GETTING READY FOR A PUPPY
Choosing to get into your life a new pet is an exciting but yet a very hard decision-making process, particularly when choosing where to find the "perfect puppy". You have been reading a lot, researching about the breed, trying to understand why the Boston Terrier - French Bulldog breed are so special and you feel that you are finally ready for one.
Now that you are feeling confident and the final step is to find a reputable breeder to adopt the puppy you have been dreaming of! But there are still a lot of details that you still has to learn.
not only taking looks, temperament and health into consideration, but also genetics.
Not only with respect to their breed standard (appearance), personality and health, but also genetics.
RESPONSIBLE BREEDING
- Boston Terrier / French Bulldogs breeders that have the best interest of the breed at heart are deeply associated with the breed.
Reputable breeders are heavily involved with AKC events. They are members of their parent clubs ( in this case the Boston Terrier Club of America and the French Bulldog Club of America ), they carefully plan their breedings following not only the FBDCA / BTCA standards, but they also include in their routine health testing, studying pedigrees, talking to long time breeders, studying genetics...
What most people don't know is that lot is taken in consideration before any breeding. Is this breeding aiming to improve the breed? Why is this breeding happening to begin with? Is the breeder's intention to keeping a puppy or two for themselves? Are the sire and the dam good natured and sweet dogs? are the parents health tested?
It is not unusual for us breeders to come across news of large-scale scandals, poor breeding practices, such as breeding dogs with genetic or physiological deformities and diseases. This dreadful conduct negatively affects the gene pool of the breed and can be very harmful to the poor dogs involved.
A true breeder can be recognized by the attention they give to maintaining the best practice possible, by not only guaranteeing the healthiness and happiness of their puppies, but by also caring for and nurturing the adult dogs, so that there is no downside to their breeding. A substandard breeder will focus purely on profit potential instead of doing the right thing.
Reputable breeders, have a commitment not only to the breed, but to the puppies as individuals, a responsibility to find the best home imaginable to support the precious life that was given to them, placing the dogs interests above any kind of profit. Proving that money is not our goal but their health and happiness is.
If you are considering whether you want to be a serious breeder you need to first, consider the risks and costs it may involve. This includes the extensive research, long hours put into raising and caring, facing the possibility that not all puppies may survive or may require large veterinary bills, realizing that the money gained from breeding is not as much as you may initially think after all of the proper precautions and care is undertaken.
Breeding, when done correctly, involves many expenses not always immediately clear to the unfamiliar eye.
These costs include health tests, stud fees, artificial inseminations, c-section, ultrasounds, supplements and vitamins, the best food for their dietary needs, veterinary visits, vaccination shots and de-worming. Other things to taking into consideration are show entries and handling expenses, newborn puppy care (especially challenging the first few weeks where you never sleep), time invested in researching the breed, conversing with other breeders, studying health, genes and bloodlines in order to create the most exceptional puppies possible.
Substandard breeders, will not go through all the nuances and detail as we do. And with the lack of experience they end up producing undesirable traits such as long noses, thin legs, lengthy tails, thin and elongated bodies, and bad ear placement… and very often bad temperament.
Breeding should always be focused on the individual dogs involved rather than merely putting a male together with a female in heat. Experienced breeders have an extensive understanding of the history of their lines, the genetics and morphological traits that may be carried onto litters, and will eliminate less desirable traits to maintain a high standard of the classical breed characteristics.
RECOGNIZING A BACKYARD BREEDER
Puppy mills or Backyard breeders are commercial breeding facilities, motivated by profits that mass-produce pets. Backyard breeders will have no care for health testing their dogs (of course, they testing are expensive and if they are breeding to make money, why would they spend money? ) they breed with no planning or care for the future progenies.
-- Read about HEATSTROKE
-- Read about PARASITES