I'm so sick of getting stuck with other people's irresponsibility

The BBQ Pit
1

I bred my dog with a friend of the son of a friend’s dog late last May. They had pups late July. Owner of the bitch needed a place to live right after they were born, I was hesitant. I figured that since it’s a litter of purebred pups we could sell them to make his rent. I had a bad feeling about it but told him he could rent a room from me.

Big mistake. The kid’s a typical irresponsible, beer-drinking 21 year old. Since he moved in I have sold one pup (my pick of the litter), he hasn’t sold any. They’re now 10 weeks old and quickly outgrowing the “baby cute” stage.

Fucking irresponsible roommate stayed out drinking again last night like he has for the last 3 weekends and came home with his loud ass drunk friends today. I’ve had enough of these damn puppies. I want to get my back yard looking good again, get rid of the dog shit and get some trees planted back there. I’ve had enough of getting stuck with irresponsible people’s problems just because I own the house. I told Weston today that he has ONE WEEK to get rid of these puppies and get caught up on rent or I’m changing the locks, taking all his dogs to the pound (not just the pups but also their mother and a second bitch he owns) and pawning his TV.

Yeah, me being “nice” has gotten me screwed again.

The bastard just came in and asked me if he could use my cell phone charger, I told him NO. He’s past his limit. CARD DECLINED. He looked at me like I have 3 heads.

Oh, and since this is the pit, goat-felching cock guzzler.

2

Neither of you should have bred the dogs without a better plan for taking care of the puppies and how you planned to sell them. Are either of you licensed breeders?

3

Breeding dogs to make money makes you the moral equivalent of a puppy mill. Reputable breeders work on getting buyers of their puppies lined up BEFORE the litter is whelped. They also have health clearances, puppy shots, etc., etc.

Sorry, no sympathy for backyard breeders here. What are you gonna do if you don’t find buyers – dump the puppies at the humane society, or drown them???

All I can say is I hope you’re not planning on doing any more breeding.

4

I agree with the previous posters, you bear some responsiblity for your predicament. Your idea was ill concieved, with insufficient planning for the future. Your stud sired those pups after all. You also should be more careful, since the laws have changed, and they probably affect you directly. The link is to a site that explains the law in-depth, though I’m not sure I’m on their side in this, I’m still considering the issue, and am finding myself in the middle, I can see it would affect rescues, and that I don’t agree with. (That is, if you plan on causing more litters to come about.) You’d better read up, and change your behavior before you get in too deep.

Also, I don’t think you’d have the right to sell his stuff for rent. I may be wrong IANAL, but most states frown on that kind of thing. You’d have to take him to court to get your money, after evicting him.

5

I see that I was in error, the site gave the impression that the law changes had passed already, they haven’t yet, but it looks like they will with the supporters PAWS has.

6

Have these puppies had any veterinary attention? If not, you’re probably going to need to get your male checked for worms after the puppies are gone. What kind of puppies are they?

7

Why the hell were you playing “breeder”, I ask you? Breeding dogs for profit never works out. Unless you’re into milling.

Most responsible breeders I have come to know over my years showing and training dogs LOSE money on a litter.

Do the responsible thing. Spay and neuter your pets. Leave the breeding to those who know what they’re doing.

8

I had an obnoxious alcholic roomate once who I was “nice” to for about a year. Accomodating this person’s irresponsibility got me precisley zero respect and a whole lot of trouble besides.

So I grew me some balls and said “enough”. I refused to cover the rent any longer. I threatened to take him to claims court for the rent he owed me, and said I’d help myself to his stuff in the mean time. Trash not taken out? I put it in his room. Dishes not washed? In his bed. Physical threats? I got me an aluminum bat, and the very demonstrable will to use it. Put a lock on my door. When he put one on his, I kicked his door in and challenged him to prove he didn’t do it during one of his blackouts. When he begged his parents to pay me the money he owed me, I didn’t let up. It took three months, but I finally drove the fucker out. He forfeited all rights and I good referral from the landlord, but she was on my side because it was not difficult for me to demonstrate what a douchebag my roomie was. Sorry you’re a drunk pal, but you’ve no right to make that my problem. I found a new roomie in two weeks once the tool was gone, and never looked back.

You have the means. You just need the will. Nice is fine for a while, but after that, you have to defend your interests and fight back.

9

Let’s see…that would be the people who gave us…Irish Setters with braincases so narrow they don’t have room for proper brains? English Bulldogs with heads so big the bitches must consistently be delivered surgically because the pups won’t come out? Teacup poodles with bulging eyes? Chihuahuas so nervous they stand and shake in place? Toy breeds of all sorts with breathing difficulties, eye problems, tooth problems? Chows that are a literal danger to groomers, as likely to slash without warning as to stand quietly on the table? Golden cockers with an undercoat so prone to felting that the dogs must be groomed almost daily? Cockers in general, who seem to have had most of their intelligence bred out of them?

And of course even cat breeders aren’t free of blame. How about purebred persians with no personality or ‘catness’ about them? All bred out, in favor of that plush long hair, and a flat squashy face.

I’m not saying people ought to breed mongrels. But don’t go praising purebred breeders without acknowledging that some of those “people who know what they’re doing” have turned good working breeds into creatures that suffer from ill health their entire lives, in the name of dog fashion and blue ribbons.

10

Actually, if I’m reading Elenfair correctly (and, if I’m remembering her association with a breed rescue or assistance dog training organization correctly), she’s not blasting all breeders, but rather the breeders who are actually responsible for the majority of breed-specific disorders such as you mention in your post. In other words, commercial breeders whose only concern is producing “perfect” specimens of the breed so they can sell them for big money.

There are many hobby breeders who breed for the love of it, and who have resisted the admission of their breed into the kennel clubs specifically because the obsession with producing animals that exactly fit the breed standard has such a huge chance of producing animals with major disorders.

11

These are the parts I’m having a problem with. Yes, Weston is a bad roommate, and probably shouldn’t own ANY dogs, but it doesn’t sound like you’re taking responsibility for your own parts in this drama.

12

While I agree with much of what you said, those breeds have been around a long time. Many today are working to fix the extreme dysfunction present within most breeds. A backyard breeder is unlikely to work towards any end other than viable offspring to sell.

Did the OPer have both animals CERF tested? Were they OFA certified? Has the litter been examined for congenital defects? Was the litter vaccinated? If the bitch needed a c-section did the owners have money set aside to pay for the surgery, or would they have had her euthanised?

Hate to generalize, but overall backyard breeders are a sorry lot.

13

To clarify - yes, there are horrible breeders in the dog fancy itself. I don’t consider those “responsible” breeders. Hell, I know an australian shepherd breeder who breeds 10+ registered litters a year, shows everything she owns, breeds it if it will sell, puts championships on dogs with questionable health, breeds them too, and has most of her “prize dogs” living in a kennel on her property. Most of her dogs are absolute basket cases but they show well.

That doesn’t make her a responsible breeder.

To me, responsible breeders are those who:
a) know the breed, and are trying to preserve its insincts/function
b) own limited number of animals as breeding stock
c) do things with their dogs - not just showing, but competitive obedience, flyball, agility, herding, hunting, lure coursing, whatever…
d) screen their breeding stock for every screenable problem: CERF for eyes, OFA for hips, hearts, thyroid, PHA, CEA in herding dogs, PRA in retrievers…
e) breed only when THEY want something, not just a litter to sell the pups
f) know the breed genetic issues and are willing to take back a puppy of their breeding at ANY TIME, no questions asked.
g) don’t breed for greed
h) only sell puppies on a pet-quality contract (not for breeding) and require puppy owners to spay/neuter their pet. Some I know even offer money back on the original purchase price of the puppy when the spay/neuter happens. Same with money back when they pass a basic obdience course.
i) socialise the living hell out of their puppies when they are little. Spend all the time in the world raising the litter. Evaluate the litter before placing the puppies.
j) grill potential new owners before agreeing to sell them a puppy.

Just my opinion, for having been involved in rescue, in SAR, Service and Working dog worlds for years.

Breeding to make money, or sell puppies, or to show “the miracle of birth” to little Bobby is not right. Nor is “but we just want a puppy like Missy, so we’ll breed her!” That can only end in tears.

14

Geez… I don’t know the last time I was this pissed off.

OP, you are an owner of a puppy mill. FUCK YOU. GO TO HELL.

Chotii, those health problems mostly result from BACKYARD AND AMATEUR breeders… no reputable breeder would breed “teacup” (<2lb) dogs, for example. What you said might have been true 40 years ago, but not so today. BTW, my Persian has plenty of personality, so you go to hell, too.

15

Preach on! My malemute is a rescue dog, and the girl I got her from tried to persuade me to breed her to her male–I pointed out the bitch may be purebred but isn’t AKC registered, let alone a breeding quality animal ([fond mommy] in spite of her undeniable fluffy cuteness[/fond mommy]) and got back an incredulous stare and a “but you can sell them for $300, easy!”

Uh, yeah, maybe so. And maybe she’ll whelp a litter of fourteen, have to have surgery to get them all born, then I have puppy poop for weeks, and all the shots and vetting and hip certifications to pay for, then I get to find GOOD owners to sell to (because I’d no more let an unqualified person go home with a malemute than I’d hand my grandchild over to a homeless schizophrenic alcoholic with a crack habit) and maybe they sell but maybe I get stuck with five or ten older pups I can’t place and yada yada yada…

Piece of cake, for sure… :rolleyes: Irresponsible breeders really piss me off.

16

Piling on…

My breed (Newfoundlands) has been terribly abused by US breeders. Joint problems are now practically the breed standard… Now I understand the trend is towards SMALLER, more apartment-friendly Newfs. You fucking lunatics, it is a giant breed. If you want a small dog, go fucking get one that was meant to be small. Leave my 160-190 pound males and 90-120 bitches the hell alone.

Oh, was there an OP about some roommate thing? :wink:

If your gut says it’s a bad idea, and you do it anyway, you have no one to blame but yourself.

17

While I’m sorry about your room mate problem, the puppies are YOUR responsibility. You agreed to breed them, which means you are responsible for them. Whether or not your room mate is behaving irresponsibly, the puppies are living creatures with needs which, as a matter of both urgency and ethics, must be addressed.

Have the puppies been vaccinated, wormed, treated for fleas and desexed? At ten weeks old the puppies are one of the important windows for socialistion. Is that happening?

The number of purebred, registered dogs which come through the shelters is very small. The numbers of backyard or puppy mill bred dogs which end up in pounds, rescue or dead is very large. You contributed to bringing these puppies into the world, ignorantly and irresponsibly, it is now your job, if your room mate is not up to the task, to ensure that they have the best possible chance of going to good, permanent homes, in the best possible physical and mental condition.

If you can’t, or won’t, step up to the plate then surrender the puppies to a shelter or have them euthanised. The world does not need anymore untrained, unsocialised, poorly bred and physically neglected dogs.

18

So, OP, are you coming back to participate in the thread you started?

19

Sorry to hear you’re having roommate problems, but I’m afraid I have to agree with the others here. You complain about dealing with someone else’s irresponsibility, and yet you’ve shown plenty of irresponsibility yourself. There are lots of dogs and puppies–purebred or not–needing homes. By adding another litter to the world, you make it more difficult for all of them to get adopted.

Those puppies are not an alternate source of income–they’re living things that need love and care. Now that you’ve helped make them, it’s up to you to provide that love and care until you can find homes for them.

20

Y’know, there are some eerie parallels to my last week here. I just got rid of an alcoholic roommate who took off owing me money. So I really, really can sympathize with that situation.

OTOH I also spent several hours over the course of a couple days at the humane society. A freind of mine lost her cat, and I was enrolled into going down there and looking for it since she wasn’t emotionally up to looking through all those abandoned strays.
So how do feel about your situation? You have as much moral standing as one drug dealer bitching that another dealer cheated him, which is to say none. You’re both assholes.