Thoughts from Akitas de MacLeod

Thoughts From Your Breeder

Our motto is "Our Akitas are members of our family until they become a member of yours."







Why Not A Pet Store?

Many people ask me why they shouldn't get a dog from a pet store. If they have been educated about pet stores a little bit, then they ask: Don't those dogs need saving too? - even actress Denise Richards was quoted saying something similar about saving her dogs from pet stores at the mall. Below is my answer!!!

(You can find the exact definitions of my terminology used on the internet with vet little surfing, or just check the AKC website, but here are the cliff notes...)

    Animals at pet stores, including but not limited to the mall, usually come from "brokers".    Brokers are people that shop breeders all over the country or sometimes by a territory close to where they live.   Their job is to find breeders or puppy mills that will sell them puppies that they can place in pet shops. They pay the breeder a fee for the pups and then charge the pet shop a little more and the difference is their profit for being the middle man. Then the pet shop adds on a lot more and the final price is what they charge you for the same dog you could have bought directly from a breeder. But here is where it gets interesting....

    Breeders that want to be known as "reputable and responsible" have educated themselves about puppy mills and brokers and pet shops. They have said no to all of the above and will only sell puppies directly to the person that is supposed to love their puppy/dog for their entire lives. This is why responsible breeders have questionnaires and contracts; we want to screen out buyers that we are not quite as comfortable with.

    No here is where it gets really ugly.....

    If the "responsible and reputable" breeders have said they will not sell to brokers, puppy mills and pet shops, then where do the dogs at pet shops come from....draw your own conclusion but it is safe to say that those pups come from not-quite-as-reputable people. The pet stores have made a business out of making money off of animals.

    Back many years ago, when other crops weren't doing so well in the US, the government gave incentives for a new kind of crop.... purebred dogs. Primarily in the Midwest, where farm land was plentiful and inexpensive (of course the mills have branched out since then to other states), farming dogs became very popular. No matter what the initial intentions were regarding how these dogs would be cared for, it has turned into a puppy warehouse.

    Puppy mills now produce hundreds or more puppies as a business, operating on a business license and through the USDA, to breed in mass quantities. Dogs are kept in unhealthy and nasty conditions and breed continually to pump out more and more puppies. They are not given affection or love and are usually just caged for their lives, or at least as long as they can breed and then you can guess what happens.

    Now, think of a day care. One child gets chicken pox...what happens to the other 55 kids at that day care....they get chicken pox too. So what if one of these pups at the mills get kennel cough? They all do and the ones that get shipped out anyway go to Pet Stores and infect the dogs their too. Just as a note, when I have looked at the sad pups at the pet stores, there have always been dogs that cannot be held because they are "sick today".

    So what is the bottom line - if people stop buying the dogs at the pet stores, it will put the brokers out of business, who then won't be able to buy puppies from mills etc so eventually these horrible places will go out of business. Everyone needs to do their part to help.

We have been Akita lovers since about 1981 when we adopted a retired Champion , Tisha who was 2 years old. It was love at first site. We kept one of the puppies from one of her two litters (Total of 6 puppies ever), Orca. They both lived to be in their early teens and then we got another Akita.
From then on, we have been Akita addicts if you will. We find them all to be irresistible. We did not set out to breed but as we fell harder for the breed, we wanted to be more involved in it.

    We have rescued two Akitas from tough situations, and probably death. We don't breed every Akita that we own; we have altered some of them. However, every Akita we have, in-tact or not, is a member of our family. We do not have "breeding stock". We have Akitas that we love that we occasionally breed . All of our dogs, spoiled rotten as they are, are house pets (minus the safety precautions we take due to the number that we have). Below is a little bit about how we breed our Akitas.

    We will not knowingly sell a puppy with health issues of any kind. We prove that to you by providing a three year health guarantee. (See the contract section for details.) We know this is much longer than most other breeders and our answer to that is we are not like other breeders. We strive to give our dogs the best so that they may be the best they can be and allow for the best life with you as their new owner. Therefore if you decided you no longer want the dog/pup you get from us, for any reason, we would appreciate the opportunity to take the dog back. We promise that we do not judge your circumstances. We believe it is more honorable to agree that you cannot handle a situation that you have been put in than to try to make it through at the pup's expense.

    We want the Akitas that we help create to be pure Akitas. Therefore we will only breed our Japanese Akitas to other pure Japanese Akitas and American Akitas to other Americans. While we appreciate the parent breed, the Japanese Akita, we want to only create purebred dogs (as much as they can be). We believe that one day the AKC will recognize the American and Japanese Akitas as separate breeds as the rest of the world does and we want our pup owners to be prepared by knowing that they have a true pure pedigree.

    What is AKC to us: the strictest proof required of a breeder to provide a adoptive family with that they are receiving a purebred dog. Is this full proof? Absolutely not!!! Our own breeds are a perfect example. AKC and CKC (Canadian) still promote the American Akitas and Japanese Akitas as one breed; the Akita. They are obviously not, even to the "beginner" Akita lover. They don't even look alike. However, AKC is the best we have to offer, in the United States, to prove that our dogs are "pure".

    What are our feelings on health testing and clearances? They are minimum proof that the breeder can provide that the litter was pre-planned and not an "accident" (although we don't believe in "accidents" when it comes to our Dams' health). Can a pup be created by parents that tested clear on elbows, hips, eyes, and thyroids and end up with a health problem in one or more of those areas? Certainly! Testing is a minimum. It shows that we are thinking through our litters to create healthy pups. You should still find a breeder that is honest with you about the health records and how often they keep in touch with their pups new owners to maintain the accuracy of those records.

    What are our thoughts on showing? We do not believe that a dog has to go through conformation shows to "prove their quality". We believe that our dogs are pets first!!!!!!!!! and anything else second. We support anyone who wants to show our pup and will help them make the right decisions to the best of our abilities. If our abilities are lacking, we will point you in the right direction. We prefer that our pups are owner/handled or that the owner is directly involved in the show to make showing a more rewarding experience for all. We have owned an example of what happens to an Akita (Tisha) when it is owned strictly for showing and never learns how to have fun. Of course not all show dogs are this way, and the best way to avoid it is owner involvement.

I give you this excerpt from the ARSA website which better explains my sentiments exactly:

WORDS THAT MEAN VERY LITTLE:
"AKC:" The words AKC mean American Kennel Club, the registering organization for purebred dogs in this country. The AKC does NOT guarantee the health or temperament of a puppy and does not guarantee a breeder to be conscientious or ethical. The AKC simply registers the litter and will register your puppy, all for a fee. This registration is merely a quasi-guarantee of breed purity but even the AKC will admit the registration is only as good as the breeder who registers dogs. There are no AKC representatives checking each litter to be certain they are purebreds. That is up to you to ascertain. Therefore, do not let these words give you a false sense of security or in any way influence your purchase of a puppy. The American Kennel Club is interested only in putting on dog shows for purebred dogs, and those dogs must be AKC registered.

"CH:" The initials mean, "Champion." Frankly, that has come to mean very little and again, it is NOT a guarantee of overall quality. To become a Champion, a dog must be entered in dog shows and eventually, it must receive 15 points, including two majors (a major is a show with a large entry). A hundred years ago, the intent of dog shows was to exhibit the best specimen of each breed. With the high cost of purebred dogs and their popularity, those ideals have almost disappeared. Many AKC judges are "politically" aligned with professional handlers or well known breeders, therefore, they DO NOT award a win to the dog but to the owner or handler. That is not to say all shows are conducted in this manner but you would have no way of knowing if the "Champion," received his title based solely on the dog's merit or the owners connections. "Just about any dog can become a Champion given enough time and money," is a statement used by experienced dog fanciers. For that reason, keep in mind, the word "Champion" is not an indicator of quality. Most importantly, a show title DOES NOT guarantee the health of the "Champion" nor any puppies produced from breeding. One simple word, "Champion," can add hundreds of dollars on to the price of a puppy--a meaningless word with a heavy price tag. There is a great deal more involved in this controversial topic but time does not allow further discussion here.

They go on to say that the more meaningful words are "OFA, CERF, Thyroid panel, and contract"... and I couldn't agree more! To read their full article, see their website at this link: http://www.akitarescue.com/Finding%20a%20reputable%20breeder.htm.

    We promise that we will be around for you to ask questions to throughout the life of your Akita. We want to be an information source for you as you dog develops. We want to hear about how your training is going and offer advice if we can. We also want to be on the call list when your pup when his championship. We want pictures of you and your dog as you grow together. A smile is worth a thousand words... We believe your dog smiles too.

    We care about the Akita breed standard. For this reason, we only breed dogs that will give back to the breed for generations. We are selective about who we let our dogs mate with so that only positive traits are passed through Akita lines that are held in AKC records. We are devoted to and love Akitas just as much now as when we got our first in 1981. Ultimately, we do whatever we believe is best our pups and for the breed.

Your Akita Breeder,

Melissa