What are your opinions on this stipulation by a breeder?

I was just perusing some sites with info on raw feeding, and landed on a site belonging to breeders of Portugese Water Dogs. The breeders advocate raw, which I think is great.

But then I happened to look at their stipulations for selling puppies and they state on their site that any new owners of their dogs MUST continue to feed raw...

I understand their reasoning, but surely no breeder can actually insist that an owner feeds in a specific way? And how would the breeder ever know if the owner changed the dog's diet after bringing the dog home anyway??

Just wondered what you thought?

Of course they cannot. Is this an American breeder by any chance?

THere is not a huge market for PWD although it has probably increased since the Obamas made it "chic" so I am not sure how discriminating a breeder can be.

In any case, I could say yes I feed raw, bring it home and feed it doner kebabs, who would know and what would they do about it?

It may not be practical for the owner to rear a dog on raw for several reasons then what?

Still good luck to them, it is not something I would insist on if I bred.

It is an Australian breeder. I was looking just out of interest as there is a lovely PWD at our local park.

I do think it's great that breeders care about the homes their dogs go to. I just think if I was a potential new owner of one of these pups I would not like being told what to feed my new dog...!

Even though I have just switched Dex over to raw.

It reminds me a bit of a breeder here in the UK who asked my friend to send a picture of her garden before she would even put her on the waiting list - I thought it was bizarre because my friend could have sent a pic of anyone's back garden!!! (not that she would ever do that, but a person could!)

They can recommend it but cant see that they can enforce it. I should imagine it would be open to discussion when purchasing the pup.

If for some reason the dog requires a specialised diet and has to go onto a prescription diet, you as the owner are obviously going to go by what your vet advises is best for your dog

I dont think I would want to enter into a contract where the breeder specifies what i could and couldnt feed my dog! Does it mention signing a contract? It would probably be better before purchasing the pup that you walk away if you disagreed with their recommendations. Must admit that is a first for me with regard to food

It is silly and way too controlling in my opinion. If you trust a person enough for them to purchase one of your puppies, then you surely must trust them to make appropriate dietary choices for the dog.

Anyway, if you tell someone they MUST do something, they are most likely to do the exact opposite. What to feed a dog is entirely subjective and it would irritate me if a breeder said I MUST feed this or that. It would be far better to provide diet sheets with preferable food(s) should the owner chose to change diet.

Well said indeed.

The breeder's website states:

"If you will not feed a raw diet to your pup, then we will not supply you with a puppy "


It's absurd - how could they KNOW what people would do once they got their pups home, what are these breeders going to do, set up a webcam so they can monitor what the dogs are fed?

I was looking at a breeder earlier this year for my next breed who stipulated the same.
They did say if raw wasn't practical, they wouldn't mind you feeding a certain type of food, but it had to be of a certain standard etc (and one they recommended)

It did put me off, as I don't actually have anywhere to store raw food, and buying another freezer isn't an option, as I wouldn't have anywhere to put one.

I don't think the food I choose to feed is bad tbh, but they obviously have a problem with it, so would have a problem with me!

Well, when they end up with a whole litter unsold, perhaps they will rethink.

Im surprised they breed at all!

NB Just had a thought - maybe the breeders sell/supply raw food!

It is very controlling. Much better to recommend that way of feeding and also to suggest alternatives. I feed raw and would recommend it to puppy buyers, but I'd also recommend some good quality commercial diets too. Raw isn't for everyone after all.