Category: Puppy Buying

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Looking for a Stafford?

I have noticed an increase in people reaching out for help after buying a puppy and realizing they might not have gotten exactly what they were hoping for. There is a real need for more education on this breed. A number of ‘pop up’ breeders are literally cashing in on the upsurge of popularity in Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

In an effort to educate we are working on marketing ideas to try to reach people BEFORE they purchase a Stafford puppy so we can make sure they are well equipped with all the information they need to make a good purchase from a breeder who will support and mentor them, a breeder who is involved in more than ‘making puppies’, a breeder who does (and can prove) all breed appropriate health testing, a breeder who will take back a dog they have produced for any reason at any time, a breeder who is involved in breed rescue, a breeder who is well educated on the breed – an honest preservation breeder.

You deserve to bring home a puppy who has been enriched and raised in a loving home environment for the first 8-12 weeks of its life. You deserve the correct temperament. You deserve a happy and healthy, well adjusted puppy. A Stafford puppy should be confident, eager to learn and energetic. Whether or not your breeder feeds raw, naturally rears or not – they should be a well respected active member of the Stafford community. Help us help you!

The new marketing campaign will be designed to target regular people looking for a puppy so they have this information in hand! Tell us what you search for when looking online – tell us what you expect to find – tell us your thoughts on what you are finding when searching. Send an email to wavemakerstaffords @gmail.com with the subject: Stafford Search Study so that we can put together a helpful education campaign.

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Why the intense interview?

Our application is very lengthy. Our interviews are quite in depth. We do home checks. We talk on the phone with people interested in buying a dog from us. We meet potential buyers in person and ask they visit us or we meet them at their home or a show or event. We have a very detailed contract and we discuss this contract with our buyers, negotiating it and altering it until both parties are in total agreement. We are interested in the well being of the dog we are selling – we have to trust the home it goes to – we have to know for certain the dog will be fairly treated, well cared for, loved and kept in a healthy environment. Our interest stems from a responsibility we accepted when we decided to breed a litter or do rescue.

We are very open on this website, in person, in writing and on the phone about the types of homes we seek out. There is no hidden or shady agenda. We answer emails, phone calls and PMs and will also tell a person if they are not a good match for us.

Sometimes we make errors in our judgement and we have to live with that. We have blogged about one huge mistake we made in our first litter. Scroll back in the blog and you can read the details for yourself – but let’s just say – we won’t make this mistake again. So if you contact us and you feel we are being a bit too ‘intense’ please know the reason for that is our history of being scammed and our dedication to protect the animals we are responsible for.

If all you want is to PayPal your money for your 1st, 2nd, 3rd pick puppy and be on your way ….well we are not your breeder.

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An Open Letter to All Breeders

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL BREEDERS
By Lynsey Smith 

-If you don’t have goals: DONT BREED.
( Producing “great” pets, or big and impressive ISN’T a goal). Far too many breeds have been RUINED because people breed simply for pets with no REAL goals for the breed. 

-If you don’t TEST your dogs in some way (health and/or temperament and working ability) DONT BREED 

-If you don’t research the history of the breed to know what to look for (other than “great” pet or big and impressive) DONT BREED 

-If you don’t become familiar with the dogs within the pedigree of your dogs in order to know what traits may show up in a breeding: DON’T BREED 

-If you breed back to back to back to back to back: STOP BREEDING 

-If you never hold any pups back to watch how they develop in order to determine if you are meeting your goals: DON’T BREED 

-If you make “picks” at birth or a week old BEFORE a pup can even show you anything about itself other than it’s sex and color: DON’T BREED 

-If you will sell a puppy to anyone with the cash or to someone who knows nothing about the breed and you dont bother to educate them: DON’T BREED 

-If you “ride coattails” of other breeders in order to talk up your own dogs even though you have done nothing with them yourself (ex: “champion bloodline” or has a “famous” dog back in its pedigree): DON’T BREED (get off your arse and prove your own dogs first) 

-If you do not know your own dogs pros and cons and are unwilling to acknowledge their faults and adjust your program accordingly: DON’T BREED 

-If you do not offer to take back dogs or puppies if they are not working out for whatever reason and will allow a dog that YOU brought into this world to end up in a shelter or worse; don’t say that you LOVE your breed b/c clearly you don’t so do the dogs a favor and DON’T BREED 

-If you are unwilling to learn from others, take advice (good and bad) and in the process BETTER THE BREED: DON’T BREED 

-If your aim is to make a name for yourself or fatten your wallet and not to better your breed: DON’T BREED

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Purebred Pride

We receive a LOT of interest in our Staffords. We might receive half dozen plus emails, PM’s, calls and yes even texts from strangers asking to purchase a puppy weekly. Here’s some advice. Don’t send a text asking for a puppy. Further, how about an introduction?

We ALWAYS ask everyone to please read this huge website prior to filling out the application to see if we are a good fit before wasting either of our time. There is a reason we have such a detailed website instead of how most breeders have – just pages showcasing their dogs accolades (or perhaps not) with an application, non refundable deposits and a wait list.

We do not pay our bills on the uterus’ of our Staffords.

We do not have a litter of puppies so that you can have one anytime you ask. There isn’t a kennel full of puppies out back for you to select any color you want. Far from that! Our dogs are our pets first. They live with us and enjoy being spoiled daily. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

We do not promote breeding for those who do not really truly understand this breed, are dedicated students of this breed, fully health test this breed, are active in breed clubs, help with rescue, live with your dogs inside your home, train using positive methods and extensively screen potential buyers including keeping in contact with them for the lifetime of the dogs you sell (to the best of your ability). We are not here to populate the world with Staffords. We have been actively involved in rescue for so long that we KNOW those who do not do the above will sell to people not prepared to be Stafford owners and we end up cleaning up after them.

We also do not sell to people looking to produce ‘sport mixes’. Why on earth would we dedicate 15 years to this breed and turn around and sell to someone we barely know who has zero knowledge of our breed approve of them breeding our fully health tested, carefully bred, Puppy Culture raised purebred Stafford with a fantastic pedigree to be used to make mutts? No way. So don’t even ask.

Too many ignorant people are breeding dogs without a care in the world what becomes of them down the road. We are not in that category. Not even close. So stop. Ask someone else if you can have their puppy. We want to sell to carefully screened, loving, dedicated people who become family. It doesn’t always work out this way but this is what we strive for. We may not be your breeder and that’s fine with us.

May the future of the Stafford be protected and may they enjoy the luxury of not becoming any more popular….for their sakes.

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The Dominance Controversy

10 Great Reasons NOT to Copy Cesar Millan
I will forgive the writer for using the term ‘guardian’ and not owner only because she uses so many other wise words in this blog entry.

“The one thing all dog trainers will agree on is that the others are wrong”

I don’t know who said that first but in my experience its certainly true. No wonder most pet owners are confused. Before I knew any better I too was influenced by a local guy who a ton of dog owners referred to as our very own dog whisperer. I took a badly bred, very reactive dog to his class. I watched in horror as this man proceeded to place a prong collar on my dog and yank the crap out of him in order to get his attention. Wow. When that did not work he placed a shock collar on him, except he referred to it as a ‘stimulation training device’. I will never forgive myself for what I allowed this person to do to my dog and for me thinking this was acceptable. Times have changed.

His end goal was for the dogs to basically behave like doormats. He was a tape recorder telling us that we are the pack leader, we are in charge, we are in control….blah blah blah. Bullshit.

I bought/adopted/owned dogs all my life. I live with dogs for the interaction and pleasure of enjoying each others company. If I wanted a doormat I could buy one at Home Depot. I didn’t want to hurt my dogs. I didn’t want them to obey me because they feared me. I want them to make decisions to do things with me and enjoy these things. Granted, nail trims, baths, grooming are not always exciting activities but they also do not have to be torturous or scary!

Cesar Millan did a lot of things for dog owners. He did bring to attention the need to interact with the animals. At least people did see that they should spend time with their pets. BUT he also (having zero credentials) was offering some terrible advice on his reality show. He was cruel to the dogs. Watch a show of his with the sound off. Look at the dogs body language. Do you see fear? Do you see joy? The man is cruel. He is barbaric in so many ways. He teaches people that in order to live with a doormat . . . erm, a dog, that they must use force, intimidation and pain. Boy was he wrong.

I urge you to click the link below and read Dr Sophia Yin’s post on dominance. It’s lengthy but super valuable! After reading both articles posted here think about how you feel about what Mr. Millan tells people on his reality show and decide for yourself how you plan to engage your dogs. My hope is you choose a positive approach, offering choices to your dogs and engaging them in the learning process with you.

https://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/

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The Shops at TSK

We have been hard at work over the past year building an online shopping ‘mall’ to help support the growing need for funding for Stafford rescue. Sadly we are now helping families re-home their pets mainly due to lack of support from their breeders. Some breeders are also selling puppies to anyone with the cash without any screening to see if the breed is the right match for them. In the last year I personally have helped place 8 Staffords in this situation. Its not the fault of the dogs and in part (although they should have done more research and training) its mostly not the fault of the owners. Breeders need to be a LOT more careful where they sell Stafford puppies.

In an effort to replace funds spent this shop is ‘softly open’ for business. Here you will find an ever changing array of merchandise with various original Stafford artwork, club logos, show fund raisers and more and always a portion of your dollars spent go to the TSK rescue fund. If a design is for a club or a show then the majority (80%) goes to that club. From the remaining 20% we take out our expenses and the remainder goes to rescue. On all other designs the majority (all except operating costs) goes to the TSK rescue fund.

ENJOY!

https://www.thestaffordknot.com/shop/

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No good deed goes unpunished

I volunteer my free time to help Staffords. I do this freely and of my own will. I spend hours each day on some sort of project related to Staffords. I am either promoting The Stafford Knot, helping raise money for the parent club, assisting with rescue, running online auctions where I give away my own items, making craft projects to raise money or in some way spending my own valuable time giving back to the breed. I have done this for almost 15 years. Nobody makes me volunteer. I actually have wanted to stop for many years. I fill voids. I feel that if I stop, someone else will pick up where I leave off and fill these voids. They will have their own way of giving back which won’t be exactly like mine, but they will do these jobs. For the most part, these are thankless jobs. Nobody notices when you do them, but if you stop – they notice. I want to discuss rescue today.

Over the years there have been many many Stafford breeders doing rescue. Ginny Antia, Susie Keel, Tony George, Kristina Estlund are but a few who spent years helping to find homes for Staffords in need. It’s a LOT of very exhausting work. You end up in some emotional situations usually. I find it to be more difficult than just about any dog related volunteer job. You seem to be both everyones savior and enemy all at once. MY main goal when helping with a rescue or a re-home is the dog. I care about the people, some. But mainly I am helping the dog. I want the Stafford to end up in a home as good as, or better than my own. Screening, interviewing, analyzing, evaluating, training, vetting, marketing each dog requires a different set of skills and different other volunteers in order to make things run smoothly. They rarely run smoothly.

What we want to offer is a safe, open, honest line of communication so that all bases get covered. What we end up doing is refereeing the judgement and scrutiny of those NOT volunteering their own time and resources. We end up having to spend hours defending ourselves, arguing over details, listening to emotional owners, breeders, rescue people and FB rescue police. None of that is a productive way to spend my time. I refuse to contribute to non productive use of my time. I focus on the dog. I focus on screening potential new homes.

Believe me when I say I have far better ways to spend my time than looking for homes for homeless dogs. I would love to be able to say – that’s it. You are on your own. I am no longer available. I get no benefit by doing rescue except one. When I get emails from new owners with photos of happy dogs in loving homes I get great joy. Thats why I continue.

Sometimes we run into a situation where an owner asks for assistance due to not finding resolution from their breeder. I make myself available to assist them the same way I would for anyone else. The first question I ask is “Have you contacted your breeder to request help”. I ask this every single time. If the dog is in a shelter we try to figure out the breeder. If the dog is on CL we try to find out the breeder. As long as the breeder is aware the dog is in need, then its up to the breeder to help. I never prevent this. However, sometimes there is friction between owners and breeders for whatever reason. This is not my business. I have nothing to do with their relationship. Again, my focus is the dog. If a breeder and an owner cannot communicate thats between them. If I am asked to help find a home for a dog, I evaluate then market the dog. I might make myself available as a shoulder for the emotional breeder, owner, shelter worker, new owner – whomever needs support or guidance. If money needs to be raised, I do that. If transportation needs arranging, I do that. If medical attention needs are required I have that taken care of. If the dog needs training, I help arrange that. If a foster home is required, I help arrange that. I focus on the dog. Period.

You are welcome.

If anyone reading this would like to take over at any point please do. I am more than ready to hand you the keys.

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Who would ever know?

In the days prior to Facebook we had Bullbreeds Online. Before that Yahoo groups. Prior to that there was Compuserve chat rooms. Even before that, before the internet, people actually called on the telephone to speak to one another. The phones usually were attached to walls or at least a base unit was. Those who did rescue could have ‘telephone tree’ calls to arrange assistance to the dogs, the breeders, the owners. People actually SPOKE, in real works, out loud or sometimes even in person. HORRORS! You mean people actually looked one another in the eye and had conversations? Yes, my young readers. This is how it was ‘in the old days’ before FB.

When you have to look a person in the eye to speak it makes it more difficult to tell lies. Don’t get me wrong – there are those who are especially talented in this area who can still do this. Well seasoned at bending the truth, some people can make the world sound like just about anything they desire. Sometimes people lie for the sport of lying and sometimes they are ashamed of their actions and guilt makes them lie. Sometimes they feel no shame, and lie because its what they feel is expected of them. Lies simply flow easily out of their mouths any time they speak.

In dogs, here is the problem with being dishonest. There is always somebody paying attention who knows you are not truthful. Today’s blog entry is about breeders who routinely tell lies and think they get away with it. I want to begin by telling you that I have never in my life been associated with so many wonderful people who are passionate about a hobby they spend 24/7 living/breathing/enjoying. In contrast to that, I also have never met so many cold hearted fake egotistical sociopaths either. How can these opposing groups continue in harmony doing the same hobby? Well, my theory is that many of the passionate happy positive people aren’t aware of the other type – mainly because why would you seek that out? Sometimes it is best/easier to ignore those miserable, cold hearted, selfish, controlling, shit stirrers. Sometimes that’s all you can do. Today I am blogging because I am sick to death of those types and I feel strongly they are why breeders and dog show folk have such a negative reputation with the rest of the population and also why the few doing purebreed rescue get so burned out and disgusted. The loudest people get the attention. The angry loud few are what people remember most. And on top of that, when a person who normally is NOT like that gets fed up and becomes angry, loud and attention seeking – that’s what they will be remembered for as well. Thats a shame. What should be remembered – what SHOULD be spoken about are the others – those who ruin it for everyone. It’s those people who make us ALL look bad. I can totally understand why so many people, especially in rescue, HATE breeders. I get that!

Here is what I know as someone who has been devoted to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier in both rescue, re-home, fundraising, volunteer work, breeding, mentoring and educating – people tell me things. I listen. Now I will speak.

  • I know of a breeder who left a dog she bred knowingly in a kill shelter.
  • I know of a breeder who has had dogs they bred returned to them and chose to  euthanized rather than take the time to train/socialize/rehome the dogs.
  • I know of a breeder who euthanized a dog that was returned and then lied and told people it was placed in a wonderful home.
  • I know of this same breeder who has done this routinely.
  • I know of breeders who import so many dogs then sell them on like one might buy shoes.
  • I know of breeders who are pyramid sales type breeders – you buy a puppy and sign a contract stating the Stafford must be shown (maybe even by them, maybe for a handling fee), bred from and puppies given back to the breeder and that then you must carry on in the same manner…and on and on and on.
  • I know of breeders who would just as well breed on the 1st heat just as easily as taking 7 litters from a bitch.
  • I know of breeders whose dogs live in kennel runs on abandoned properties not where anyone lives and the dogs are visited once daily for a scoop of kibble and some water.
  • I know breeders who routinely keep non refundable deposits no matter why the puppy didn’t go to that home – even when its the breeder who turns the buyers down.
  • I know a breeder who makes their buyers use their stud dogs and charge the stud fees anyway.
  • I know a breeder who charged the breeder of their stud dog a stud fee even after being given free Staffords from the same breeder in the past.
  • I know breeders who lie about health testing.
  • I know breeders who lie about puppy enrichment protocols they claim to use but don’t.
  • I know breeders who care more about ribbons, specialty wins or how many champions they have bred than they care about the lives those dogs lead.
  • I know breeders who think they are the center of the universe and that all others are below them and must respect anything they say no matter how absurd their words are.
  • Sadly, I also know breeders who are hoarders and get in over their heads and cannot find a way out but are not able to ask for help.
  • I know breeders who lack so much confidence that they need a pat on the back for anything they say or do in order to feel okay and accepted.
  • I know breeders who collect semen like some collect coupons.
  • I know breeders who collect dogs like some collect coupons.
  • I know breeders who pay their bills by selling puppies but wouldn’t ever admit that they need the money and the puppies are how they earn it.
  • I know breeders whose actual self worth is based upon dog show wins.
  • I know breeders whose puppies are born and raised in stalls or basements, mostly unattended.
  • I know some breeders who may read this list and not see themselves on it.

I know a lot of things and I also know that for the most part, nobody really cares. Knowing all these things makes me sad if I think about them. In today’s world of having all your ‘friends’ made by a click of a button on FB, telling lies seems to be much easier. After all, who would ever know?