation if it has a bowl of water and a bowl of food - despite it having no shelter/no human contact.

absolutely true.

(2) As a good breeder, I support breed rescue, and have fostered/home checked homes for dogs which sadly find themselves in breed rescue. I won't have any more litters now because, in my opinion, I am too old to possibly be able to fulfil one of the conditions in my contract of sale of a puppy - which is that I will ALWAYS take back any puppy that I have bred.

a sign of a good breeder - you are making decisions for the good of your dogs.

We need to educate people to get their puppies from good breeders - whose prices, incidentally always seem to be lower than those of the puppy farmers - it is the puppy farmers who keep Rescue in business - and let's be honest, some people running a Rescue are running businesses - they aren't all registered charities! When anyone purchases a puppy from a puppy farmer, they are financing the next litter - and the next batch of puppies for Rescue

never a truer word spoken.

Thorsoak, you put it much more eloquently than I.

NoGoodNamesLeft

If possible, I'd try to meet a few of the dogs they have bred in the past. Some breeders unfortunately don't take the health of the animal into account and this can lead to health issues being passed along.

Even KC breeders can be guilty of this as they sometimes breed for physically desirable traits rather than healthy ones. Thankfully labradors are generally healthy - as long as you find a good breeder. Ask what kind of health screening the parents receive before breeding.

I usually prefer a mixed breed (which should also be much cheaper!) - a friend of mine has the loveliest labrador/retriever mix, so that could be a possibility if you don't mind a mutt - obviously won't be KC registered though.

If you decide to look for a rescue dog, there are breed specific rescues, but it really depends where you live and I don't imagine they get many KC registered puppies.

My cats got along great with my dog as the dog was introduced to cats as a puppy. I second the suggestion of looking for a breeder who has cats.

thorsoak

NoGoodNamesLeft wrote: »

If possible, I'd try to meet a few of the dogs they have bred in the past. Some breeders unfortunately don't take the health of the animal into account and this can lead to health issues being passed along.

Even KC breeders can be guilty of this as they sometimes breed for physically desirable traits rather than healthy ones. Thankfully labradors are generally healthy - as long as you find a good breeder. Ask what kind of health screening the parents receive before breeding.

I usually prefer a mixed breed (which should also be much cheaper!) - a friend of mine has the loveliest labrador/retriever mix, so that could be a possibility if you don't mind a mutt - obviously won't be KC registered though.

If you decide to look for a rescue dog, there are breed specific rescues, but it really depends where you live and I don't imagine they get many KC registered puppies.

My cats got along great with my dog as the dog was introduced to cats as a puppy. I second the suggestion of looking for a breeder who has cats.

You aren't going to find a cross-breed that has been health-tested. The trouble with cross-breeds is that you can get as many of the bad traits of both breeds as you can the good traits!

esmerelda98

thorsoak wrote: »

(1) I do not, and never will donate to the RSPCA - who are guilty of destroying animals unnecessarily, and who will do nothing to take an animal away from a horrendous situation if it has a bowl of water and a bowl of food - despite it having no shelter/no human contact.
I am sure many criticisms can be levelled at the RSPCA, and I am not in any position to critically appraise them, however I am sure that these 'unnecessary destructions' come down to resource issues. They are making difficult decisions about how best to support animal welfare and you may not agree with their decisions but unless you are willing to pay for the animals they want to put down or organise a fund to do this, you are not really in a position to criticise them on this issue. Especially when as a breeder you are probably providing dogs to people who would otherwise go to a rescue. I am sure that some people would rather not have a dog at all than anything less than a perfect pedigree puppy but I am sure that many are looking for the companionship of a loving dog rather more than the perfect designer accessory and would downgrade their ambitions if forced to.

(2) As a good breeder, I support breed rescue, and have fostered/home checked homes for dogs which sadly find themselves in breed rescue. I won't have any more litters now because, in my opinion, I am too old to possibly be able to fulfil one of the conditions in my contract of sale of a puppy - which is that I will ALWAYS take back any puppy that I have bred.

We need to educate people to get their puppies from good breeders - whose prices, incidentally always seem to be lower than those of the puppy farmers - it is the puppy farmers who keep Rescue in business - and let's be honest, some people running a Rescue are running businesses - they aren't all registered charities! When anyone purchases a puppy from a puppy farmer, they are financing the next litter - and the next batch of puppies for Rescue
Whilst responsible breeding is infinitely better than 'farming', it still has the effect of reducing the population of dog shelter clients.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

The reason I have always bought pedigree pups from breeders, and the reason many people buy a pup from me, is NOT because it is the perfect dog or a fashion accessory. No dog is perfect. It is because you can more accurately assess what you will get in terms of size/temperament etc. for many people that is because they have assessed what sort of dog would best suit them.

I think you need to understand the mindset of people who buy from breeders. The ones who want the perfect puppy fashion accessory buy from the unscrupulous breeders because they are the people breeders like me won't sell to. Those are the dogs that end up in rescue.

You tar all dog owners with the same brush just as you tar us breeders with the same brush.

BTW, I do think I am in a position to criticise the RSPCA - the rescue centre I volunteer at sees all sorts of abused dogs that the RSPCA have refused to deal with.

System

I too bought my dogs from a breeder. The reason being they were my very first dogs and I did a lot of research on what type of dog would suit me and my family.

Ok I could have gone to the Dogs Trust and picked up a mixed breed puppy but I needed to know roughly what nature that dog would have. Also the size. I was able to see my puppies with their Mothers which gave me some idea of what to expect.

The temperament of my dogs are exactly what I read up on before we bought them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier_King_Charles_Spaniel

They are perfect for us. Probably a bit clingy more than I'd have liked but that's not really a problem.

Now I could have selected a mixed breed puppy from the Dogs Trust but I wouldn't have much idea as to how big it would grow or its temperament.

I was considering owning a Westie and a Scottie but I read a lot of write ups saying they bark a lot. Maybe I'd have got a couple that didn't bark much but I didn't want to take the risk.

We chose not to register our dogs with the KC. They were never going to be shown. They were bought to be pets.

themull1

rockiedog wrote: »

Why do these KC dog breeders keep breeding puppies when there are so many in animal shelters waiting for homes? Do you know how many dogs are destroyed every day in the UK? Over 1000, I feel they are adding to this number, A dog is worth £2000? I don't think so! Instead of paying that for a dog to breed from why don't you donate it to the RSPCA or another animal charity? And do some good, for a change.

If thats the case, why ever have your own kids, there are plenty in orphanage waiting to be adopted....same thing. Some people want a particular breed of dog, that's their choice.

elsien

As many posters on here will know, I like bull terriers. I always get them from breed rescues or shelters because my lifestyle is not suited to a puppy and I don't want to pay hundreds for a dog.

But if responsible registered breeders didn't exist, then breeds as they are now would cease to exist. We'd either have lots more unhealthy unscreened dogs or lots of mongrels. Nothing wrong with mongrels, had several myself. But people like breeds for a reason, the looks, the temperament, the lifestyle they are more suited to. If all that went out of the window, we'd just be losing so much.

And it wouldn't stop other dogs from ending up in shelters when they got expensive, or chewy, or stopped matching the owners furniture.
I'm all for giving dogs in shelters a new chance. But it's not the only option, and neither should it be.

thorsoak

esmerelda98 wrote: »

thorsoak wrote: »

(1) I do not, and never will donate to the RSPCA - who are guilty of destroying animals unnecessarily, and who will do nothing to take an animal away from a horrendous situation if it has a bowl of water and a bowl of food - despite it having no shelter/no human contact.
I am sure many criticisms can be levelled at the RSPCA, and I am not in any position to critically appraise them, however I am sure that these 'unnecessary destructions' come down to resource issues. They are making difficult decisions about how best to support animal welfare and you may not agree with their decisions but unless you are willing to pay for the animals they want to put down or organise a fund to do this, you are not really in a position to criticise them on this issue. Especially when as a breeder you are probably providing dogs to people who would otherwise go to a rescue. I am sure that some people would rather not have a dog at all than anything less than a perfect pedigree puppy but I am sure that many are looking for the companionship of a loving dog rather more than the perfect designer accessory and would downgrade their ambitions if forced to.

(2) As a good breeder, I support breed rescue, and have fostered/home checked homes for dogs which sadly find themselves in breed rescue. I won't have any more litters now because, in my opinion, I am too old to possibly be able to fulfil one of the conditions in my contract of sale of a puppy - which is that I will ALWAYS take back any puppy that I have bred.

We need to educate people to get their puppies from good breeders - whose prices, incidentally always seem to be lower than those of the puppy farmers - it is the puppy farmers who keep Rescue in business - and let's be honest, some people running a Rescue are running businesses - they aren't all registered charities! When anyone purchases a puppy from a puppy farmer, they are financing the next litter - and the next batch of puppies for Rescue
Whilst responsible breeding is infinitely better than 'farming', it still has the effect of reducing the population of dog shelter clients.

Each and every puppy that I have ever bred (and I go back almost 50 years) has gone to a family that I have personally checked out, that has been to visit my home and my dogs at on at least two occasions before they have got as far as going on my "puppy list". I know where all of my puppies have gone, I have photographs of them at all stages of their lives, where they have moved to - and when they have died. I have had to re-home three dogs during this period because the original owners' circumstances changed and they were no longer able to keep their beloved dogs. THIS IS WHAT GOOD BREEDERS DO.

I resent the implication that all breeders "feed" animal shelters. Good breeders don't. Greedy puppy farmers - aka greeders - do.

You say "Whilst responsible breeding is infinitely better than 'farming', it still has the effect of reducing the population of dog shelter clients." Is this not what we all want? No dogs in shelters!