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The responsibilities of Olde English Bulldogge breeders go much further than just raising and selling pups. Shelter systems are over run nearly everywhere. Dog are being put down in the masses, pure-bred and mutts. It seems easy in the eyes of many to be a “breeder,” but being a responsible breeder with morals, ethics, compassion and love that passes into their breeding practices seems to be rare. For example, I see hundreds of breeders on FB who pump out litter after litter, easily 60-80 pups a year even though they have less than a year experience. Many of these breeders produce 200 or so pups in a few years and then close their doors and stop breeding. Now they have 200+ offspring and I highly doubt the contract states they will take them back, and if so, would they after they are closed? Also, I hear a lot of breeders say their dogs will never end up in a pound, but how can you be sure if you are not contacting them regularly and making sure your contract specifies legal repercussions? Many contracts ask for the dog back or have “first right” to buy the dog back, but what good does that do? And yes, I drop 8-12 litters a year, BUT i didn’t start up like that. I dropped 2 litters my first 3 years and then was dropping 2-6 litters a year for the next 3 years. I never had three litters on the ground at once until I knew I could place that many pups. I put 5 years into this as a full time job, 24/7, 365 days a year before I took the jump and dropped a lot of Olde English Bulldogge puppies, and when I did I already started my Bulldog rescue. I also do this for a living. I DO NOT have another full time job, so that means my dogs are cared for hands on by me personally. Being this is my livelihood, I have more incentive to produce only the best and to maintain the best reputation. Most breeders can produce some mess of dogs, stop returning client calls, sell all their dogs and go back to focusing on their families and full time jobs or what ever new hobby they wanna get into. Not One of a Kind! We are here for life, that is why our Lifetime guarantee is for real!
This leads to my main point. Over the last few years I have been trying to keep track of how many dogs get returned. Keep in mind I am in a decent demographics in regards to cost of living and so forth, so I do like to think I get better placements. Plus with my guarantee and all we include, and my prices are a little higher which help eliminate some buyers that may not be a great fit. Now, this being said, I think it is fair to say that 1 out of every 5 pups I produce will come back within the first two years of it’s life. yes, 1 in 5 pups returned before 2 years of age. I would ESTIMATE another 1 in 5 will be returned after 2 years of age. I have noticed dogs that are adopted out through my rescue have a 1 and 3 chance of coming back since they sometimes have behavior issues or something of that nature. Dogs I produced seem to be placed easier through rescue since even my owners who have surrendered my dogs have done a good job raising them. So, once a dog is returned to me from my breeding program the odds of it finding a permanent forever home actually goes down significantly as does any other rescue/owner surrender. This is from my own experience, BUT I think it is fair to say that as breeders we are ALL contributing to the mass shelter kills IF we are not taking some precautions to lower the likeliness of our dogs ending up in shelters.
For example: One of a Kind Bulldogs come with a complimentary responsible pet sterilization package. I include a spay/neuter package on my pups. It is included at no cost to the buyer, all they have to do is show up at my vet between 5 and 7 months old. We also include ALL boosters, micro-chip and rabies shot as a courtesy. A bulldog that is not fixed has a high likeliness of ending up in a backyard breeders hand as a free money maker. I have seen it all too many times when a dog is given away or sold cheap intact and it is just turned around and bred for profit then put back on craigslist. I do have a strict clause in my contract in regards to this and I do have penalties clearly stated for those who break my contract. And yes, I have enforced my contract before and won every time. I also have a no re-sell clause, meaning my dog can NEVER change ownership without my written permission. Again, it is stated clearly on my contract that their is a large penalty for this violation of the terms. To make sure we are better communicating with our customers we have started a One of a Kind Bulldogs Client facebook board and newsletter to help stay in touch. Our customer facebook board is over 300 strong and we have become a giant family who are informative and supportive of each other.
It seems obvious that dogs bred for the true betterment of the breed have higher chances of getting good homes. Breeding for health, temperament and correct conformation makes a big difference. Dogs with health issues or special needs are a more difficult placement. Dog with poor temperament are a lot more difficult to adopt, especially if aggression is an issue. I see it all too many times when breeders breed defective dogs and think they are going to breed it out of the lines. I have numerous times given dogs back to breeders for defects just to see them re-sold to another breeder instead of fixed and placed as a pet. These low quality dogs only cause heartache to their owners and help contribute to the inconsistent life the dog may have. Yes, we ALL produce dogs of lower quality or with defects, but we do NOT need to breed them and we need to take the best steps to lessen the likeliness of producing them.
I also NEVER sell my adult Olde English Bulldogges as breeding dogs. Whether 1 litter or 4, they all get fixed and placed locally in a loving home. I like to make sure my retired babies are loved and spoiled and within driving distance. Keeping track of the health and longevity of life on ancestors to our dogs is important to bettering our breed. I have all too many times seen dogs get passed around like candy just to die. I will use One of a Kind’s Judo Chop’s parents as an example. He has now outlived both mother and father. If i remember correctly his mother who was an EB went to 4 different breeders and was c-sectioned 4 times in a row and died on the 4th, r.i.p What a Mug Blue Groove. His father went to at least 7 breeders that I know of for sure in only a 6 month time frame. he died at under 4 years I think, r.i.p Kong. Judo is now older then both his parents were when they died. That’s because as a breeder I give my dogs some loyalty and respect, and of course I know how to raise my dogs properly.
Now, the most important thing I wish other breeders would do, some RESCUE work. The stats on my end over 8 years clearly show whether we like it or not we are contributing to over-population, so why not help save some dogs within your breed? Why not keep a kennel or two open and help keep a dog out of a shelter? Truth is, if you are an expert in your breed and really care then you should be the best fit to help them. If you really want to help the breed then keeping them out of the shelters should be a priority. If every breeder just made room for one or two rescues, really implemented spay/neuter clauses and truly cared for the well being of their placed pets we would not have such an epidemic in our shelter system. Not trying to ruffle feathers, just speaking my mind.
-Ary
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