Why Breeders Get Labeled and Why Not All of Them Are ‘Evil’

by Denisse Aguilar on in Heartwarming 22
French bulldog puppies

Read about one woman's story about her life as a breeder. You'll learn how they're not all evil people.

I raised puppies for 15 years with my family.

At the height of our breeding program, there were as many as eight adult dogs, but I preferred to keep the number closer to four or five for sanity’s sake. If we could get two to three litters of puppies per year, I was very happy. We could have had twice that many, as there was always a waiting list of potential owners, but I was selective in our breeding and chose to keep our girls healthy rather than tax them with too many litters in a lifetime.

The fact that I was a dog breeder is not something I readily share.

I learned early on that many in the adopt-only camp have negative feelings toward breeders, ranging from mild irritation to outright hatred. Many think breeders are responsible for populating the world with unwanted dogs, and should be stopped.

Before I go on, I want to be clear that I am pro-adoption. In fact, we recently adopted a dog.

It’s a difficult thing to defend yourself to someone who has pre-judged you and is not willing to listen with an open mind. Being a monster in the minds of others is something I just learned to live with.

Loving dogs enough to make your living with them should be commended by animal welfare activists, right? Yet, I was a bad person for removing dogs from my breeding program if they showed temperament flaws or genetic defects that could (and would) be passed onto puppies.

The dogs we retired were spayed and placed in personally selected homes suited to each dog’s temperament and personality. I didn’t euthanize dogs when they were no longer able to have puppies, as many assume all breeders do.

Our dogs are part of our family and have always lived in our home, even when we were raising puppies. Despite knowing that the dogs were also a business, I got attached anyway.

Responsible breeding is, sadly, not a profitable business. It sounds so good in theory, being able to charge good money for purebred puppies, multiplied by a large number of puppies in a litter. It was the extras and hidden costs that nobody informed us about, and they often drained the bank account.

The money I spent on dog food nearly rivaled our grocery bill in the months I had a nursing mama and her litter began to eat. (We are a family of seven humans. Our grocery bill isn’t small.) Registration fees, yearly genetic screenings, advertising, Internet and phone bills, vet bills, supplies, vaccines and dewormers, training equipment, licenses, stud fees, and grooming all added up. Having a dog is expensive.

Buying a puppy for a breeding program is more of a science than a fun adventure.

Often, the puppies needed to be bottle fed. While this sounds adorably cute, it’s a stressful and life-altering endeavor. I lost more sleep bottle feeding puppies than I ever did with my own children.

Bottle-fed puppies don’t thrive as well as nursed puppies, and the stress of losing one was real. The constant stress of keeping puppies alive, especially if the litter was bottle fed or there were health complications, was exhausting for me — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

In other words, the sheer amount of time and energy involved in raising puppies was a full-time job for me. It was far more than just having babies in the house for eight weeks.

I offer support to their owners in diet, house training, and any other questions they have. I also made it clear to every buyer that if a dog doesn’t work out in their home, for whatever reason, I am always willing to take them back.

Despite all this, I loved having puppies. It was a passion of mine to nurture those newborns into healthy babies who found amazing forever homes. The happiest days were when families adopted my puppies. The joy I was able to give others was infectious.

WOW! Being a breeder seemed a lot harder than first expected. This woman was brave to share her story. She was really dedicated to keeping those puppies happy and healthy.

To learn more information on why most breeders shouldn't be labeled ‘evil', visit Dogster.



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22 thoughts on “Why Breeders Get Labeled and Why Not All of Them Are ‘Evil’”

  1. Marsha Holladay

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    While I support rescue shelters I cannot side with them to end all purebred breeding. I have never gotten a dog from a disreputable breeder.
    I shall never be without a pug. I have two at the present time and they are the most loyal companions and lap dogs one could ever want.
    This country wants to take every group and situation and judge the whole on the acts of the minority. Extremism does not bring positive results in any direction or topic.

  6. Rose Rsilva

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    I got my little puggy Mojo from a breeder. He has to be the happiest, and a bit mischievous, pup ever. I got to see his mama and papa. They were both happy and healthy pugs. The breeder showed a lot of love for her litters. She was great giving me all the info I needed to know before I brought my baby home. I got to see the litter in person before I selected Mojo. The breeder sent me pictures of my new baby every week until I brought him home. It’s a shame that there are puppy mill breeders out there that give breeders a bad name. Mine was the best. Thank you Lisa!

  17. Elizabeth Forrester

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    I got my Frank from a breeder. I didn’t really know how it worked and I wasn’t happy with the conditions there when I went to actually take Frank home. I would not buy from her again and IF I got another baby I would do much more research on the breeder or go the rescue route. Frank was six weeks old when mom and I brought him home, he had fleas, and when we took him to the vet we learned he had both hook worms and tapeworms. I’m happy to say today he is a healthy happy 5 month old.

  18. Michael Spina

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    I don’t think all breeders are bad the good one’s want to make sure you will give a good home to their dog rather than just sell them and if a breeder asks for the money first and does not wantot know whatsort of home the dog will be in or how youwill care for them them that is the red flag not to buy from them

  19. Susan Merwin

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    I bred toy poodles for years. Raised the puppies in my livingroom. Where they were thoroughly socialized. Loved every one of them. Thoroughly screened new puppy homes and they went with a contract to spay/neuter. I miss them so…

  22. Veronica DeMaggio

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    Still believe there are millions of bad breeders outs there and don’t feel she should be commended for taking care of the dogs she had. Pug rescues are bombarded with Pugs, owner surrenders, mistreated Pugs and like my own females from breeders when they can no longer produce. My own Pug was used by a backyard breeder till she was 8 and could no longer make them money. She was a complete mess of skin infection, fleas, cough. As well as being touch shy from being treated roughly. This whole article is BS.

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