Hi, do any of you folks raise chihuahuas? I have been raising chihuahuas for 10 years and love it. It is a good way far a homsteader to make a little moeny. I am looking for a small spotted pup or dog. Would like to hear from anyone who might have some in the future. Or who just likse to talk about dogs. I could talk about dogs allday. Thanks Lisa in TX.

-- W. TX. Lisa (wtxhomestead@safezon.net), January 04, 2001

Answers

I had a chihuahua when I was a kid, and he was a great little dog - brave and tough, and I went on long rambling walks with him. We live in the country and my kids would love a dog, but husband doesn't really care for them. I think a Chihuahua would be great, sizewise, but am afraid of coyotes and hawks...(I live in Connecticut).

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

Christina, get rid of your husband and get a dog. Any man who dosen't like dogs is bad.

My ex-wife had a "deer chihuahua" and it was a great little dog. Supposedly the deer chihuahua was some kind of rare chihuahua. I don't know about that but she was really pretty and a loving little dog. Ava Marie was her name.

-- Joe (jcole@apha.com), January 05, 2001.

Being raised on a large farm we had out door dogs and cats but I never really bonded with them they were more for keeping wild animals away. I always thought I was not an animal person my children had a large dog while growing up but never figured I would continue to have dogs or cats after they were gone. When my son moved out on his own the first thing he did was buy a long haired chihuahua puppy for 350.00 I thought he was nuts, he named it Kenny and it was the cutest little guy. I Quickly became grandma to kenny and my husband grandpa well my son works out of town most of the week so grandma babysat then he grew tired of the responsibility of a small dog so guess where Kenny lives. At this moment sleeping on decorative pillows in the livingroom and I love every minute of it. My in laws have the small size short hair chihuahua's but the long hair ones are really darling, I dont think I will ever be without one again. P.S. can anyone tell me what their life expectancy is

-- ronda (thejohnsons@localaccess.com), January 05, 2001.

Lisa - I used to raise chihuahuas many years ago. Showed them too. Had the "teacup" ones. I would have to feed them with stomach tubes. Then I did Airedales. I haven't bred dogs for a long time - got into rescuing them instead. I started feeling about dogs like I feel about kids - theres so many that are unwanted, why should I make more! But if everyone felt like me, where would this world be!!! Now I have an old rescued beagle X and a wonderful wonderful greyhound.

-- Dianne (willow@config.com), January 05, 2001.

I raise a few show quality Pomeranians and Native Anerican Bobtail Cats. Most of my cats are bigger than my dogs!The poms look like a fuzzy Chihuahua.

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), January 05, 2001.

Thank you all for the respons I live out with coyotes also, they have not been a problem but I keep my dogs up at night. I lost one dog to the horses kicking it and one to a bob cat. But she had run off from the house. She was my first chihuahua that I ever had, now I do not even have a grave for her.Derr chihuahuas are not rare. that just means that they have long legs and a long body and a deer head has a long noes and a flat head. The taco bell dog is a deer chihuahua. He does not have a real pretty head but he is a cut dog. An apple head is a round head with a dome top sorta. I have mostly deer chihuahuas with apple heads. I have some long coats also and they are very pretty. Chihuahuas live a long time.I have heard of some that are 18. They are very sturdy dogs. I would sugest for a family pet not to get a real small one. Ask a breeder for a standerd. They weigh about 5-6 pounds when grown. They can go on long walks and everything with you. A teacup mostly sits in your lap. Like I said I can talk about dogs all day. Thanks Lisa

-- Lisa in TX (wtxhomestead@safezone.net), January 06, 2001.

Sorry, I am going to be a stick in the mud. Breeding dogs just to make a lit money is despicable. I breed American Staffordshires, but I show them, I breed to improve the breed and only breed a litter when I want a puppy from the breeding. I also agree to take back any dog I bred at any time in its life and do breed specific rescue as well. Unless you are willing to commit to being a complete andresponsible breeder,then you have no business breeding. Remember that you are putting a great strain on the health of the little bitch, possibly risking its life. Pregnancy is particularly tough on toy breeds. Are you willing to pay for a caesarean? One complication can eliminate profits from that breeding and even cost the bitches life. Can you recognize ecalmpsia (also prevalent in small breeds,particularly in large litters) that can also risk the bitches life? Are you willing to keep puppies for a FULL 8 WEEKS before selling them? This is labor intensive but is imperative for the pups health and emotional stability (again especially in small breeds).Pups (and bitch) should be wormed every 2 weeks from birth and pups should be vaccinated at 6 and 8 weeks and be vet checked . Parents should be of breed standard and quality (preferably finished champions)and have appropriate health certifications, ie:hips,elbows,knees,eyes. Neither bitch or dog should be bred before they are 2 years old. So you see,there is a lot of work, expense and risk involved in breeding dogs. There are also lots of responsible breeders,rescues and shelters that have dogs available, many purebreds. Given the number of dogs that are killed every years, think long and hard before deciding that breeding is a good way to make a little money, you are bring lives into the world, not dollar bills.

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), January 07, 2001.

Hope you aren't talking about me being a bad person for raising poms and bobtails.

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), January 07, 2001.

I don't consider it necessary to play the political show game in order to be a responsible breeder. There are a lot of beautiful, healthy dogs out there who have never been shown. As long as they are treated well and taken care of properly (including giving them that extra attention that dogs need to become responsive to humans, and seeing that they go into good, loving homes), what is the difference between breeding goats or cattle and breeding dogs?

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), January 07, 2001.

I read this thread when it was first posted and had a lot of mixed feelings. My first dog came from someone who was doing it for the money -- much to my everlasting regret! I loved that dog dearly, the whole family did, she was sweet as the day was long, and died of health complications at age three. I didn't know squat about puppy mills back then, even tho I had seen this place and it wasn't a whole lot like the ones that make the news -- still, the genetics were REALLY bad (I met other suckers later who'd bought her puppies -- cataracts by age 1, advanced arthritis of the spine by 3, skin problems galore...).

My next dog was purchased from a woman who had one very old bitch that was grandma to the litter I bought from, the dam herself, and a neutered male as a pet. She bred very few litters, and I don't think she was making very much money at it, but she obviously loved her dogs a lot, and had taken pains with selecting the stud and raising the pups. That dog is now pushing 16 and has had almost no health problems -- none til she got to 14. Breeders who have seen her are kind of shocked that I didn't breed, she was that good, but I figured I'd never find any owners that I'd approve of, and another dog I was looking at died in whelping, so I wasn't keen on the idea.

My third dog died at age 9 of a collapsed trachea -- genetic. His breeder was obviously more in it for the money again, with multiple bitches whelping at the same time, altho not like the first case. He was also a fear biter and had allergies and I bought him because I felt sorry for him.

Now that my last dog (#2) is on her last legs, I am thinking to the future. I love my breed -- West Highland White Terriers -- and I love healthy dogs with good breeding. I also hate the dogs going to the gas chamber across the country in the millions every year because there aren't enough homes to go around. I've decided to adopt my chosen breed in the future from one of the rescue sites. This was a hard decision because lots of those dogs come from poor breeders who are only in it for the money, but I am not planning to breed any dog I get anyway, and I guess I will deal with the health complications. I'd love another good puppy like #2 again -- they're hard to find in these days where so many people just want the money, and hard to convince the breeder to let you have the dog (boy do I understand!!).

But at the same time, it's a real quandry because every dog that is bred in this country to sell, that means that a dog on death row may not get a reprieve, one who never did anything wrong, except to be born to someone who either didn't want it and wouldn't neuter their pets, or thought they could make money off it.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 07, 2001.

== I also hate the dogs going to the gas chamber across the country in the millions every year because there aren't enough homes to go around. ==

I disagree. There's plenty of homes to go around. But folks tell me they don't want to pay the high prices of these INhumane societies, like $100 for a mix breed. It's a business; if they wanted to place these dogs, they wouldn't charge an arm and a leg.

Consequently, many folks tell me they turn to the want-ads. There's plenty of free dogs in there. Actually, they're probably saving some pups from going to the pound, since so many of these folks take the left over pups there.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001.

Excuse me Rogo!!! Where is the money going to come from then to pay for these for the heat at these so-called 'INhumane' shelters? Who is going to build the facility? Who is going to buy the land it is sitting on? Who is going to pay taxes on it? Who is going to put up kennels so that the animals have a safe place? Who is going to give them the food to feed these dogs and cats? Who is going to drill the well for free so they have water while they wait? Who is going to pay for the medications that many of these neglected, abused, and even tortured animals are going to need? Our local vets DONATE their time and facilities, and still they can't make ends meet. My friend who is a dog groomer donates her services free of charge because they can't afford it and a groomed dog will get taken over a matted neglected one. There are some shelters that are not very good, and there are some that are working their asses off and crying when they have to give lethal injections to dogs and cats that they can't find homes for while they can't make ends meet as it is. I have seen irresponsible owners take in two purebred German Shepherds and dump them there with a $5 donation in the can. Wow. Last of the big time compassionate souls.

Why is a mutt worth less than some purebred? It costs the same to feed them, vaccinate them, vet them, and neuter them -- which has to be done before placement too so that some puppy mill person won't pick up dogs and breed MORE of them. THAT's why it costs so much!!!! Sheesh.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 08, 2001.

Rogo's right. If the INhumane Society has to charge $100 to adopt a pet or kill it, why don't they just leave them out on the roadsides? I, of course, don't condone dog dumping, that's just a term I chose. But I think it is a little silly to charge people $100 to adopt a mutt and they do charge in that neighborhood around big cities. Those groups get a lot of donations from the public and in at least some places they get some tax money for shelters. I think it's become a business. Check it out and I'll bet you will find some of the people at the top making six figures.

-- Joe (jcole@apha.com), January 08, 2001.

I take it neither one of you volunteers at your local shelter then, or you'd know better.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 08, 2001.

This is definetly one of the issues that it is easy to see both sides. First there is only a 35$ adoption fee in Houston, and that is barely covering anesthesia for the spay or neuter! And yes, there are way to many folks breeding dogs, I see the pyr and other guardian dogs for sale all the time. We all realistically know that not all the dogs in every litter will ever make good guards! Yet they are all sold to this. The ones who don't work out are dumped or picked up by shelters, then the Pyr rescue gals find them, and then try to find homes for them, and how many folks want a 100 pound shaggy dog for pets, when in reality since they didn't work out for what they were bred for they should have been put down by the original breeder or owner. I think all pups should be microchipped, so when your great dog ends up in a shelter we can contact you (the breeder) and you can pay for the spaying and neutering and find your pup another great home! I know there are great breeders out there, problem is the puppy mill mentality and also the backyard dog owner, who instead of spaying and neutering lets unwanted pups and kittens be born. Which cost more to raise than the original spaying and neutering. And I don't think charging 35$ or 100$, is going to help with anything, and certainly not giving these dogs away. I think the shelters should be kill shelters.

My biggest beef are the fools who drop their dogs off in the woods! What in blazes do they think is going to happen to your dog? They are going to get ran over by cars, killed by coyotes or by true guardian dogs, or hit by bullets. None are going to find a good home, or run free! If you can't afford a bullet to put your own dog down, come and get one from me, and save me the hassel of having to do it after your dog has starved to death for weeks! And you do know, he has sat at the end of the road for 2 weeks looking for your sorry ...!!!

The difference between raising cattle, goats and dogs, is that unwanted, or genetically inferior cattle and goats can be eaten! It is really ashame that we can't utilize all these unwanted pets into at least petfood for wanted pets. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

Don't know if I ought to get into this one but we plan to breed American Working Farm Collies (which are NOT the same thing as a Border Collie, by the way) eventually, and have to object to show championships being used as a criteria for breeding dogs. Our dogs would be disqualified for registry if they were shown!! They are strictly a small-farm working breed, with performance criteria which must be met for registration. If any of our dogs doesn't meet the performance criteria, it won't be bred. If we have pups that don't meet criteria they won't be sold, or at least they'll be sold spayed or neutered, and, as Julie was commenting about breeders of her favorite breed, we will be very picky about who gets our puppies. But they are a working breed and won't be shown -- there are still a few good working breeds left that don't use shows as breeding criteria!!! As far as *working* dogs are concerned, showing and the whole AKC thing (and UKC, too, from the sounds of where they are heading now) has been a disaster! I have no problem with people breeding good pets, because there is a need for those, and there are people who really enjoy the whole show thing, and that's fine, too, but *please* don't make show championships a requirement for breeding dogs!!!! (Besides, it really isn't all that great for the genetics of your breed anyway, as the championship sires tend to be used more often than dogs without titles, and the gene pool gets smaller and more prone to genetic defects. This applies to all livestock, not just dogs.)

And I'm afraid that Julie is right about the shelters, especially the no-kill ones. They have quite a high overhead, and if they just gave the dogs away, a lot of them would be coming back repeatedly -- not a good life for the poor dog. People don't tend to value what they come by cheaply.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 08, 2001.

Vicki, you must have been writing at the same time as I was -- I just saw your response, and have to agree with the microchipping (though I suspect you wrote it tongue in cheek!). That is one of the things the American Working Farmcollie Registry has been tossing around, trying to decide whether it would really have any value in keeping our puppies out of puppy mills, pet stores, and shelters.

As far as the LGD's ending up in the shelters, I doubt that many of the ones that end up there were ever tried as guardian dogs. Most of them were probably sold to pet homes, to people who hadn't a clue as to what they were getting but fell in love with that fluffy little bear of a puppy. Herding dogs suffer the same fate. I just responded to someone on another list and will repeat part of what I said -- farms used to dispose of most of the litters of pups that were born to their bitches. It was harder to prevent unwanted litters before spaying/neutering became common, and prior to electric fencing to keep dogs in heat confined. But most people had enough sense to realize that there wouldn't be good homes for all those pups, and got rid of them at birth. Pretty much akin to those of us who don't raise all our buck kids on milk we need for other things. (Though there is getting to be more of a market for goat meat, making the bucks more worth raising in some cases.) When we start breeding, we won't have litters unless we have a waiting list of qualified buyers waiting for pups. And if we have too many pups, or a stray mutt happens to get to my female, I'm hard-nosed enough to dispose of the puppies (I think -- I may have to pay the vet to do it -- that's not an easy thing to do!). I know that will upset some people, but as much as I care for my animals, they all have to pull their weight, including the dogs. And I don't want to be sending puppies out into the world that end up dumped at the end of Vickie's drive to starve!!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 08, 2001.

As a person who loves dogs, and has shown and bred them, I can't resist this subject. First of all, I abhore puppy mills, but if I choose to breed my bitch and place all the puppies in pet homes, that doesn't make me a puppy mill. It's also nobodys business but my own. There's a huge market out there for purebred dogs and lots of folks are smart enough to supply it. I know a couple of people who consider their dogs to be livestock, but they feed, house, and doctor them very well. They also make money on them. I have finally figured out that I have no stomach for the show world, and the snobs who think they are the only ones smart enough to be breeding. I've been royally screwed by some of the giants of the breed, who are themselves in it for the $$, they just aren't as honest about it. If someone finds a breed that he or she enjoys, has a market for the puppies, and is willing to take excellent care of their animals, go for it.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Okay, I have a question then. As I said earlier, I wouldn't breed my dog because I figured no one would live up to my criteria. That's my personal decision. But if you are going to breed dogs and sell them, how do you know what kind of a home you're selling them to? How many times a year do you do follow-ups on the dogs. Even the woman who sold me the good healthy puppy never called or asked after we'd left the house. The only follow-up I had from the #1 puppy mill was that they'd send me the papers AFTER I sent them signed certification from my vet that she had been neutered. Never heard from a one of them again. I occasionally wrote THEM letters to say the dog was fine (or in the case of the #1 puppy mill-er, that the dog had died of massive health complications. Didn't get acknowlegement.)Only #3 corresponded, and did have a policy to take back dogs that were neglected, abused, or if given up, had to return to her.

How do you make sure your puppies aren't going to a puppy mill as 'breeding stock'? One of the rescue dogs I've met locally was kept by a family exactly 24 hours before they dumped him at a shelter -- a six week old puppy! I've also seen one family go through 5 purebred dogs of different breeds and drop them all at the shelter after a week or two, because they didn't like this one either. HOPEfully you can sift such wastes of air out before letting them have a puppy, but 5 breeders missed this.

I also headed off a woman at a pet supply store because she was carrying an adorable Westie pup on her arm, less than ten weeks old because the ears hadn't come up yet. I talked to her a while, altho she wasn't much interested in having the phone number of a person who owned the breed for 18 years as a resource, even tho this was their first Westie. 'Ignorance' warnings started going off in my head. Then she let it slip that someone in their family had dog allergies, and they had given up other dogs before this "maybe THIS one won't cause allergies" Yet someone sold this perfectly lovely looking pup to this this....woman. Wonder where he ended up when the allergies kicked in. I pushed my phone number on her as the only thing I could do, and said if she decided to give the dog up to call me. I haven't heard from her, but given the casual way she took the number, I doubt she kept it.

There ARE lots of good small breeders out there! Those are the people I really want to reward by buying their pups, but at the same time, I'm in a quandry of existing lives that will be snuffed out. I'm not hard hearted enough to just say off them, so of course that means I have to be one of the ones cleaning up other folks messes. I don't want to be accusative as to who is/isn't bad among the dog breeders on this site, but I'd like the breeders, owners, and possible purchasers to think hard on these questions too. Some folks just aren't even cut out to BE a dog owner and should NEVER be allowed to have one. And if you run a clean and sane kennel that is wonderful and great -- but I think it is also on anyone who truly loves their dogs to consider what IS going on in puppy mills to dogs. Your pup could very well end up there.

If you're willing to have your guts wrenched a bit and your heart bruised, and still be willing to help where you can in this life, visit this website and SEE first hand some of the dogs rescued from the mills. http://www.hua.org/nexthome.html Yet another -- http://www.nopuppymills.com/ . And an article concerning pet overpopulation -- http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp? c_id=287960 The last one raises some very good questions about why breeders are letting dogs (and kittens) out of their hands without neutering them first and stemming the tide of unwanted animals. Food for thought.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 09, 2001.

WOW ! This is my first time at this forum and was I ever surprised how Lisa's letter turned into a red-hot debate. I think that everyone who answered is a dog lover and as we all can see there are no clear answers to the over populated pet problem. Too many irresponsible people in relation to the responsible ones. I know we would all love to see the senseless suffering of any animal stopped. I too am a dog lover, lover of all animals, and I had never heard of puppy mills until I looked into buying a puppy 13 years ago. I read several books before choosing "my" breed and then called our local breeders assoc. to find a reputable breeder. I paid $500 for a mini schanuzer female puppy. Everyone said I was crazy and $500 was a lot of money to us then as it is now. But our "Stormy" is worth every penny. The breeder wouldn't give me her papers until I had proof of spaying her because she didn't want any of her puppys to be the start of a puppy mill. I had Stormy spayed and never returned for the papers. My goal wasn't a papered pet, my goal was a healthy and well adjusted family companion. As in everything you get what you pay for and a well informed decision is usually the right one. Our Stormy is now 13 and still very healthy. I have never once regretted the $500 I spent to have her with us. I too would like to participate in the resuce program. I think it's one of the better answers to some of the pet problems. Thanks to all out there who work to make a better world for the animals.

-- Cindy Palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 10, 2001.

Just to add my obnoxious two cents: when my kids were tiny my inlaws had chihuahuas. They used to chase my sweet babies around the house whenever they visited. I hated em. Never have been able to get over my bad vibes about Chihuahuas......and that goes double for the Taco Bell creepy thing!!

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 11, 2001.

I don't necessarily find it humorous when someone says they raise dogs to make some money bec you can't! I like chihuahuas but find it very hard to housebreak them..had only one and it wasn't mine..it was my roommate's. She REFUSED to crate train saying it was too cruel..the dog ended up on a ranch with several dogs 80 pounds bigger than him and he ruled the roost. They're worthless unless you like a dog that's a good watch dog..you have to be very careful with them and make sure they go to the bathroom outside otherwise it's very little pieces of accidents all over your house and alot of people can put up with that..I can't. That's why I prefer med to large sized dogs..easier to observe and better watchdogs.

Ted

-- Ted Hart (tedhart71@hotmail.com), January 12, 2001.

My dads chihuahua just recently had pups three where spotted, two where black and tan like the female and one was solid black. She was breed to a male that has thrown spotted pups before.All of them are spoken for.The female weighs just under three pounds, the male she was bred to weighs less. This is her first litter and he may breed her once more.

-- Craig Hoffman (choffman59@yahoo.com), April 13, 2001.

this is not an answer but i have a question. i am new at this so i hope its not a silly question but i have a male chihuahua and it is his first time breeding he only tied with her once & she wants him still but he just goes away from her and if they just tie once how long do i wait to take her to the vet to see if she is pregnant?

-- ruth vernon (ruff_62@yahoo.com), May 07, 2001.

Ruth, I don't know the answers to your questions. I'm responding because you say you're new and I don't recognize your name. This is a old thread and you may not get any answers to your question. It usually works better to start a new thread with your question.

To start a new thread, look at the top of the main listing, and click on "Ask a Question" -- then there will be instructions of how to post the question. Hope this helps!

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), May 08, 2001.

I USED TO SHOW DOGS BUT I FIND PUREBREDS NOT TO BE THAT HEALTHY TO BE TRUTHFUL.READ THE BOOK "THE PUPPY REPORT".KENNEL CLUBS HAVEN`T REALLY DONE THAT WELL AS I SEE IT. BULL TERRIORS WERE BRED FOR A CERTAIN LOOK[NOW THEY HAVE EYE PROBLEMS.LIKE THEIR TEAR DUCTS DRY UP,THEY CAN`T SEE STRAIGHT IN FRONT OF THEMSELVES WITH THEIR TRIANGULAR EYES,WEAKER JAW,SOME HAVE RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS,MOST ARE ON CORTISONE IN MY AREA,COAT SO SHORT THEY SUNBURN,SKIN PROBLEMS,ETC ETC] THE AUTHOR GIVES ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT KENNEL CLUBS HAVE DONE TO BREEDS THAT IS NEGATIVE.WHEN YOU BREED A DOG FOR A CERTAIN LOOK OR COLOR THAT BECOMES FASHIONABLE.YOU RESTRICT THE GENE POOL THAT WAY.ELIMINATING A PERFECT SPECIMENT BECAUSE ITS NOSE ISN`T ALL ONE COLOR OR THERE IS A PATCH IN THE WRONG SPOT. I PREFER THAT A DOG SHOULD BE JUDGED BY HIS ABILITY TO DO WHAT HE WAS BRED FOR.[HUNTING,POINTING,RETRIEVING,FIGHTING,GUARDING, RUNNING,HERDING,TRACKING ETC.]HEALTH,STAMINA,STRENGTH,INTELLIGENCE, SPEED ARE BETTER CRITERIA THAN PICTURE PERFECT.SO WHAT IF THE NOSE HAS A SPOT,AN EAR DROOPS,HE HAS A MARK,HE`S 1 LB TOO HEAVY. OLYMPIC ATHELETES ARE JUDGED BY PERFORMANCE NOT LOOKS.IF BASED ON LOOKS ALONE OUR WORLD RECORDS WOULD BE LOWER.

CORDWOODGUY PS:READ THE BOOK I DON`T THINK I WILL EVER OWN ANOTHER PUREBRED DOG AFTER READING IT. WHY I STOPPED SHOWING DOGS. [1]I HAD THE BEST OF BREED IN MY AREA.WHEN I ENTERED HIM ALL THE OTHER DOGS WOULDN`T SHOW.[7 DOGS PAID UP BUT NONE ENTERED SO MY DOG COULD GET THE WINS...THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN COUNTED AS DEFAULTS AND MY DOG GIVEN POINTS] [2]I`VE SEEN DOGS THAT WERE OBVIOUSLY DEFORMED PROMOTED BY FRIENDS THAT WERE JUDGES. [3]JUDGES HAVE TOLD PEOPLE THAT THEIR DOG WOULD GO FAR IF THEY STAYED OUT OF THE RING.IF THE DOGS ARE THAT GOOD IT SHOULDN`T MATTER WHO WALKS IT AROUND THE RING. [4]I`VE SEEN JUDGES DO THINGS THAT ARE ILLEGAL AS WELL AS DOG HANDLERS [MY DOG ONCE LOST TO A DOG THAT I WASN`T REALLY SURE WAS EVEN THE SAME BREED.IT WAS DRAGGED AROUND THE FLOOR AND PUT ON LIFE SUPPORT AFTERWARDS.THE JUDGE FINISHD THE DOG FOR HER BEST FRIEND. [5]I FOUND IT TOO POLITICAL. [6] IF YOU WANT A CHAMPION SHOW DOG...BUY TWO UNCOMMON DOGS[RARE OR UNUSUAL DOGS].SHOW THE TWO IN SMALLER SHOWS WHERE THEY ARE LIKELY TO BE THE ONLY ONES ENTERED AND BINGO A CHAMPION.EVEN IF THEY WERE DEFORMED.

-- cordwoodguy (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), May 09, 2001.

Well I just read through this mess,and I tell you that if you love what you do and take care of your dog's go for it.I my self have 7 dogs of diff,breeds.5 are of biger dogs 1 I got from a dog pound and had her fixed as I did not want any pups,but thought she was and is a good looking dog we call her kesha.ALL my pets are fixed,I have a chihuahua male and just love him so.So I went out just this week and got him a girlfriend,and if I can do it I plan to sale the pups if not i will have more then 2 of them,lol. The dogs give me a feeling of belonging,if i'm upset then i talk to my dogs! no i'm not a nut.If i had the money i would have a place to keep unwanted dogs.some of my best friends were mix breeds,2 were dumped and i loved them untill the day they died,i have had 3 dogs that i have paid money for and you know it don't matter if you pay for your dog or it free or you save it from the pound,just give them good homes and love them.and if you dont like the dog after you get it,then find it a good home and give it away.I live in kansas and got a dog from texas mix breed,she is as dumb as a box of rocks,and i tryed to find her a home,but guss what that was 2yr's ago and i still have her!you know why? becouse i took her.and i will have her untill the day she dies,it's not the dog breeders out there it's the people who dont take care of there pets. AND THERE IS NO WAY IN H__L THAT I WOULD EVER BUY A PET FROM A PET STORE,BECOUSE MOST OF THEM GET THERE PUPPYS FROM PUPPY MILLS. Good luck to you.

-- Tina LaCrone (tinal@kans.com), April 03, 2002.