How much does a puppy really cost?

(Clique aqui para a versão portuguesa)

People often complain to a breeder about his puppies' price. They often say “but if I go to breeder X his puppies are much cheaper”.

Truth is, people seldom realize the real costs of properly raining a litter.

As a family member thought a few years ago – “Oh, that is a great business… Let’s see, each bitch has X puppies, twice a year, each costing Y euros… Wow, that’s a gold mine!” Until I explained it wasn’t quite like that…

How much does it cost to breed a litter?

Let’s do a small math exercise. Let’s assume a medium sized breed (with which I’m more familiar with) and 6 puppies a litter.

Direct and quantifiable costs in raising a litter regard:
•    adequate and high-quality food for mother an puppies,
•    proper husbandry and health care for mother an puppies,
•    microchiping,
•    clerical procedures (registries),
•    miscellaneous material (bowls, toys for the puppies’ physical and mental stimulation…),
•    stud fees.

Thus, if we add up all the minimum costs, we get the overall cost of the litter*:

Raising a litter                                                                                                      Cost (€)
Mother’s food (2nd half of the pregnancy + 2 months post-partum)                                 200
Puppies’ food (up to 3 months)                                                                                   200
Mother’s worming                                                                                                       30
Puppies’ worming                                                                                                       30
Puppies’ vaccinations (3 shots each)                                                                          200
Microchips                                                                                                                 90
Registries                                                                                                            123.50**
Miscellanea (toys, etc.)                                                                                              50
Stud fees                                                                                                                500    
                                                                                             Total                   1423.50
                                                                              Cost per puppy                    237.25
    *This estimate is valid only in Portugal; different countries have different costs
** Portuguese breeds pay half this amount; some breeds or varieties are totally or partially excused of these costs


These amounts regard medium/high quality food, not necessarily premium food, and medium quality consumables (toys, etc.). They were assessed based on the combined experience of several breeders of medium-sized dogs.
Mind you, this is an estimate of the prices a well-established breeder can get, through deals with dog food brands and veterinarians! They are well below public retail prices for most items!!
A person who just breeds his pet dog and needs to buy his food at stores and use a veterinary hospital for treatment and vaccination will have much higher costs!

Stud fees are possibly the hardest to assess in this estimate. They vary from breeder to breeder and according to the merits of the chosen stud. It may even be 2 to 3+ times higher.

Also, these numbers only occur in a perfect world. A world in which there are no problems during whelping, a vet or caesarian aren’t required, there are no problems after birth, there’s no need to bottle-feed or supplement puppies. For example, there are some breeds where, due to their anatomy, most puppies are born by c-section.
All of these situations will considerably increase the litter’s costs.

Costs of the keeping the mother

If breeding dogs was a business, then puppy sales would at least cover the dam’s costs throughout the year, right? So, which are these values?

1 adult yearly maintenance                                              Cost (€)
Food                                                                                    540
Vaccinations                                                                          50
Worming                                                                               20
Miscellanea (leashes, collars, bowls, etc.)                               50    
                                                                       Total           660
                                                       Cost per puppy           110

Once again, this is in a perfect world (does it even exist??), in which the dam has no health problem during the year.

What’s the minimum cost of a puppy?

So, based on the values above, we can now estimate the minimum cost of a puppy raised with basic food and husbandry care:
   
Puppy’s minimum cost                                           Cost (€)
Puppy’s part in the litter costs                                   237.25
Puppy’s part in the mother’s maintenance                  110.00 
                                                               Total        347.25

Quite bellow what several breeders ask for? Yeah, but these values only occur in a perfect world (with no emergencies throughout the year nor during whelping and raising the puppies) and with backyard breeding, in which we just put a male and a female together (you can read more about different breeder types here and here). And they obviously do not allow for the possibility of profit (i.e., for the breeder to make a living out of breeding dogs)!

Let’s now see what they DON’T include…

What was left out…

The above amounts:

•    Do NOT include the costs of acquiring the breeding animals
Depending on the breed – its rarity, size, ease of breeding, required health testing – and on the quality of the individual – its type, ancestry, potential –, acquiring a potential future breeder may be an expensive investment.

•    Do NOT include the costs of assessing the breeding animals’ performance/quality (morphology and/or work trials)
Many people believe that as they only want a pet, they don’t need to go to a breeder who competes in trials with his dogs, or who has show or work champions. Nothing could be further from the truth! Competing in morphology events, and achieving certain minimum results, is the only way to make sure the dogs really resemble their breed. For example, I know of dogs with long pedigrees that don’t have the slightest resemblance to their supposed breed, apart from their size. Also, as in these events certain character flaws (namely excessive shyness or aggressiveness) are penalized, this also allows for a greater confidence that the pups will at least have a moderately stable character. As for competing in breed-adequate working trials, where applicable, that also ensures that the animals continue to exhibit breed-typical behavior.
Attending these events is not cheap, especially if done regularly, but it is an additional assurance regarding the potential quality of the bred individuals.

•    Do NOT include the costs of screening for health or genetic problems
Quite honestly, if the breeder says he doesn’t need to screen because he never saw anything wrong with his dogs, run!! We have long passed the time when this argument would work.
Nowadays we know that some diseases can only show at late stages of the animal’s life, but with serious implications for his welfare. Others, polygenic (caused by several genes working together), need the right gene match to occur. In others yet, the parent may be a carrier not showing the disease, but when bred to another carrier s/he will generate affected pups.
For some diseases no screening methods are known, and there’s nothing much one can do apart from an in-depth pedigree research and avoiding breeding to animals known or suspected to be affected.
For other diseases there are no genetic tests available, but there are screening tests, which should be done one or more times throughout the animal’s life.
For some other diseases the responsible gene(s) has(have) been discovered, so it is possible to test animals for it, even at a very early age.
Of course, all of this has costs. For example, a “simple” hip dysplasia screening may cost as much as 300€. In the Portuguese Water dog, the commonly required screening for an individual may add up to 800€ - all without an assurance that he will be bred, in case he doesn’t have the desired results.

•    Do NOT include the costs of taking the bitch to the sire
A serious breeder will not only (nor always) breed to his male. He will search for the best fit for his female, in order to try to get the best results possible – whether that male is on the next street, on the other side of the country or on another country. Of course, taking the bitch to the sire, or collecting and transporting semen if the litter need to be bred by artificial insemination, has its costs.

•    Do NOT include unexpected problems throughout the year
Any person dealing with several animals, or even a single one, knows that no matter how careful you are, there are always unexpected problems – wounds, infections, diseases – that need to be properly dealt with.
They also do not include failed matings, for whatever reason, which lead to a failed breeding season.

•    Do NOT include the costs of keeping the other dogs
Even if he was several breeding age animals, a responsible breeder will not breed them every year, and even less at every season. He will breed when he finds a match he believes will be beneficial for the breed and has enough potential puppy homes lined up. This means that, every year, some of his dogs will not breed. But that doesn’t they won’t be fed and cared for, just like any other dog!

•    Do NOT include the costs of breeder’s work
If breeding was indeed any other business, you’d expect for the breed to be financially compensated for his work like any other worker, right? And there’s plenty of work to go around – taking proper care of the animals, feeding them, keeping them clean and healthy, taking care of the puppies, physically and mentally exercise adults and puppies… We’re talking about many hours of weekly work, often stolen from rest and family time, which rarely (if ever!) are considered in the overall balance.

Cheap is expensive!

 I have showed you the minimum costs of breeding a dog without any concern for its quality. After that I have mentioned some fundamentals which will raise puppies’ prices – but also take their morphology, behavior and health to much higher standards, thus making them better prospects.

When you are looking for a puppy and you see ads of puppies of the same breed for sale at 50€ or at 500€, think hard about what the cheaper puppy isn’t receiving!
Remember that cheap will most likely be expensive, both financially and emocionally!

Carla Cruz
www.aradik.net


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So you want to be a breeder?

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A few weeks ago I was contacted by a girl asking me countless questions about my puppies and their husbandry. I am the first to encourage potential puppy owners to ask all sorts of questions, but something started smelling funny. When I asked her about it, she answered she was asking all those questions because she would like to be a breeder. This has left me thinking about it…

What does it mean to be a breeder? Does one “want to become a breeder” as one wants to become a teacher, a doctor, etc.?

Who is a breeder?

 In its Regulations of the Portuguese Studbook, the Portuguese Kennel Club defines a “breeder” quite simply as “the owner of the bitch when she whelps”. This is obviously a broad and objective definition, more than enough for its role in pedigree issuing.

However, it tells us nothing about the goals of the breeders, which are in essence their main differentiation. I wrote before on this issue, you can read it by clicking here.

On one hand, there are those who breed with an explicit commercial goal, aiming to get their income through the production of puppies for sale.
Pragmatically, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this, as long as the animals are kept under the proper conditions. However, on order to maximize income, “shortcuts” are often taken, namely in regarding health care and screening; feeding quality; morphological, behavioral and/or functional assessment; breeding frequency; age the puppies are sold; etc. Rather than “breeders”, it might be more correct to call these people “producers”.

On the other hand, there are those who breed because they have a bitch (or male) and, for any excuse reason, at a given phase of the dog’s life or regularly, decide to breed a litter, without a defined reason or goal to achieve.

Finally, there are the real Breeders, those with a capital B. They are typically people who hadn’t even thought about being a breeder. They’re people who fell in love with a breed, who got some dogs first and foremost for their own pleasure, who committed themselves to study everything they could about the breed – behavior, function, health and/or genetic problems, breeding lines, etc. -, who often adopted the dog fancy “as a hobby (show and/or working trials).
They are people for whom breeding comes as a natural continuation of this passion and the knowledge about their breed they acquired over the years, always trying to improve it and get increasingly better animals. When they breed, they do it as a very thought-out action, aiming to get one or more dogs for themselves; selling puppies is mainly a “by-product” of this quest. They invest a lot on their dogs and litters and rarely (if ever!) manage to make a profit out of breeding.

Should dogs breed at least once in their life?

 

The myth that dogs (both males and females) should breed at least one in their life, so as they don’t get miserable/frustrated/insane, is still quite common!

This idea is maybe due to the fact that, as dogs grow up and achieve maturity, it is common to see them trying to hump chairs, sofas and even people’s legs, regardless of them being their owner’s or not. This does not mean, as many think, that the dog needs to breed or that he is trying to dominate his owner. It just means, quite simply, that the several sexual behaviors are starting to integrate and coordinate as a coherent functional chain.

As for the females, it is enough to think that in social wild canids in stable packs, most females defer breeding to the dominant female, so lack of reproduction does not affect them. Furthermore, any pregnancy in any species is always an additional stress and risk, which can indeed affect the animal’s quality of life.
Also, as far as we know, dogs are not capable of deep though moments; they cannot look back to their more or less distant past or future and think “Oh, how I would like to be a mother/father!”

The “miracle” of life

One of the most common excuses arguments used by those who breed their bitch without a defined goal is that it is important for their children to see the “miracle” of birth and life.

Well, I hope they are also prepared to teach their children about the “miracle” of the emergency trip to the vet if something goes wrong during whelping. And to teach them about the “miracle” of death – because even if nothing goes wrong during the birth and the female doesn’t die (it is always a risk to consider!), it is common that one or more puppies die during the first few days post-partum, due to a number of reasons.

What to do about the puppies?

 

If you are breeding because you want a puppy from your bitch/male, what to do to the rest of the puppies? Because hardly only you one puppy will be born…
If breeding because “it is important that children know how a birth occurs”, what to do to the puppies?
How many of us haven’t received, by e-mail or through social networks, forwarded messages from well-meaning friends, saying that “X puppies belonging to breed Y need to find an owner during next week or they will be put down”?

If you don’t have some previously arranged homes for your puppies, why are you breeding in the first place?
Are you prepared to explain to your children why you showed them the “miracle” of birth and then dumped the puppies somewhere or put them down because no one wanted them and you don’t have space/conditions/enough money to keep them?

Nowadays, even well established breeders, often with reserved puppies, are having increased difficulties in homing their dogs; many people show an interest but don’t follow through, others cancel their reservations due to (un)expected changes in their lives. For those who are not known in the breeding circuit, it is even difficult to find good homes for their puppies. Well, at least for those who take care in placing their puppies in homes that will not abandon them at the first "excuse" “problem”.

Health is important

It is known that dogs, according to their breed and/or size, are more or less prone to certain diseases. Even if their parents don’t exhibit them themselves, they may carry genes for some of them, and produce affected offspring if mated to other carriers; they may also be affected but not show them because they are still young (some diseases only show at later stages of life).

A person who only wants to breed for the sake of it will usually not worry about the possibility of producing sick dogs (after all, we always expect the best, we never think about what could go wrong, isn’t it?). Actually, some do it even knowing their dog has some kind of problem, just because it’s their favorite and they want offspring from him/her.

However, a serious breeder will naturally try to avoid breeding potentially sick puppies. How? By examining their potential breeding dogs, whether through genetic testing (if the genes for the diseases in cause have already been discovered) or by screening tests (trying to assess if the dog has clinical symptoms of the disease, even if they don’t show them openly).

Don’t think that, because you have a mongrel dog, or are breeding dogs of different breeds, you don’t need to worry about this. After all, the genes are the same throughout the whole species, even if the frequency of their alleles may vary. For example, large breed dogs are more prone to hip dysplasia, whether or not they’re purebreds. Breeding dogs belonging to two different breeds is not a reason not to test your animals; if both breeds are prone to the same disease(s), the puppies will not miraculously stop being affected just because they are crossbred!

Breeding takes effort and commitment!

Even if everything goes well, breeding isn’t just about putting a male and a female together, giving birth to the puppies, letting them grow up and hand them over to other people. It is an activity requiring time and dedication, so the puppies may have the best possible start.

It is necessary to watch the birth, to try to ensure there are no complications and the mother takes proper care of the puppies. It is necessary to watch, over the following weeks, if the puppies are suckling enough, if they are growing up well and if it is necessary to supplement them.
It is necessary to stimulate the puppies, physically and behaviorally, getting them used to different situations, sounds, smells, animals and people, so they grow up happy and emotionally stable.

It is necessary to weed out potential puppy owners, trying to ensure the future owner is capable of dealing with what can be expected from the breed’s typical behavior and trying to match individual characters of owners and puppies.

Breeding dogs does not take pity of the bitch’s owner chores. Is the mother incapable of taking care of the puppies for any reason (disease/death/insufficient milk/rejection)? It is up to the breeder to nurse them every 2 hours, day and night. Are you ill, depressed or having a family crisis? Tough, the puppies need to eat! Do you have a 9-18 h job and no one at home? Tough, the puppies need to eat! If you took the responsibility of bringing a litter of puppies to this world, we must also take the responsibility of raising it properly, even when their mother cannot or will not do it.

Decisions and dilemmas are part of the daily life

 

And what to do with that weakling, the puppy who would not normally survive? Should you try to save it at any cost, even knowing that in the long run that may negatively influence the breed’s viability and sturdiness (when latter on you breed with dogs that “shouldn’t” have survived)? Should you let it die, as that is what would have happened in a normal situation (but in a normal situation the bitch probably wouldn’t even bred)?

There is not a correct answer, a single or easy answer, but this is the type of moral decisions and dilemmas a breeder faces in each litter…

Do you still want to breed?

Breeding dogs and watching them grow up is indeed an unforgettable experience! It demands a lot of time and commitment, but when everything goes well, the benefits (for the breeder and the future owners) outweigh the concerns.
But you need to be prepared to the complications, something most people don’t like to think about and for which an inexperienced person (and sometimes even an experienced one) is usually unprepared for.

Think carefully if you want to breed your dog (male or female), ponder well on the reasons why you want to do it and think about what to do to the puppies (yes, this is also the stud owner’s responsibility, not just the bitch’s!). Most times it is better, financially and emotionally, to spay/neuter your dog (to avoid undesired mating and the troubles that come with it) and leave breeding for serious passionate breeders, who are willing to sacrifice themselves so each puppy born may be the best possible and lead a happy life from the beginning.


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Breeding goals

(Clique aqui para a versão Portuguesa)

At ringside conversations, I occasionally hear breeders whining they don’t know what type is preferred in their breed and that their breed club should issue guidelines about that.
I confess this type of commentaries always gives me the chills. For several reasons…

Breed standards

Breed standards are vague enough in their descriptions to allow for different interpretations and, as such, for different breeding lines – all while their individuals are still clearly identifiable as belonging to their breed.
This is actually beneficial, as it allows for different breeders to pursue their goals without risking breeding in close inbreeding, which would unquestionably happen if everyone started breeding the same type (line) of dogs.

Barbado da Terceira Female Open Class judging at Lisbon's 118th International Show.  You can see several types, but all dogs are clearly identifiable as being Barbado da Terceira.

The role of breed clubs

Should breed clubs issue guidelines about which type of dogs is preferred in their breed?
Breed clubs should issue procedure guidelines their associates would follow to try to breed litters as healthy and close to the standard as possible, namely regard health screening and minimum results at conformation, work and/or sociability tests. An extremely important role they could accomplish regards producing an illustrated standard, with images and photos showing desirable and undesirable traits.
But should they influence a breeder’s breeding work? There are proper places to evaluate the merits or lack thereof of this work, namely conformation and working trials!

A breeder’s goals

If the breeder doesn’t know what kind of dog he should breed, what is he doing breeding??
Breeding should be a natural expansion of a passion for the breed, of its in-depth study, of getting to know the several lines it has and, inherently, of choosing a preferred type!

Should “breeding X litters a year” be a breeder’s goal? Or should the goal be trying to get the dog he idealized as the correct type?

How will he breed if he doesn’t have an obvious goal to achieve? How will he choose the type of dog to complement his bitch’s flaws and virtues if he doesn’t know what he wants to complement?

X litters a year should be, at most, a by-product of trying to achieve a defined goal.

Breeding… or producing dogs?

Some “breeders” will merely breed the same couple over and over again. They’re doing nothing more than flooding the “market” with “photocopies” which, pretty as they may be, will quickly cease to contribute towards their set goal within the breed as a whole – this, of course, if they have a set goal! And what will happen when one member of the couple dies? They will have to start over again, without a progressive improvement work that will ensure, as much as possible, a relative homogeneity, within their preferred type, throughout the generations.

Besides, with so many closely related dogs competing, it is easy for the public to assume that is the ideal type, when it’s nothing more than the “flooding” of a line of dogs (can we call it “line” when it is nothing more than repeated litters from the same breeding couple??)

The search for immediate satisfaction…

Not knowing what type of dog he wants, the breeder mates his bitch to the winning dog of the moment, under the assumption that if the dog is winning so much he must be good. However, in dog shows as in so many things in life, fads and trends often dictate who is winning and when. And fads are often short-lived. Considering it takes at least a couple of years since you decide to breed with a certain dog until you have an adult dog capable of competing on an equal level with the rest of its breed (specially in medium/large breeds and/or with exuberant coat), there’s a serious risk that by then the “fad” is different and the “champion” we were so “committed” to breed may already be an “undesirable” type. In each litter we will have to start over again, towards the “goal” of breeding the type that is winning right now.

Not only that, he is also potentially creating problems regarding the breed’s genetic diversity – if we all breed with the same wining dog, unavoidably we will be increasing the breed’s inbreeding level!

…vs. long term results

On the other hand, if you have an ideal type in our mind, you can gradually try to step forward towards your concrete goal. Sometimes you may get better litters, sometimes worse, but you will always be thinking at least one or two generations ahead, searching for the mating that will take you one step closer to our goal.

You may or may not be breeding the current wining type, but regardless of show results, there will always be one satisfaction – while continuing to work within the breed standard, you will be breeding the dog YOU like! Shouldn’t that be the goal?!


Carla Cruz
www.aradik.net


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Aradik’s position on docking and cropping

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Ch Ananás de Aradik

Ever since I have begun breeding the Barbado da Terceira (Terceira Cattle Dog), I have been criticized by several breeders in Portugal for not docking nor cropping the dogs I bred.
Why don’t I do it? Well, the answer can be given in a single sentence or be the reason for a long post.

The reader’s digest version

I do not dock nor crop the Barbado da Terceira because I believe the future of any breed shall necessarily go through with it being known in its natural state, so I prefer to start working from the beginning to get people used to this look.

The several reasons in detail

1. To avoid repeating the past

I started following the dog world, as an outsider, in the 1990s – a time without the current ease of spreading ideas through the internet. However, even then I remember seeing people from the Boxer, Doberman, Spaniel, etc. fancy discussing the prohibition of docking and cropping (something they still do today!), and their concern as these traits had never been selected, so who knew what they could get.
I also remember the comments, common even today in some breeds, that a dog left entire wouldn’t even look like its breeds, as its “natural” looks was changed.
But I ask, if what separates one breed from another are mere cosmetic traits that require the removal of body parts, does that breed have a reason for existing as an independent entity?
Therefore I chose to keep the dogs I breed entire - so people can get used to seeing the natural Barbado da Terceira, and will not find it strange later on and realize that even with tail and ears the Barbado da Terceira looks different from similar breeds.
The results my dogs have been achieving show well that at least they look enough like Barbados da Terceira to get good results and obtain titles at dog shows.

2. Throughout the rest of Europe…

Although in Portugal it is still common to see docked and cropped dogs at different sports events (including conformation dog shows), in an increasing number of European countries these dogs are being denied access to these events. However, regardless the breed we’re thinking of, if we wish to remain competitive at a European level, we need to be able to compete on their field, so we need to be prepared to abide to their rules. This implies stopping docking and cropping.

3. The breed standard

This is what the Barbado da Terceira breed standard says about the tail:

“Medium to low set. At rest hangs and curves at the inferior tip. Anurous is admissible.”

As you can see, it is a very generic description and does not mention, as happens in other breeds, details such as the tail’s relative length (reaching the hock, higher or lower than it) nor its carriage when in motion, for example.
The Barbado da Terceira provisional standard was written at a time when virtually all dogs were docked at birth. As are most dogs even today, as this is the culturally preferred presentation. Indeed, the description of the tail at rest is probably based on the tails of similar breeds, as currently breed standards cannot explicitly mention that surgically altered animals are preferred.
Yet, when the Barbado da Terceira’s final standard is written, it will certainly be necessary to include more details about the tail and its carriage. Therefore, my choice not to dock the dogs I breed was (also) made as a way to ensure the existence of a population showing the natural tail and its variations regarding carriage and length, so an informed decision can be made when the final standard is written.

As for cropping, my decision not to do it was based on the same principle as for not docking.
The Barbado da Terceira breed standard, written at a time when most dogs had their ears cropped, says the ears are

“medium to high set, triangular, medium sized. Hanging, folded and hairy. They are very mobile and when attentive raise at the base and fold forward.”

Nowadays dogs with natural ears are becoming more common, both at the mainland and at Terceira Island, so I hope this sample will allow for a correct assessment of the existing variation regarding ear set and carriage, so the standard can be the best possible representation of the existing population.

Left to right: Multi-Ch Figo, Multi-Ch Sheila, Ch Adágio

4. Welfare

When I made the decision of not docking I thought, as most breeders “know”, that the tails were cut off during the first few days of life because at birth the puppies’ sensorial system is quite undeveloped, so their ability to feel pain is decreased – therefore docking should be a relatively painless procedure, which is even done without anesthetics.
However, when researching for an article I was preparing, I came to learn that actually it’s the exact opposite. At birth the puppies’ neurons’ dendrites aren’t yet completely involved by myelin (i.e., their protective “shaft” isn’t yet completely developed). This is the reason why we used to think pain-feeling ability wasn’t yet developed. However, today we know that exactly for this reason, what really happens is that there is no impulse inhibition, so pain is actually felt even more intensely! And in puppies younger than a few months of age it isn’t even safe to use anesthetics in surgical procedures!

5. Behavior

The tail is an important element in dog-to-dog and dog-to-people communication. It helps to reveal the dog’s state of mind, its intentions, etc.
Several studies have suggested dogs with short tails tend to be involved in more aggressive confrontations with other dogs, possibly as the result of communication problems. A study published in 2008, the first under controlled conditions, using a robotic model in which only the length and movement of the tail varied (long wagging, long still, short wagging, short still), has revealed differences in the way dogs approached the model, suggesting that tail does indeed influence canine behavior.
Therefore, we can infer that the absence of a tail will put the animal at a disadvantage regarding tailed dogs, and potentially increase the probability of aggressive confrontation.

6. Function

The tail works as a “counter-weight” in situations requiring agility (jumping, turning while running, etc.).
I have always been amazed with how a tail can be docked in a herding dog! These dogs’ work often requires turning, breaking and turning again at relatively high speed, so the tail will necessarily help.
This does not mean that a tailless dog will not be able to work properly. After all the dog’s “heart”, its “will”, ends up being the most important element in a dog’s work. Quite simply, the job would possibly be easier with a long tail helping out.

7. Health

In some breeds, docking tails is justified with the argument that it is done to prevent it from being injured in the brush or when banging on objects. As in the Barbado da Terceira I have never heard health-related arguments regarding docking, I will refrain from commenting them here and now.

As for ear cropping, however, the situation is different. In almost all cropped breeds it is common to call upon the argument that dogs with hanging ears are more prone to otitis.
There are few studies comparing the occurrence of otitis in dogs with hanging and prick ears. Indeed there seems to be a slightly larger incidence of otitis in the former case, but usually the studies either don’t specify the type of hanging ears (there is a lot of diversity) or are based in Cocker Spaniel data – whom, with heavy, long, very handing ears, are very different from the Barbado da Terceira, whose ears are much shorter and mobile, allowing for a better aeration of the ear cannal.
Actually, it is interesting to note that all water dogs and retrievers (breeds which, due to their job, would a priori be more prone to otitis) have hanging ears. If the incidence of ear problems was serious, certainly prick ears would have been selected by now…

My Barbado da Terceira

 

Ch Adágio

I remember as if it was today when I saw my first Barbado da Terceira – Xico, owned by Teresa Pamplona –, many years ago, when I went to Terceira Island for my MSc research. I immediately fell in love for the breed in general and for that dog in particular. I saw him a few years later, more mature, and the passion resurfaced, even stronger. He was a fantastic dog, grey and white, docked and cropped looking even more compact and impressive!
Yes, unlike what many people think, I indeed love seeing a docked cropped Barbado da Terceira! Actually, and against my principles, my first Barbado, Ch Adágio (out of the same lines as Xico), was cropped after I had him.
Not only docking and cropping is a tradition in the breed’s island of origin, its looks become quite different and appealing.
But should we cling to the past in the name of “tradition”?
The ears were also traditionally cropped, and nowadays we see more and more dogs, even on their native island, with entire ears. Stopping docking is just the next logical (and in my opinion unavoidable) step.

Disadvantages in keeping the dogs entire

 

Ch Cortiça de Aradik

Choosing not to dock or crop does have its risks. As the looks become different from what people are used to, a dog has to be a lot better than the rest to have the same success.
A cropped dog immediately seems to have a wider head, an advantage in a dog meant to be compact and robust.
A dog with a tail will immediately seem longer, not only when moving (with the tail in line with the body), but also when it is standing, due to its hair’s volume. If in addition the dog has white socks (as I personally like), then it will seem even longer, as the illusion of the color difference “breaks” the dog’s height. Unless the judge is able to bypass the optical illusions, the dog will often be penalized.

So… are there disadvantages I showing undocked dogs at shows nowadays (as uncropped dogs are fortunately increasing)? Yes there are! But you need to start working and investing today thinking about tomorrow!

In essence…

Is it common to hear that a dog needs to be docked (and cropped) to be a Barbado da Terceira? Yes! However, that is not what justifies belonging to a breed, or even what defines the dog’s quality. There are good and bad docked and cropped dogs, there are good and bad undocked and uncropped dogs.
I believe the “culture gap” of the different looks of the natural dog will be quite lessened if, from the beginning, people get used to seeing the two “versions” of the breed and begin “training” their eye for what (I believe) will be the future.

This has been my guideline at Aradik Kennel!

Carla Cruz
www.aradik.net

P.S. – Obviously, the fact that I chose to keep the dogs I breed entire doesn’t mean other breeders have to, as some seem to fear based on the intensity of their protests. Everyone should act based on their conscience and principles, not based on what others do! There’s a time and a place to evaluate the pros and cons of the decisions made.


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A puppy for Christmas?

(Versão portuguesa abaixo)

(This article was originally published, slightly modified, in the Portuguese pet magazine Cães e Companhia nº 175, December 2011)

Christmas is traditionally a time of peace, joy and… puppies as gifts?

Is it a good idea to offer a living being in festive times, especially when it is a surprise to the receiver? This text overviews some of the questions about getting a puppy, maybe from a somewhat less-than-common point of view.

There are breeders and then there are breeders!

We all acknowledge that doctors are not all alike; some are better and more efficient at their work than others. We also know there are good and bad mechanics, plumbers that know their work and others just “fix holes”, etc. However, in the popular mind dog breeders seem to be a “one-size-fits-all” issue. There is a tendency to think that they all want to breed as many animals as they can as cheaply as possible in order to maximize profit throughout the lives of the poor bitches. But those who breed dogs do so for a variety of reasons, which will without a doubt affect the final result.

Unquestionably there are breeders that indeed breed with the clear objective of making money, who seek to maximize the breeding life of their animals (regardless of their health, genetics or quality) and the lowest cost, so as to maximize their profit. They are breeders who do not care about the final destiny of their puppies, as long as they are sold, and who benefit the maximum from impulse buying – such as the cute little puppy as a shopping mall’s pet shop window -, preventing the potential buyer from seeing the puppies and the rest of their dogs in their usual environment. They’re the so-called “puppy mills”. In Portugal they are a minority, but the most common source from pet store puppies.

Most dogs come from “plain” people who own a breeding-age bitch, people who, although not necessarily seeking a profit, breed for a wide variety of reasons (excuses?) – because they want a puppy from their pretty bitch, because the idea that all females should have at least one litter in their life (or all males should mate at least one) still runs deep, because they have a purebred and as such they must breed it, if for nothing else then to “recover” the money they invested in her, because children should see the “miracle of birth”, because they did not control their bitch in heat and she got pregnant, etc., etc. These are normally well-meaning people, or quite on the contrary people with no care whatsoever for the reproductive management of their unsprayed females, who just get a female and a male together, with no real concern about what they are breeding or the fate or health of the puppies that are born, as long as they go to people “who promise to love them”. The puppies are often given or sold at a low price, just after weaning, while they’re still in the “cute” stage, without health care (vaccines, worming) so no money is spent on them. These breeders are usually called “backyard breeders”.

Finally, there’s also the true Breeders, those who are indeed worthy of that name, with a capital “B” – those who breed will a well defined goal, who care about improving their breed’s morphological and functional traits, who strive to reduce the occurrence of health, genetic and/or behavioral problems in the breed. They seek to learn as much as possible about their breed and specimens, looking for the best possible match to achieve their goals, even if that means using animals other than their own. Before they breed they try to assess the quality of their dogs, they do health and genetic screening to reduce the risk of transmission of problems to the progeny, they manage the breeding life of their females, respecting rest periods between litters and plan each litter beforehand. And they are people who screen potential owners for one of their puppies, in order to assess if they are a match to the breed and personality of each bred animal (and will refuse a sale if necessary), who try to follow up on the development of each dog in their new home and are available for additional support at anytime, up to, if necessary, repossessing or helping to re-home any dog they bred at any stage of their life. They may be a minority in the sea of dog producers, but these breeders are the main focus of this text.

How much does a puppy cost?

This is the most common a breeder hears. It is often the only question a breeder hears. It is a natural question, and is indeed an issue to consider when pondering getting a dog. But is it the only one? Or is it actually the most important one?

When you want to get a new car, you don’t go into the first dealer you see and say to the salesperson “I want a blue car. How much does it cost?” - do you? First you decide on the type of vehicle you need, compare the technical traits of several brands of cars within the range you want, and only after you have a notion of what you need will you compare prices in several dealers for the makes and models you pre-selected, right? However, when they intend to acquire a living being that will be a full part of their life for 10 to 15 years, most people just seem to care about the price, without seeking to know the animal’s “technical traits”. Just as breeders are not all alike, the potential of each puppy, and the care he received, varies.

At the several freed ads websites, it is common to find puppies on sale for ridiculously low prices. When you ask a serious breeder the cost of a puppy of the same breed, you will get a much higher price. Why the difference? Is there a reason to buy a more expensive puppy when you can find cheaper ones? Yes! And the reasons run on the short and on the long range. Adequately raising a puppy, in order to give him the best possible start in life, is not cheap. You need to think of high quality food, adequate for the mother’s and puppies’ physiological state, supplementation (vitamins, minerals) when needed, regular and frequent worming to each of the puppies and their mother, vaccination, toys for physical and mental stimulation… and that’s not considering the time the breeder spends making sure the whelping goes for the best, the puppies nurse adequately, socializing them and getting them used to future situations they may encounter later in life, etc.

Of course you can easily find here several ways to save money and sell cheaper dogs – with low quality food that does not fully cover the animals’ special needs at this stage, by not doing vaccinations and worming, by selling the puppies immediately after weaning so no money is spent on feeding them, etc… This has, of course, an impact on the puppy’s current and future health. While he is nursing, the puppy receives antibodies from his mother through her milk, but upon weaning that protection ends and is only recovered by means of adequate vaccination. If the puppy changes family just after wearning, that will occur at a time his defenses are down, so there is an increased risk of catching diseases at his new home, a new environment with potentially hazardous risks that didn’t exist at his birth place. Some diseases acquired at this age are fatal or with life-long consequences!

On the long run, it is also a behavioral risk to acquire a puppy at such an early age. Throughout a puppy’s growth, he goes through several phases of development both physical and psychological. Between 3 and 12 weeks of age, there is the “socialization period”, during which he learns behavioral rules, first with other dogs then with other animals and people. If a puppy leaves his mother and siblings too soon he will not have the opportunity to learn canine communication and etiquette, and therefore has an increased risk of future problems in his relationships with other dogs and people.

A serious breeder will refuse the sale of a puppy before 2-3 months of age. This way he will be able to start an adequate plan of worming and vaccination, trying to ensure that when the puppy leaves he already has the necessary defenses to withstand the “aggressions” of his new environment (but it is crucial that the new owner completes the plan for an adequate protection). This period spent with the breeder will also allow the puppy to acquire the basic elements of social interaction with other dogs and people and begin socializing with several types of situations, which the new owner must continue.

There is more than just the price

If you are reading this text then a priori you have an interest on dogs above the population average and will try your best to be a good owner of the dog you acquire. With basic notions of what it takes to have a dog, or past experience, it is natural that your main concern when you get your dog is its price. But the breeder you contact does not know you! When he is contacted and the only question asked is the price, the idea that gets through is that you are just looking for the cheapest dog you can find, which is quite discouraging when he’s trying to find the best possible home for his dogs.

In any case, there are more issues to consider when acquiring a dog, leaving the purchase price as a secondary factor in the overall balance.

For example, you can (and should!) ask about diseases the breed may have, and what the breeder is doing to try to reduce their incidence. When you buy a puppy whose parents have been tested for the main diseases in the breed, even if that’s not an assurance that the puppy will not suffer from them, at least it gives you a notion of the real risk of being or not affected; a puppy from unscreened parents is always “a shot in the dark”, a lottery in which you don’t know what you are acquiring.

You should ask to see the puppies and the dam (sometimes the father does not belong to the breeder, so he may not be present) and try to assess if the puppies seem to be in good physical and behavioral conditions – with shinny coat, clear eyes, active and playful, etc. If the breeder refuses, beware and enquire; if indeed in very young puppies there may be some health risks in being handled by strangers, after the puppies are properly vaccinated that risk is minimal.

Ask the breeder whatever goes through your mind that may be relevant; a serious breeder will be available to answer and educate potentially interested people. Be prepared for the breeder to ask you questions in return, in order to assess if the breed and a specific individual is a good fit for you. After all, a 70 kg St. Bernard may not be the ideal choice for our frail 70 year-old grandmother; a Pug will certainly not be adequate for the dynamic youngster who likes to jog 20 km everyday with his dog; a digging terrier will not be perfect if you like a spotless garden.

And, very importantly, visit several breeders before making a decision! Talk with them, ask questions and answer questions, make up your mind and decide based on information. Remember the price you will pay for your puppy includes not only its cost on the moment, but also all the support the breeder will provide along the animal’s life.

Do you have puppies available?

This is usually the 2^nd most common question the breeder gets asked, when we get to the 2^nd question. Also for obvious reasons. The person knows he wants to add a 4-legged companion to his life, so he wants to do it as soon as he decides so. However, that is not necessarily the best way!

A breeder doesn’t always have puppies available; he will have them when he thinks he found a combination of parents that will take him one step closer to his goals. If he has several animals, he may be able to manage his bitches in such a way that he will indeed be able to have several litters throughout the year, if he so desires and has an adequate demand. However, if he has few specimens, he will have greater intervals between litters, there will be times when he will not have youngsters available.

If you are interested in a popular breed, there may be enough responsible breeders for you to, with some research, find a breeder you like with available puppies. However, in the case of rarer breeds, with few breeders, odds are you will not find available puppies exactly you decided you want one. In this case, the ideal is enrolling in the breeder’s waiting list, waiting for an available pup. This will give you a greater chance of getting your puppy, especially because many breeders only breed when they have good homes for their puppies already lined up.

Spend this time talking with the breeder, posing all your doubts and questions you can think of and easily and quietly preparing the arrival of your new companion. Use this period also to ponder seriously if this is the right time to acquire a living being that will require constant care and attention for the next 10 or more years. We live in a society of immediate consumption and gratification, in which we buy goods without seriously considering if we need them and what we will do with them in the future. An animal is not a teddy bear or a playstation we can put on a shelf when we get bored with it!

A puppy as a gift?

Christmas is traditionally a time when there is more demand for puppies. There are those who think they are ideal gifts, who want to offer a pet to their spouse, to a relative or even a friend. It is also common that people want to offer a puppy to their child, because he has been nagging for months for one, or because he had good grades at school, or to “teach him responsibility”… However, for a serious breeder, Christmas is one of the most complicated seasons! It’s a time when it is harder to distinguish between good and bad prospective clients. Because offering a puppy as a surprise to someone is usually a very bad idea. Acquiring a living being should be a well pondered act, in which all involved must agree on the decision. Otherwise there is the serious risk that they will not have time or will to properly take care of the animal, loose interest in the “novelty”, etc., which leads to a raise in the relinquishment rate shortly after Christmas.

A classical example is buying a dog so “the child becomes responsible”. In principle that’s all very nice, but what happens when the youngster goes back to school and no longer has time available for the dog? Or when the novelty wears off and the puppy grows and the child looses interest in the dog, as often happens with young children (or teenagers who suddenly find other interests in life)? If the parents did not agree previously that the final responsibility for taking care of the animal is theirs, sooner or later it is probable that he will be relinquished. What responsibility are you then teaching your youngsters? That when you lose interest in them, it’s ok to abandon a living being?

Also from the point of view of the puppy himself, Christmas holidays are not the best to change homes. The dog is already going through the shock of suddenly losing all that was familiar to him and finding himself in a strange environment -at a place where traditionally at this time there is great commotion, with school holidays, family and friends staying over, etc., when what he needs is peace to get adjusted to his new home and develop properly. And when he finally starts getting used to his new life, suddenly it all changes again – holidays are over, children go back to school, adults go back to work and the environment changes again. It is better to wait for the post-holidays period to welcome the puppy, so he has a smooth transition to the normal yearly rhythm of his new family.

If you indeed decide that it is appropriate to offer a puppy for Christmas, if the decision is made responsibly, with everyone involved and the the breeder agreeing on it, instead of subjecting the puppy to this confusing time, why not arrange with the breeder a sort of “welcome package” to whoever will receive the puppy for Christmas, instead of the dog himself, as a preparation to go pick him up later, at a better time?

Adopt, don’t buy?

As Christmas is a time when the acquisition of dogs is traditionally higher, campaigns for the responsible adoption of abandoned animals are also more visible. Frequently their chosen motto is something in the lines of “adopt, don’t buy” or “each dog bough is a pound dog that gets killed”. But isn’t this somewhat of emotional blackmail?

Often, the type of people who seek a purebred at a breeder is different from that who adopts from a shelter. While the later “just” (with any prejudice intended) want a loyal companion, those who seek a purebred often do so because they desire a certain amount of physical and behavioral traits which are easier to find in a purebred than in a mutt, due to the selection exerted which  leads to traits being substantially more predictably in a purebred puppy. (1)

Anyway, even if a bought puppy might potentially mean, on the very short term, that a stray dog is not adopted, on the long run the consequences may be different. When you buy a puppy from a serious breeder, you are simultaneously ensuring a life-long support, the breeder will be available to help the owner whenever and wherever possible, inclusively to retake or rehome the dog if necessary. Therefore the risk of this dog being relinquished later on is seriously reduced. The greater the proportion of dogs bought from responsible breeders, as opposed to from puppy mills or backyard breeders, the smaller the odds they end up in a shelter.

Do your homework!

Some years ago it might have been difficult, for those not in the fancy, to know how to find a breeder for a given breed and what to look for in a puppy. Nowadays, with the major role the internet plays in our lives, with specialized media available to the public, this task is considerably easier. Spend some time researching the breed of your choice (and be objective as to the source of the information!!), visit several breeders and talk with them, even if you’re not planning on getting a dog right now – it is crucial to know if your choice fits your lifestyle and personality, it is important to find a breeder in whom you can trust and feel supported whenever you need to, throughout your dog’s life. Basically, use your common sense and critical judging and don’t fall into the trap of immediate gratification. Having an animal in our life is a great responsibility, he demands time and dedication for many years and will not remain a small cuddly puppy for long. This is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life! You will surely want to do it with as much information as possible, right?

And by the way, after you get your puppy, do try to keep a regular contact with the breeder. He leaves a little bit of himself in every puppy he hands over, and would also like to hear from him, to know that he is growing well (or not) and that he and his family are happy!

(1) In Portugal, breed rescues (groups dedicated to rescuing and rehoming dogs of a particular breed or group of breeds) are not yet common

Lessons for dog food sales representatives

(versão portuguesa abaixo)

Dog breeders are often contacted by dog food companies, trying to get them to switch to their brand(s) of kibble. Nothing out of the ordinary in that, that’s pretty much standard operating procedure. However, following a particularly frustrating (to say the least) recent couple of phone conversations and one e-mail, I decided to turn my rant about them into a “manual” for dog food salespersons, of mistakes not to make… or, as a friend called it, “Marketing for Dummies”! ;)

Remember it is you who are seeking a new client, it is not the potential client who contacted you. So:

1. Do not base you conversation about your brand of dog food on the price. Saying to a potential client “we want to know what brand of food you use so we can compete on the price” is not necessarily the best opening line and motto of the whole conversation. If you focus only on the price, the potential client may start to wonder about the quality of the food.

2. Even if your clients (who in theory are not as informed about dog food as you should be) say that “all premium foods are pretty much all the same”, that is not necessarily a good premise to base your conversation. After all, if you are selling a particular brand of food, you should be able to point out what’s the difference between it and the others.

3. You say you will send the prices by e-mail, but if the potential client asks you for more information – nutritional table, ingredients, special conditions for breeders – also send that information. That may be information you usually only send on a 2nd or 3rd contact, but if the potential client asks you for it and you do not send it, you may have ruined your chances at a 2nd or 3rd contact. Even if your price is better, the quality of the food will naturally be influential. And the conditions offered to the breeder – for each X bags bought you offer Y, advertising space, etc., can and will be a tie-breaker!
3a. Do not limit yourself to sending what you send to 95% of the clients because they “only” care about the price. There will be potential clients who want other information, and you need to adapt to that. Maybe it is only a minority, but everyone is a potential client (remember, you seeked them out, not the other way around!). And besides, often the most enquiring people are those who are a source of information and references to their peers (other potential clients)!
3b. Do not blame the person in the office sending the e-mail for the e-mail not getting everything the potential client asked for. As it is you contacting the client, it is your responsibility to ensure that the person receives what was requested!
3c. If you do not have the requested information about the quality of the food available to send by e-mail (and I am sure you can see the mistake in that, right?), ask for the person’s address and send the paper information. If the information is on a website, it will only take you 5 minutes to copy and paste the info from the site to an e-mail. Do not expect the potential client to do your homework for you!

3. When you do a follow-up phone call after the e-mail, it is bad policy to say “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name”, that definitively does not help to build a confidence relationship! It will only take you a few seconds to read the name from the list when you’re dialing a number, so as not to embarrass yourself! And do not blame you having a list of hundreds of names to call for not checking the potential client’s name - that is your job!