Calling Ethical Breeders!

Are you an ethical dog breeder with heart and consider yourself a better breeder than the rest?

Here at Perfect Match Puppy our vision is BETTER PUPPIES MAKE A BETTER WORLD.

This vision recognises that puppies bred with love enhance the quality of life of people, families and communities everywhere.  Puppies bred with love, live long and healthy lives free from significant health or behavioral problems.  They are treasured by their humans and never end up in shelters.

To fulfill this vision to improve the lives of dogs and their people the role better dog breeders play is crucial.

To help us shape a brighter future for dogs and their people everywhere, we are looking for breeders like ourselves who are aligned with this vision.  What is called for is an integrity revolution in the dog breeding world towards breeding fabulous canine companions for discerning owners.

On top of conformation, “improving the breed” must now encompass the welfare and quality of the whole dog – including temperament, utility and health.

Being an ethical breeder is about quality assurance, providing a premium companion quality puppy to a better class of owner and being recognised and rewarded for it.   It’s about adding value wherever we can to the quality of puppies we release into the community as people’s treasured companions. I’ve been a veterinarian since 1983 and a breeder since 1992 and know first hand that ethical breeders reap the benefits of having long waiting lists of great owners willing to pay more.

Smart people are desperate for better puppies.   Due to escalating health and behavioral problems informed owners have lost confidence in dog ownership and dog breeders have been increasingly relegated by society to the status of lawyers and used car salesmen.  People just don’t trust breeders as a profession anymore!  This loss of trust is evident from the various new laws and regulations increasingly being inflicted upon us.

While many owners don’t put a lot of thought into the acquisition of their next dog, there is a growing and significant number who do, and they are eager to connect to breeders they can trust to have theirs and their puppys’ best interests at heart.  These smart buyers have done their homework.  Committed from the outset to providing a lifelong home for their puppy, they are savvy enough to know that what they get, they will be stuck with for the next ten to fifteen years, and are fully aware of the risks and pitfalls of buying a genetically or emotionally unhealthy puppy.

At present, smart buyers have a hard time finding ethical breeders.  When they do, they are willing to wait many months for their perfect puppy.  They also recognise the higher “companion fitness” quality of puppies from ethical breeders and are willing to pay a premium for greater peace of mind and a more enjoyable dog ownership experience.

Utiity:  
Irrespective of the many different uses breeds were originally developed to fulfil, today most puppies end up being someone’s pet,.  How good a job can we do as breeders to produce and prepare puppies to become fantastic companions in today’s world?   Fantastic companions are pups that grow up to be dogs with great health and behavior, so underpinning utility are temperament and health.

Temperament:
Super Socialisation of Puppies:  From 5 to 12 weeks puppies undergo their most crucial social conditioning. As breeders we are responsible for the formative first 3 weeks of this period.  Rearing puppies as part of the family with full exposure to the sights, sounds, gentle handling and smells of normal domestic life, rather than in kennels with little human contact is the biggest single thing we can do to set the foundation for a socially well-adjusted canine companion.

Health:

Giving our puppies the best possible chance of living long healthy lives begins by giving them unrelated parents.  As any farmer or geneticist who knows their stuff will tell you, inbreeding above a Coefficient of Inbreeding of 9% reduces vigour, lifespan, and reproductive performance, while dramatically increasing the risk of inherited genetic disorders, cancer and autoimmune-related diseases such as diabetes (up by 300% since 1970) and hypothyroidism which are escalating in dogs.

Owner support:  

Poorly informed owners can undo all our good work in preparing their puppies.  So ethical breeders must ensure owners are given support and advice that will lead them to optimise their first month with their new puppy towards great socialisation, successful potty training and manageable behavior.