Wish I'd Said That . . .

Deborah Pippin Bishop wrote this for the Facebook list Dalmatian Owners Of America.  She is not a breeder, but is very involved in rescue and sees the results of breeding done on the scale mentioned here.  These puppy raisers do not care who gets their pups as long as they fork over the cash, and many of the dogs end up as "throwaways", needing to be rescued by someone else.

(This is a long post, sorry) Sometimes I get frustrated as I look at fb, puppyfind and other sites where people can advertise puppies and dogs for sale. In the past week I have seen ads for 7 different litters of dal puppies, all located within half an hour to forty five minutes of me. 7 different litters, but only 3 different breeders- you do the math. In one case for example, one person has almost 30 puppies right now, all born within days of each other. I can not for the l...ife of me understand how it is that you could socialize that many puppies adequately. Sometimes I will see people post concerns or issues they are having with their puppy/dog as it is growing and developing, and I think to myself 'the puppy can't help where it came from or what it's history is.' I know this is said many times each week on this page, but I feel it needs to be said as often as possible. Put a lot of thought into where you get your puppy, as the way it has been raised in its first weeks of life can have a lasting effect on it's temperament and behavior. Furthermore, if you are comfortable paying a thousand dollars for a puppy, make sure it's parents have been health tested and the litter has been baer tested and that the breeder is genuinely interested in where their puppies end up. I know many of you will read this and think nothing of it, but I have seen firsthand what can happen when an irresponsible person tries to raise a litter. Or when they get overwhelmed with too many puppies and they start setting up at flea markets or on the side of the road trying to sell their puppies to anybody who has the money. So please... if you are interested in getting a puppy, do some research first. Especially if you live in an area such as I, where many people are breeding dalmatians- and even more are looking to get started in what they view as a money making venture. And as my final point- I have heard/seen many people say they knew they were buying from a bad breeder but they felt sorry for the puppy and wanted to save it so they bought it anyway. I completely understand; I struggle with that same sentiment every day. But the puppy-raiser doesn't care why you are buying that puppy; they only care about getting paid. So while you may be saving that one puppy, you may also be sentencing it's parents to a life of being nothing but puppy machines. As long as these people can keep selling them, they will continue to breed them. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have seen the sad, tired eyes of a bitch who has spent her entire life having puppies- and then was tossed like yesterday's trash when she could no longer produce. No dog deserves to live like that. Please keep that in mind if you are thinking about adding a puppy to your family! (My apologies for the mini-book)

Well said!
 

Swimming

Max in the lead, followed by Fern and Cousin Meribel

 

What a great time we had on Sunday when I met up with my daughter Jess and we took the dogs swimming at a wonderful beach on the beautiful St. Croix River.  She brought Ch. "Penny" and Penny's daughter Ch. "Meribel".  I brought Ch. "Max" and Ch. "Fern".  The dogs are all related and we call them "cousins" although Max and Penny are actually half-brother and sister.  What fun they had!

 

Max is a fanatic retriever of sticks, but discovered that abandoned soda bottles work even better and are a lot easier to spot in the river.  Not sure he would ever grow tired of retrieving things from the water.  Meribel isn't much into retrieving, she just loves to swim.  And swim. And swim.  Fern isn't a great swimmer, and she will retrieve in the water but not with the fanaticism displayed by Max. She prefers to wait in the shallows and mug Max when he gets close to shore.  Penny swims but also enjoys wandering along the shore looking for dead thing to roll on - something that Fern also unfortunately enjoys!

 

Although my weekends used to be devoted to dog shows, that's not really the case any more.  Now I tend to just do "fun things" with the dogs, like taking them swimming. After oh so many years of dog shows they've sort of lost their appeal.  Because Dal entries are so small, or non-existent in this area, the shows aren't nearly as much fun, and because we are not campaigning a Special, it's hard to justify traveling just to travel.  We've done a few specialty and supported entries this year and made those trips worthwhile, finishing up Fern's and Max's championship with nice big wins.  It's really a lot more fun when other Dal folks are present.  Not sure that we will enter anything this summer until the Labor Day specialty weekend in the Amanas, and then only if we can get away - hopefully both Jess and I will have pups at home by then. 

 

This weekend I'll palpate Fern and hopefully be able to tell that she is pregnant.  Gemma will also be done then, and perhaps there will be puppies at Jess's house too!  Fingers crossed.