Hi All

What do you think about this proposed "accredited breeder" scheme - I already do most of the things that will gain rating as premium breeder and see no reason why I should have to pay the KC every year and sign my dog's dna over to them just to prove it.

It seems as if you can fill in paperwork correctly then you may gain this accreditation regardless of your dogs?

Christine

I don't like the idea of handing my dogs' DNA over to the KC for them to do what they like with it either & am not keen at the way they are implying this scheme is a good way for breeders to increase the amount they sell their puppies for (as if this is a consideration for reputable breeders!!!).I think the suggestion is that "accredited breeders" would be able to ask £25 more than non-accredited breeders. I sometimes wonder what planet the KC are on :-) I also do most of the things proposed in the scheme & don't see why I should pay the KC for the privilege of having this dubious label. I would rather see them move towards making health screening etc compulsory for all breeders using the KC system but that seems a distant pipe dream :-(

Breeding rarely, 5 pups in 4 years, primarily for our own stock I wonder of the benefits of the scheme. I am also wondering whether this scheme would impact on registering as breeders with the local council too. I can see there being a call from the national canine press and the fourth estate in general that only breeders who are registered should be used to supply pups. I suppose it is somewhat akin to only using tradespeople who are registered with their relevant board.
Need time to consider the arguments fully but at the moment I am very wary.
As for registering DNA with the KC I can see no problem other than cost. I know some breeders have registered pups as being sired by one dog when a different dog was the actual sire and this would sort this scenario out.

Just another income scheme for the KC now registrations have fallen...as I see it those who apply themselves to the scheme will add more on the price of a pup and there will be ways & means around it for some "dubious" types to get registered.

I have bred 3 litters in 15 years of having the breed, can't see what benefit's it'll bring to me. But I can see Joe Public thinking their dog is "more special" because it comes from an accredited breeder than someone like myself!

I don't think to most buyers it will make a lot of different - how many of you breeders have people ringing up and the first thing they ask is the cost? I think many potential puppy buyers look first at cost then decide which breeder to go with.

Question for those of you who don't breed - what where the priorities when you brought your first pup - forget what you have learnt on this board, I would like to know what the initial things were that made you go with one breeder over another - proximity, cost, health testing, availabilty etc

Christine

Hi Christine,
The first dog we bought as a family well at least my parents bought was a Beagle, bought as company for my Grandmother, great idea. Bought from a place that had a lot of breeds, meant to be a pocket Beagle he wouldn't have fitted in a Gladstone Bag. We were lucky he lived to 16 was no trouble other than usual Beagle instincts and this lead us to go back and get a Boxer from the same place. We had never heard of puppy farms and dealers then and as for health checks a closed book.
Boxer, oh dear, looks less said the better, temperament great with people loved kids not so great with other dogs, he died at 6 of what I suspect was a brain tumour.

We did it right the next time, at least we had learnt from our mistakes, but if people would only listen to advice on here they would avoid a lot of heartache. Ok my Boxer was not a good example but that was nothing to do with the breed as a whole was where he came from and the particular lines behind him. I found out later that his Sire was very bad with other dogs also funny with people so I suppose we were lucky in a way.
I don't think price had anything to do with where we went it was easiness of availability and our ignorance that led us there
Anne

If I read it correctly there doesn't appear to be a limit as to the number of litters per year you breed as to whether you get to be an accredited breeder or not, but then if they have only asked the top 100 kennels then that doesn't surprise me that a limit hasn't been applied! It also means that they can get onto the puppy sales list which the KC had limited as to how many litters you bred to be able to use it. It also appears that if you have a non KC registered or recognised breed then you can't apply!
I aslo don't see why you have to pay. Surely if you are doing it right you should be rewarded not penalised?
Bec

Hi Christine,

When we were looking for Bailey (Black Labrador) my proiorities were that we would like a breeder that lived fairly close but we wanted to see that the eyes had been tested and hips scored. We prefered lighter build dogs so went for a working line. Cost wasn't really a consideration although i knew the average for Labs was around £400 so as long as it wasn't way over this I was happy. I also want a puppy raised in a family home enviroment not kennels afterall he was going to be a pet and live indoors when he got him home so wanted used to everyday noises.

I didn't have colour to consider as black is black but if I had been looking for a yellow or chocolate this would also have been important as I prefere dark chocolates and yellows.

Tracy

I too think that as we good breeders already do all the things in the scheme that it is a way of blackmailing us into giving the KC more money! If you do0n't sign up them ergo you aren't a good breeder!!!

They have got it all backwards, it is those who don't/Won't/Can't meet these standards who should have to pay more for KC services, those who can meet the extra standards should get discounts.

Financially for the KC it would make sense, as the bulk producers who register more puppies would have to pay more than those of us wioth our carefully planned litter a year or less.

They want us to sign the DNA rights over, and expect us to pay for it, sounds backwards tro me!!

Personally I would rather see them do something about all the appallingly bred pups from either puppy farms or pet homes where the animal barely resembles the breed standard. But that won't happen as long as these people are paying the KC a huge proportion of their income will it? As usual its the ones with the high standards that are expected to fork out & the ones at the bottom of the heap carry on getting away with it.

The situation in Poland, where the dog scene is newly fledged, after practically being non existant during the communist rule, is quite interesting.

In ordewr to register a litter both parents have to have ben shown and received at least one (may be more) grading of Excellent. In the case of a rare breed the local KC branch will invite you to0 bring the dog for assessment, and give it a fit to be bred from grading.

When the litter is born the local KC rep has to visit, and see if they look typical and healthy, and will note any obvious anomalies like mismarkings, hernia etc.

How much the opinions are worth is debateable in the case of muy breed where there was only one breeder 9who now is sadly dead) and few owners, but certainly in popular breeds a bred expert can be found to look the litter over.

All other purebreds have no papers, unless they satisfy the above cannot be registered.

I must point out that the world of purebred dogs is something quite small, and most poeople wouldn't dream of spending money purchasing a paperred purebred dog, as theyere are plenty of others going for free!

In country areasthere is a huge stray problem, and no-one sees animal welfare with all the social deprivation as being high priority.

Sam I agree with you, it is time that the KC or someone did something about breeders ( I use this term lightly) selling dogs that don't resemble the breed and also that have known health problems.

I met a woman in the park last week with 2 Westies ( used lightly again) and she stopped me and said "you show your dogs eh?" I said eh? what do you mean , She said I can tell. I had to politely tell her that was a lot of tripe as they are just real westies. ( they were nto groomed or anything).

Anyway she had 2 dogs at her side that I kidd not was about 3 times the size of my dogs, I could not stop looking at them.

They never resembled a westie ever. Their noses were like shepards. It was really weird standing there.

I had to bite my tougue as she would have thought I was some westie snob. She told me she bought them for some well know kennel abotu 20 miles away. I have never heard of the people or their dogs, she paid £400 for each of them and the were KC reg, even with a throw out I would find it hard to believe these had westie lines in them.

She even ask if she could use my male on her bitch, I was laugh honeslty, I tried to explain to her a little but she was 100% satisfied that hers were true westies and that mine were show westies. How do you win?? I don't know.

When I think about it they looked like large white corgies.

Pam

Looking for my BSd bitch, the priorities were mainly that she had good health and temperament, but also that she was going to be reasonably big. A few years ago there were some titchy ones about and I have always loved the bigger ones.

I would have travelled anywhere, in the UK, but the breeder of my second Terv was close by and offered twice weekly visits of puppies growing etc - wonderful! Plus old bloodines of my previous dogs which meant an awful lot.

Banya actually turned out smaller than I wanted due to Continental lines, but is in every other way the dog I wanted :)

Cost was immaterail but I would'n't have paid stupid prices because there is no need. She was £450 andthat was what i expected :).

The first breeders I made contact with were all ones with either websites, or listed on sites such as this, where I could read a bit about them and their dogs and like the sound of what they were doing. Distance was also an issue, but I did say I would travel anywhere in Scotland for the right dog. Eventually we got a recommendation for our breeder, who happens to be not 10 miles away, but the first thing that struck me when I met him was his love for his dogs :) He has such a way with them, they have all got brilliant temperaments - they all looked so happy and seemed as though they would do anything for him.

Cost is much further down on my list....
:)

When we decided to get pups, we weren't looking for pedigree dogs. Just two dogs that would fit in and suit.

We visited the rescue centres every week searching for something we liked. Nothing appealed. All over stressed/under exercised dogs that looked miserable. We bought a dog breeds book and decided on pups so that we could shape them to suit our lifestyle. Once we picked our breeds we bought the papers and relevant magazines each week looking for available litters. I rang a few 'breeders' and was extremely put off by some conversations I had.

I wanted to know: What are the breed like to live with as pets, what's the dam & sire's temperament, what life style would they suit, what were they bred for, how much exercise do they need, what food do they prefer, how does the breed respond to obedience training, what colours are they, are you keeping any of the litter.

They wanted to know: Did I have £500, was I a serious buyer, where did I live, what do I want a puppy for and no, I couldn't just come and look at the pups, no time wasters please.

Eventually the KC put me in touch with a a few reputable breeders. I was looking for someone with a genuine love of their dogs, reluctant to their pups go, bred mainly for themselves, happy to keep in touch and be pestered for advice.

Hope this helps.

Lady G