With absolutely no desire to kick up a brou-ha-ha.
I would like to seek some clarification on a point of dog husbandry ethics which is troubling me.

I've spent 12 years as a reader/contributor to this site and in that time have always recommended the site to friends/colleagues/ people I meet on dog walks. In fact I've been proud to do so as one of the few places you can access good solid experienced and accurate knowledge (and peer reviewed!)

However, I'm still left confused by a recent debacle on the Forum and the intrinsic problem (to me) got somewhat lost in the meleè.

A stud dog was advertised with no health checks.
Can I ask if this was just mistakenly?
(I understand admin and moderation is not 24/7 and could account for that?)
Or, has the ethos of the site shifted from the strap line 'promoting responsible breeding since 1999"

As I come from a breed that had to close it's rescue doors at one point due the influx of dogs being put in rescue by unprepared owners - it is very important to me who or what I affiliate myself with.

Members of public are wise now to 'puppy farmers' and insinuations from programmes such as 'pedigree dogs exposed' and the unfortunate stance of the KC (on programmes such as Crufts) to only promote the ABS - I feel that novice pet owners are now cashing in on breeding bitches and 'studing' [sic!] dogs. As I know that breed rescues suffer more from this area than puppy farming in recent years I'm loathed to assist in being seeing to accept this.... In fact I won't!

I would be sad to walk away from 12 years contributing but I can't shake the uncomfortable truth, if I'm not part of the solution I'm part of the problem.

Many thanks HG.

Good points well raised.
I'm still waiting for a reply to my email I sent to admin - Leigh re health testing.

I find it very difficult to see how in say in one of my breeds Rottweilers that you can put a litter on with just being hip scored. Now if you do more like elbow scoring which is what we want if the scores are above 1 you can't advertise. Surely we want people to be scoring more and it would be in the best interests of the breed and ethical and responsible breeding to either make it mandatory in this breed for all dogs to be elbow scored and not accept them without. Maybe actually allow higher scores which will enable puppy buyers to make their own decisions and therefore it would encourage more people to do elbow scoring.

It's probably the same for other breeds re elbows and also other tests.

You have every right to be troubled. Sadly, because it was not ever thus, CD is no longer the place to go to source ethically reared puppies nor indeed stud dogs. A few years ago I tried to register a litter of GR puppies. The sire was an imported dog , very successful in the field but had not been hip or elbow scored. He was only staying in the UK for a limited time, I knew his lines well and took a chance. He was hip and elbow scored  soon after the mating and although his hip score was very satisfactory, his elbow score came back as 2.   When I tried to upload the litter it was refused by admin due to the elbow score. I understood that one of Leigh's team had alerted him to this and my application denied. Okay, I shouldn't have taken the chance and learned the hard way.The litter however have done extremely well both in the field and as pets. I have a granddaughter here now. However, just a casual look at litter and stud ads on CD reveals litters where no testing has been done, stud dogs with elbow scores in excess of 0 or not tested at all, bitches  with hip scores way above the breed average being bred from and DNA testing for PRA (gr1 &2) rarely done and in some cases deliberately so if the result is likely to be unwelcome .  I used to believe that CD aimed to be the Gold Standard in breeding ethics but this is not the case and I advise puppy buyers accordingly. I once challenged admin about this and was given the usual buyer beware response. Not good enough  !

I reckon it will have to be down to the breed clubs to enforce high standards. The KC as we all know will continue to register puppies from untested/ unhealthy parents.

I always advise anyone looking for a puppy to contact Bred clubs. 

These people know who the good/acceptable people are producing puppies and often who to definitely steer clear of, the ones whose stock (usually not club members) who are always coming into rescue etc.

This seems much better option than the Kennel club Assured breeder scheme, (which often does not fulfil the needs of many good breeders) as breed clubs have their finger on the pulse in their breeds.

After many years membership I resigned from the KC ABS as I felt they were straightjacketing us in needless red tape to fulfil UKAS standardisation. 

I don't feel you can standardise many areas of practical breeding, and what suits one doesn't another.  They over complicated things, what do pups want and need, to be handled (loved) fed well, kept clean (as clean as a litter of little poo machines can ever be).

It seemed to be that unless you had purpose made facilities, UKAS were likely to be critical of more ad hoc arrangements that suited the breeder or their dogs.

I replied to a thread about this a few days ago and never got to see replies as the thread appears to have been removed (surprise surprise)....

Yes, people whose dogs have no health tests are allowed to advertise...... I along with other breed club members have reported it more than once and got told that it was up to the general public to do their homework and choose what was best for them !!!!

I see people with no health tests and people removed from breed clubs advertising, and before I get jumped on by Admin YES you were informed more than once....

So, I removed the Champdogs link from the breed club website, and now tell all enquirers only to buy from breed club members now as they breed to a strict code of ethics to ensure healthy puppies from health tested parents....

I also advise that just because a person is an Assured breeder, doesn't mean they breed quality puppies.... same as a KC registered litter doesn't signify quality.... so, come through the breed club, at least they know the health testing has been done and probably more testing done than the KC are requesting !!

Sad, but the Champdogs reputation is not what it used to be...