Registered breeders

JD Green

Good evening,

I was reading through a few threads on here and I was wondering why whenever someone asks about getting a dog they're always told to go to a registered breeder? I'm aware that rescuing dogs is suggested as well and I know why.


Kind regards
JD G

DBB

A registered breeder is one that is registered with the IKC.

Personally, this is not a good enough classification for my liking, as anyone can become a registered breeder, there are no inspections carried out, and it is true to say that a large amount of Ireland's puppy farmed dogs come from registered breeders. What's more, even if you make a complaint about a breeder to the IKC, they rarely do anything about it. I'm sure they have from time to time, but I have never heard of any breeder being censured, despite them deliberately and publicly defying the IKC Code of Conduct (e.g. breeding two purebreds together to make, and sell, "designer crossbreed" dogs.) All you have to do is pay the IKC your membership fee, and registration fees for your pups. It is not a quality control system, and it is not expensive to become a "registered" breeder.

Generally, and I mean generally as there are always exceptions, if you're looking for a purebred dog, you're *usually* better off going through the breed club, as opposed to relying on someone with the dubious title of "registered breeder". Breed clubs are generally affiliated with the IKC, but the difference is that they *generally* demand and enforce reasonably good standards of dog breeding and rearing amongst their members.

This is all very well if you have faith in the showing system, that it's good enough, and robust enough to select the healthiest, fit-for-purpose, temperamentally-soundest dogs for breeding. For many breeds, however, the show standards have fallen dismally short of leading the way in promoting these traits. Some Kennels Clubs are making little steps to improve things for some breeds, but from what I can see, they're emptying a filling bath with a thimble, too little too late etc etc

JD Green

DBB wrote: »

A registered breeder is one that is registered with the IKC.

Personally, this is not a good enough classification for my liking, as anyone can become a registered breeder, there are no inspections carried out, and it is true to say that a large amount of Ireland's puppy farmed dogs come from registered breeders. What's more, even if you make a complaint about a breeder to the IKC, they rarely do anything about it. I'm sure they have from time to time, but I have never heard of any breeder being censured, despite them deliberately and publicly defying the IKC Code of Conduct (e.g. breeding two purebreds together to make, and sell, "designer crossbreed" dogs.) All you have to do is pay the IKC your membership fee, and registration fees for your pups. It is not a quality control system, and it is not expensive to become a "registered" breeder.

Generally, and I mean generally as there are always exceptions, if you're looking for a purebred dog, you're *usually* better off going through the breed club, as opposed to relying on someone with the dubious title of "registered breeder". Breed clubs are generally affiliated with the IKC, but the difference is that they *generally* demand and enforce reasonably good standards of dog breeding and rearing amongst their members.

This is all very well if you have faith in the showing system, that it's good enough, and robust enough to select the healthiest, fit-for-purpose, temperamentally-soundest dogs for breeding. For many breeds, however, the show standards have fallen dismally short of leading the way in promoting these traits. Some Kennels Clubs are making little steps to improve things for some breeds, but from what I can see, they're emptying a filling bath with a thimble, too little too late etc etc

So even if puppie farmers can be registered why are people on here told to go to them when you could get the same breed but unregistered for a tenth of the price on Donedeal? Also out of interest how much does it cost to become registered?

Thanks for the decent reply too, I hadn't been expecting such a balanced view.

Cherry Blossom

Hi OP,

I generally would operate on a 'breed by breed' basis. Basicly where to look depends on what you are looking for exactly. Aside from the breed clubs there are also working dog clubs, some breeders fall into both the show dog and working dog categories. Genetics, what constitutes fitness for purpose, conformation, and prevalent heath problems varies between breeds and sometimes between working and show types.

These clubs generally have their own codes of ethics that breeders are supposed to abide by in order to retain membership. The best advice I can give is to thoroughly research any breed you are interested in, this should give you the best idea of what you should be looking for and where. There is an abundance of excellent resources on the net for research purposes, the most relevant and informative tending to be UK based breed-specific websites and forums.

Cherry Blossom

JD Green wrote: »

So even if puppie farmers can be registered why are people on here told to go to them.

To be perfectly frank the term 'registered breeder' has no real meaning unless people are specifying whom exactly the breeder should be registered with and for what purpose. I think perhaps you (or the posters you are referring to) may be confusing the term 'registered' with the term 'reputable'.

DBB

JD Green wrote: »

So even if puppie farmers can be registered why are people on here told to go to them when you could get the same breed but unregistered for a tenth of the price on Donedeal?

AJ explained it above, I think. There is, as such, no such thing as a "registered breeder", but anyone who wants to register their pups with the IKC must be a member of the IKC, and this is what I would take to be a "registered breeder".
It is somewhat ironic that a reputable breeder does not necessarily have to be a "registered" breeder in the above sense :rolleyes:

JD Green wrote:

Also out of interest how much does it cost to become registered?

The last I saw, it was €10 per year, or €100 for life membership.

ISDW

DBB wrote: »

AJ explained it above, I think. There is, as such, no such thing as a "registered breeder", but anyone who wants to register their pups with the IKC must be a member of the IKC, and this is what I would take to be a "registered breeder".
It is somewhat ironic that a reputable breeder does not necessarily have to be a "registered" breeder in the above sense :rolleyes:



The last I saw, it was €10 per year, or €100 for life membership.

I don't think that you have to be registered with the IKC, or be a member to register a litter, both parents must be registered, but not the owners.

Op, whilst IKC registration of a dog does not alone mean that the dog has been well bred, with parents having health tests, money spent on good vet treatment, food etc etc, without that registration it most certainly means that this hasn't happened. you have to ask why anybody that has bred dogs without them being IKC registered (unless they are working dogs, and the breeding has been planned properly) has done so. It obviously isn't to better the breed.

DBB

ISDW wrote: »

I don't think that you have to be registered with the IKC, or be a member to register a litter, both parents must be registered, but not the owners.

By jove, you're right There's a misapprehension I've long held, gone!
Absolutely agree on your point that if a breeder hasn't even bothered to get IKC registration for their pups, it's rarely good news. Either the bitch has too many consecutive litters, or she or the sire are too old to be bred from under IKC guidelines. Or the breeder is trying to maximise profits by not paying the €13 registration fee per pup.
Many, many breeders seem to tell the buyers that the IKC papers are "on the way", or that they'll "send them on in the post"... but this seems rarely to happen. In fact, I can't remember one instance of any owner being told this who subsequently got their papers, but no doubt there are some exceptions.
So, whilst IKC papers give absolutely no indiocation of quality, or background, or welfare of the pup in question, no IKC papers is almost always a really bad sign!

jimf

all you have to do to register a litter of pups with the kennel club is pay the fees show microchip id and pay 10eu membership end of story you dont have to pay yearly membership

personally i would always like to see the home environment from where puppies have come so always buy at source not at arranged meeting point

and never ever fall for the papers are in the post

Magenta

JD Green wrote: »

So even if puppie farmers can be registered why are people on here told to go to them when you could get the same breed but unregistered for a tenth of the price on Donedeal? Also out of interest how much does it cost to become registered?

Thanks for the decent reply too, I hadn't been expecting such a balanced view.

People are told to go to a reputable breeder because that is their best chance of getting a healthy, well-reared puppy.
Yes it will cost more money, but buying a live animal that is going to live with you for 10-15 years is not the time for bargain hunting. You wouldn't buy a car for 2k that wasn't manufactured properly, and wasn't being taken care of and serviced regularly, and expect it to be of the same quality as a 20k car that was. It's the same thing

Sigma Force

It's important to look at the whole picture, a registered breeder is just the start, being registered doesn't actually mean the breeder is responsible though it's just one more box to tick when looking at pups/dogs.

common sense, registered breeder, clean, healthy, proper paperwork e.g. vaccination/health certs/dogs bloodline, kept in the house, socialised with family, not over bred, minimum number of dogs bred a year and not bred on demand, potential buyers put on waiting list, breeder should ask buyer lots of questions and vice versa etc.

Registering alone is no surety, but so many people are taken in by it or some people will fork out hundreds when a pup is just half vaccinated and wormed.

andreac

There is no such thing as a registered breeder. Breeders can register their pups with the IKC and thats what people consider as being registered.

Just because a breeder registers their pups doesnt necessarily mean that they are reputable. Registered means nothing apart from resgistering the pedigree of the pups with the Kennel Club. It doesnt guarantee healthy pups or mean the breeder is legit.

Thats why its up to the buyer to do all their homework before they purchase a pup.