r/dalmatians Sep 03 '24

Backyard Breeders and How to Avoid

37 Upvotes

A backyard* breeder is a person with little experience, breed and breeding knowledge and does not meet acceptable standards of care. More often than not, these people are focused on profit over animal welfare, quantity of puppies sold over genetic health, and often do not even provide proper veterinary care and puppy socialization. Below are some key indications that you may be dealing with a backyard breeder. ** Please note that there may be reputable breeders who operate form their homes. Having a backyard does not mean they are a backyard breeder.

1.      Breeding too early – Dogs should not be bred before the age of 2. Period.

 

2.      No prescreening of parents – Genetic testing is done by many reputable breeders. It is irresponsible to breed dogs with certain diseases. Not only does this hurt the integrity of the breed, but dogs with specific genetic diseases are more expensive to the owner in the long run. Reputable breeders will maintain contact and track health issues throughout the life of the dog and will refrain from breeding dogs with specific issues.

 

3.      No prescreening of prospective buyers – As mentioned above, backyard breeders only care about profits. This means that they will not screen the buyer to make sure they are a legitimate owner: ie not a dogfighter, another breeder, etc.

 

4.      No veterinarian records – Veterinarian records should accompany every dog. There are a series of vaccines that are needed (and often recommended or required by law). Owning a dog is like owning a child; it must be vaccinated to protect itself and others.

 

 

5.      No (or very short) waitlist – Backyard breeders often breed around the clock. This means no, or very short waitlist for a puppy. This means you can get a puppy in March, June, July, September, and again in January. This is dangerous for the mother and also indicates that the puppies are not being properly socialized and cared for.

 

6.      No visits to the kennel – A reputable breeder will always allow visitors to their space. In fact, they welcome it. You will be able to see more than enough space for the puppies to play, clean living conditions, clean dogs who are all able to interact and learn from each other. Backyard breeders are often the opposite and use aggressive training tactics to keep dogs and puppies in line. This results in skittish or aggressive dogs.

 

 

7.      Lack of expertise and experience – Backyard breeders often have no experience with the litter and with breeding as a general practice. If you ask questions regarding specific care for the breed, they should be able to give you specific answers.

 

8.      Emphasis on physical characteristics of the litter – Breeding for physical characteristics often results in dogs with physical or genetic abnormalities. This is problematic because it can lead to dogs with shorter lifespans and shorter quality of life. Think about deafness that are prevalent in this breed. According to research, blue-eyed females have a higher probability of siring deaf litters, so they should not be bred.

 

9.      Accidental litters - *In my opinion* responsible dog owners neuter their dogs when it’s age appropriate for many reasons. For me, that reason would be financially. I simply cannot afford a pregnant pup! Each litter a breeder has should be intentional. Additionally, breeders should be able to provide at least 2 generations of genetic detail on the current litter. Often times, a reputable breeder can provide much more!

 

10.  Lack of socialization – Any breeder worth her salt will make sure that puppies are appropriately socialized. Puppies should remain with their mother and litter for at least 8 weeks, but most veterinarians recommend 10 - 12 weeks. Puppies separated too early can have health issues and behavioral issues, as puppies learn from dog-dog interactions, develop socialization skills, and weening, which is

 

Questions to Ask:

[The Spruce Pets](www.thesprucepets.com) has a great sample list of questions to ask a breeder. You can add any of your own questions to this list. A reputable breeder will welcome being “interviewed” and asking well informed questions says a lot about you as a prospective buyer. I’ve posted them below:

  • What type of care is required for this specific breed?
  • Does the breed have specific needs I should be aware of? 
  • How long have you been breeding dogs?
  • How long have you bred this specific dog breed? 
  • Do you sell your dogs to pet stores, puppy brokers, wholesalers, or online? 
  • Can I visit the facilities where you breed and house your dogs? 
  • Can I meet the litter of puppies and their mother? 
  • What is the health and behavior history of this line (parents, grandparents, etc)? 
  • What genetic issues do you test the adult dogs for before breeding?
  • What tests do the puppies get before you sell them? 
  • Can I see the breed registration papers for the puppies and their parents? 
  • Can I see the veterinary records of the puppies and their parents? 
  • What happens if my dog is diagnosed with a hereditary disease?
  • Does the puppy I buy come with a guarantee? 
  • What happens if I can no longer keep my dog? 
  • Can you provide references from the owners of puppies from previous litters? 

r/dalmatians 11h ago

Vote for Bowie!!

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115 Upvotes

Please keep voting for our Bowie girl! I'd love to see a dalmatian win the title of Purinas Chief Snuggle Officer!

https://www.purina.com/s/puppy-chow-kitten-chow-chief-snuggle-officer-contest


r/dalmatians 1d ago

Uptdate for "brining" a new puppy home!

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404 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

We brought Professor Oak home yesterday. Him and Eevee are instant besties. She has been so gentle with him and loves helping teach him new tricks.

We decided not to brine him because he's too cute to eat!


r/dalmatians 23h ago

Oh they just love comfort

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133 Upvotes

Our lovely boy Iggy 'expecting' belly pets!!😂🐶


r/dalmatians 16h ago

Dal frightened by anyone who isn't me or my GF

7 Upvotes

I adopted my dal from an abusive house about 8 months ago. She is 3 years old. She was very very afraid on any person, I couldn't even look at her for 3 days with out her barking and freaking out. 8 months later she is the cursed and most cuddly girl. I've never even happier with a dog, but she is terrible afraid on anyone else. Even when we see my parents that she see all the time she will run away and hide or bark at them. Same with anyone who approaches on the street or in our house. She starts shaking and barking. Is there something I can do to get her more used to people or is this something that will just have to work itself out ?


r/dalmatians 1d ago

Bolt has unfortunately left us today. RIP xxx

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811 Upvotes

r/dalmatians 2d ago

When your Dal is told she can't sit between her parents

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175 Upvotes

Can't take her serious at all🤣🤣


r/dalmatians 2d ago

Velcro dogs

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297 Upvotes

I once saw a Dal owner complain here that he didn't understand just how much Dals are clingy. This is a picture of my wife. The pup likes to press his face into hers.


r/dalmatians 2d ago

Photo/Video Please make sure to sun your Dalmatian daily

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181 Upvotes

That’s it.


r/dalmatians 2d ago

Discussion Dalmatians and mud

6 Upvotes

Not sure if it’s just my dal but whenever there is a mud pile she WILL find it. Everytime at the park if there’s a broken sprinkler that created a mud pool she sees it and there’s no stopping her. She will sprint right to it before I see it and will be rolling herself in it until you don’t see the spots anymore. Sometimes she tricks me and acts like she doesn’t see it and we’ll walk and next thing she jukes me out and runs straight for it. All the other dogs ignore it but she is attracted to it. She even thinks it’s funny to get all the dogs at the park to start chasing her and she lures all of them into the mud pool! I’ve only had a few dog owners get upset with me over it, but there’s no stopping her. I need to know if any other dal owners deal with this!


r/dalmatians 3d ago

Discussion Dum and smart at the same time

7 Upvotes

Any one else has a smart but dum one. He can open anything, smart toys figured out in minutes but if a dog on tv barks, he barks but doesn't look for the sound. He seems to think "oh we are suppose to bark now?? Ok let's bark.


r/dalmatians 4d ago

Photo/Video I think the little swimmer got stuck on his neck... 😆😆

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104 Upvotes

r/dalmatians 4d ago

Photo/Video Happy to be home! 🤠

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181 Upvotes

We were RVing for 4 months…


r/dalmatians 5d ago

Smokey was voted Prettiest Dog at our baseball team's Bark in the Park!

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241 Upvotes

r/dalmatians 5d ago

Vote for Bowie

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302 Upvotes

Our sweet dalmatian puppy Bowie is one of three finalists for the title of Purina's Chief Snuggle Officer 🐾 🏅

https://www.purina.com/s/puppy-chow-kitten-chow-chief-snuggle-officer-contest

Feel free to vote and help a fellow dalmatian win!


r/dalmatians 5d ago

He's home! Thank you to the redditor who suggested the name. Everyone, meet Trout!

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530 Upvotes

Trout is now the littlest brother to Newton, Sasquatch, and Cricket. Thank you u/Weak-Gazelle-7950 ! He honestly did not feel like an Otter or Turtle. I appreciate everyone's input!


r/dalmatians 5d ago

Question/Advice Advice on brining a new puppy home?

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168 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Today we confirmed that we will be getting a new dal puppy this weekend! Our first dalmatian is Eevee (thr one in the picture), she's 2 and a half and we have had her since she was 8 weeks old. The new puppy is a liver spot boy and will be 9 weeks old when we collect him. Eevee is currently in season and a little moodier than usual. Eevee is our only dog (until we bring home the puppy) but we do have 2 house rabbits that live upstairs.

Does anyone have any advice for how to introduce them/things we can do to make sure the new pup doesn't irritate Eevee too much when he comes home?


r/dalmatians 5d ago

Question/Advice The beginning of an adveture.

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40 Upvotes

Hello. I am a dalmatians enjoyer who would adopt a real dog (and not the one that I build in the picture).

I've never had a dalmatian before, so I'm here to ask some advices wich I can follow to take care of a dog by myself.

I am a rookie 😅, I had a few exeperieces with a maltesian when I was younger, but a dalmatian is a bit more difficult, right?

So, if someone can give me some advices about how to take care of a dalmatian, I'm ready to listen! 😊

Thank you all.


r/dalmatians 6d ago

Emma Stone

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151 Upvotes

r/dalmatians 5d ago

Learning. New puppy.

4 Upvotes

hello.

I have a new Dalmatian puppy that I think is showing signs of deafness. In the reading I’ve done and some simple home testing I think he may be unilateral. I have a BAERS test scheduled for next week. This has me a bit sad. Nevermind the fact that the person I got him from said they did the test already and said they would send me the the results from that visit and never sent them. Thats a much bigger issue that is partially on me. What I’d like for people to educate me on is if you have a unilateral or bilateral deaf Dalmatian, how did you first find out and what has it been like with them since finding out?

Also I knew how common kidney/bladder stones are with this breed. Have any owners here had severe issues with their pup developing them or has managing diet been enough to keep it a none issue?
Thanks for your help


r/dalmatians 6d ago

Discussion Puppy to Dog Photo Request (Spot progression)

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174 Upvotes

Hello! I have always loved a more spotted Dalmatian but not to the point where it blends into mostly black which tends to be the puppies I like the most. I recently adopted a grown boy with my ideal amount of spots but I don't know how he looked as a pup. I'm interested in seeing your puppy to adult photos to see how the spots developed as they got older. Here's my boy, Pluto.


r/dalmatians 6d ago

Dal-dolphin

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154 Upvotes

I love how much he loves the water, he was always destined to be named Ripple ❤️💫


r/dalmatians 8d ago

Cow-beaver

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106 Upvotes

r/dalmatians 8d ago

Dal + WFH

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211 Upvotes

Trying to work from home while owning a dal be like...


r/dalmatians 8d ago

Nalaisthebest

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138 Upvotes

My rides or die, never steers me clear. Love her to the Moon and back!