Nature vs Nurture

I just finished a phone conversation with a woman whose dog has bit others (children and other dogs) numerous times. All bites have all caused injury needed medical attention. The dog is 3 years of age and she never did any kind of professional training- the dog simply lived in the family. No conscience decision to make a wonderfully social dog, no work on bite inhibition... She was seeking advise on dealing with the biting issue... oh and by the way the dog is used for breeding and the dog is pregnant yet again.

Lets talk about breeding a dog. The ONLY purpose to breed a dog is to better the breed. Its not to make money, its not so the kids can experience life and its not because your dog is so cute you can't imagine her not having puppies.

When breeding a dog one should prove not only that the dog is up to the breed standard but the dog must have an excellent temperament, as up to 60% of her offspring will share her temperament. We know we have the ability to alter a dogs behavior based on counter conditioning process, but the dogs personality is cannot be ignored.

If you have chosen to purchase a dog, what can you do?
First: why do you want to purchase a dog? Make sure the reasons are worth it. Most peoples reason is because they want more of a guarantee as to the type of dog they are getting. Yet these are the same people who never met the parents of the puppy in the first place!

MEET THE PARENTS: do not fall for some excuse that the male was shipped in for breeding or the female is just not around.... we have heard it all. No parents to meet? do not bother meeting the pups. You are looking for a family member here... not a show dog. Tempermant is everything

Understand Purposefully Bred does not mean PURE bred. It saddens me when someone purchases a mixed breed dog, while thousands of mix breed and pure bred dogs are euthanized everyday in our shelters. Designer dogs are mixed breed dogs. Some people think that because the designer dog is actually mixed from two other breeds, the dog will be healthier. NOT TRUE, its still a forced breeding and with a forced breeding comes a higher risk for health issues.

Quality Breeders DO NOT Advertise. See an ad in the paper or craigslist? Its usually a front for a back yard breeder to a puppy mill. Even if that is not the case, and the person you are getting the dog from only breeds her dogs once in a while, why are you contributing to the over population of dogs but purchasing a puppy from someone who is trying to make money off the lives of animals. There are rescue groups dedicated to pure bred dogs and 26% of all the dogs in a shelter right now, are pure bred.

Do NOT buy a dog from a pet store. These dogs are always supplied by a puppy mill. A quality breeder knows where her puppy is going. She is not leaving it up to a store clerk to make sure the home is a good choice.

Never allow a puppy to be shipped. Is your breeder half way across the county? And they are happy to ship the pup to you? RUN! A quality breeder will want to meet you and your family. If they are willing to ship a pup off to who knows where, what else did they not care about.

If you are paying money for a dog, you better gets your money's worth. If by the time you take you pup home, they are not 100% crate trained, potty trianed, know sit, down and come... then you are setting yourself up for trouble. A breeder- if they are there to better the dog, will of done all that work before you even take the pup home.

I love pure bred dogs, I love mixed breed dogs. I love dogs. I just want your dog to be the best for you and your family. Great dogs do not happen by accident... its starts before they are even born.