Since some people ask why we have and are so adamant about our spay/neuter agreement, I thought I would try to explain.
We are the only breeders specializing in long coats that I know of, at this time, who hold the AKC papers,(when I am providing the Papers) with the exception of pups that are in our breeding program, till we receive the vet verification of the spay/neuter - though more breeders of longcoats have switched to limited registration papers.
When I first started breeding, the very first thing I ever read about "commercial breeders": said that "ALL responsible breeders sell teir Puppys with spay/neuter agreement's". Initially we did not do that but we did ALWAYS limit the number of puppies we did place with the full registrations. Most of our Puppies did go with limited registrations.
There were many reasons I always wanted to do it that way. ALL which were for the benefit of our Puppies.
As I learned more I also went back to the few people we thought would be good responsible reputable breeders that we had placed breeding pups with and tried to explain to them the benefits for their puppies to go with, at the very least, limited registrations - and also a spay/neuter contract and holding the papers until verification is received.
Some of our reasons were then and still are:
Not wanting our puppies/or our puppies offspring to end up in a puppy mill or any where else where they would not be taken care of in a loving family home.
I personally cant bear the thought- or think of think of anything worse to me, than an active social pack dog having to live in a pen(worse a small pen!) its whole life and maybe never getting out EVER or even rarely or seldom.
We do not want someone to get one our girls and breed her every heat till she was 10!
Pet over population- for not so responsible breeders who would let most all or all their puppies go with full registrations and letting them go to other breeders who would do the same thing. Unfortunately, as sadly can be seen on the rescue sites, there is already far too many of the long coats in GSD rescue.
To preserve the integrity of our lines - health and structure.
Health/behavior benefits.
Sadly one of the main reasons most breeders place puppies with full breeding registrations is money motivated. Some breeders are afraid they can not sell all of their puppies before they start getting older so they will sell them to whom ever inquires even if that means selling them for breeding purposes. Another reason is some breeders can charge double(or more) the price for a breeding dog.
I feel our dogs welfare should motivate us to do what is better for the dogs and the breed - not the extra amount of $ one can get for selling dogs for breeding.
I have this fear/predictided theory that as the long coat German Shepherds become more and more popular - with out most pups going to new homes with limited registrations - that the same thing we all have seen happen with other breeds will happen with the long coats.
Then there goes our beloved temperaments, health, sturcture, etc.
When going into any pound you see many GSD, Golden Retriever, Rottie, Pit Bull, etc.- mixes, as well as other GSD mixes too. The internet/rescue sites are always loaded with long coat rescues as it is now.
As more pets are spayed or neutered, there will be far less pets in shelters and then animals in the shelters should be able to stay at a shelter longer so they can be adopted- instead of having to be euthanised.
When I went to school to become a certified dog trainer I learned that pet behavior problems, caused by lack of proper socialization and training, are the main reason pup/dogs are brought to shelters. This is why we try so hard to educate pet owners who call us or look at our web site about the importance of proper socialization and training. A well trained dog is an absolute joy to be around!!
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One female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in six years.
70,000 puppies and kittens are born every day in the USA alone. Compared to only 10,000 human births,
it's clear that there will never be enough homes for all these animals.
Everyone who has a pet which isn't spayed or neutered, it only takes once! Don't contribute to this tragic unnecessary killing of animals. Have your pet spayed or neutered.
An estimated 6 to 8 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters in this country every year. Millions more are abandoned, only to suffer on the streets from illness or injury before dying.
