The scandal of marketing purebred dogs

[4TheDawgies]

I read this article a really long time ago, but it popped into my head when I read a recent thread here discussing advertising dogs on E-bay classifieds.

This article basically goes into detail about why responsible and reputable breeders should start advertising their litters on websites like that as well as a few other important and good points.

The scandal of marketing purebred dogs (II) | | Ruffly SpeakingRuffly Speaking

Here are a few quotes from it:

Because you know who is really, really good at marketing? The community of bad breeders, careless breeders, puppy mills, and the euphemistically titled "commercial breeders."

The other one is all about selling puppies. And this is where I know I'm ruffling feathers. So before you yell at me via the comments, hear me out. THEN yell at me. We – meaning the small community of reputable breeders, because we are very small compared to the community of careless breeders or commercial breeders — have done an incredibly poor job at articulating why it is a legitimate choice to purchase a well-bred purebred, but it is NOT a legitimate choice to purchase a poorly bred purebred.

We have done an even worse job articulating why it is that we're not the enemies of homeless dogs everywhere.

So for those of you who have a minute to read the article, I would be interested to hear any and all comments

[Courtney]

I'm actually fine with responsible breeders advertising in the newspaper, internet, etc. because they will still screen prospective buyers. It does not automatically mean one gets a puppy.

I honestly think most people who end up going to a BYB does so out of convenience. I see the ads in my little hometown newspaper all the time
"purebred AKC german shepherd puppies/champion bloodlines/$400.00 with papers".

The article makes a good point..those that are in it for the $$$ get real savy on advertising

[Lucy Dog]

A question for some of the breeders on this website...

When you have a litter of puppies, do they all have prospective homes around the time they're on the ground or does it take time and advertising is needed?

Just assuming here, but I'd think when a good breeder has a litter available from good dogs that they'd all pretty much be accounted for and the advertising to the masses isn't really needed.

[4TheDawgies]

Originally Posted by Lucy Dog

A question for some of the breeders on this website...

When you have a litter of puppies, do they all have prospective homes around the time they're on the ground or does it take time and advertising is needed?

Just assuming here, but I'd think when a good breeder has a litter available from good dogs that they'd all pretty much be accounted for and the advertising to the masses isn't really needed.

I would say no, not all breeders have a full list of people waiting for puppies. Especially smaller scale breeders.

commercial breeders ARE advertising ( I see them on google ads all the time). But what they have an advantage of is they always have atleast a litter on the ground.
When someone is looking around for a puppy, its my experience that about 10% will actually wait the 8 weeks it takes from birth to ready to go home. Let alone the amount of time it may potentially take for a breeding to take place, the pregnancy, and then the whelp. People, and especially Americans are impatient. They can't wait. When someone is "looking" for a puppy most of them want that puppy ASAP. Unfortunately responsible but smaller breeders can't supply to that sort of demand. This is why I personally think that advertising is not a huge deal. Because yes, they WILL screen potential buyers no matter what. They may end up with a buyer who MAY have gone to a BYB. But They asked questions about the right dogs and learned a little and in turn got a great dog from a great breeder and gained some knowledge.

People looking for a purebred dog turn to two places, the internet, and the newspaper. That's EXACTLY where the BYB's & puppy mills have their hand in. I think responsible breeders should fight back. Stop letting this BYB crap slide. Get their names out there and spread the knowledge.

I think we as dog people should do our part to try and get the word out about puppy mills and BYB's more to help educate the public and eradicate those breeders.

[Lucy Dog]

With the smaller reputable breeders out there, will supply ever match the demand without hurting the quality of pups theyre producing and everything that goes on in between?

Is fighting back with the byb's worth it to them? Would they even want to take on that challenge or are their priorities elsewhere?

[Dainerra]

I think that part of the reason for advertising is to educate the buying public. Let people see the difference between a poor quality GSD and a truly well-bred dog. Let them learn the different health tests needed and how a little investment can make things easier for them.

Of course there will always be someone who is more interested in a cheap deal than a quality investment, but even one educated person will make a difference in the future of the breed.

[Catu]

It has taken me years to be "into" the dog community to know who is who and which ones I'd buy a pup from. 99% of people will have to buy from a BYB because they have no other option. The only places they know where to buy a dog is from the friend of the friend of the brother in law who has a litter of cute puppies, the pet stores and internet.

[Dainerra]

what Catu said. I think that is the main reason that people need to advertise. Get people excited about planned litters. Let them see that there is a large and happy medium between the $300 BYB from the paper and the $30K dog they see bragged about on internet forums.
It's amazing the number of people who don't even realize that my dogs are GSDs. I'm not talking about the crazy people who think Singe is a coyote, but regular people who don't know that a GSD isn't a nervy skittish, weak-eared, cow hocked, mess.

These are the people that responsible breeders need to reach. They love the image of the GSD they have in their mind, but avoid the breed because they have never seen a well-bred dog. They don't know that anything exists other than the BYB ads in the newspaper.

[Freestep]

I am thinking rather than advertising puppies for sale, reputable breeders ought to take the tack of doing PSAs. Now, advertising is expensive, and most reputable small-scale breeders aren't making a lot of extra money, so perhaps it ought to be something the parent club takes on. If we could have a PSA that comes up in every Google search, in every local newspaper classified, every dog-related magazine--bringing awareness to the general public. Perhaps pointing to a website dedicated to education of the general public about the well-bred GSD, why you should avoid backyard breeders, and of course a list of reputable breeders and links to them.

Heck, I even saw a billboard the other day, with a photo of a Pit Bull, that said "Please don't breed me for money". Now, I don't know who sponsored the billboard, whether it was a Pit Bull group or an AR group, but regardless of any hidden agenda, the individual message is a good one. So there is some proactive stuff going on regarding awareness about backyard breeding.

[Catu]

PSAs?