Originally posted by pcprovost
Most breeders have to be very careful when breeding due to the large amount of diseases that can happen in boxers. I would think knowing this would make it all the more worth while to have papers on you Boxer.
Absolutely there is a lot of care involved with responsible breeding to avoid disease, but papers alone don't provide any assurance that this care was taken.
Originally posted by pcprovost
I think most dogs end up in shelters because of that very cause. Not having papers and people runing puppy mills they end up with dogs who are sick and the owners just drop them off somewhere. Had they gotten a dog from a breeder who breed carefully that wouldn't have happened.
Your argument here doesn't really work for me because many dogs from puppy mills do have papers. Also working in rescue, which takes in a lot of dogs originally dumped in shelters, I can tell you that's not true. The vast majority of dogs we get are healthy. People dump them because for one reason or another, it's no longer convenient for them to keep them, and the owners are lazy and don't want to be inconvenienced to provide basic care. It's rarely a health issue that causes the lack of commitment. (Although if the lack of commitment is there for a long time before they finally give up the dog, then neglect can certainly cause the health problems...but it's not the health problem causing the neglect)
Originally posted by pcprovost
My vet said they had 4 cases this year with 4 different boxers that came in and had that digestive problem where the dogs didn't have enzymes to process thier food. Two of these dogs came from people who had papers on the dog and got them from a breeder without checking health and background of the parents puppy.
Well that supports my point that papers don't mean anything in terms of health.
Originally posted by pcprovost
Now in my case Mom had papers and the owners wanted to breed the mom once before fixing her. I know the owners and take a chance in buying a dog who could have potential health problems. But that's my choice and should anything ever arise I will be responsible for the vet bills. I will not drop my dog off at your door step and God forbid if I ever decide to breed her I would like to know the parents background for that reason alone.
"Breeding once" is a common practice of uninformed
breeders. And if the father came from a rescue or shelter, then clearly they have no health history on the father, so you very definitely took a risk, but as you said, that's your decision. (just as I took a risk in adopting a dog from rescue, but for me the risk is worth the benefit of giving him a home. I would not take the risk of an unhealthy dog if it meant putting money in the hands of the people who didn't bother to try preventing those problems.) I'm glad that you are committed to your pup no matter what, though. If more people would have that attitude, we'd have far fewer abandoned pets to deal with.
Originally posted by pcprovost I think anyone who obtains a dog without papers may in for years of heart ache and loads of medical bills.
Check out your owners and the dogs before you buy and make sure they have papers.
Anyone who obtains a dog without knowing the health history for several generations riks heart ache and medical bills. (Well, to be honest, anyone getting a dog does because not everything is genetic, and even well-bred dogs can develop illnesses or injury). But you do realize that you didn't follow your own advice here because in fact you got a dog without papers. I absolutely agree with your comment to check out the owners and the dogs, but there is a lot more to consider than whether or not they have papers.
The way I see it, responsible breeders will typically register their pups because they are working on improving the breed and continuing their lines (although limited registrations will be very, very common), but simply having registration papers doesn't make the pup any less likely to have health problems because there is no health testing necessary to get the papers in the first place. Many puppymillers and back yard breeders get papers because they can make more money of of "registered" puppies, but that doesn't mean they are doing anything responsibly. I don't think there is anything at all wrong with wanting to have a dog with papers...I just think it's important to understand that simply having papers does not provide any indication of responsible breeding. It just means someone paid the fee and took the time to go through the registration process.
