What do"s this mean? I know some call themselves hobbiest breeders,
and others pro breeders but do you think there are to many people haveing a
couple of litters and giving themselves this title with no real insight into there
own breed. What do you think?

In my book a 'Hobby Breeder' is one who breeds as a part of their hobby of showing or working dogs. The aim of the breeding should be to 'Improve and Maintain' the breed. No one should call themselves a breeder unless that is their primary aim, to hopefully try to produce puppies better or as good as their parents.

With this comes a lifelong responsibility to the puppies you breed, and their breed. If you are unwilling or unable to take back or make provision for any puppy you have bred, then don't do it. Those who expect others to take on their responsibilities are immoral whether they produce hundreds of pups, or allow their pet bitch to get pregnant, and then take the pups to the dogs home, or give them away to people who may do the same.

The primary aim of showing is to assess the relative merits of potential breeding stock against the requirements of the 'Breed Standard'

Some people who breed, or say they aren't a real breeder because they just like little Suzy to have lovely pet puppies, have no idea what the breed standard requirements, and worse don't care!

Thats what i think. I wish the word breeder could not be used so easily
Its very misleading

What i hate even more is that in many peoples minds it is used in a derogatory manner to mean those people you and I call puppy farmers! which is why when people stop and ask me if I breed, or am a breeder I have to qualify it with I breed occasionally as part of my dog showing hobby!

You tend to get stopped when you are walking four elkhounds down the high street :D

Yes i feel to call yourself a breeder there should be some exam or criteria.I know a lady in our area who buys a bitch mates her sells pups and bitch after a couple of litters then buys another and says shes a breeder. I"ve seen her one minuite with a yorky next a staff. I only ever see her walking pregnant bitches. But it makes me feel i have to defend myself all the time. Ionly have a couple of litters a year for all the right reasons and this woman the other day said how could i call myself a breeder if thats all i was doing.With that i gave it both barrels.

I only have 1 litter every 18 months or so,if that and I've been called a commercial breeder by someone anon. to the council. Luckily the council didn't share this opinion. They see that you have a few dogs and decide that you must be a breeder, whatever one is!!

Why are there so many lables for a person who breeds dogs? backyard,farmer,hobbiest,whim, breeder, puppy raiser and the list goes on. At the end of the day there will be: good and bad, sensible or dizzy, I mean cranky, staight or crooked and of course everyone thinks themselves good, sensible and straight and if you are then does it matter what others label you as?
Ted

Labels are definitions. You can call them whatever you choose, however, what you define as good 'good' may very well be different from what *I* would consititute 'good'. Same goes for cranky, straight, crooked, dizzy, sensible and bad.

However, because I have very definite stipulations for categorizing people as 'whim breeders/backyard breeders', 'puppy raisers' (which if you read Peggy Adamson's paper has been around since the 1960's), 'design-a-doggers', 'puppy millers', when *I* use those terms people that have read me, talked with me know *exactly* what I mean. Likewise, when people use those terms *I* understand them. In essence, we have a common language to proceed upon and don't have to reinvent the wheel.

If your point is that it is how YOU perceive yourself that matters, then on some levels I will agree with you. However, I feel that if you wish to attain a certain level, then you should be prepared to meet the criteria of your peers.

A certain level at what exactly?
Ted

The level where you have earned the right to call yourself an ethical, conscientious breeder and have the respect of your peers which can be vastly different than the respect of the public.