Update and Correction on Breeding & Ethicality

Correction:

First, I am reporting a correction to my recent Breeding & Ethicality Blog Post. Mainly, that one of two wolfhound maiden veteran bitches were bred.

An error happened when the gender of one of these two cases was realized to be that of a dog and not a bitch. The mistake occurred in the case of the reportedly eight-year 11-month-old hound. The inaccuracy transpired when I misinterpreted the hound’s gender due to its ambiguous registered name beginning with what appeared to be a pronoun having a typographical error. Of note, the Secretary of the IWCA whom I initially shared my discovery also had not detected my mistake until eleven days later when she notified me. I am sorry for the error.

Update:

Unsurprisingly, no action will be taken by the BOD regarding the other published Listed Breeder who did breed a maiden, veteran, nearly eight-year-old bitch. The Secretary believes it is plausible that this particular bitch may not quite have been eight-years-of-age at the time of whelping due to their estimation that it may take three to possibly six months for stud (male or female) records to be published. Initially describing such conduct as serious and a risk to the health of the bitch, the Secretary now has stated that the maiden bitch may have been 7.5 years to almost eight years of age (!) and although this still is past the range mentioned in the Standard of Behavior for Breeders, "Breed only those bitches that are in excellent health, generally between the ages of 24 months and 6 years", the IWCA BOD is tolerating such conduct on the pretense that the "Standard of Breeder Behavior provides a general age range and is not an absolute."  

The latter in italics and quotes are their words -- not mine. Is anyone reminded of the phrase copping out?

The BOD undermining their very own requisite document to avoid enforcement is not a new twist for many of us. I cannot help but be reminded of the old floor game "Twister -- The Game That Ties You Up in Knots" which required players to twist themselves into tight and uncomfortable positions while whirling the spinner. Seemingly, people are bending themselves into extreme postures to avoid fulfilling administerial duties with the result that now breeding a veteran, maiden Wolfhound bitch not quite eight years of age is considered passable! Despite the fact that according to the IWCA age qualifications, they reached Veteran status at six years of age and in Canada they did so at seven.

After some quick checking, it seems that once a litter is registered with the AKC, it takes approximately two months for the dog to appear in the AKC Stud records. However, again, the timeliness of the published information is wholly dependent on when the breeder submits the paperwork which, depending on the breed, could be between 4 to 12 weeks after a litter was whelped or many months later. In this case, a prospective puppy owner who previously owned an AKC registered wolfhound from this breeder informed me that a puppy or puppies were available from this specific breeding so it is logical to assume the breeders registered the litter as soon as possible in order to receive the individual certificates to sell the puppies as quickly as possible. Most likely there was only a brief amount of lag time between whelping and published records. Nonetheless, whether my estimation is correct, one person innocently asked why the BOD does not monitor the AKC Stud Book for incidents such as this? Ha! Ha!

By the way, it is interesting to note that The Kennel Club of England has breeding restrictions in place regarding the age limit for mating bitches. Their ceiling is eight years at the date of whelping. They, however, may grant opportunities for exceptions provided an application be made before the mating, if the proposed dam has previously whelped at least one other registered litter, and veterinary evidence of the dam's fitness accompanies the application.

More to come I am sure......

Instant Gratification

Many of you can sympathize with the frustration of having to deal with the likes of today's prospective puppy owners. You know the type -- the people who contact you via email and without proper introduction ask for the price of a puppy, if and how many puppies are available and so forth. Typical examples:

"Do you have any puppies for sale?"

"I am inquiring about your liters {sic}. Are you expecting any liters {sic} in the future? I'd like to place a deposit on one if so please contact me back if so."

"How much are your puppies?"

It is as if you are a manufacturer and or distributor and they are contacting you to find out if a product is in stock and how soon it can ship out. Moreover, they do not see anything wrong with this! Some are dumbfounded when you explain that you do not broker dogs by email and that you insist on speaking with them in a more personal manner of communication, on the phone and then surely in person. Quelle surprise, many times you never hear from them again!

This behavior is owing to the "instant gratification" wave that has consumed our society. Most puppy buyers cannot be bothered with conversations, education, and preparations. They want a puppy as quickly as possible, and there is no time for dawdling and idle chatter, the latter being how they regard meaningful discussions on the breed's personality, specific needs, etcetera. It is very uncommon nowadays to receive an inquiry from someone who agrees to meet and interact with the dogs, which depending on the breed, is a very necessary and practical one-on-one visit.

This behavior results in an irony so thick you can cut it with a knife precisely because this public is the very body decrying the state of purebred dogs. They are carrying torches, similar to the old Hollywood movies with the Villagers moving in mobs out to destroy the evil monster -- in this case purebred dog breeders -- to eliminate breeders entirely. Simultaneously, many of these are the same people who indiscriminately purchase puppies from undiscriminating breeders and then, tragically, having performed no due diligence, dispose of the dog for a host of inexcusable and unconscionable reasons because we are now a "throw-away" society. Everything is disposable, and it utterly boils my blood.

When I receive an "out of the cold" query -- not through my Ballyhara website -- I request that the person(s) first tour my breed website before we speak. I do this because I have learned from long experience that most people have little real-time knowledge of my breed, they only think they do. So, I ask them to peruse all my website particulars such as breed character; acreage and exercise requirements in secured property with above-ground fencing and all the pertinent details for such; general health concerns, expenses and so on. Because I lead a full life, I simply do not have free hours in the day to field long phone calls explaining the breed, and so these steps save me precious time. However, as I stated earlier, often I do not hear back from some of these people. Usually, this is because my website is performing its duty -- providing educational, sensible, and practical advice about the breed. Many of these people either move on to another breed or an undiscerning breeder.

However, now and then I do get some doozy returns, and here is an example of the sheer audacity of some puppy buyers and what we have to deal with today:

"Hello Lisa, thank you for writing. I am sad to see that you have such a closed opinion of the underground containment system for Wolfhounds. I successfully used that containment system for my Finn with no problems whatsoever. I do, however, know of a woman who lost her wolfhound because he was hit by a car because her stupid husband left the dog gate open. I am not a stupid or careless person.  I am someone who deeply loved her wolfhound and the wireless fence allowed him to be with me while I worked in the yard or tended the horses. I did not leave him behind in a fenced yard. Perhaps that is why puppy mills have customers. They are not as arrogant."

Ah, now we conscientious breeders are being roundly criticized for requiring fenced, secure areas for our dogs to run and play in and we are blamed for driving puppy buyers to commercial puppy mills because our policies are too strict! What will they blame us for next?