Perfumed Lillium Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I know a woman who told me she used to breed champion great danes, she had a preference for harlequins and said that she used to get a large number of merle pups in a litter and had them culled. Is there a reason for this and is this common procedure? she told me it is :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I don't know, but I hope not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfumed Lillium Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 We ended up having an argument over this when I said that she could have had the merle pups desexed and placed in a pet home, she responded that it was costing her $1000 to raise each pup and that she wasn't willing to invest in that amount of money for a merle puppy; I explained that she could have sold the pup for the money that it cost her to raise it (desexing included) and she said that there's no way that pet homes are willing to pay $1000 for a pet dog. I have a problem believing that it cost $1000 to raise one pup from birth until 8 weeks of age even in today's times...and even less when talking about 6 or so years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Most pedigree dogs are around the $1k mark anyway aren't they?? Plenty of people will pay that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) Blue merle wasn't a recognised colour in Danes up until fairly recently. ETA giant breed pups can cost a fortune to raise. Everything costs more (fleas, wormers, etc) due to their size and they eat like horses. Maybe not $1000 each but certainly a lot. Edited August 16, 2012 by taketwo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 (edited) no blue merle is not a recognised colour at all actually. the colour is just plain 'merle' and has been recognised for quite some time :) sorry I should also say that by recognised I don't mean it is eligible to be shown. Probably shouldn't have used the word recognised actually. Edited August 17, 2012 by raineth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I know a woman who told me she used to breed champion great danes, she had a preference for harlequins and said that she used to get a large number of merle pups in a litter and had them culled. Is there a reason for this and is this common procedure? she told me it is :confused: I don't know what used to be practice or not. Merles cannot be shown, but once upon a time I believe they were able to be used as part of a breeding program. But now they can only be on limited register. Merles are a natural occurrence in harlequin litters, if you breed harls you will get merles and that is that. So these days they are sold as pets, and as far as I understand you'll pay just as much for them as any of the other pet puppies in the litter, sometimes a teeny bit less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 We ended up having an argument over this when I said that she could have had the merle pups desexed and placed in a pet home, she responded that it was costing her $1000 to raise each pup and that she wasn't willing to invest in that amount of money for a merle puppy; I explained that she could have sold the pup for the money that it cost her to raise it (desexing included) and she said that there's no way that pet homes are willing to pay $1000 for a pet dog. I have a problem believing that it cost $1000 to raise one pup from birth until 8 weeks of age even in today's times...and even less when talking about 6 or so years ago. most GD cost around $2000. Sometimes a little bit less, sometimes a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxiewolf Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Interesting point of view that people are not willing to pay $1000 for a pet? Brutus was $1200 6 years ago, and was sold as a show quality pup... Mind you he has never been shown and therefore he is a $1200 pet, I've paid $1000 + for pet Dachshunds before, and alot of pet shops sell their cross whatever's or purebreds for well over $1000 ... Its quite sad that the only viable option they saw was to cull them, I know if someone said to me if your willing to handraise this merle dane pup yourself you can have it for its portion of the vet fees its cost me already I know Id take on that responsibility... not sure many others would though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I rememeber speaking to a Weimaraner breeder in Germany who said dogs that were not gundog quality would be culled instead of being sold into pet homes not too long ago. I suppose the situation here is different since the temperament was the issue there, not the colour and I also think back then there may not have been any spay/neuter options readily available, so even if sold to a pet home, there was no way to ensure the faulty dog did not go on to reproduce either faulty purebreds or mixed breeds with possibly dangerous tendencies (mixing some breeds with conflicting temperaments is just asking for trouble as most of you already know). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tibbie_tabbie Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Isn't it the same with some ridgeback breeders? Some pups are born ridge less and these are culled. I totally agree that there would be buyers not looking for show quality who would purchase these pups as pets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumof4girls Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 This breeder needs a reality check,I know of a few people that paid over $1000 for their "pet" dog me included .. ( lol don't tell hubby though LMAO!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwaY Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I have a problem believing that it cost $1000 to raise one pup from birth until 8 weeks of age even in today's times...and even less when talking about 6 or so years ago. You are talking about a Giant breed they cost a shite load to raise, not to mention... Whelping supply/costs Vet cost Stud cost ANKC registartion Vaccinating Micro-chip Worming Feeding 4 times a day Plus time off work, sleeping with them 24/7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwaY Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Then do you factor in.. Heating costs for heat lamp/heat mat Health testing Supplementing puppies if they need to be bottle fed Advertising cost Cesar Antibiotics if the bitch get mastitis Not to mention endless washing and washing powder Increased food and supplements for the bitch On a side note baby Giant breeds eat more then the adult versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 We ended up having an argument over this when I said that she could have had the merle pups desexed and placed in a pet home, she responded that it was costing her $1000 to raise each pup and that she wasn't willing to invest in that amount of money for a merle puppy; I explained that she could have sold the pup for the money that it cost her to raise it (desexing included) and she said that there's no way that pet homes are willing to pay $1000 for a pet dog. I have a problem believing that it cost $1000 to raise one pup from birth until 8 weeks of age even in today's times...and even less when talking about 6 or so years ago. I have no problem believing it costs $1000 to raise a Dane puppy. It costs at least $500 to raise a well bred Border Collie and Danes babies eat heaps more food than Borders do as well as costing extra to worm, etc. Then you have to be able to sell them. I remember one guy breeding Akitas when they were new to Aust. He already had 4 Rotties and had an Akita to show and breed. She was bred to a dog of unpopular lines and no one in the show world wanted them. The public didn't know what they were and 6 months later he had sold 2 out of 8, given one away and sold his car ro try to feed the other 5 as well as his adult dogs. I have no idea what he did with them eventually. I also worked with a woman around the same time that had 2 hound breeds that at the time were not very popular as pets. She only bred when she wanted one to continue with but still culled the numbers at birth because she knew good homes were hard to come by for those breeds. Responsible breeders cull puppies at birth rather than dump them on rescue if they can't find homes for them. Responsible rescue organisations also cull at birth or desex pregnant bitches if the puppies are a ones that are unlikely to get a home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I agree that culling at birth would be better than dumping on rescue when dogs can't be sold. Numbers needing rescue are pretty much unmanagable now no need to add more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I rememeber speaking to a Weimaraner breeder in Germany who said dogs that were not gundog quality would be culled instead of being sold into pet homes not too long ago. I suppose the situation here is different since the temperament was the issue there, not the colour and I also think back then there may not have been any spay/neuter options readily available, so even if sold to a pet home, there was no way to ensure the faulty dog did not go on to reproduce either faulty purebreds or mixed breeds with possibly dangerous tendencies (mixing some breeds with conflicting temperaments is just asking for trouble as most of you already know). slightly different in Germany with Weims. they are still very strict about who they sell puppies to. The breed wardens of the club chooses the mating, and homes of the pups not the breeder, and you must have a gun licence and be a hunter and wiling to work your dog just to be eligible to own one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Then do you factor in.. Heating costs for heat lamp/heat mat Health testing Supplementing puppies if they need to be bottle fed Advertising cost Cesar Antibiotics if the bitch get mastitis Not to mention endless washing and washing powder Increased food and supplements for the bitch On a side note baby Giant breeds eat more then the adult versions. But most of these are required if you even only have 1 puppy? Only some of them were culled, not the whole litter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Doesn't sit well with me at all. People culling puppies they don't have homes for just so they can keep one for themself? Especially when breeding puppies that they know may have to be culled, that doesn't sound ethical to me, at least in my definition of the word. Does the end really justify the means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfumed Lillium Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Doesn't sit well with me at all. People culling puppies they don't have homes for just so they can keep one for themself? Especially when breeding puppies that they know may have to be culled, that doesn't sound ethical to me, at least in my definition of the word. Does the end really justify the means? I couldn't agree more, it shows a direct lack of empathy to animals to cull them because the colour isn't acceptable in the show ring, what's more is that the puppies are culled and then the breeder goes on and breeds more litters and in turn culls more pups, it's a never ending vicious cycle, surely anybody with a heart would not put themselves in that position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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