Culling puppies

[puppydog]

The whole thing makes me sick to be honest.

[Fran101]

I think by breeding dogs you are responsible for what you are bringing into this world. Other than dogs that are born with a life threatening illness or deformity.. euthanasia SHOULD NOT be used to get rid of puppies that are seen as "less" because of cosmetics.

It starts with colors.. white puppies, spotted puppies, etc..

whats next? Keep the agility and herding prospects and then just cull the rest.. because they just aren't worth it!?
Keeping the smaller puppies in smaller breed litters and just cull the rest because they aren't the "ideal" size?

For EVERY healthy puppy.. there is a family out there who would love it. Sure, maybe an all white puppy isn't going to get you $1200 like the rest of the litter.. but YOU bred those dogs, YOU brought that puppy into the world and its YOUR responsibility to find it a home.
If necessary, just don't register that pup. and find it a home for a small adoption fee.

I don't understand how DOG LOVERS could sleep at night knowing they are killing healthy puppies because of their COLOR.. its just disgusting to me, im sorry.

Aussies are beautiful dogs, and not ever family is looking for that beautiful blue merle agility dog.. somewhere there is a family looking for a beautiful, active, wellbred pet.

I am a FIRM believer in the fact that breeders are RESPONSIBLE for what they bring into this world and should MAN UP to that responsibility.

[Dizzy]

I never even posted this part *vomits*

There are many breeders who said they would keep excessive white puppies long enough to see if they are sound. They then are faced with the sad task of having a cute, fuzzy puppy destroyed because it is deaf, blind or both. Some people have given these pups away, or even sold them. If you really care about the Australian Shepherd, dont do it! That white Aussie is advertising the Australian Shepherd Breed everywhere it goes, as well as your breeding program. So many times the end of the story is the heartbreak of the child you gave that cute white puppy to crying because the dog never knew the family car was coming- he never saw or heard it start.

[Fran101]

Originally Posted by Dizzy

I never even posted this part *vomits*

that is awful.

Just find a home that is PREPARED to deal with a deaf dog and a home that is ready to accept the responsibility of having a deaf or blind dog. AKA: not letting their dog run loose where they could not hear or see a car coming.
Blindness is less common..that, ive had no experience with.
but i have OWNED a deaf dalmatian, that was also going to be PTS, and she was actually rather easy to train. we got her a collar that vibrates.
was it harder than a normal hearing dog? yes. but was it worth it? of course it was. the breeder gave these deaf pups away to qualified homes, for only the price of the spay/neuter.

I think its more about "their breeding program" then anything else..

[Fran101]

I just feel like they brought these pups into this world.. and if they are otherwise healthy, they should be given the chance to have homes.

In a litter, if one puppy is white and deaf.. im sure it wouldn't be THAT hard to find that puppy a home. especially at a reasonable adoption fee.

If a breeder is going to take that risk, and breed double merles or w/e.. then I think they should be prepared to deal with the consequences of their actions. and by "dealing with" i mean, finding homes/adopting out puppies that are less than perfect.. not kill them.

If the puppy is both blind AND deaf, or has some kind of problem that will mess up its quality of life, then euthanasia, in my eyes, is an option. but otherwise.. i just don't think its ok.

just my 2 cents



Blindness is not something I can comment about ,because Ive never owned a blind dog. and don't know anything about it.

[dobesgalore]

It just kills me. My heart breaks for these puppies.

[FoxyWench]

diz, thats horrible...

that very quote you posted right there makes it also sound like they advocate letting these dogs run loose

" If you really care about the Australian Shepherd, dont do it! That white Aussie is advertising the Australian Shepherd Breed everywhere it goes, as well as your breeding program."

Yeah its advertising that the person who bred for that litter is an irresponsible peice of poop, anyone breeding merle to merle purposly needs shooting, the risk is too high, instead of saying that its ok as long as you kill all the white ones, make it taboo to breed merle to merle at all, a breed club should be promoting RESPONSIBLE breeding by discourgaing breeding that is likely to result in these kinds of issue *grumble*
you see things like this in every breed to, its just sickening...
the whole "dust the ones that arnt perfect under the rug" attitude would make me never want to join a breed club that allows this kind of breeding program...

"So many times the end of the story is the heartbreak of the child you gave that cute white puppy to crying because the dog never knew the family car was coming- he never saw or heard it start. "
WHY oh why is this hypothetical dog running round loose to the point where it COULD get hit by a car?!
i wouldnt allow any of my dogs to play anywhere there could even be a possibility of being hit, the backyard is fenced off from the driveway so they cant get hit, accidentally running over a dog happens from irresponsible ownership (or a simple accident form door bolting ect)...not because the dog is blind and/or deaf...

[Zoom]

The "white-factored" or "lethal white" pups usually were culled, because this is a WORKING breed and a deaf/blind dog is utterly useless on stock. It's hard enough to find homes for all the completely healthy Aussies out there, keeping all the deaf/blind dogs because someone else feels "bad" about having to euth them isn't exactly fair either. Yes, these dogs can adapt pretty well in the right home, but those homes aren't exactly popping out of the woodwork.

I despise MxM breedings but there are times when the two best dogs for the lines both end up being merle...it's a calculated risk sometimes taken. Not often, thankfully.

[Xandra]

There are already a gazillion pet dogs. X number of them get euthanized in a nasty shelter every day. Some are really cool dogs (see I.Do.Not.Have.Time.For.A.Puppy.). Why? Because there are too many (completely healthy!) pet dogs and not enough pet homes.

My personal opinion it is the breeder's single greatest responsibility to put the breed above all- including individual dogs and their own emotions. Giving out blind/deaf dogs is doing the opposite.

Within each litter, breeders should also strive to produce the greatest number of AWESOME representatives of their breed (note: I don't mean greatest number of litters). To me it is beyond ridiculous that you would breed where the best temperament of the litter could be in a deaf/blind body? WHY?!?! wouldn't you just breed your bitch to a non-merle stud?

ETA Zoom! I can see in a rare breed where there is a small number of breeding animals to choose from, but surely, with Aussies an equally good stud could be found for the bitch?

[sillysally]

Originally Posted by Zoom

The "white-factored" or "lethal white" pups usually were culled, because this is a WORKING breed and a deaf/blind dog is utterly useless on stock. It's hard enough to find homes for all the completely healthy Aussies out there, keeping all the deaf/blind dogs because someone else feels "bad" about having to euth them isn't exactly fair either. Yes, these dogs can adapt pretty well in the right home, but those homes aren't exactly popping out of the woodwork.

I despise MxM breedings but there are times when the two best dogs for the lines both end up being merle...it's a calculated risk sometimes taken. Not often, thankfully.

If the two "best" dogs for a breeding are likely to produce pups that will have to be culled, then IMHO tough titties--don't do the breeding. Who cares if a breeder is producing the "perfect" aussie if they are knowingly leaving dead pups in their wake? In my eyes, I don't care how many titles a breeder has, if they are knowingly and deliberately breeding dogs that are likely to produce deformed/handicapped pups that they will then sweep under the rug and "forget" about, then they are not more reputable than some idiot breeding his unproven aussie because she is "pretty"--maybe worse actually, because they know better.