Am I mean?

[beausmommy]

I found the following classified ad on xxxxxxxx (edited by moderator):

My name is ***** and I breed Boxers. I'm not a puppymill but a dedicated person who is owned by her dogs I do not own them. They are my babies. I occasionally have a litter of puppies to be able to pass on the joy of owning a Boxer to someone else. Sort of a hobby. Anyway, I have a 6 month old Flashy Fawn male Boxer that is still remaining from my last litter. No one really showed any interest in him, why I don't know. He is completely healthy, very gorgeous, up to date on all shots and will soon be getting his rabies and beginning heartworm preventative. I normally sell these dogs between $600 and $1000 depending on pedigree, form and show potential. But since no one seems to want to purchase him I figured I would go another route. I remember when my parents brought home my first Boxer. I guess I was around 8. I fell in love then and my passion for this breed has continued for more than 25 years. I want to bring that same smile to another child's heart this Christmas. The catch. All you have to do is send me an email as to why I should let my beautiful baby come and be a part of your family. He is very playful and has lots of energy. And of course Boxers love to run. A fenced yard is a must. Boxers can live in apartments but this must require someone that it willing to walk or run him at least twice a day. They need their exercise and also for the socializing. He is full blooded and is CKC Registered with a very nice Pedigree which includes a nice German lineage. There will be a signed contract that you will have him neutered before I release his papers to you. 95% of my dogs go to pet or show homes only. Only approved homes get breeding rights. I have attached some pictures that will surely warm your heart. If you would like to view my website as I can't post it in the listing I will email it to you when you respond to this posting. You can also email directly at ************ - I will be accepting emails to be reviewed most likely until Dec 18th and will make my decision by the 20th. I will respond to each email individually to let you know that I received it and that your family is being considered. Merry Christmas to all and Good Luck!!

Her email address clearly gave away the name of her kennel so I went to their website. Not only does the site not say anything about health testing, she has one of her breeding stock listed as a "black" AKC registered male. Yeah, um, whatever. So...I sent her a lovely email. I told her I thought what she was doing with the puppy was wonderful but that I was disappointed by her website because I saw nothing about health testing, she's listing a "black" boxer, etc. I told her that there are plenty of reputable breeders willing to share the joy of owning a boxer and even more boxers in shelters and rescues needing homes. Breeding should not be "sort of a hobby". It just irks me that although she is doing something nice, it sounds to me she's just promoting her kennel.


Sorry to vent but this ad just really got under my skin. I don't usually send emails to total strangers but GGGRRRR!!!

 

[Indy's mom]

I think you handled it very well. Assertively, politely and with grace. It's very possible that she sincerely has never thought it all out. But much more likely that she is trying to lure innocents.

Thank you for handling it well. appicon

 

[beausmommy]

I just received a response:

do appreciate your response and your opinions. As for my "black boxer" he is what is considered a sealed reverse brindle. Both of his parents were both sealed reverse and in turn he came out black and he is listed with AKC as brindle because that's what he is. He is a pet only and not for show purposes. As I'm sure you also read that 95% of all my Boxers go to pet homes anyway. Being that I request that my Boxers are spayed or neutered makes me feel confident that none of my puppies will bring puppies into the world that may find themselves in a shelter or mistreated. I am aware of the "show quality standards" enforced by AKC. They are judged on rules outlined by AKC for Breed Standards not Health Standards. There are thousands of breeders AKC included that are producing happy and healthy pups that have parents that are not health tested. I do perform a Brucellosis test on both Boxers before breeding and in my 25 years of loving boxers I have only produced 3 litters. And just in case you didn't know any Purebred Dog that is ineligible for an AKC Registration but are distinguishable as a member of an AKC Registered breed can compete in AKC Companion and Performance Events through the ILP program. Also here's a paragraph I pulled from AKC's website under the title "A Beginner's Guide to Dog Shows" I encourage you read it and also make yourself more knowlegable about this breed and showing as I also do everyday. I once again thank you for your response and if you have any other information to which you feel necessary to send please do. It may be something I don't know.

I hope she is telling the truth but I don't know why you'd have a kennel name if you'd only produced 3 litters in 25 years. I aslo noticed that one of her dogs was born in August 2006 and I'm sure that's the sire of the litter this puppy came from since he's the only male on her site other than the "black boxer". Furthermore, if the parents were both sealed brindles, wouldn't that make the puppy a sealed brindle as well? I don't really have any idea what ILP has to do with anything but oh, well. I'm just going to believe that she's not a puppymill and be happy with that!

 

[punchinella]

Your post has reminded me of a question, that I have often wondered about. I understand that the only acceptable colors for Boxers are fawn and brindle, and that they only possess the genes to be one of these two colors (with the exception of whites, which is a lack of pigmentation). But suppose you had a brindle, (reverse brindle) (Aren't the brindle markings black?) whose black stripes were so prominent as to completely cover the dog...would it be acceptable to refer to this Boxer as black, since you could not distinguish any actual stripes? Or I guess to put it better: How would I go about explaining to someone why there Boxer isn't black, even though it appears to be?

 

[Gillian Ward]

i think she handled it better!!!

 

[beausmommy]

i think she handled it better!!!

I think she handled it very well also. There were just a couple of things in her ad that led me to believe that she was advertising her kennel just as much as she was looking for a home for the puppy. We exchanged one further very polite email and I'm satisfied that she may not exactly be a reputable breeder but that she's not a puppymill. I might even email her again and tell her about Boxerworld! She said she loves meeting people who share her love for the breed and I don't think she could find a better group of people who do