Chihuahua Foster Care

[SteveNear]

Originally Posted by SizzleDog

Yippee! I think I'm going to start calling myself Lord Cynical. Has a nice ring to it.

You see, I do REAL fostering, for a REAL rescue. My current foster dog was found loose running the streets... that's a real foster.

What I'm trying to do is help prevent them from getting to the street.

PS Nice looking Dobes, Years ago we breed them also.

[Dekka]

I guess we are confused as VA has chi rescues already. Why don't you affiliate yourself with a good reputable rescue? As a JRT breeder I also work with the official rescue.

Why do you need to rescue on your own? Why breed 'just companion only' when you are saying how many of these dogs need homes?

[SteveNear]

Originally Posted by SizzleDog

Yippee! I think I'm going to start calling myself Lord Cynical. Has a nice ring to it.

You see, I do REAL fostering, for a REAL rescue. My current foster dog was found loose running the streets... that's a real foster.

What I'm trying to do is help prevent them from getting to the street in the first place.

PS Nice looking Dobes, We also breed them, many, many years ago and dairy goats too.

[Dekka]

So why not focus on rescue instead of breeding the same sort of 'just companion' non breed standard chi's that you are saying are out on the streets.

[MafiaPrincess]

Pupperonie dog treats are easily attainable and highly digestible. In spite of the gossip you might here about them we recognize them as an important part of our dogs diet!

So you are a big fan of feeding your dogs garbage. Good to know. High in by products, soy grits and other floor sweeping. Fantastic!

Followed up by adding onion to your home concoctions even though that can cause kidney failure.. Fantastic research skills so far..

And lastly

Any canned food may be excepted by your dog taste wise, however we recommend Iams canned food at 10% protein versus other brands 8% and 9% protein levels. These feeds are also recognized as meat first foods which means their main ingredient is real meat.

Iams would be the fore mentioned by products and floor sweepings. 10% is pretty much no meat.. Rest of us like things with oh lets say 95% meat.. cause then we know it really IS meat like Wellness 95 % Canned Dog*Food

[Danefied]

Fun thread...

Hey Steve, if you want to prevent the chis from winding up on the streets, here's a novel idea - STOP PRODUCING THEM!! Clearly there are more than enough of pet quality chihuahuas out there that there is no need to make more of them. Though at those prices I can see why you would want to...

Okay, okay. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You check heart, eyes and knees on your chis before you breed them right? Of course you must, that would explain the $1200 price tag, 'cause surely you're not in this for the money like those "other" breeders who

bred for profit alone, without concern for health or temperament.

[SizzleDog]

My responses in bold.

Originally Posted by SteveNear

Yes we breed Chis. About 2 litters a year. Not "tea cups" or show dogs. We breed for size and temperament for companion pets. The demand for Chis far exceeds the supply. I believe mostly do to movies with Chis and the tocobell commercials, etc. As a result many folks that no nothing about the breed have been duped into purchasing them by breeders that only care about making $$$. Not in finding a forever home for their dogs or improving their blood lines.

Size and temperament? For companions? Umm.... that's what rescue is for. We don't need more BYB chihuahuas. If chihuahuas are so rare, how do we have three chis in rescue that aren't moving? If chis are in as "high demand" as you claim, why haven't the three we have been snapped up by now?

What health testing do you do on your breeding stock? How do you justify the high price tags on your "companion bred chis"... without health testing and show costs to recoup, I don't see how you can be charging $1200+ without it being - at least partially - all about the money.


We were receiving many calls from folks that needed to rehome their Chi do to illness, old age or death of the owners. So we decided to also help find new homes for these dogs so they would not be turned out to the street or possibly to animal control to be put to death. Most of these dogs had behavioral issues and needed training before the could be adopted to a permeant home successfully. That is where the foster care network came in. We now have about 40 foster care partners along the east coast that can take in a little Chi and work with it to prepare for adoption.

Do you take back any chihuahua you "adopt out?" Why are you adopting out unaltered dogs?


We are actually doing 2 separate things we breed Chihuahuas and we also help find homes for Chihuahuas in need. The rehoming and adoption has been very successful so far do the the high traffic we already get on he site.

If you were doing full health testing, not charging more based on size/color/etc. and actually breeding to improve the breed, I wouldn't have anything bad to say about your "program." But from what I can see, you bred your dog Bell before he even turned a year of age. (Bell was born Feb 2009, his first litter was on the ground in Feb 2010... I guess you're right he really couldn't wait to "do his duty." That and you're peddling his stud service on BYB sites. You bred Sam when she was just barely a year old - you say she's 18 months old and recently had her first litter.

And your current litter is out of a bitch that you're currently trying to sell on Hoobly?

Originally Posted by SteveNear

PS Nice looking Dobes, Years ago we breed them also.

Thank you, they are from a breeder who shows and titles her dogs. They have titles themselves, and health testing. My bitch has seven pieces of health testing. Happy to share it... vWD clear, hips OFA good, elbows OFA normal, CERF normal, thyroid OFA normal, DCM gene pos het, normal holter 1/10. What health testing do your breeding dogs have?

A lot of people "used to breed dobes" - most people I hear this from were breeding them back in the 1970's when Dobes were the popular BYB breed. In fact, there was so much overbreeding that the national breed club had to form a committee to deal with the population explosion.

[SteveNear]

Originally Posted by Dekka

So why not focus on rescue instead of breeding the same sort of 'just companion' non breed standard chi's that you are saying are out on the streets.

We just love the breed and enjoy raising and training them. And now expanding to help many others too. I don't consider our blood line just non standard companions. We have a standard, its just not as small as acceptable "show standards". I think an 8-10 pound Chi is much stronger and healthier (in our line) than many of the fragile tiny show quality dogs. We get calls and emails from folks that say other rescues would not return their calls or would not take their dog in. I don't think that is the norm, but we are filing the gap and helping connect Chis with new homes and taking some of the pressure off over crowing in other shelters in the process. What is wrong with focusing on both?

[SizzleDog]

Again, me in bold.

Originally Posted by SteveNear

We just love the breed and enjoy raising and training them.

So foster for rescue. Foster the pregnant dogs. Train the ones that come in with issues. If that's all you love about the breed, it can be accomplished through rescue.


We get calls and emails from folks that say other rescues would not return their calls or would not take their dog in.

Trust me, I don't doubt it... but you know why they can't take the dogs, right? Because the rescues are FULL! They're full because of people that are breeding "just pets" - Duh!


What is wrong with focusing on both?

If you were a responsible breeder there wouldn't be a problem. I do both and I'm not tarred and feathered on this forum, nor does the rescue organization I foster for have anything negative to say. But that's because I'm being responsible about it.

[Dekka]

Well its wrong because you talk about how rare etc they are, but then say that they are ending up on the streets. Yours are out of standard. Any person can make up what ever they want, but thats NOT the breed standard. I have my own preferences with JRTs but I breed within the breed standard as I love the breed.

Your dogs are out of standard even if you took a proper chi and scaled them up. You comment about deer heads as if they are ok.

What separates your dogs from the many who languish in shelters and rescues, or those who die each year waiting for homes?