Surgebuster

My wife and I spent countless hours discussing breeds and preferences and doing research on the three breeds we agreed would best suit our lifestyle and home environment. We found way too much generic and recycled information on the web, with little in the way of answers for the questions that WE wanted to ask. In short, we were as educated as a novice pet owner (post-childhood) could possibly be. Our experience when contacting breeders was discouraging and I can completely understand why some people give up at that point and purchase from pet stores. Of the eight breeders (of three different breeds) we contacted: - Two breeders basically hung up on us when we said we enquired about a puppy but hadn't totally settled on one breed - One breeder told us to bugger off when we confessed to not knowing some things he deemed "essential" about the breed - One breeder refused to even tell us the price unless we drove 2.5 hours to interview with him I understand breeders want the best for their dogs but we encountered an overwhelming sense of elitism and intolerance when we embarked on our quest - intolerance that I see on these boards every day from (some, not all) breeders. Professionalism does not mean the same thing as breeding for profit and I wish many more breeders recognised that. Having a well-presented, informative website (including price information) does not make you a callous byb or puppy farmer. Treating all enquiries as geniune rather than just deleting the one whose "tone" you didn't like - since when do emails have tone by the way - would go a long way toward helping educate all dog owners. Because chances are the enquiry you just ignored was from a genuine person who just didn't know the proper etiqutte. That person just became much more likely to buy from a pet store, so if that's was your aim then congrats. (You = any breeder, not anyone specific in this thread)

AJ Alice Alika Alchemy Amber Amelia Amy x 2 Anais Annie x 2 Anastacia (Annie) Angel X 4 Anishinaabe Annabelle Annabella April April RIP x 2 Arizona Arki Asante sana Asha Ashka Askari Ashleigh Astro Athena Aubrey Audrey Aura Ayla Baba Baci Bailey Basha Beanie Beans Becky Bella x 5 Bianca Bit Blaize Blossom Bonny x 4 (Bonnie) Bonita Brandi Brandy x 2 Bree x 2 Bridie Bronte Buffy Buttercup Cally Cara Casey Cassie Casper CC Cedar Chapparelle (pronounced Shapparelle, and shortened to Chappa (Shappa)) Chelsea Cherrie Chevy x 2 Chloe x 2 Charley Charlie Charlie-May Charlotte Choo Choo Chops Cider Cinders Cinta CJ x 2 Claire Claudia Clover Cleoparta Coco x3 CocoNut Colour (for a greyhound who's not grey!) Cookie Cossette Courtney Crystal Cristie Crupi Daisy x 2 Dallas Dancer Danika Delilah Delta Demi Dexta Diazz Didge Dinky Dixie Diva Durham Dyzney Ebony Echo Elizabeth Ella x2 Ellie Ellie x2 Emily Emilly Emma Emmy Enya Erin Esky Evie Faith Fanta Feather Feonix Finta Flame Fleur Frenchie Froggy Gabbie Gabby Galadriel(Gala) Gemma Genie (not exactly a girly name but I thought it suited my goldy) George Ginny Gita Glitter Goldie Grace Griffin GT Gypsy x 5 Gyrle Harlow Havarna Hayley x2 Heather Heddy Heidi x2 Holly x 6 Honeyx2 Honour Hope Imme Imogen - Imy Indi India Jade Jamie Lee Jane Jasmine x2 Jaxx Jay Jay Jazz Jazzman Jedda RIP Jelly Bean Jenna x 2 Jess Jessi Jessica Jessie x 3 Jeune Jezebel x 2 Jindi Jinxy Jodie Juliet Juno Kara X 2 Kari Karma Karmen Kaos Katie x 2 Katy Kayla Keeta Keilani Keira Keirra Keisha Kelli Kelsey Kenzie Kibah Kiesha Kimba Kiri Kiri-Lu Kirra (agility name Kiz) Kitty Kizzey Krissy Kuean - (Queen) Lacey Layla x 2 Lea (lele) Leader Leia Leila Lexi x 2 Libby Lily x 3 Lizzy Lobo Logan Lola x 2 Lottie Lucky (yes, a bit tacky, but I loved her) Lucy x5 Luuka Mable Maddie Maddison Maggie x3 Mallee Marie Claudette Marina Marlo Meeka Meg x 2 Meisha Merrique Mia X 2 Migaloo Milky Milla Millie x4 Mindy Minky Minnie x 2 (Mynni) Minouche Mischka Missy Missie Mistletoe Misty Mitzi Molly x 7 Molly Coddle Moochie Mung Bean Mya Nala Narla Natasha Nena Ness Nora Olivia Ollie Pagan x 2 Panda x 2 Paris Paxy Pearl Pebbles Peggie Penelope Penny x 2 Pepper x 2 Phoebe x 2 Pink Pip Pippin Piper x 2 Pixie Polly x 2 Popcorn Porridge Porscha Prada Quince Rani Razzle Reba Rebel Reno Rhoda Riki Ricky Rizzi Rogue Rommi Rosey Rosie x 2 Roxy x 2 Ruby x 4 Rumour Sabrina Sadie Saffron Safire Sahli Sally x3 Sarah Sarah Jane Sari Sascha x 2 Sasha x2 Sarsha Satu Savannah Scandal Serena Shae Shandy Shannon Sharnie Sharna Sheba Shine Siann or Cyan Sinta Sienna Skye SkySnow Sola Sooty Sophie x2 Sophia Sparkles Springy Sputnik Spook Stella x2 Stimpy X2 Storm Stussy Sue Summa Suzie x 2 Sybill Tait Tamar Tameeka Tara x 2 Tasha Tashi Taya Tayla Teegan Tess x 4 Tessa Texas Tia x 2 Tieke Tilba Tilli Tilly x3 Tinka Tinny (tin tin) Toot Tori Tully Tyra Tyneal Vada Vicki Viviane Voodoo Winter Wilhelmina Wolf Xena Xanthe Zara Zillah Zippedeedoodah Ziva x 3 Zena Zoe x 3

Agro Ali Andrew Andy Angus x 3 Angus Rip Anzac Apollo(different spelling!) Appollo Archie +1 Archer Arkhan Armand Arq Ash Ashke Attila Atlas Axl Bael Bailey x 6 Balki Baloo Balou Bandit x 3 Banjo Bardigrub Barney Bart X 2 Barton Basil Baxter Bean Bear x3 Beau x 2 Bender Ben x 2 Benji x 2 Benny Benson BERT! Billy Bing Bluey Bob Bomber Bond Bongo Lloyd Boo Boof Bosch Bosco Boxer Brady Brian Custard O'Doggle Brock Brockie Brody Bronson x2 Brownie Bruce Brue Bud Buddy Buffy... he came with it Bumble Bundyx3 Buster byron Caleb Cannon Caramel Carl Casey Cash Casper Champ Changwe Charlie x 5 Chester Chevy Chief Chip x 2 Chok Chubba Chops Clancy Clifford Coco Columbus Connor Cooper x3 Cory Cowan x 2 Cowboy Crikey Cruise Cuba Damien Damit Daniel x 2 Dancer Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Deakin Dean Declan Delgado Denim Dennys Dog Diablo Diesel x2 Digby Digger x2 Dillon Dinky Douglas Dominic Dozer Dude Dumas Duncan Dylan Ebon Echo x2 Eddie Edward Elijah Elliott Elmo Elvis Edge Enuff Ernie Esky Fang Fergus x 2 Finn Fox x 2 FlashBazil Fleming Fletcher Fly Flynn Focus Forester Foo Frank Fudge Galahad Gandor Geo Georgex2 Gordon Gossy Grease Lightning Greedy Griffin Grover Guiness mcGuinness Hail Hamish Harley x 2 Harper Harri Harrison Harry Hector Henry Henschke Herbie RIP Hey Dog Hogan Hudson Hugo Ian Ivan Jabi Jack x 3 Jake x 2 Jasper x 2 James x 2 Jay Jay cee JayDee Jed Jethro Jet x 2 Jett Jonsey Joop Jordan Joshua Joxer Judd Juggie Kahn Kai Kaiser x 2 Kane Kasper Kaos Khan Kiba Kei Kingston Kippy Kirk Kisho Koshi Kuga Kynan Kyzer Leo x3 Lincoln Link Lenny Lexcen Leroy x 2 Lestat x2 Logan Louie Luca Lucca Lucius Ludwig Lughie Luigi RIP Lukas Lukon Luther x 2 Mac X 2 MacKenzie Mandrake Mark (the cat) Mars Mason x2 Maverick Mawson Max x 7 Maxie Maxwell THE DOG Maze Mel Merlot Merlin x3 Merry Mickey Milky Milosh Milton Minook Mistral Mojo Mokha Montgomery Burns Moo Morris Mr Darcy Mufti Nammu Napoleon Nelsson (yes two s's) Neo Nicky Nigel Noah Norbert Nova Nudge Nugget Occy Oliver Omar RIP Onslow Oscar x 4 Oz Pal x 2 Payton Pete Phoenix Phantom Piikki Peewee Poco Porsha Puck Punch Quatro Quick Quincy Radar Raffy Ralph Rambo Ramses Randy Raymond Reeve Reagan Reginald Rex Ricky Riku Riley Rimes Ripley River Robbie x 2 Rocks Rodney RIP Roger Rolly x2 Rory Rove Rover Roy Roy Jones Jnr Rudnick Ruff Rumour Rupert Rusty Sam x3 Sampson Sarge Satchmo Scooby Scout Scrap Scratch Shadow Seth Silas Snitch Sonny Soul Spartan Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud x 2 Sterling Stig (The) Storm Stryker Sumo Swanky Tag Tally Tana Tanga Tazz x 2 Teddy Terry Tey Dog Thomas Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x3 Toffee Tolkien Tommy x 2 Tournie Tub Turbo Tusca Tutty Tye x2 Tyson Udo Ulf Valdez Wags Walker Wally Watson Wazim Weave Whisky Willow Willy Wilson Wonderdog RIP Woody X2 Wookie Wycomb Yoshi Zac x 2 Zedley Zeppelin Zephyr x 2 Zero Zeus x 3

I am genuinely delighted that many people have identified the owner's responsibilities to their dog. Up until reading this thread, I thought the overwhelming majority of DoL'ers blamed breeders far too often in these instances. We live in an impulsive society that views everything as disposable. Unfortunately, that can mean people buy and discard dogs without too much thought about the consequences. Breeders can't do much more than ask a few questions and use their judgement on prospective owners. It isn't perfect but blaming them for society's ills seems a tad excessive!

The profile pic is Agro when he was a chubby puppy, a role Toot is now fulfilling. Here are a couple of pics, although the quality is dubious.

We named our chocolate shar pei Agro, because of his resemblence to the puppet from TV. When we got our second, a liliac shar pei, we named her Toot - after a Betty Boop-like character on another TV show. Unlike all the Sally's, Ralph's and Bella's at the dog park, Agro and Toot are never confused over who is calling to them!

Edit - wrong forum