12/02/2025
Perfectly said.
Shared from another post, it has some interesting pointsâŚ
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A comprehensive, definitive, completely impartial guide brought to you byâwell, you know who.
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They say it all starts with where you got your dogs.
Were they from reputable breeders with perfect health scores and clear genetics?
Were they champions? Imports? Descended from names everyone knows?
Because where you found your first dog apparently decides what kind of breeder you're allowed to become.
Did you buy a puppy or a proven breeding animal?
If you spent too little, you donât value the breed.
If you spent too much, youâre trying to buy credibility.
If you bred a dog you raised yourself, youâre too inexperienced.
If you didnât, youâre lazy and relying on someone elseâs work.
They say every responsible breeder starts with âquality stock.â
But no one can tell you who decides what quality means.
Some days itâs pedigree.
Some days itâs personality.
Most days itâs whoeverâs gossiping the loudest.
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They say responsible breeders test everythingâeyes, hearts, patellas, DNA, hips, for SM, and whatever new panel appears next month. Supposedly, the more tests you do, the more credible you are. But donât get too confidentâsomeoneâs already decided you did it wrong.
Did you use blood or a cheek swab?
Did you list every result publicly or keep them for yourself?
Did you test yearly, or every other year?
Did you wait until the ârightâ age, or risk being âtoo earlyâ?
Did you test before breeding or after the litter, like some kind of monster?
Maybe you used the wrong lab. Maybe you didnât test at the right age. Maybe you tested through the wrong registry.
At some point the testing stopped being about the results and started being about who could talk the loudest about testing expectations.
Because for them, it isnât really about healthâitâs about hierarchy disguised as health. Odds are they, themselves, haven't even tested to the degree they are holding you to.
Either way, theyâll find a reason to say you did it for the wrong reason.
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They say no dog should be bred until itâs proven.
So you show. You travel. You pay entry fees.
You stack and gait and smile until your cheeks hurt.
You winâtoo muchâand theyâll call you arrogant.
You loseâtoo oftenâand theyâll call your dogs pet quality or worse, poor quality.
Did you title in AKC or the CKCS?
UKC? Scoff, not good enough! (even though they often use AKC judges)
Did multiple judges agree your dog âmeets the standardâ?
Did you chase majors?
Did you finish too fast? Too slow?
Did you dare post the ribbon photos online?
If you win, people resent you.
If you lose, they use it as proof you were never any good.
So the only âsafeâ breeder is the one who never stands outâbecause they only cheer for their own, and anyone else is just there to boost their points.
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They say breeding should only be done âfor the betterment of the breed.â
But no one explains how to measure âbetter.â
Did you have a reproductive vet declare your dog worthy?
Did you run progesterone timing?
Did you brucellosis-test both dogs?
Did you run a semen count first?
Did you pair them for health? For type? For pedigree diversity?
Whichever choice you made, it was the wrong one.
Did you let them breed naturally? Thatâs careless and recklessâanything could have happened.
Did you use artificial insemination instead? Thatâs forceful and unnaturalâyou made her do something she didnât choose.
In the end, it doesnât matter. Thereâs no right answerâjust another reason for someone to say you did it wrong.
Breed too young? Irresponsible.
Wait too long? Thatâs geriatric cruelty.
Breed back-to-back? Youâre abusing her body.
Skip a heat? Youâre risking pyometra.
Breed your own dogs together? Line-breeder.
Use someone elseâs? Lazy.
Ask five people and youâll get ten different rulesâall of them absolute, none of them the same.
And heaven help you if the litter turns out too niceâbecause suddenly youâre not preserving the breed, youâre cashing in on it.
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They say the best breeders never need to advertise.
The perfect homes just appear.
So if you have a website, youâre commercial.
If you use social media, youâre desperate.
If you rely on word of mouth, youâre secretive.
If you have a waiting list, youâre breeding too much.
If you donât, youâre reckless.
Sell to pet homes? Youâre diluting the breed.
Sell to other breeders? Youâre in the wrong clique.
Price too low? Youâre undercutting.
Price too high? Youâre greedy.
Price it just right? Youâre pretending to belong.
And of course, the math never adds up.
If you make a profit, youâre greedy.
If you break even, youâre doing something wrong.
If you lose money, youâre lyingâbecause who would lose money breeding dogs?
Apparently everyone but them.
And if they want one of your puppies and if you donât want to sell one to them at a price they want to payâwhich, of course, is never what you were asking for. You get cut down to BYB status.
If you refuse to sell, theyâll call you arrogant and label you a backyard breeder.
If you agree to sell, theyâll insist on a discount because âthey can help you in the breeder world.â If you sell to them anywayâagainst your better judgmentâand something goes wrong years later with the offspring, theyâll call you a backyard breeder again.
Thereâs no winning. The sale isnât about the dog; itâs about control.
And still, someone will say your puppy went to the wrong person or breeder, for the wrong reason, at the wrong price.
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They say your reputation is everything.
That one careless photo, one jealous rival, one rumor in the wrong group chat can undo years of work.
Because in this world, perception is proof, and whoever speaks first gets to sound like the expert.
Have you ever defended yourself online?
Then youâre defensive, which means guilty.
Stayed silent? Youâre hiding something.
Tried to explain? Youâre making excuses.
Blocked someone? Youâre unprofessional.
Ignored them? Youâre just inviting more bullying.
The truth is, reputation isnât builtâitâs assigned.
Theyâll decide who you are before they ever meet you.
Theyâll use your wins as weapons, your photos as proof, your kindness as weakness.
And when theyâve run out of stories, theyâll just make up new more destructive ones against you.
At the end of the day, thereâs only one guarantee:
If you breed at all, someone will eventually call you a backyard breeder.
Maybe not today. Maybe not this litter.
But somedayâbecause they need someone to be smaller than themselves.
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Count your answers.
If you said yes to any of themâcongratulations. Youâre a backyard breeder.
If you said no to all of themâcongratulations again. Youâre still a backyard breeder.
Because the truth is, they were never measuring your ethics.
They were measuring their comfort with your success.
And every time you refused to shrink, every time you did something your own way, you became the villain in their story or the bane of their existence.
But hereâs the part theyâll never admit:
The very people, by todays' expectations, would be labeled âbackyard breedersâ built the breeds they worship.
Those early hands preserved bloodlines before there were clubs, registries, or ribbons.
Theyâre the reason there are cavaliers to argue about at all.
So breed with conscience.
Test because it matters.
Show with pride.
Do the work, do the testing, and do it right â even when theyâll twist it anyway.
Keep learning, keep improving, and keep your peace.
Hold your standards steady, even when they donât.
And when they start talking again, let them.
Because no matter how loudly they shout âbackyard breeder,â
the only thing that phrase really means anymore is:
you have their attention
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We wrote this to show just how contradictory, diluted, and misused the term âbackyard breederâ has become.
Itâs been stretched to fit every personal opinion, every rivalry, every definition that shifts with convenience.
The truth is, thereâs no single meaning left â just a vague insult thatâs been repeated so often, people stopped questioning it.
That word was meant for the lowest of the low â for those who truly exploit dogs for profit and neglect their care â the same way puppy mill was meant to describe mass production without conscience.
But somewhere along the way, the word lost its weight and became a weapon of ego.
Maybe itâs time we take it back.
Use it where it belongs.
And stop throwing it at the people who are, quite literally, doing the work that keeps these breeds alive.
