I got this email the other day from a friend who had told me she was getting a new dog — in response to my query: What kind? We’re getting a yellow lab. We went back and forth on purebred vs. rescue and it was a really tough decision. My dog is a rescue and…
How to recognize a good dog breeder
I’m going to set semantics aside for the moment — not to mention, again, the issue of whether or not rescue would be preferable to getting a dog from a breeder. People are going to get dogs from breeders, whether you approve or not. They should be able to recognize the good ones. Whatever a…
Dog Breeding & Its Discontents: Two Responses
Writer Jan Hoadly responded to yesterday’s post with a story called “Dog Breeding — Associations and Opinions” on the Associated Content site, adding some definitions to the mix. One thing I’d like to clarify about Hoadly’s characterization of my position: I only said I preferred professional breeders in my original Twitter post because of ignorance,…
Dog Breeding & Its Discontents, Part 1
The other day I got into a mini-argument on Twitter –well, in 140 characters it’s got to be pretty short — with a dog breeder who extolled the virtues of “hobbyists” as opposed to “professionals.” The tweeter proclaimed that hobbyists breed dogs for love whereas professionals do it for money, making the former preferable to…
Car travel, Part 4: Maybe I should fly?
I woke up this morning with a sense of dread — not uncommon, I admit, but this dread had a specific source. I’m planning to leave on Wednesday for San Diego to attend the surf dog festival and I’m worried about the drive with Frankie. It’s not a terribly long trip from Tucson, about 7…