Re: [pyrnet] Shelters and Breeders (was: shelters)

[darrell goolsbee <dgg@star-telegram.com>]

> 
<<I am not sure we even have quantified the problem i.e. where is it
> coming
> from as this thread is doing on a very anecdotal basis.  Darryl and I
> think
> we know at least part of it, but we have no data or other solid
> information.
> Difficult to deal with a problem when we do not have the information
> to
> examine the causes, etc.>>


It is hard to quantify, but I will say that the vast majority of people
I talk to who have Pyrs as pets in this area got them from somebody out
in the country who had a litter. Only occasionally do I talk to someone
who got their dog from what we would consider a reputable breeder or an
urban backyard breeder. This is from dealing with rescue and being our
club's "Internet contact." Hardly a scientific sampling, but it is
dealing with a pretty good number of people.

Hate to be pessimistic, but in a very real sense, we have "lost" the
battle in this area to the LGD producers. There are VERY few reputable
breeders in TX, and even if a potential Pyr puppy buyer is trying to do
the right thing and find a good breeder, it is only rarely that I know
of a litter I can refer them to. So where does someone really determined
to get a Pyr pup but not willing to wait a long time for a pup or to pay
out-of-state prices go? The newspaper, the flea market, or to "Farmer
Joe down the road." Even with rescues, we have trouble finding people
willing to pay the cost of vetting because they can find a puppy for
less than the $100 or so.

And we can educate and do outreach until we're blue in the face. Sure
there may be exceptions and we may reach one every once in a rare while,
but for the most part these farm-type breeders may as well be on a
different planet than we are.

BTW, as long as they treat their dogs well (which many don't), I'm not
going to condemn the farm breeders or say what they're doing is "wrong."
But they come from a completely different mind-set than we do, and there
is, from my experience, little or no common ground to reach. Perhaps if
I were a farmer or an LGD breeder, I might think at least somewhat
differently *g*.

Darrell Goolsbee
Fort Worth, TX