PSA Time!

Hello all! I know I've been a horrible blogger and I stopped blogging and broke all your hearts and asked for my toaster back and left you all alone. Life has been very busy and exciting over the past year - working with groomers and vets, and now at a wildlife sanctuary! The many animals in my life always come first, and it's been hard to find the time for things like blogging. Maybe if something changes I'll be back. I still spy plenty of breeders that make me want to concuss myself...

Anyway, the reason I bust back in now is to give you guys an update on one of our favourite BYBs, Mileen Coulter! She still has a million websites and breeds a million breeds (toy poodles, Yorkies, "teacup poodles", miniature poodles, Maltipoos, cockapoos, schnoodles, Morkies, Shorkies...). Still has the same weaselly NuVet health clause. Still advocates hybrid vigour in her Shorkies, and throws in this gem: "Hybrid Vigor means, "Physical or mental strength, energy, or force."AKC used this method to create the different breeds that we have today." Yeah, the AKC just loves that hybrid vigour!

Oh, and she's a confessed drug dealer. Yeah.

Look, I'm not here to judge, I'm just here to inform. And who am I kidding? Of course I judge. Dealing drugs says an awful lot about the kind of environment you live in! I wouldn't buy a puppy from a home like that. But then, I guess I'm just a cyber bully. [sad face] So, you make the call!

On a different note, I do want to say I've kept in touch with Steffy White of Priceless Pups, and I think it's fair to say that she knows how designer breeding SHOULD be done. She does health checks on all her dogs instead of relying on magical hybrid vigour, she clicker-trains her puppies, and she'll take back and rehome any dog she's bred if the owner should want to dump it, which she states explicitly on her website (compared to the standard NuVet health clause seen on so many other designer dog sites). One could get nit-picky, but the point is that she's producing happy and healthy family dogs. Which is, after all, the whole point, isn't it?

And, ya know, she's not dealing pot. That's a big plus.

Hope you enjoyed this PSA! MoT out (for now)!

The Breeder Wars, part 2: MoT Makes a Name For Itself

It's not slander if it's true, Cindy! [NOTE: Has been edited since I put this post up, but didn't look much different; just said "mutt puppies blog" instead of the more vague "a website", and that I can't be contacted.]

She didn't even link me. I linked her. Rude.

TRUE: Yes, your health warranty covers five whole years. Also true is that it's more questionable than green eggs and ham. Just look at all those loopholes. Puppies are not something to be fobbed off on people. My dog has a lifetime warranty regardless of health, and by that I mean if for some reason I couldn't keep him anymore, my breeder would gladly take him back and rehome him or contact a BC rescue on my behalf. Why go to the trouble? Because she'd rather see her former puppy placed back in good hands than imagine him winding up in a kill shelter. I couldn't buy from someone who'd have it any other way.
TRUE: You promote NuVet and your own brand of pet food. You know, some of us believe that breeding isn't about making a profit.
TRUE: You STILL have at least four litters on the go.
TRUE: Your puppies are ugly, Cindy.

FALSE: I have nothing better to do than talk about you and your breeding program? If that were true, Cindy, we'd be here all day.
FALSE: I can too be contacted. I have an email address. It's located on the right-hand side of the page.
FALSE: This is not a mutt puppy blog, you silly woman. Muttpuppy. It's one word here. I am not MPoT. The M-Pot sounds like a chic new club name.
FALSE: You have nothing to hide? Are you sure? Then why are you taking your name down from your sites? (Note: Cindy Miller's sites include, but are not limited to, Fuzzy Wuzzy Pups, Love Puppies 4 U, Shorkie World, Home Raised Babies, and TLC Shih-tzus. She breeds Chihuahuas, Shih-tzus, Yorkies, Shorkies, Chorkies, Morkies, and probably others.)

"THERE ARE SHORKIE BREEDERS THAT SAY WE MASS PRODUCE PUPPIES. IN 2008 WE HAD ONLY 8 LITTERS ALL BY DIFFERENT MOM'S. WE BREED OUR MOM'S AT MOST 1 TIME A YEAR." How many dogs do you freaking have?!


Anyway, while scheming my response to her slander page, I started to notice something weird about her websites. It dawned on me gradually. Now, when I started digging into the whole Sherry Carter/Priceless Pups mess, the word 'Fuzzy Wuzzy pups' on Priceless sent off little alarm bells. Trust me, I hounded high and low for a sniff of Cindy Miller, but she's nowhere to be found on that site. But Sherry's dutiful digging brought up this. Notice the email address that pops up with almost every hit. You got it: cindy@shorkieworld.com. And Googling that address, guess what I found (apart from even more puppies)?

The smoking gun. (Click for large view.)

Yep, first tip-off was the rant about two Shorkie breeders just under the rant about me. Second was Priceless Pup's stamp of approval. Cindy Miller is affiliated with Priceless Pups (PLEASE tell me this is a mistake, Priceless, you are the lesser of two evils here). And Sherry Carter is backed by Mileen Coulter (found anywhere muttpuppies are).

I think I may be in over my head here.

To Be Continued, I'm sure. Excuse me while I go find myself a convenient bunker.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that the founder of Priceless Pups sent me a very reasonable email today re: my blog post yesterday, asking for my thoughts on her breeding practises. It made me very happy to think of a sane designer breeder out there, and I hope very much that she was being honest with me and will take some of my advice. But on the other hand, knowing what I do about Cindy Miller, Puppy Shiller (on top of everything else, somebody claiming to have bought a puppy from her tells me she wasn't allowed to see Cindy's house, which we know screams puppy mill), I'm feeling a bit wary and a little like I'm in the Twilight Zone...

Morkie World

Phew. Sorry for the slow weekend. I seem to have come down with something that, on top of other things, made it very difficult for me to keep to one train of thought for more than two minutes at a time. I'm a little less tripped out today, but I'll keep this short. -Ish.

Remember that Morkenstein from my last entry? She came from this place.

The woman in charge used to breed purebred poodles. She started dabbling in Yorkipoos and Maltipoos when she realized she could get as much for those as for purebred dogs, and now she's selling all kinds of muttpuppies to North America. What do we call this lady? A hoarder? Whatever she is, she is breeding way too many dogs. Let's take a look at the website and pick it apart.

1. Flashy graphics. What are you, a thirteen-year-old girl on MySpace? This drives me crazy.

2. Randomly capitalized Words. You're Not speaking German; knock it Off.

3. "We are full supporters of Hybrid Vigor and it is the number one reason why we breed Morkies." That's great. That's so fantastic I could just shit.

4. They've made up terms like teddy bear Morkie and "Fuzzy Wuzzy Teddy Bear Shichon". 'Nuff said.

5. Their genetic testing page is there solely to assure you that they do NOT screen their dogs for health problems, because it's perfectly impossible for a puppy to inherit a genetic disorder when only one parent is a carrier. Yep. That's how genetics work. "The RENAL DYSPLASIA Test isn't available any more, because there just wasn't enough information concerning the gene to prove it as hereditary disease." Whoops! I think someone needs to do a little more research. Now, I understand hip and elbow dysplasia are more common in large breeds, but what about the problems common to small breeds, like patella luxation? And don't give me any hybrid vigour crap, because we see that in poodles, Yorkies, AND Shih-tzus.

6. They SHIP your puppy. Never ever ever buy from somebody who has to SHIP your puppy to you! Read over that fishy contract, too; they won't take your dog back unless it's "sufficiently medically unsound", and that's if you have it checked by a vet within three days of purchase, AND it's on you to send the dog back and have a new one shipped over. This says that, as soon as the puppy leaves their hands, they don't care what happens to it. Not the right match for you? That dog can end up in a kill shelter for all they care.

7. Teacup toys. AGH.

Ms Mileen Coulter might not be the worst breeder in the world, but she sure is clueless.

She'll have Morkie puppies ready for Christmas. Any takers?