The Lady With the Black Dogs (who happen to be “real” fierce staunch old- fashioned Afghans, rare today) sent me a note and a link, knowing it would provoke me and push all my buttons on genetics, bombast, and bullshit, not to mention on the kind of dog commercialism that makes AR types try to ban “backyard” breeders like me.
She gave me a link and wrote: “This bitch [the hound!- SB] is apparently desert bred – brought back by a GI … the woman is trying to make a lot of money apparently … didn’t know if you’d seen it or not …”
I have no intention of giving her a link and further publicity, though I am sure anyone here could use Google and find the site. I just want to present the issues to an intelligent audience, and sad experience has taught me there is no arguing with people who make statements like the ones below. What follows is a mildly edited version of what I sent to TLWTBD:
Re: And Now – Saluki-Doodles …. words fail me.
Well, not really
Well it didn't take but a moment on teh googles to find this one.
Blech.
Her sickly-looking poodle-with-testicles is an "International Champion" with a bogus puppymill registry. And his hips are "OFA-PennHIP 100%." Which is entirely meaningless.
Per OFA database, the dog has never been OFA evaluated, but got a PennHIP score at 5 months of age. It's a good DI, but not low enough to put the dog into the 99th percentile. Oh, going by the birthdates for the dog and one of his offspring in the dB, he was first employed as sperm-daddy at the age of six months.
She's got these pups listed under just "saluki" on a puppymill internet retailing site:
http://tinyurl.com/2ftrxtm
There are apparently purebred saluki pups listed for sale on some of the same sites where she is advertising her ill-advised mutts. I easily picked out her pups from the thumbnail photos as *clearly not a saluki.*
I can think of few breed crosses in which temperaments are more poorly-matched and non-complementary than this one.
The real reason for this mating is that she had a saluki bitch in heat, and a poodle with cojones on-hand, and saw dollar signs.
She does not seem to be moving these pups real fast. So that bodes well for the future, poorly for the pups.
Steve, I would never equate you, or anyone who breeds for the reasons you practice with a backyard breeder … there are those of us who do breed to preserve the bloodlines, the type and the dogs of true temperament, and most of us are "dog-poor" because of it … wry smile. I think of all the people I've known here in the US who did live for their dogs – not even having children – and my heart grows weary with trepidation about the future where nothing has value unless there is "profit" involved.
We don't need to romanticize our dogs or fill up web pages with romanticized pap in order to place weeks old puppies in guardian homes with the promise of "puppies in a year." I notice too that this lady (who presents herself as a Ph.D) represents these puppies as phenotypical Salukis – technically true, but I certainly do hope prospective buyers use the Merriam-Webster if they're not already familiar with that term.
You have no idea how much I envy those of you who are able to move off-grid (more or less) and live with and for the dogs .. folks like you give me hope – that and the fact that our dogs still know what they are.
TLWTBD
@Heather – take a real close look at her Int Ch miniature poodle … apricot color, no less. Something tells me he's either a golden or lab cross … it has been a long time since I've seen a Poodle that far from conforming to the standard.
Poodle folks, Golden Folks, Lab Folks, and even Cock-a-poo folks should be outraged.
TLWTBD
The hype she posts reminds me of the crap put out by the first and worst of the fly-by-night breeders who 'discovered' Leonbergers about a decade ago (even though a small breed club and registry had been active in the US for over 25 years then).
Because they were still relatively rare in the US and the breed club had strict, extensive health and temperament requirements (based loosely on the German breed warden program) Leonberger puppies were expensive and fairly hard to find.
So of course a group of amoral profit-hungry bastards came along and bought (mostly) crap dogs, did no health testing and marketed their puppies as the "Mercedes" of dog breeds to clueless yuppie dimwits looking for status dogs.
They banded with a very small group of ribbon-hungry conformation addicts and whored themselves to AKC.
For what they did to this breed I will forever hate these people with a white-hot passion.
Above was right, these types of breeders insult ME as a poodle person. I have almost gotten used to it, but I can understand how you, with a breed not used to such ridiculous breeding practies, could be shocked. Poodle bastards, the whole lot of them.
Market research fail.
I have always found great humor in the term "backyard breeders", which is used as such a despairing insult by the conformation show people, and always had me wondering–where exactly is the "proper" place to breed one's dogs? The front yard? One's bathroom, perhaps? Or maybe in the garage? Whenever I am looking for a dog for a specific purpose, like a hunting dog, it is ironic(and kinda sad, really), but I steer as clear from conformation show people and their "champions" as possible, and PURPOSEFULLY seek out the backyard breeders!!! Now it is true that some in this category are terrible and ignorant and irresponsible, but others who breed dogs for a REAL PURPOSE, and put health and temperment above conformation, produce the REAL superior dogs. An added bonus, if they are not show worthy, is that they are often a heckuva lot cheaper!…..L.B.