Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

If you believe that, you probably also believe that every time someone buys a puppy from a reputable breeder, then a shelter dog dies.

Horsepucky.

Why should you buy a dog from a reputable breeder?

- We health test for everything that our breed club recommends, and sometimes go above and beyond that before we breed the two parents together. In Rat Terriers, for example, the breed club recommends testing knees for soundness, hearts for murmurs and other irregularities, hips for dysplasia and a disease called Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease. Keep in mind, these are the MINIMUM! Most breeders also test for elbow dysplasia and also for Primary Lens Luxation, also known as "PLL."

While these tests do not guarantee that your puppy will not develop these diseases, HOWEVER, it lessens the chances. With the PLL test, we can virtually guarantee that your puppy will never have the disease. Can you guarantee that with a shelter dog?

- A reputable breeder will do their best to match you up personality wise with a puppy. I would never sell a prey driven and very alpha puppy to a home with small children - that is asking for trouble. I would direct you to the puppy that I think would get along best with your family. I have turned people down just because I didn't feel that they were ready for a terrier. We know the parents, we know the puppies, and we don't want our little ones coming back to us. We know that not every placement guarantees a happy match, but we will always do our best and we will also take the dog back and give you a replacement! If you go in to buy a dog from a shelter, the most you get asked for is references. Of all the dogs I have "adopted" not one application or worker asked me about my lifestyle, what kind of dog I was looking for, how much dog ownership experience I had, etc. Does the landlord allow pets? Does your vet say you are an okay person? Then fine, pay out and take your animal.

To be continued...

Comments

High Toes

Sometimes I get into discussions with people about dog structure and really, really, it makes me want to beat my head against a wall. However, those always make me publish those words and pictures that have been rattling around in my head for a while. Case in point – someone posted on a board that they thought that a high toe on a dog was a “cosmetic fault.” My opinion on this is fairly solid – NO! A high toe is a STRUCTUAL fault. Someone then posted that they wanted “proof.” Ah, here we go. The boondoggle of proof! Studies! Someone, somewhere, somehow agreeing or disagreeing with my point! The unfortunate thing is that it really isn’t to be found. Our Proof wanter found a website in which a couple had a Staffordshire Terrier with a high toe, and they readily admitted that the high toe caused issues with her gait, but then concluded that it was just a cosmetic issue. Hmm, really? The document can be found here , you can look at the pictures and read it for yourself. (Don't use the

All Positive - All BS

I, in my infinate inability to keep my mouth shut, offered someone training advice on a public forum for their resource guarding Rat Terrier. I told them that when he does the growling bit, calmly walk over, pick him up by the scruff of the neck, and put him in his kennel for a few hours. In my own experience with Ratties, this works pretty well because the dog learns that if you attempt to guard something, you will be corrected and then removed from your treasure and the rest of the pack. I didn't think that this was in any way controversial. Oh, how wrong I was! I found out that I might as well have told her to punt the dog like a football across the room, because that is what "scruffing" is to the "All Positive" fanatics. Of course, their suggestions would lead to reinforcement of the behavior or out and out terror. There were two camps - the first camp said to "redirect the dog's behavior by offering it a treat to give up it's treasure

Brindle and the Rat Terrier

It seems like every once in a while the topic of brindle comes up in the Rat Terrier world. Teeth are gnashed and garments are rendered because brindle is not an acceptable pattern in our breed, and the standard says that brindle is a disqualification. The standard probably won’t change any time soon, and I certainly hope that it will NEVER include brindle! Why? The UKC standard says, in the very beginning, that “These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier and the now extinct white English Terrier… Some of these dogs were crossed with Whippets or Italian Greyhounds (for speed) and Beagles (for hunting ability).” Let’s take a look at the ancestors of the Rat Terrier and how their standards treat brindle: Smooth Fox Terrier UKC : Serious Fault AKC: Objectionable Manchester Terrier: UKC: Disqualification AKC: Disqualification Whippet: UKC: Any color/pattern accepted. AKC: Any color/pattern accepted. Italian Greyhounds: UKC: Disqualif

Hurricane Deck

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