I completely agree that I would only buy with a hip score from both parents and tests for any other genetic problems either breed carries AND I don't agree with indiscriminate breeding, but (and I say this as the owner of a GSD) if I wanted a puppy and did not want to get one from a rescue centre I would happily go for this one.
Breeding for money is not too bad a reason for breeding, because you either breed something people want and will pay for or you stop. I have seen more people breed non-stop to get the one 'perfect' show dog, meanwhile producing loads of other puppies that need homes and won't necessarily find one. As well as loads of people breeding for stupid reasons like "I thought it would be nice" or "I always wanted puppies" or "My bitch likes being pregnant".
This particular litter are heavily advertised at the moment. The breeders usually concentrate on Bengals and BSH, these are apparently a one-off litter from their own pets. I, for one, certainly hope they are.
Booboos I see your point but the cost of one (at a push) or two of these puppies could have paid for the health testing of both parents.
I know they are not going to be (hopefully) bought by breeders but I am so tired of hearing people say their GSD or GSD mix 'went down in the back end' at six, seven, eight or nine years old, it is not 'normal' it is not 'one of those things' and a lot of the time can be averted or minimised by responsible breeding.
(As I have said before, we don't breed at all any more and probably never will do again, I just hate seeing dogs being denied the kind of/length of life they deserve because of health problems that are by and large, preventable)
I actually don't think that puppy is cute, I certainly wouldn't pay money for it, its sad to think that some do. I saw a dog the other day that was clearly a cross breed of the rottweiler with something much smaller, the frame just couldn't properly support the head or the weight, and it wasn't fully grown yet.
I don't know anything about this litter, but it is possible that both parents were tested. When we were looking for GSDs about 5 years ago prices ranged from 250 to 700 and the vast majority of breeders mentioned hip scores and haemophillia testing (obviously we only checked the actual documents of the litters we went to see, so in theory people could have been lying).
I don't necessarily object to paying for a puppy or giving an equivalent donation to a rescue home, the same way I expect to pay for a horse (although obviously not the same amount!!), so I don't have a problem with the price tag of this litter.
I know what you mean about the shape of GSDs! When we started looking for a pup in this country we had images of the GSDs we were used to in Greece. In Greece most dogs are mixed breed to a certain extent and GSDs were all relatively straight across the back. The dogs we were seeing here looked almost crippled to us with a pronounced hunch! I don't know if they are prone to more problems, but we decided that look was not for us (even 4-5 week old puppies showing a clear slopping, hunched back).
Nope....my first thoughts where FFS........I also love it when the ad states health checked/NOT health tested BIG DIFFERENCE.
I just think more irrisponsible breeding and as suggested above a rip off really, could get a well bred health TESTED pup for that price or less or a rescue puppy for half the donation with future neutering inc, vaxed and chipped, and I bet the owner breeder/rescue would offer back up, can u imagine taking 2 or 3 of these crosses back in a year if need be........good on them if they can, but my cynicalness says NOT.
*wonders if either dog was even hip scored* imagine a cross of these with crap hips on either side
I dont think either would have been otherwise it would have been stated i the ad surely.......instead of health checked, so a baic examination much the same as when a puppy is vaxed, ain't gonna tell u much other than the heart beats ok and it looks bright and it's temperature is ok
All pups are cute....thats their down fall apparently
This is my C&P from the SB where someelse posted a cute comment.
There is a 6 month old st Bernard in one of the rescues near us, will be neutered, chipped, vaxed and insured, has no issues, good with dogs and house trained, for a donation of £140.
and it's health tested
Oh, I did not notice this on the ad!! In which case, yes of course health tested is quite different from health checked! If the parents are not tested, they should not be breeding from them at all.
In case anybody stumbles over this when the add is gone :
[ QUOTE ]
Pyrenean Mountain Dog cross German Shepherd pups, ready 18/1/2010, chunky big boned, long coated and huge !! Mum and Dad can be seen. Wormed, health checked,micro chipped and 4 weeks insurance. £495 (Kent) (P)
* Price: £495
[/ QUOTE ]
At least they make it clear that the end result will be a big dog.