10/12/2025
* Just because you don't purchase dogs from a breeder does not mean that your adopted dog does not have health and functioning issues that stem from poor breeding. Many dogs end up in rescue shelters AFTER the original owner cannot afford or cannot handle their badly bred dog problems. *
Before someone gets their un**es in a twist over this article and fires off a shot in my direction, please understand what I am saying and why I am saying this.
I am not against all dog breeders. I have a problem with those dog breeders who through igorance, ego, greed, or just plain laziness use badly bred dogs to create even more badly bred offspring that are then purchased buy unwitting people who did not research the breeder, nor their dog lines used, and who had no clue how to spot a healthy puppy from a puppy struggling with their health.
Everyday my message box is stuffed full of messages from angry, scared, and heartbroken owners of sick dogs who have exhausted their savings to pay for Vet bills only to watch as their dog gets more sick.
Many of these dogs come from hack breeders who use terrible quality dogs to create even worse quality progeny who then go on to have life long health problems that the Vet cannot fix.
When your dog's health issues are primarily caused by bad breeding all you can do is to try and manage the health problems with medication. Please understand ... you really cannot "cure" bad genetics, you can only hope to prevent them through sound breeding practices .... and that is not what hack breeders do.
Hack breeders throw any two dogs together to address conformation only, they don't cull to address temperament. And they cut corners by feeding cheap diets and by releasing puppies by as early as six weeks old. Then these puppies grow up to be dogs riddled with health and behaviour problems.
A significant number of these dogs end up being given up by owners who cannot afford the health care costs of these dogs so now rescues and shelters are left looking for kind hearted people willing to adopt a dog who has known health issues.
Badly bred dogs are not only a tragedy, they are preventable tragedy. But the only way to prevent this is to stop supporting these breeders with your money. Please, stop buying dogs sight unseen over the internet. Stop buying the "great deal" dogs bred by some butthead who has no clue what they are doing.
Know the signs of a bad breeder and walk away from them. If no one bought their badly bred dogs, they could not stay in business.
Here are some things that you should know to look for:
Know How to Spot Bad Breeders
By Margit Maxwell
There are a lot of people out there who are struggling with sick dogs that are sick because they were badly bred, came from poor breeding stock, or came from bad breeders who really do not take responsibility for the sick dogs they create. Many new dog owners have no idea that they should make sure that they need to double check the person that they are about to buy their puppy from.
I wish we lived in a world where a person's word was their bond, that people took pride in what they produce, or that some people weren't the disgusting pieces of slimy garbage taking up space on this earth kind of person who's only thought is to make as much money as they can selling dogs to unsuspecting consumers.
But unfortunately we live in a world where some people don’t care about animals or about the people who will be affected by their lack of morals, values, or principles of breeding and selling dogs. Don’t volunteer to be their next victim. Know how to recognize a bad breeder and don’t buy your dog from them.
Buyer beware. Keep yourself safe. Avoid buying a poorly bred dog.
THE MANY FACES OF DOG BREEDERS
1. Puppy Mills
People operating puppy mills don’t care about the quality of product they produce. They only care about having enough dogs on their premises to churn out enough dog “product” to support the supply and demand of pet stores and uneducated people who buy these dogs sight unseen via the internet. Their dogs are kept in tiny cages, the dogs are often covered in their own filth, barely having enough food or clean water to keep the dogs alive. Females are kept alive until they are no longer able to produce puppies for them and then they are killed or left to die. The puppies produced by these poor suffering dogs are what you will be buying from a pet store or from online breeding service.
2. The Full Time Breeding Operation Of A Back Yard Breeder
People operating as a full time dog breeder are a business and as a business they will always be looking to cut their costs anyway they can to try and turn a viable profit. The constantly rising costs for dog food, heat and light, and for Vet care means that these people are likely to cut corners where ever they can, even if it means that the quality of dogs being produced suffers. For the most part the dogs that these breeding operations use as breeding stock have not been genetically screened and may not have come from sound genetic parents. They continue to buy their breeder dogs cheaply to keep their breeding operation costs low.
Large breeding operations have a lot of dog mouths to feed so corners are often cut by feeding inexpensive dog food to keep overhead costs low. These large breeding operations will always have many litters on the ground at any given time to be able to have puppies available for immediate purchase whenever someone wants to buy puppies. These are also the breeders pushing to send puppies home at 6 weeks old to save on feeding costs.
Unfortunately, these 6 week old puppies are too young to be removed from their mothers and their siblings and will often suffer from timidity and anxiety as they lack the early socialization that comes from sibling interactions. If you see this a breeder pushing puppies through as quickly as possible, this should be a red flag for you.
3. The Smaller, But Still Bad, Back Yard Breeding Business
The small back yard breeder does not have the space or the budget to house many dogs so that means that usually only one or two females are bred back to back, season after season, producing a constant supply of puppies for them. As dog breeding is the sole means of income for these breeders, if they do not have a constant supply of puppies to sell, they don’t have an income. The constant over breeding of the female creates a strain on the mother’s body and it results in producing increasingly unhealthy puppies. All too often older females are still being bred in these businesses because it costs money to keep adding young breeding dogs to the breeding program. The quality of the dogs used for their breeding programs are usually not very sound because they could not afford to invest the money into good breeding stock.
Also, quite often, the breeding stock being added are dogs that were produced by their own dogs. If they started out with poor quality untested dogs, then the subsequent dogs being added to their breeding program will still end up producing poor quality dogs.
Because these small outfits struggle to turn a profit, they cut corners where ever possible to cut their soaring overhead costs. That means that cheap and nutritionally unsound food is fed to their dogs. Also, Vet visits are few and the costs associated with genetic screening are not affordable to them.
These breeders often possess the knowledge and have the experience to create healthy puppies but they lack the required income from their breeding practice to be able to run a quality breeding practice.
4. The Uneducated Person That Breeds Dogs Just To Make Money
These breeders are responsible for producing poor quality dogs as they feel that anyone with a dog should be able to breed it and sell the puppies. They often see it as a way to make their money back that they spent on buying a dog or just a source of “quick and easy money”. These people have no background that would qualify them to know the nutritional needs of their dog breed nor do they have the slightest understanding of sound animal husbandry practices, genetics, and they certainly know nothing about conformation standards of the dog breed.
The dogs used for their breeding are often poor quality dogs that have not undergone any genetic screening and truth be told, these people don’t have the first clue about the inherited genetic problems of the specific dog breed and issues to watch for. These people just put any two dogs together to procreate and then sell the puppies for bargain rates to unsuspecting and uneducated dog owners.
They don’t care too much about what happens to their dogs once they leave their premises as they pretty much only care that their puppies are sold as quickly as possible while they are still small and cute. They offer no health guarantees and the buyer will be responsible for any health problems in the dogs they buy. The draw for many people to buy dogs from these people is lure of the words, CHEAP PUPPIES. Little do they know that there will be other costs associated with their bargain puppy when it begins to show signs of being chronically ill. Their bargain puppy could easily end up costing them thousands of dollars in Vet bills and medications.
Not such a bargain now, is it?
5. The Knowledgeable And Ethical Breeder
There is a small but dedicated group of people who choose to breed dogs because have a passion for the breed. They care enough to become well informed about the dog breed before they begin producing dogs. They understand the need to produce dogs for conformation as well as temperament. They understand the nutritional demands of the breed and supply it to their dogs. Their breeding dogs are screened for known health genetic health issues and they use only proven clean dogs in their breeding programs.
They do not have many litters on the ground at once so that means that you may have to get on a waiting list to obtain one of their puppies. These breeders stand behind the quality of the dogs that they produce by offering varying genetic health guarantees. These breeders also care about what happens to their puppies once they leave their kennel and will take their own dogs back should it become necessary. These folks breed for quality, not for quantity.
Sadly, these are also the breeders who are the most likely to be driven out of business by the unethical breeders because they find that they just cannot compete with the cut rate prices offered by the other breeders. Due to the ever rising costs associated with the care and breeding of their dogs these breeders can only cut so many corners without it effecting the quality of the dogs that they produce. Good breeders will refuse to compromise on the quality of the dogs produced by their breeding lines.
Customers often see the high cost associated with true quality dogs and the impeccably clean dog lines the puppies came from and then they turn to the less expensive option of buying a “bargain dog” from one of the other above mentioned types of breeders. Quality dogs have a high cost associated with them not so that the breeder can make more profit, but because the cost of genetic screening tests, the feeding of top quality food, and the top notch Vet care that goes into the making of this puppy is reflected in the price of the dog that you are buying.
How To Put Bad Breeders Out of Business
People often discuss the need for licensing for breeders and while this may help with the problem of bad breeding to a small degree the reality is that rules and licensing will still not eliminate all the bad breeders. Breeding businesses will still have to be monitored for compliance, rules need to be enforced, and infractions need to be litigated. This leaves far too many cracks for shady breeders to slip through unnoticed.
The only way that bad breeders can be put out of business is for consumers to become educated and not to buy dogs from them. If no one bought these poorly bred dogs then there would be no way for these people to stay in business.
Prospective dog owners need to take it upon themselves to be well educated about their dog breed and about what constitutes a healthy puppy. People MUST take the time to research the breeder before agreeing to buy their dog. Don’t just rely on an internet ad showing you pictures of cute puppies to decide on which dog breeder to use. And certainly don’t just take the breeders word for who they are and the quality of puppies they produce.
Buyer be aware. Don’t wait for government or local agencies to keep you safe from unscrupulously bad breeders creating sick puppies. Become educated and be responsible for checking out the person who is breeding and selling you a puppy.
