Weird woman got mad at me

[Stormy Peak]

So, I took AU to the farm and ranch store Friday afternoon. He's really grown into a gorgeous golden retriever...he's almost 2 now and he's filled out with a bit of muscle and his puppy hair has gone, replaced with a coat of really nice blond hair with reddish highlights.

As I was looking at some doggy treats, a woman came up to me and asked to pet him. I said yes, and she started to pet his head and back -she told me he was beautiful. I said 'Thanks' and then it got weird real quick.

She asked if I would hire him out for stud...she had a female golden.
I told her I had, had him neutered when he was 9 months old.

She absolutely gave me this shocked looked...her mouth opened in dismay... and I continued by telling her that he had to have each hip operated on due to severe hip dysplasia. Most owners of big dogs and especially goldens know that is a common genetic problem. Even when the pup's mom and dad check out ok, there's still about a 1 in 4 chance it can turn up in the puppies.

But even after hearing me tell her that he was neutered after having hip dysplasia so bad that it had to be fixed before he was even a year old, she said with some anger in her voice....
"You are so stupid! I can't believe you neutered a pure bred golden! It's terrible that he'll never be able to pass on his good looks."

She then proceeded to tell me that I could have made money hiring him out as a stud and that I could have also got about $100 per puppy born and they could sell for $600 to $1,000 each.



I told her "No, I wasn't stupid, I just had morals...and wasn't going to breed a genetically defective dog just to make money"

and I walked away from her.

I'm still a bit miffed about it all. I just walked about the store for a bit before going back to the treat aisle to buy Jaya and AU some treats. I just didn't want to run into her again...because I did have my cane with me today and I was very tempted to use it on her. lol -- and I really don't need an arrest record. I just can't believe she called me stupid for making sure AU would never be able to breed.

I'm about dirt poor but I would never make money like that....breeding dogs when one of them has severe hip dysplasia.
That women didn't even care that any resulting puppies could end up in a lot of pain, and need expensive surgery to correct it all.

My vet gave me a break in price, but her normal fee is $800 per hip. It can cost about $1,700 to $4,500+ per hip in many areas of this country since a lot of vets are now specializing and of course, that drives the cost up, when one's regular vet won't do the operation. My vet does all kinds of surgeries...and while not a specialist, she did an absolutely awesome job on AU. He runs and jumps and had no issues healing up.

Stormy

[Carole Hanson]

I’m so glad to hear AU has recovered so well from his surgeries, a happy pup is a happy owner!

I’m sorry to hear that this woman was so rude, I don’t understand why anyone would ever speak in that way to a stranger. You absolutely did the right thing by getting AU neutered!

[Nick Gilmore]

This woman sounds like a puppy mill. Thank you Stormy for doing right for the breed.

[Tammy Stawicki]

It's sad that she just sees dogs as a commodity to profit off of. Unlike you who sees them as a beloved family member and pet.

[Rochelle Bos]

Good on you for being so calm! I probably would have gotten her name and posted all over local Facebook groups telling people not to buy her puppies because she doesn’t care about health concerns in the animals she breeds.

[Darcy McBride]

Good for you, Stormy, for trying to explain to this woman. Trying to educate folk with that mindset is about all you can do. Some will get it, most won't. And the ones that don't will still crank out poor little pups with genetic conditions for other families to deal with. But, Hey! We can make a profit. It's sad.

[Stormy Peak]

Yeah, I find it so sad how people, in order to make money, can bring animals into the world with the full knowledge that they could be born with defects that can be extremely painful and if the wrong owner gets the puppy, they might not have the money to fix the problem. And often the owners are heartbroken over it, and have no recourse but to put the puppy to sleep...or worse...some owners will not do anything and their dog lives in pain for years.

Btw.. I wrote that stuff pretty late at night and when I read it again this morning I was dismayed by some words left out (like the word 'coat' in describing AU's blond coloring) I also left one sentence incomplete by making the second part of it a complete sentence. So I did a little editing to make sense of it a little easier. Sorry to those who had to stumble through the first draft.

Thanks for the kind comments too. When I bought AU, I took a risk. The breeder told me that the stud had been checked out and was ok as far as not having dysplasia and coming from a good pedigree line where it didn't show up too much. The mom, had never been tested, but she had 3 prior litters with only 1 puppy having severe issues and another 2 having mild issues that could be cared for with nsaids. And, as I mentioned before, even when both parents check out good...it's still possible to get puppies with dysplasia. I hit the 'bad' lotto with AU and his was so bad it needed fixed even before he was a year old. But, as mentioned... he's healed up great...runs like a flippin deer and jumps like one too : )

Stormy

[Noel Collins]

I love purebred dogs but can’t stand irresponsible breeders. Good for you.

[Anne Conradt]

"Some owners will not do anything and their dog lives in pain for years."

This. Scary.

[Dawn Palka]

Sorry you did not get a chance to raise cane with this piece of work. See what I did there?
Reminds me of something that happened back in the 80s: I was walking Ivy, Dobe #1. I noticed a car slowing down on the opposite side and thought nothing of it. The street that I grew up on was and still is very busy. I'm heading back home with Ivy when I notice the same car on my side; the driver slowed down/parked. OK, he needs directions to some place I think. Nope. He asked me about Ivy and if I would be willing to breed her to his male Dobe. I told him Ivy was spayed. At least I had to decency to wait until he drove off before I started laughing my fool head off. Someone hitting on my dog! Must have been the leather collar she was wearing.

[Gwayne's World]

Just today, a wired woman got mad at me

[Jo Ferris]

Well, she sounds like the type of person that explains why SO many breeds have problems, and bad stereotypes. Sadly in the next few years I'll be in the market for a GSD or Belgian Malinois as my first dog turns 10 in August, he's a rescue GSD/Lab/Collie, I've had him since I was 11 years old, he was 8 weeks. I've decided that I'd like a pure GSD or Malinois to take his place when it's time (hopefully still a long ways away!). Dogs are more than money to be made, they're family. There's no way I'm getting a purebred from a backyard breeder or puppy mill, I'll pay the extra money to go to a reputable breeder or adopt a dog from a rescue

[Stormy Peak]

Sorry you did not get a chance to raise cane with this piece of work. See what I did there?
Reminds me of something that happened back in the 80s: I was walking Ivy, Dobe #1. I noticed a car slowing down on the opposite side and thought nothing of it. The street that I grew up on was and still is very busy. I'm heading back home with Ivy when I notice the same car on my side; the driver slowed down/parked. OK, he needs directions to some place I think. Nope. He asked me about Ivy and if I would be willing to breed her to his male Dobe. I told him Ivy was spayed. At least I had to decency to wait until he drove off before I started laughing my fool head off. Someone hitting on my dog! Must have been the leather collar she was wearing.

Wow... I thought it was odd that I was approached by someone wanting to use my dog as a stud...but I guess there are people out there with that mindset, that it's just ok to walk up to a complete stranger and ask to use/rent/borrow their purebred dog to get puppies from them.

Dawn, didn't you have a doberman some 10 years or so ago, that got cancer and you went ahead with chemo treatments for him? If so, how did all that turn out? (I might be mixing you up with someone else. )

Stormy

[Dawn Palka]

Stormy, that would be Goldie the lab mix. Back in the early 00s, she was diagnosed with lymphoma and she was on Prednisone and some cancer med. The cancer did go into remission, but after several months, it came back. Hubby and I decided that she'd had enough. Now that I think about it, Goldie's been gone for almost 15 years.
Jo--Goldie's successor was a Belgian Malinois. Her previous owner only had her for a month before he decided that he'd made a mistake. It was my parent's next door neighbor and he was not dog owner material. Walks? What are those? What do mean I shouldn't keep her crated all the time? I still wonder what slop breeder would sell that person any dog, especially a high-energy dog that needs a ton of stimulation.
A simple internet search will, of course, bring up all kinds of Malinois rescues.
RIP Flanders, you sweet, sensitive, intelligent soul. (2/14/04-2/7/16)

[Stormy Peak]

Sorry to hear you lost Goldie after seeing the cancer go into remission for only a few months. Fifteen years ago... I think I was still on T-bred Champion as a moderator back then...might have been about the time I left...and that's why I couldn't recall how the cancer treatment went with your dog.

Yeah, it's sad how some people will just breed animals with no regard as to their health, or even trying to match them up with a good owner. Some dog breeds, like border collies, seem to run on nuclear power...and need owners who can keep their dog active in both body and mind. One thing I like about Golden Retrievers, is that they can be total couch potatoes, or go out and run around all day long. My niece has a border collie and that dog cannot lay still for more than a half hour before she's up and getting restless and needs to go outside to run off her vast stores of energy. Also in the case of a Belgian Malinois...those kinds of dogs, in my opinion, need an owner who is experienced with dogs....they're not really a 'forgiving' kind of dog when it comes to someone inexperienced in handling a very smart, large, and sometimes willful type breed.

Speaking of dogs... I need to take Jaya to the groomers here in about 15 minutes. I know it will be a stressful and terrifying experience for her - but it needs done, and my back just won't allow me to do it anymore. Do to her prior experience with being brutalized by her former owner and having feral like behavior...I will have to be with her through the whole process. I won't risk leaving her with anyone and risk the chance that they might talk harshly to her, be too rough with her or even hit her. I saw a groomer do that once too... hit a dog that wasn't behaving. It wasn't a hard hit...but it was still wrong for the groomer to do that. And with Jaya, it absolutely cannot happen. This is the first time I've used this groomer, so I don't know anything about her either...but she didn't hesitate in saying yes, when I told her about Jaya, and asked if I could hang around and be with Jaya during the process. (I didn't tell the groomer I was there to watch her... I just told her I thought me being there might keep Jaya a bit calmer and not be so afraid.)

AU is going to feel like no one loves him...he will have to stay home with the cat...lol. The spoiled little twerp thinks he should be allowed to go with me every time I leave the house. But at least he doesn't have separation anxiety and won't destroy my house while I'm gone... but I know he won't like it either.

Stormy