Category: Breeding

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Best Family

I made the following suggestion to the SBTCA National Specialty Committee that I am currently serving on  –

There should be an extra nontraditional class at the national specialty called the “best family” or similar where you have to enter a minimum of three generations, preferably four.

The purpose would be to show the direction the breeder has taken over the generations. It would be a non-regular class so that only perhaps one of the three or four entries would be required to be entered in a regular class in order to participate. At least 2 of a three generation entry or 3 of a 4 generation entry must be bred by the person entering.

Maybe not offer every year but maybe every few years to give people time to be able to meet the conditions of participation. If breeders are working together this isn’t so daunting.

I can see where this would be very helpful to get a bigger picture on how we are doing as a whole in this country as far as making good breeding choices. Are we really improving? Sometimes I think not. Sometimes it seems we are struggling and not working together. 

The judging would encompass mostly type but also structure and how the dogs meet the standard. The focus would be on consistency and improvement.

 It also could just be presented as a showcase not a competition – a prelude to a seminar. Can you imagine seeing 4 generations in a ring from 5 breeders? Especially if they were working together?

I have always thought that breeders in this country needed to work together more. If we share similar goals then why AREN’T we working together? How can a breeder such as myself who can’t keep a lot of dogs or who spends so much money on each litter move forward very easily? Without a larger number of resources its not possible. Perhaps that is why in this country we do not see a lot of improvement and also why finding the right stud seems so daunting.

Thoughts?

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No good deed goes unpunished

I volunteer my free time to help Staffords. I do this freely and of my own will. I spend hours each day on some sort of project related to Staffords. I am either promoting The Stafford Knot, helping raise money for the parent club, assisting with rescue, running online auctions where I give away my own items, making craft projects to raise money or in some way spending my own valuable time giving back to the breed. I have done this for almost 15 years. Nobody makes me volunteer. I actually have wanted to stop for many years. I fill voids. I feel that if I stop, someone else will pick up where I leave off and fill these voids. They will have their own way of giving back which won’t be exactly like mine, but they will do these jobs. For the most part, these are thankless jobs. Nobody notices when you do them, but if you stop – they notice. I want to discuss rescue today.

Over the years there have been many many Stafford breeders doing rescue. Ginny Antia, Susie Keel, Tony George, Kristina Estlund are but a few who spent years helping to find homes for Staffords in need. It’s a LOT of very exhausting work. You end up in some emotional situations usually. I find it to be more difficult than just about any dog related volunteer job. You seem to be both everyones savior and enemy all at once. MY main goal when helping with a rescue or a re-home is the dog. I care about the people, some. But mainly I am helping the dog. I want the Stafford to end up in a home as good as, or better than my own. Screening, interviewing, analyzing, evaluating, training, vetting, marketing each dog requires a different set of skills and different other volunteers in order to make things run smoothly. They rarely run smoothly.

What we want to offer is a safe, open, honest line of communication so that all bases get covered. What we end up doing is refereeing the judgement and scrutiny of those NOT volunteering their own time and resources. We end up having to spend hours defending ourselves, arguing over details, listening to emotional owners, breeders, rescue people and FB rescue police. None of that is a productive way to spend my time. I refuse to contribute to non productive use of my time. I focus on the dog. I focus on screening potential new homes.

Believe me when I say I have far better ways to spend my time than looking for homes for homeless dogs. I would love to be able to say – that’s it. You are on your own. I am no longer available. I get no benefit by doing rescue except one. When I get emails from new owners with photos of happy dogs in loving homes I get great joy. Thats why I continue.

Sometimes we run into a situation where an owner asks for assistance due to not finding resolution from their breeder. I make myself available to assist them the same way I would for anyone else. The first question I ask is “Have you contacted your breeder to request help”. I ask this every single time. If the dog is in a shelter we try to figure out the breeder. If the dog is on CL we try to find out the breeder. As long as the breeder is aware the dog is in need, then its up to the breeder to help. I never prevent this. However, sometimes there is friction between owners and breeders for whatever reason. This is not my business. I have nothing to do with their relationship. Again, my focus is the dog. If a breeder and an owner cannot communicate thats between them. If I am asked to help find a home for a dog, I evaluate then market the dog. I might make myself available as a shoulder for the emotional breeder, owner, shelter worker, new owner – whomever needs support or guidance. If money needs to be raised, I do that. If transportation needs arranging, I do that. If medical attention needs are required I have that taken care of. If the dog needs training, I help arrange that. If a foster home is required, I help arrange that. I focus on the dog. Period.

You are welcome.

If anyone reading this would like to take over at any point please do. I am more than ready to hand you the keys.

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Who would ever know?

In the days prior to Facebook we had Bullbreeds Online. Before that Yahoo groups. Prior to that there was Compuserve chat rooms. Even before that, before the internet, people actually called on the telephone to speak to one another. The phones usually were attached to walls or at least a base unit was. Those who did rescue could have ‘telephone tree’ calls to arrange assistance to the dogs, the breeders, the owners. People actually SPOKE, in real works, out loud or sometimes even in person. HORRORS! You mean people actually looked one another in the eye and had conversations? Yes, my young readers. This is how it was ‘in the old days’ before FB.

When you have to look a person in the eye to speak it makes it more difficult to tell lies. Don’t get me wrong – there are those who are especially talented in this area who can still do this. Well seasoned at bending the truth, some people can make the world sound like just about anything they desire. Sometimes people lie for the sport of lying and sometimes they are ashamed of their actions and guilt makes them lie. Sometimes they feel no shame, and lie because its what they feel is expected of them. Lies simply flow easily out of their mouths any time they speak.

In dogs, here is the problem with being dishonest. There is always somebody paying attention who knows you are not truthful. Today’s blog entry is about breeders who routinely tell lies and think they get away with it. I want to begin by telling you that I have never in my life been associated with so many wonderful people who are passionate about a hobby they spend 24/7 living/breathing/enjoying. In contrast to that, I also have never met so many cold hearted fake egotistical sociopaths either. How can these opposing groups continue in harmony doing the same hobby? Well, my theory is that many of the passionate happy positive people aren’t aware of the other type – mainly because why would you seek that out? Sometimes it is best/easier to ignore those miserable, cold hearted, selfish, controlling, shit stirrers. Sometimes that’s all you can do. Today I am blogging because I am sick to death of those types and I feel strongly they are why breeders and dog show folk have such a negative reputation with the rest of the population and also why the few doing purebreed rescue get so burned out and disgusted. The loudest people get the attention. The angry loud few are what people remember most. And on top of that, when a person who normally is NOT like that gets fed up and becomes angry, loud and attention seeking – that’s what they will be remembered for as well. Thats a shame. What should be remembered – what SHOULD be spoken about are the others – those who ruin it for everyone. It’s those people who make us ALL look bad. I can totally understand why so many people, especially in rescue, HATE breeders. I get that!

Here is what I know as someone who has been devoted to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier in both rescue, re-home, fundraising, volunteer work, breeding, mentoring and educating – people tell me things. I listen. Now I will speak.

  • I know of a breeder who left a dog she bred knowingly in a kill shelter.
  • I know of a breeder who has had dogs they bred returned to them and chose to  euthanized rather than take the time to train/socialize/rehome the dogs.
  • I know of a breeder who euthanized a dog that was returned and then lied and told people it was placed in a wonderful home.
  • I know of this same breeder who has done this routinely.
  • I know of breeders who import so many dogs then sell them on like one might buy shoes.
  • I know of breeders who are pyramid sales type breeders – you buy a puppy and sign a contract stating the Stafford must be shown (maybe even by them, maybe for a handling fee), bred from and puppies given back to the breeder and that then you must carry on in the same manner…and on and on and on.
  • I know of breeders who would just as well breed on the 1st heat just as easily as taking 7 litters from a bitch.
  • I know of breeders whose dogs live in kennel runs on abandoned properties not where anyone lives and the dogs are visited once daily for a scoop of kibble and some water.
  • I know breeders who routinely keep non refundable deposits no matter why the puppy didn’t go to that home – even when its the breeder who turns the buyers down.
  • I know a breeder who makes their buyers use their stud dogs and charge the stud fees anyway.
  • I know a breeder who charged the breeder of their stud dog a stud fee even after being given free Staffords from the same breeder in the past.
  • I know breeders who lie about health testing.
  • I know breeders who lie about puppy enrichment protocols they claim to use but don’t.
  • I know breeders who care more about ribbons, specialty wins or how many champions they have bred than they care about the lives those dogs lead.
  • I know breeders who think they are the center of the universe and that all others are below them and must respect anything they say no matter how absurd their words are.
  • Sadly, I also know breeders who are hoarders and get in over their heads and cannot find a way out but are not able to ask for help.
  • I know breeders who lack so much confidence that they need a pat on the back for anything they say or do in order to feel okay and accepted.
  • I know breeders who collect semen like some collect coupons.
  • I know breeders who collect dogs like some collect coupons.
  • I know breeders who pay their bills by selling puppies but wouldn’t ever admit that they need the money and the puppies are how they earn it.
  • I know breeders whose actual self worth is based upon dog show wins.
  • I know breeders whose puppies are born and raised in stalls or basements, mostly unattended.
  • I know some breeders who may read this list and not see themselves on it.

I know a lot of things and I also know that for the most part, nobody really cares. Knowing all these things makes me sad if I think about them. In today’s world of having all your ‘friends’ made by a click of a button on FB, telling lies seems to be much easier. After all, who would ever know?

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How Did That Happen?

Here it is almost ten weeks later and the first puppy leaves tomorrow. Ordinarily I prefer for them to remain a while longer but this puppy is going to an experienced home with a Stafford bitch they bought from us 4 years ago. They also do Puppy Culture so I feel confident he will be enriched after leaving us. How in the world did ten weeks go by? I feel as though I didn’t get enough completed yet. I missed things. I mean, I followed the videos, workbook and all my usual exercises and adventures with the puppies but somehow I am not ready. I won’t cry, in fact it will be easier. Boy litters are far more wild than mixed litters. They are needing more ‘time out’ to learn CER than past litters did. So this morning we did a session of The Box Game and I realized I had neglected to do this game until now. Here is a video of how it went. WOW Puppy Culture amazed us again! Thank you Jane (Mad Cap BT).

 

We couldn’t believe it really. Each puppy learned what we were asking of him so quickly that the entire session was over in no time. I can’t wait for what’s in store for these special boys! Their lives will be amazing I am sure – and I have the first few weeks to thank.

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Puppy Culture – Leashwork 1

This is a video showing the first steps to teaching leash walking in heel position. The puppies are 9.5 weeks old. I am about a week behind where I normally wish to be at this age but we have been very busy with work thankfully so catching up as I can. This is a Puppy Culture technique from the workbook Chapters 8-9-10. Thank you to Jodie B. for the idea of using the long cream cheese spoon trick instead of treats. It works much more easily for me too. All the puppies did so well.

Sure, there’s a lot to criticize here – handler error –  but instead focus on what’s being done correctly and effectively and see how each puppy is focusing a little more with each distraction. We didn’t video the first session without a collar and using an adult dog in heel position and having the puppy follow along. This 2nd session used a collar first, then the leash but notice I haven’t yet picked it up. That comes tomorrow. Keeping each training session very short – watching each puppy to see how his attention span is to determine the length. Always using positive only in my voice inflection and tone, plus loads of praise and the clicker . . . . .  and of course yummy cream cheese which is something they only get for the more difficult of training sessions.

 

My Movie 1 from L Caswell on Vimeo.

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Proofing puppies

Enrichment begins the day we are born. We are shaped by our surroundings, experiences, nutrition and anything which we encounter – with puppies those first few months are critical.

Amazingly enough tiny baby puppies are able to absorb and learn like sponges. We can shape behaviors (both positive and negative) in as short as a couple of minutes. Aside from the ENS, ESI, Avidog, clicker and PC protocols we also learn from experience to do common actions around baby puppies which may seem unusual to some.

These activities may include fly swatting, loud conversations and even yelling, folding/popping of laundry and playing thunder and fireworks simulators. Some of these have been known fear issues in adult dogs. By doing them when puppies are 4-8 weeks old its possible to desensitize them.

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Adopt IS shop

Open your laptop just about any morning to FB and you will see all varieties of nutjobs typing away on just about any topic. I try to avoid nutjobs but seeing as I am involved in purebred dogs and rescue its nearly impossible to avoid completely.

The latest craziness was on FB concerning those who advocate the ‘adopt dont shop’ thought process. No matter how many ways people attempted to explain to them that adopting IS shopping they refused to hear it. How many people walk into a shelter and buy the first dog in the first run they encounter? I would hazard to guess zero. People walk all the way through the building looking inside every run until they see a dog that speaks to them in some way. Then they fill out the paperwork, exchange money, get a receipt and take the dog home. That’s called shopping.

What makes me cringe is when I hear people say proudly and arrogantly that they ‘adopted’ or ‘rescued’ a dog implying that my own purchased purebred dogs are somehow ‘less than’ their dog and that I as a breeder or buyer am also ‘less than’ they are. In fact, I am told, they are superior to me in so many ways because they continue to inform me that their ‘rescue’ was saved from <insert illogical phrase here> abused, neglected, used a a bait dog, bred from 1000 times, blahh blahh blahh…..yeah okay. Whatever you wish to believe to make yourself feel more important than me go for it.

The reality is your dog from the shelter was poorly bred, not socialized, not trained and dumped by irresponsible owners to end up as your problem. Good for you for buying the dog from the shelter or rescue and good for you for taking on the tremendous amount of work ahead of you. Kudos and bravo. I think buying dogs from shelters and reputable rescue organizations are a much needed thing and without those willing to do so I wouldnt be able to place the Staffords who come into rescue with me.

BUT you are not a more superior person than those who buy a puppy from me. You simply chose to purchase a different product.

The ‘adopt dont shop’ crowd also support importation of dogs from other countries. How does this even make sense? On one hand they tell me our shelters are full of unwanted dogs and we have a pet ‘overpopulation problem’ yet they bring in more dogs. These dogs also carry diseases which our American dogs are not immune to. Now we have serious health concerns not only within the pet community but into our shelters as well. Let’s sell all the dogs in American shelters FIRST, and then if you feel we need more stray dogs go buy some from other countries after they get health tested, vaccinated and health cleared. Knock yourself out, but dont risk the health of our pets doing so. And dont tell me we have full shelters yet go get more dogs who will inevitably end up in those shelters themselves, or die, or be bred from being called ‘rare white Australian Goldendoodles’. Hypocrites. The lot of you.

And dont lets kid ourselves either. There are terrible breeders of purebred dogs too. There are those who dont even try to be responsible who just put dogs together and sell puppies. There are those who are hoarders. There are collectors. And there are pyramid scheme breeders. If you are ‘in’ purebred dogs long enough you will meet breeders from each of these categories.

The collectors and pyramid schemers are the ones who I take issue with more as they do know better but pretend they are not the problem. This is a topic for another blog entry and rant. So with that….time to play with my puppies. My well bred, well thought out, well planned, fully health tested, very expensive to produce puppies.

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Sleep

It’s 9:30pm and I’m exhausted. Time to take the oldies out and get everyone settled in for what I hope will be a long sleep. It’s been a hectic day of working, getting things set up for a new online shop for rescue, puppy laundry, feeding dogs, exercising dogs, playing with puppies, cleaning,  more laundry, and errands. No time to cook lately so not eating as well as I’d like.

It’s half past midnight and I’m awake. Squeaking and squawking in the whelping box beside my bed. I check to be sure everyone is ok. It’s a party in there tonight. They are finding their voices but have their sleep schedules backwards. My mind races over the long list of items needing to be done the next day. I check my messages I neglected to read before bed. I see a possible ID needing to be done on a dog in a shelter. I look at the clock and its nearly 1:30. Back to bed for me after making sure all is okay.

It’s 3:15am and Bay is at the bedroom door asking to be let out to potty. I get Marina too and grab my flashlight and head out the front door with both girls. Marina comes right back. Bay is chasing a deer though the front field. I find myself barefoot, stepping around toads and walking into the wet grass calling for Bay. I see her at the pear tree having a snack. After what seems like eternity, she comes trotting back. I warm the discs for the puppies. One at a time. This takes another 9 minutes. Back to bed.

It’s 5:20am. Bay is on the bed with me, smashing into me,  snoring loudly as I know she is exhausted. A puppy is crooning to us. Howling only as a 18 day old puppy can. Doing his best to let us know he is hungry and wants his mama. I get up and get a glass of water which then signals Marina it could be time to chase balls. I assure her it is not. I urge Bay to feed her boy and she obliges.  I look at the clock and wonder how it became 6:40? Back to bed.

In the last month I have come to realize that the sleep one gets between 7am and 8am must be what its like for those who believe in heaven. Its the most glorious hour imaginable, filled with vivid dreams and a deep deep restful sleep. That one hour is what keeps me going lately. It’s 8 am and I am doing puppy bedding  laundry, having a coffee, throwing balls for the girls and feeling pretty good about the fact I slept more last night than the night previous. Baby steps.

 

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Crystal Balls

I do not breed to sell showdogs.  I do not breed to sell studs and broods.

I breed to have a puppy for myself and obviously the ones we do not keep get sold. If you follow this blog then you know already the background of what we put into producing a litter. I want the puppies we sell to go to the very best, most loving, enriching, lifetime homes and to be spoiled as much as if they remained here with us. I am not breeding in order to improve your kennel.

I am not breeding so that you can have your next BIS or next Special.

If you decide to show and its fun for you and the puppy – fantastic – I am here to support you. If you decide to run agility, barn hunt, dock diving – fantastic! Have fun. Don’t be extreme about it – have fun, be safe – enjoy the wins and be a good loser too. Your dog doesn’t know the difference.

Do not ask me for the best puppy in the litter. That one is mine, or at least mine to sell to whomever I want. It could possibly be you. But it also may not be you. Also ‘the best’ is relative. To me they are all my best efforts. I didn’t breed this litter in order to produce disqualifying faults or subpar Staffords. I did my very best to produce the very best Staffords I possibly could given what is available in this world to do so.

When you contact me asking for a puppy be prepared to be grilled. I want to know that the life these puppies will live will be as good as, or better than, the life they would experience if they lived with us. I’m not impressed by your show wins. I’m not impressed with your friends in the breed over seas. I’m not impressed with who you know or how many dogs you have shown or bred. I’m not impressed by Top 10, OTCH112, MACH57 or a dozen Group 1’s.

I am impressed with your follow through and commitment to your dog. If you have done fun stuff with your dogs did you stick with it or just take one class and give up. Did you title your dog? Did you take classes with your dog even if you never intended to compete but the classes were fun and you and your dog enjoyed the regular time together? Do you go on long walks every single day rain, snow or shine? Does your dog go with you on vacation? Does your dog go to work with you? Does your dog have a bigger social media following than you do? Are you realistic about how life will be with your dog? ie hang on the sofa, sleep in the bed, chill in the garden?

Do you only employ positive training methods or are you heavy handed instead? Are you patient when training or are you inconsistent, easily frustrated and demanding? Do you understand this breed and are prepared to be responsible if your dog decides not to like your cat/neighbors dog/chinchilla? How do you feel about a teething puppy and your inability to protect your great grandmothers antique piano? How would you respond to your puppy if you were negligent and allowed your puppy to chew your brand new iPhone X?

My point is this – do not call me and tell me you want the perfect puppy or even my ‘best’ puppy. Call me and tell me why YOU are the BEST home for a puppy I produced. Then, if I sell you one, follow through. With the puppy…and with me.