#responsible breeding

You know how the Labrador Retriever is the ultimate family dog and service dog? How they're kind and approachable and gentle and sturdy and handler-oriented and versatile and would love to be everybody's best friend? A dog that's none of those things isn't a Lab, is it?

But how on earth do you tell when it's just an adorable baby puppy in a picture, and the breeder says it's a Lab, so it must grow up to be all those Lab Things, right?

Absolutely fucking not. That cute little potato becomes an unstable mess of a dog, and she's allergic to all food, and her fur is thin and patchy and sometimes nearly bald, and she's incontinent, and she's so explosively reactive that you're always afraid she might turn truly aggressive, and her triggers are so vague and undefined that she often explodes off the couch to scream-bark at nothing and make you question whether dogs can hallucinate.

Was she ever a Lab? Or just labeled as one? How far removed is she from the last time her ancestors were what a Labrador Retriever is meant to be?

Turns out these stereotypical traits come from somewhere, and that somewhere isn't about being purebred. The traits come from selective breeding, with a clearly defined goal in mind: the breed standard. Every breed has one. For Labs, it's The Labrador Retriever Illustrated Standard: 20 pages of detailed descriptions, sketches, and reasonings, easily accessible on the Labrador Retriever Club's website.

Well, easily accessible IF you know it exists in the first place. That's the problem.

These stereotypes come from the well bred Labrador Retrievers that have fit the standard for generations. But between profit-focused irresponsible breeders, public ignorance, and the strict lack of nuance taught in the concept of "adopt don't shop," few people even know that dog breeds have organized clubs and established standards, much less how important they are in creating a predictable dog! So the label of "Lab" becomes the one thing they look for in hopes of finding those desirable traits.

Havanese are literally perfect in every way except having to brush them but that's really not that bad and the separation anxiety and that can be trained away with work. little angel dogs fr

what are your thoughts on Sardi Havanese and are there some others around that area to check out?

I will not give any breeder a ringing endorsement because I have not been heavily involved in the community for several years now. I am likely to acquire a puppy within the next 3 years so that will have to change soon though.

Also because I'm not based in the USA my knowledge of those breeders is not extensive.

With any breeder you should exercise caution, have an idea of the level of health testing you require, the way you'd like those puppies to be raised while with the breeder, the activities you want a dog from their breeding program to be successful at, etc.

It is not enough for a breeder to say they health test. You should ask what tests specifically they do. There should be a way to verify that what they're saying is true via a third party (ex. if testing through OFA they should provide you with the CHIC numbers of their dogs so that you can look online for yourself what the results of that health testing was and when it was performed).

I will say that anti-vax or breeders coming up with their own "alternative" vaccination schedules / regimes is unfortunately common among havanese breeders. It is up to you whether or not that's a deal breaker (after all, you can initiate a proper vaccination regime once the dog is in your posession, but that's only helpful if you receive the dog before it gets infected with something), but it is something to keep an eye out for.

Sardi Havanese is worth exploring further. I've also had my eye on Starborn. I know @girlhorse has had an excellent experience with Gilwood.

I answered a very similar question go this one on my old blog, I will try and dig it up for you.

If you have more questions, I am eager to help you find the perfect fit for you. But answers may be delayed as I am quite busy with work at the moment.

On occasion I browse Petfinder and Craigslist to see what’s on there, and happened upon this post. I’ve spoken about this type of problem over on the @doberbutts​ blog, but wanted to talk about it here too.

There is truly no such thing as a teacup or toy chihuahua. The chihuahua is already a toy breed, and the AKC standard specifically calls for a dog under 6lbs with no weight minimum. Even overseas, the size range is 1-3kg (and keep in mind that Fae at 10 weeks is already about 1kg, meaning a dog smaller than Fae would be less than 2lbs at adult weight).

To further prove my point, the idea is that a “teacup” or “toy” chihuahua is smaller than a regular chihuahua. Fae is a chihuahua that was bred to standard, and her parents are both 4.5lbs which means she should be about there as well as an adult. That means a regular chihuahua is only 4.5lbs. This ad has “teacup” and “toy” chihuahuas that weigh 7.5lbs as adults- that is bigger than what standard allows for and almost double what Fae is projected to weigh as an adult. This is why, if you want an absurdly tiny dog, you should just look for a chihuahua that has been bred to standard, as they are all absurdly tiny at that point.

Then you factor in the price. I can assure you that Fae did not cost $3000. I can also assure you that Fae’s parents have far more health testing than any of the parents of these dogs, and she will be far closer than any of these dogs to the ideal that most people who want a chihuahua are interested in adding to their home, with more time and care and work invested in her overall success at being a loving and fantastic companion. 

Hey, if you plan on owning an animal farm or are even considering breeding a pet you own, please keep in mind that it’s your job to assess your farm’s capabilities of supporting a growing herd/flock/whatever, monetarily and size wise, and whether you have the time and/or ability to sell any of the ones you can’t or don’t want to keep.

In my case, the farm I work at is breeding their does (a female goat is called a doe, same as a deer) to a neighbor’s buck this year, and we have two other does, Mandarin and Choco, at that farm for unrelated reasons. As the buck’s owner will get a cut of the profit from selling the babies, as she owns the buck, she is desparate to try and breed Mandarin and Choco because they make pretty babies. However, both I and the farmer know that we cannot responsibly have five pregnant does instead of three this year.

So we firmly told the woman no. It was hard, as I’m an anxious wreck rn and the boss wanted me to run this conversation, but I did it. And the goats are better for it.

I know this isn’t a huge issue for people on tumblr but I thought it important to talk about responsible breeding and standing up for both yourself and your animals in terms of health.

Now, for some pictures of the girls in question :)

1. Mandarin and her babies from earlier this year

2. Choco dressed as a Dragon

3. Mandarin dressed as a bee