The Importance of Purebred Dogs

PETA yells and screams that purebred dogs should be no more! They yell and scream that dogs should run free! That is great! Let's allow all dogs off the leashes and they can be free to do whatever they want. Run into traffic, jump on people and over time retreat into wild animals. Well, go to your local third world country and see the result of dogs that run free. I can go on and on, on this topic but instead I am going to discuss why I love and own and will ALWAYS own purebred dogs!

Before I rant, I want to tell you about the mixed breed, aka All-American breed dog that I shared my life with for 17 years. Superbowl, affectionately known as Soupie was adopted by me and old boyfriend on Superbowl Sunday in 1991. That year the Giants beat Buffalo when Buffalo missed the field goal. My old boyfriend being a die bard Giants fan wanted to name this little five month old 15 pound pup "Giants". Since I knew that the dog would not be much bigger than 30 pounds, I said no way. So I acquiesced with "Superbowl". I called him "Soupie". Some time later the boyfriend and I went our separate ways but I got the dog. "Soupie" never got to be bigger than 26 pounds and was sick twice in his life, once when another boyfriend thought that giving him a huge piece of steak would be a good idea. Fortunately, I was away at the time and the diarrhea that followed had to be cleaned up by him. "Soupie" got me through my darkest days and my best days in those 17 years. He lived long enough to see the Giants win one more Superbowl against the Patriots in 2008. He died shortly after that. Long life, healthy dog, adoption fee $25, best friend to me for 17 years why would I want a purebred dog when I never had a purebred that lived as long as he?

Call me a snob, I was raised with purebred dogs. My dad was an AKC judge. However, the reasons are far greater than that. The day that I told my dad I was going to the pound, back in 1991, to get a dog, "Oh jeez, whaddya doin' that for?" he asked. I told him that I knew that there was a Golden Retriever there and I wanted a Golden. Incidentally when I got there, the Golden was gone. I got the Yellow Lab/American Eskimo mix.

Getting such a dog, I didn't really know what his temperament would be. I didn't know that he'd be aloof, have a barking problem and didn't really like playing with other dogs. By the time I had children, I knew enough about him to know that he was not a GREAT dog for kids. Had I gotten the Golden I would have had a dog that was much more likely to love other dogs, not bark incessantly and be great with kids.

Had I purchased a Golden from a breeder then I would have known the dog's parents, met his grandsire and dam, as well as know if the parents had been tested for hip dysplasia and CERFed. I would also have a great idea of what other health issues may have plagued his line. I would truly know what kind of temperament he would have.

If I am going to spend my hard earned money on a dog and I am willing to pay $2500 for a dog and I want a purebred, I don't think that I should be forced to adopt a dog. If PETA has its way, that is what will happen. Another devil in disguise is HSUS. But that is topic for another blog.

One thing that people also forget, and I will duck for this, is that buying purebred dogs and showing dogs at Westminster is a money maker. Oh no! Not that! Some may say, how dare someone make money, well for those of you who are against making a buck, take a look at our economy. It is not the economy stupid, it is not spending money that is stupid. The more money that is spent, the better it is for the economy. The amount of money that is funneled into New York City for the dog show is phenomenal.

Think about it-2,522 dogs entered at $75 a pop. That is $189,150. Then let's say you have two nights in a hotel per dog. Now you know that it is far more than that, many are here for a week, top winning dogs are usinga lot more than one hotel room but for arguments sake, that is $882,700. Now there is food in restaurants, tuxedo rentals, cab rides, alcohol, theater tickets, parties, coffee, airfare. Ticket sales are another factor. A hot dog at the Garden is $5.25, unless you buy the foot long which is $5.75. The list goes on ad infinitum. Just on hotels and fees it is over $1,100,000. That is also figuring on the low end. The handlers fees, the pups that are sold at the show, the souvenirs at the show. The number of attendees at the show has not yet been determined but at $40 a ticket, it is a high dollar figure.

So will I always own purebred dogs because of the economy? No.
will I always own purebreds because PETA is evil? No.
I will always own purebreds because when I am going to add a dog to my family, I want to know what I am getting. When I train a guide dog for my daughter, I want to know that I am going to invest my time into a dog that will do the job. When I am old and can't handle big active dogs, I want to know that I will be getting a dog that I can handle. When I spend money on a dog, I want to know what background testing has been done on the dog's sire and dam, along with the grandsires and granddams, so that I know the dog I get, will be healthy and live a long life. I want purebred dogs becaue it is my right to own purebred dogs and until PETA stops that, I will continue to do so. If the tragic day comes in my lifetime and PETA gets their way, then I will still own purebred dogs. They may be hidden somewhere in my house but I will have them.

Just as all humans, I will need dogs in my life for different reasons. Maybe to protect one's store, maybe to herd sheep, maybe to do therapy work with small children. We need different dogs for these purposes. We can't have one dog that will be good for each of those purposes.

When I asked Andrew DePrisco, editor in chief at BowTie Publications, his opinion, he asked me, "Why do we have different cars? Do you want a no name Buick? People want choices, some may want a Honda and others want a Toyota Four Runner." Andrew added, "The Mastiff is the Hummer, The Shiba is Civic, The Boxer is the Audi. Drive what you want!"

Andrew additionally pointed out that we need to preserve the lineage of dogs. These purebred dogs have a history of several hundred years and they all have a history, a purpose and a part of our cultural history and just as the mother of the Nice Jewish boy wants a Nice Jewish girl for her son to preserve their history, it is important that we preserve the individual breeds.

Susan Chaney, editor of Dog Fancy, added that if all dogs become mixed and truly feral, which is what would happen than there is only one type of dog and not everyone is going to like the result. There will be unmet needs for people.

I can spend more than one day writing about this but before you buy into the lies that PETA tells, I implore you to do your homework. Purebred Dogs are important and it is important to preserve and protect them.