Puppy Plights
South Knox Bubba has some wonderful reminders about responsible dog ownership. Of course, this post led to a debate about the AKC and registries in general. I understand that registries serve various tracking and logistical purposes and that they are used to promote breeds and standards for the breed. However, such standards don’t always bode well for certain dogs.
Back in about April, the wife and I began our quest for a new addition (we already had one dog and felt he needed a playmate). So, we spent several months (in fact, we got our new addition in July) researching breeds and we wanted a dog with the following characteristics:
* Good health and long life (i.e., not disease prone to ensure we had a long-lasting relationship with our new pooch).
* Easily socialized with other dogs (some breeds’ histories are in dog fighting which makes them naturally dog-aggressive).
* Good with kids (the wife and I have no kids, but we’ve got several friends that do and they visit regularly. Plus the wife and I have 4 nieces and nephews who are toddlers and visit us quite often).
* Decent sized because I personally always feel like I’m gonna break small dogs when I play with them. And I don’t like yappy dogs.
We researched at least every day for three months. The result was the wife wanted a boxer and I wanted an Alano. However, we both agreed that our second choice would be an American Bulldog. So, in the spirit of compromise, we got the Bulldog.
Some of the things we learned during this research was great but we also learned of the plight of the White Boxer. See, if you go to the AKC boxer site, they tell you that:
White markings should be of such distribution as to enhance the dog’s appearance, but may not exceed one-third of the entire coat.
Unfortunately for boxer pups, 20% or so will be born almost completely white. And apparently these pups are euthanized at birth. Think about it, how often have you seen a white boxer? I’ve never seen one in person (in dog?). But I know they exist. Because these pups aren’t the desired ‘color’ they don’t get to live. There are several organizations that have taken up the worthy cause of the white boxer.
In fact, the wife called a breeder in reference to white boxers and I was there to listen. The conversation went like this (I’m not making this up):
Wife: Yes, I was calling about the boxer pups.
Breeder: What do you need to know?
Wife: I wanted to see if you had any white ones.
Breeder: We usually don’t keep the white ones.
Wife: What do you mean?
Breeder: Well, they’re not popular so we don’t keep them.
Wife: So, what do you do with them?
Breeder: We get rid of them.
Wife: To good homes?
Breeder: Uhm
Wife: So, you kill them?
Breeder: click
The wife was very upset after this.
So, why do I blame the AKC? For developing the standard. All AKC registration means is that the dog’s parents were registered or that the owner filled out some paperwork. It’s no guarantee as to the dog’s health, temperament, or brain power. So this standard of color has led to the killing of puppies. And the AKC will register any dog regardless of the breeder. So, puppy mills crank out pooches. Backyard breeders are in it for the cash. Etc.
When we got our pooch, we got him from doing a web search and found a local breeder. I was happy when we arrived at their kennel and I saw the care they took of the dogs. Also, the breeder asked us lots of questions, like:
Where will you keep him?
You gonna crate train him?
What’s your work schedule like?
Also, they told us after the fact that undesirable answers to the questions resulted in them not selling several of their pups to others. I respected that. Our breeders are not in it for the money. They’re in it because they love the breed and want to promote. By the way, American Bulldogs are not recognized by the AKC. To which I say ‘good!’
The Alano and the American Bulldog (neither of which is recognized by the AKC) are bred for functionality and not appearance. Alanos are used to catch and hold cattle in Spain. An Alano catching a bull by the ear or nose is apparently safer for the cow, the farmers say, than using tranquilizers or ropes.
American Bulldogs do the same thing. They also catch pigs (and hold them, they don’t kill them). There is also a competition for the breed that includes obedience, protection, sprint, hard hitting competition, weight pull, tug of war, hang time, and a 12 mile run.
Dogs bred for functionality and intelligence and not for appearance are, in my opinion, going to be superior and likely more free from various genetic and inbreeding defects.
So, give thought to your long time companions and don’t go for dogs that are ‘registered’ just because they are ‘registered.’
