Public Education Alert

This is an alert to BMD fanciers to some changing needs in public education and solicit your help and the help of your cohorts who may not be reading this.

Definition of terms -

*puppy farmer person who breeds dogs as commercial livestock without effort applied to improving the breed

*dog broker: person who acts as a middleman in the transaction of dog to buyer. He may buy the dog and resell it at a profit or may receive a commission

*puppy mills: commercial dog breeding operations which may or may not keep dogs in humane conditions but who are focused on producing as many dogs as possible at as high a profit margin as possible without concerted effort toward turning out a quality product

*dog auction: run exactly like livestock auctions where high bidder takes the animal home

An ongoing investigation of dog brokering, dog auctions, US puppy mill activity and importing by brokers reveals that we are facing a new challenge in our breed. There is increased activity in puppy farmers' including Bernese in their inventories of brood animals. We are seeing an increase also in smaller (one dog owners) using bitches who were sold with limited registrations as unsuitable breeding stock, using these bitches for breeding and selling the pups as unregistered. Responsible breeders will provide a copy of an AKC registration certificate for the sire and dam of any pup offered for sale.

There's also an increase in activity in imporatation by brokers. The imported dogs are sold without their owners having contact with the dogs' breeders nor information on the dog's familial background.. Registration of puppies by foreign parents may or may not be possible. Assurance of purebred status is questionable until the foreign pedigree of an import has undergone the scrutiny of the American Kennel Club. Make sure you're getting a purebred dog by requiring proof that the parents of the dog are registered with the AKC on full privilege registrations or that the dog, itself, if imported, is registered with the AKC before you pay for it. If an imported dog is to be registered with the AKC, this must be done by the importer.

Bernese are being offered at public auctions, events whose patrons are puppy farmers. These puppy farmers set up future suppliers for brokerages and auctions. Puppy farmers sell other puppy farmers who in turn sell to brokers who sell to pet stores who sell to buyers who have no contact with the producer of the pup and not knowledge of familial history of health.. Such producers do not know where their pups wind up and subsequently cannot follow up on the progeny of their programs. Their breeding decisions are based on factors unrelated to familial genetics because they cannot know the genetics without tracking the progeny of their programs. Responsible breeders do not sell dogs to brokers or through agents or brokers to persons unknown to the breeder of the dog. The public is discouraged from buying dogs through brokers in such cases where they will have no contact with their pup's breeder.

There are many levels at which these challenges may be addressed. public education is one of them. These things need to be shared WIDELY by our breed fancy....as in ....tell everyone you come into contact with including breeders, buyers, owners to spread the word in the communities of America. We MUST use the public's influence in our effort to diminish the numbers of Bernese in exploitive breeding situations and the best way to alert the public is through our spreading the word far and wide.

There is a document here developed by BMDCA member, Ann Milligan. Feel free to copy it and distribute it widely. The document can be viewed here and is titled Things Conscientious Breeders Do.

The puppymill industry has set up several registries to combat the challenges the AKC placed before them by instituting the frequently used sires program. Included are these undesireable registries:

FIC (federation of international canines)

CKC (continental kennel club) )

These acronyms are remarkably similar to the legitimate registries, FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) and CKC (Canadian Kennel Club). It is possible that imported puppies will be touted to be registered with the FIC. PLEASE pass word along to the public to beware of these puppymill registries.

We need to get the word out RESPONSIBLE BREEDERS PROVIDE COPIES OF American Kennel Club or Canadian Kennel Club REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES FOR ALL SIRES AND DAMS of pups offered for sale. This is to assure that the parents were registered with the AKC as breeding potential animals and that they are purebred.

To be registered with the AKC, ALL imported dogs MUST be registered by the importer. Do NOT be victimized by exploitive importers. REQUIRE AKC registration BEFORE spending money on any imported dog. The dog may not be purebred if it is not registered with the AKC.

Included in BMDCA public education materials from now on will be found these items:

1) Responsible breeders will provide a copy of an AKC registration certificate for the sire and dam of any pup offered for sale.

a) registration certificates indicating "limited"registration indicate that the animal was sold as a non-breeding animal by its breeder.

b) registration of puppies by foreign parents may or may not be possible. Assurance of purebred status is questionable until the foreign pedigree of an import has undergone the scrutiny of the American Kennel Club. If an imported dog is to be registered with the AKC, this must be done by the importer. Make sure you're getting a purebred dog by requiring proof that the parents of the dog are registered with the AKC on full privilege registrations or that the dog, itself, if imported, is registered with the AKC.

2) Responsible breeders do not sell dogs to brokers or through agents or brokers to persons unknown to the breeder of the dog. The public is discouraged from buying dogs through brokers in such cases where they will have no contact with their pup's breeder.

3)BEWARE of prices over $1200 and check out such breeders carefully to make sure you're getting more for your money than just a dog. Don't get ripped off by an exploiter who knows nothing about his dogs' backgrounds.

4)Do not send money to anyone without seeing information on the parents and their families including some sort of documentation that the dogs are AKC registered. There are people selling Bernese from parents that were sold to them as non-breeding quality stock. Sometimes they sell them for the same price that you can get a dog from a more conscientious breeder with lots of service after the sale and documentation on the dog's family history of health.

5)Do not send money as a deposit before you've seen a sales contract. Conscientious breeders use sales contracts and want to keep track of ALL the dogs we produce to document how progeny from our programs fare through life. It's through this info that we can make informed breeding decisions.

6)BEWARE of imports that may be offered to you. Imports can be great dogs but it is likely in the current market that you'll be getting the culls from depressed countries which can be imported to the US cheaply and resold to you without the seller having any useful knowledge about the dogs' background

Your review of and compliance with items in this document will serve our breed well and help in our work to address future exploitation of our breed by profitteers who have little interest in the breed's welfare.

The responsibility for the protection of the breed is ours. There is no challenge nor threat to our breed's welfare that we can not address successfully if we act as a unified group of breed enthusiasts focused on providing needed services to all Bernese Mountain Dogs and their people.