They told you that? Everybody must be missing something then, is rescue drying up? Something not quite right there Becky.

No rescue is not drying up but the small dogs that would be suitable for Hearing Dogs are also the ones the public prefer so only leaving the unsuitable ones. Unfortunately they seem to get to hear of the suitable dogs just after they've been rehomed. In fact there is such a shortage in the UK that they now go over to Eire for their rescues. Which I suppose can only be a good thing. It's all on their site.
Becky

With reference to borderdawn's remark about you would sell the puppies if you could. I was offered good money for one of my returned pups. money i desperately needed, but i found a home that i liked, she wasn't even looking for another dog, but i wanted her to have him so i gave him to her free of charge. I considered that she was doing me a favour by giving him the home i wanted him to have. I turned the others money down even though it was not a bad home, they already had one of mine. Also might i add that although going to a reputable breeder is the right thing to do if you want a healthy pup. If it is a show dog, you would rarely be allowed to buy one outright with no restrictions if it was that good. Most breeders do not let good show stock go without at least keeping their name on it. Obviously there is the exeption to the rule i know of one in particular that has bred 4 champions and the rest are doing well too from her first and only litter, has been named top breeder in her breed for about the last 4 years, her bitch also holds the title of top dam. She only keeps 2 dogs at a time, and probably had no idea the rest of the litter was ging to be that good. Nobody would have gone to her before this though if they were looking for a top breeder.
There is nothing wrong with buying from the free ads. I know of many top breeders who advertise their stock there, as there is only so many people waiting on their lists however well known they are. Most want pet homes as well as show homes and this is the best way to hit the population. Only yesterday i was reading about the record holder in chuahuas. She started her line from free ad buys. Simply because she couldn't get anyone to sell her a good enough one. You just have to know what you are looking for. When selling you have to weed out the rubbish, it comes with intuition. I don't think that the ad for the rotweiler pair were being sold has anything to do with the docking, more like the fact that this is no longer a popular breed due to the bad press. However i would guess that it is the type of ad that it sounds like simply because of the words breeding pair as if they were a couple of caged birds.

It is interesting how ads that were probably around all the time anyway can suddenly be used as demonstrating a certain point.

I remember last year on another forum somebody making a similar post claiming that the new Lassie movie was already taking its toll.

The Lassie movie wasnt even out yet, was still in production, but as the poster had seen an ad for Rough Collie pups in her local newsagent, somehow there was an automatic connection.

A thread followed with everybody agreeing unquestionably, and all predicting that rescues will be flooded with unwanted Rough Collies that year - which never actually happened. |

I didn't even know there was a new Lassie movie lol!
Becky

exactly!!!

I have been reading this thread with interest and must admit I'm bit confused by this law.

It states that certain working dogs can still be docked, but I know a guy who breeds Dobermanns near Heathrow Airport just for the security business, but from what I've read and understand all of his future Dobe pups won't be allowed to be docked.

So my question is what is the classification of a working dog, as some of his dogs end up working for the prison service or going aboard and joining different armed forces etc. Believe me these dogs are not breed as pets.

I will be interested to read your comments.

Colin

My understanding is that it is named breeds, predominantly gundog breeds plus, I think, those required for explosive detection, although I think they are mainly gundog breeds also. Not sure why a working dobermann would need to be docked though.
Becky

The working dog exemption was not just for "working dogs" , but for dogs whose tails are argued to be damaged by the particular work they do - that being Gundogs working in brambles etc.

Security work doesn't pose a particular risk to tails.

ERM sorry it can be a problem for dobs and rotts with tails used in security work, if they have a high tail carriage, you set a police dog rott or dob into a crowd of football yobs or the like to detain someone, when the dog has a grip and someone grabs his tail and lifts his back end up you can bet money on it the mouth will open, wouldnt take long for joe soap the trouble maker to catch on to this,