----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: More Dog Stuff
How about going down to the pound, and seeing which animal you bond with, rather than paying large sums of money to encourage the dogs-for-profit industry? (Yeah, I know not all breeders are puppy farms. But there are still far too many abandoned animals destroyed every day, purebreeds included, for me to be happy about it).
John makes a very good point.
Puppy mills are a pretty big problem, and personally, I think they should be banned. The powers that be would rather ban the specific breeds that puppy mills are ruining, rather than deal with the actual problem, which is indiscriminate breeding programs that breed unreliable temperments.
There is, for example, nothing wrong with Pit Bull terriers that couldn't be cured by putting bullets in the heads of a few breeders.
OTOH, if you want a dog for a specific activity, some breeds are better than others, depending on what you want to do, and a nice mutt may not be the ticket.
If dog shows are your thing, a nice Cockapoo isn't what you want. Even obedience is a purebreed game, although that is changing, as mutt clubs are forming and emulating the AKC and CKC.
Dog sports such as flyball and agility are, in my mind, the future of dog clubs, and any club that doesn't recognize this, and welcome mixed breed dogs as members is not going to last many more years.
William Robb
