New =) *several pics*

Quite a few of us on Cyberhound, including Biscuit, have spent years trying to educate people to be responsible dog owners. One first starts out by purchasing a dog from a responsible breeder or getting a dog from a rescue organization or humane society. Never a pet store because that supports puppy mills. You may have saved one but millions more will take his place. Puppy mills will only cease to exist if there is no market.

Responsible owners have their pets spayed and neutered. The only reason for breeding is to improve the breed. Sounds like things got out of hand for you, both your bitches got pregnant and you had more than you could handle. This is not responsible breeding. Responsible breeders test for genetic diseases. Their dogs participate in conformation, field trials and performance events.

Biscuit pointed out that certain topics cause people to have strong feelings. Stick around and I'm sure you see what she means. Hopefully you'll also learn something in the process.

4 Bassets, welcome to the board. I have a feeling that you are a true animal lover and take excellent care of your hounds. I got my José as a gift by my then-boyfriend who saw an ad with a low $, and went to look at puppies at a house someplace. He didn't know better. He brought me a puppy (if I remember right the puppy was probably too young) and said he was glad to get the puppy to give it a nice life better than the home he got him from. Did I say he didnt know better? He was not educated. I didn't really know any better either, I had no idea about anything from puppy mills to what age to get a dog to testing to anything. Any other dog or cat I've had was from the pound. I have been accused of loving animals more than humans. Used to be vegetarian (animal reasons), I am so sensitive to any animal abuse story it gives me nightmares. I chase down stray dogs.

My point is this: We can't educate someone if we put them on the defensive and attack them. Consider the motives and the heart of the person, and be gentle. If the result turns people away then this "education" is not working!

I think 4 Bassets likely has a good heart and loves animals. I don't think she is stupid. I do think there are probably a few things that she will learn that will make her handle things differently in the future and isn't that what education should do. I hope 4 Bassets is open to conversation and I hope we can all accomplish this without making anyone feel attacked.

Just my 2 cents.

PS- José died of cancer at only 5 years old in March. From the insight I gained on this board and elsewhere my next dog will be a rescue.

I have to say, I did feel attacked. We didn't know at the time puppy stores were supporting puppy mills, we had no idea !!! Thank you for coming to my defense...the vet said even though our puppy had all his vaccs (he had the record too =) )that he could still get the parvo (we had no idea about that either) I always thought once they had their vaccs everything was safe. We did take all of our others in and they were tested as well (expensive, but well worth it) , which all came back -----. We are going back after 7 days to get tested again b.c we were told some times it takes 7-10 after being exposed to get symptoms or show up. Despite that...they have all been started on pedialyte and antibiotics (vet reccomended) I am very defensive, b.c we spend a lot of money to keep our babies healthy on a yearly basis. The vet concluded that it HAD to be an outside source (we took him to the camp grounds and that is my suspicion). Even though I KNOW I did everything to keep him healthy he was still affected and that bothers me, and worries me about my other babies. We are getting them spayed/neutered next month, I worry too much about whether they are going to good homes or if they will be taken care of...etc.

The reason my pics can't be seen is b.c I deleted them from my photobucket account due to the negativity I received after my first post.

I really hope I don't get attacked anymore for not vaccinating my dogs when in fact THEY ALL ARE, despite :
Aruuuu Posted Today, 11:17 AM
Ooopss -- sorry. I did read the post, but with so many puppies and dogs, it's a little confusing.

At any rate, the point is -- Parvo is preventable with immunization. Spending thousand of dollars after the fact rarely works in the dog's favor, but prevention with vaccination could have saved a little life here. And yet, you claim all of your dogs are up to date in these things. Poor little puppy.......




......To me this shows your intelligence and maybe you NEED TO BE EDUCATED on what Parvo can do to ANY Animal even though they have had vaccs!

A responsible breeder can never worry too much about puppies going to good homes. They do everything they can to prevent their puppies from becoming shelter statistics or worse. Responsible breeders carefully screen puppy buyers and provide lifelong support for puppy buyers when they have questions about housebreaking, training, behavioral problems, etc. Puppies are sold on spay/neuter contracts with a clause stipulating that the puppy/dog should be returned to the breeder, if the buyer can't keep it. Responsible breeders almost never sell a puppy younger than 8 weeks, and most will keep puppies until they're 10-12 weeks old. Puppies that are sold/removed from their litters too early don't become socialized to other dogs and don't develop bite inhibition They are at risk of becoming unsatisfactory pets with hard bites and fear-aggression toward other dogs.

From What is a Backyard Breeder? (NoPuppyMillsVA)

A good breeder takes a LIFETIME interest in ALL dogs produced. They want to know how your dog does in it's new home, love getting calls and cards from you and are always there to advise you of a problem comes up. If a medical condition crops up, they want to know so if it is potentially hereditary, they can alter the program and try to stop the problem in future generations. A good breeder is a mentor and best friend to all buyers and dogs they produced. And a good breeder will sell with a spay/neuter contract or alter the puppy or dog before placement.[/b]

Click to expand...

Additional information on responsible breeding...

Checklist for the Responsible Breeder
Thoughts on Responsible Breeding
Backyard Breeder vs. Reputable Breeder
No Christmas Puppies (Pet Connection.com blog)
Breeding/Breeder Information, wonderpuppy.net

Welcome to the forum. We all have our own opinions on issues concerning our fur covered kids, and that is what makes this such a special forum. You may or may not like others opinions, but you sure learn a lot, and you get wonderful advice here from many who are experts on Bassets. This forum has been so helpful to us, enabling us to get questions answered, providing wonderful support and suggestions when we have had a sick Basset, and providing a community of cyber friends who do care, support, and understand when your beloved Basset goes to the Rainbow Bridge.
It's a great place to share our love for this special breed, with short legs, long bodies, sad eyes, and quirky clown like personalities. I do hope it will always remain that same "special place" to share our thoughts and love of these special hounds.