What is cuddly, fluffy and starts with an E? Sarah Maxwell Gets a Dog

[nickelodeon]

Not to mention, not all purebred dogs necessarily come from breeders and not all rescue dogs are mutts; browsing Petfinder will show you that there are tons of purebred goldens chilling out in shelters all over the place. There are plenty in Kansas, for example.

[Koala]

 

6 hours ago, Howl said:

Wonder if Ellie would become a revenue stream for a certain SAHD? 

I am going to go with no.  If Ellie came from a responsible breeder, Sarah probably only has limited AKC (meaning if she breeds Ellie, the puppies won't be eligible for AKC registration), effectively limiting what Sarah could reasonably charge for the dogs.

I hope she got her from a responsible breeder, but if she did, I am shocked Steve wasn't intimidated by the prices.  Our German Shepherd breeder is considered one of the best in the business,  and her starting price is $3000.

[Casserole]

5 hours ago, Mango said:

I can't like leave this alone so please excuse my soap box.

There's not one single all encompassing definition of responsible that is valid across breeds. There are breeds where a responsible breeder absolutely is breeding only for one specific function (I would argue that breeding Belgian Malinois for pet homes is NOT responsible, or that trying to breed Siberian Huskies who will function as guide dogs, likewise.) There are also breeds where breeding for a more nebulous purpose like companionship is 100% A-OK. I'd argue Goldens fall in that category. I don't think "But you could get that from rescue!!!!" is necessarily a good justification NOT to breed as long as the dogs that are being produced are healthier, saner, and sounder than the ones in rescue- but they need to also not be contributing to the problem by potentially ending up there! 

For ME, there are three key things that make a responsible breeder. The breeder has a purpose and a plan- they are not just breeding to make puppies or to make money. This may mean they are breeding for conformation showing or competition; it may mean they are breeding a dog for their own enjoyment and ownership - but they have a plan that they can articulate about why they bred the two individual parents beyond "well we owned them both and they have papers." They can talk to me about generations of the parent dog (or dogs) families- even if they didn't own them, they know them and know a lot about them. 

They are screening owners to make sure they are a good fit for the breed and an individual puppy and are capable of taking care of the dog for life. (this means they ask questions and they use a contract. Some may use a written application, others may use an interview, but ALL stand behind their puppies and will take them back if they are in need of a home, ever- even if it is 15 years down the road and the puppy is now a very old dog, etc.)

Lastly, they are doing their best to produce healthy dogs, utilizing science-based tools such as health screening (stuff like x-raying for hips), possibly DNA screening (for specific conditions such as certain eye diseases- this isn't a thing in many breeds or for most health conditions, though) and sensible breeding practices (such as not breeding dogs with health problems that are likely to be heritable) or which are likely to produce dogs with health problems (such as merle to merle breedings, which have a fairly significant potential for producing deaf-blind dogs.). This includes taking good care of their own dogs. It doesn't mean they ONLY have shiny happy healthy dogs (breeders who are in it for the long term WILL have old dogs, like anyone else, most good breeders rescue too, and sometimes stuff just happens. But their dogs will be cared for.) 

I'd be happy to talk more about this in PM (to you or anyone else who is interested) and maybe give you some more specific advise depending on the type of dog you are looking for, but I don't want to threadjack too badly. 

 

@Casserole - on the age thing, it si REALLY breed dependent. I have gotten puppies at 8 weeks, and I've gotten dogs at 6 months. There are some very sound developmental reasons for both ages. My 8 week old took a little longer to housebreak- but I was able to socialize the heck out of him in a way that his breeder- who had kids and more dogs- simply could not do, because there are not enough hours in the day to spend 2-3 hours training every single puppy in a litter without completely neglecting the rest of the litter. *HE* was ready then. Some other breeds are NOT ready until later. One of my past dogs is of a larg eworking breed which tends to be very suspicious of things they are not introduced to early on. She was NOT introduced to many things (lots of surfaces, climbing things, men in uniform, sirens, gunshot sounds, loud screamy people and other things a working dog might encounter, sure! Livestock, people in wheelchairs, automatic doors, children- not so much.) because the job he envisioned for her (military working dog) was not what she ultimately ended up doing (sports dog with an eye towards potential service dog work- she was washed out for reasons that had nothing to do with her temperament or health though.) And still other breeds- such as giant breeds- cannot be shipped due to their size after a certain age, so that can be a consideration as well. (A friend of mine has wolfhounds. They CANNOT be imported to or from Europe after a certain age- they just plain do not FIT in even the largest possible airline crate that can be flown. For the genetic diversity of the breed, being able to send dogs back and forth is fairly critical, and while some of this is accomplished by shipping frozen semen, dogs who are going to move continents generally need to be shipped by around 5 months at the latest.There are a LOT of variables and it's so breed specific that making a one-size-fits-all law about it is SUPER problematic. 

@anjulibai - you have a lot of good points, but a bad topline is not actually a single recessive trait (it's dominant and affected by a LOT of different things- and you can have a straight back and lots of orthopedic problems, it's not as simple as just 'doesn't breed things like curved backs' unfortunately.) And breeding a male dog repeatedly is not really a problem for his OWN health but is potentially very detrimental for the breed he is part of as a whole no matter how nice he is, due to the bottlenecking of closed gene pools.

 

Interesting. I enjoy your input on the subject! but coming from a family that has always had 5+ dogs at a time ranging from yorkies to rottweilers and everything in between, I'd say there was a definite trend across the board with behavior/socialization/anxiety issues with all dogs that were under 3-4 months when they left their mother. Some better than others, of course depending on overall breed temperament. 

 

And super jealous of your friend. My dream is just to have an entire pack of irish wolfhounds. One day when I have a bigger house and the waiting list for one from a breeder isn't a mile long. A girl can dream... 

[Mango]

2 hours ago, Casserole said:

 

Interesting. I enjoy your input on the subject! but coming from a family that has always had 5+ dogs at a time ranging from yorkies to rottweilers and everything in between, I'd say there was a definite trend across the board with behavior/socialization/anxiety issues with all dogs that were under 3-4 months when they left their mother. Some better than others, of course depending on overall breed temperament. 

 

And super jealous of your friend. My dream is just to have an entire pack of irish wolfhounds. One day when I have a bigger house and the waiting list for one from a breeder isn't a mile long. A girl can dream... 

I think some of it may be the small sample size - your particular family likes that age So it makes sense to you - and it's definitely easier to integrate a 3-4 month old into a group. (My personal preference is either 8-10 weeks OR 18 months + - but it's more important for the right dog than the perfect age, you know?) 

 

IWs will never, I think NOT have waiting lists a mile long, because breeding them is such a giant commitment (pun intended). They can have VERY large litters and just plain take up such huge space and time commitments for a litter that, thankfully, they have very little in the way of BYBs or puppy mill presence. (There *are* some, but they're very few and far between.) I enjoy her dogs, but htat's just too darn big for me, LOL

[Jana814]

I once met a woman who had a beautiful dog (it was a Samoyed). The breeder was VERY responsible she hasn't had a litter in a few years do to her & her husband's health issues. But once she did the puppies were scooped up right away. 

[MamaJunebug]

Hey!!  Poor Sarah's super secret dog training treats are Made In USA!  I can feel good about something the dear lady is doing: advertising !  Yay, Poor Sarah. Responsible consuming, IMHO.  And that opinion has forever been colored by the bad food that was imported some years ago and resulted in the miserable deaths of hundreds of helpless dogs, so yeah, USA! in this case, without apology. 

[Grace]

Ugh....she's not MAKING the treats herself? No wonder she hasn't found a husband yet. 

[gustava]

2 hours ago, Grace said:

Ugh....she's not MAKING the treats herself? No wonder she hasn't found a husband yet. 

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Stewart's liver treats....yeah not exactly a secret but they are healthy, grain free treats so good for Sarah. Stewart's are not cheap either so it seems as though the dog will be fed high quality food in the same way the Maxwells buy good quality equipment and clothing.  Strange, because the Maxwell rules for feeding themselves don't seem to follow the same rules-- their food usually looks cheap and not very tasty.

 

By the way, making your own liver jerky could not be easier.  I make both chicken liver and beef liver jerky as treats for my dog by slicing up the liver very thin and baking at 175 degrees (the lowest setting on my oven.)  It takes about 8 to 10 hours and you need to turn the liver over once.  I also make beef and chicken breast jerky the same way. These are reserved for high value treats-- coming when called or sitting still to be groomed or leaving the dog park and getting in the car without any guff.  For normal training I use a large variety of grain free treats like Fromm's biscuits because my dog is more attentive when she is never sure what she is getting.

[refugee]

3 hours ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

Stewart's liver treats....yeah not exactly a secret but they are healthy, grain free treats so good for Sarah. Stewart's are not cheap either so it seems as though the dog will be fed high quality food in the same way the Maxwells buy good quality equipment and clothing.  Strange, because the Maxwell rules for feeding themselves don't seem to follow the same rules-- their food usually looks cheap and not very tasty.

 

By the way, making your own liver jerky could not be easier.  I make both chicken liver and beef liver jerky as treats for my dog by slicing up the liver very thin and baking at 175 degrees (the lowest setting on my oven.)  It takes about 8 to 10 hours and you need to turn the liver over once.  I also make beef and chicken breast jerky the same way. These are reserved for high value treats-- coming when called or sitting still to be groomed or leaving the dog park and getting in the car without any guff.  For normal training I use a large variety of grain free treats like Fromm's biscuits because my dog is more attentive when she is never sure what she is getting.

Does it make the house smell like liver? Do you put it on parchment paper on a baking sheet, or just on a baking sheet or pan? I'm excited -- I always thought you had to have a dehydrator to make dog treats!

[Handmaiden of Dog]

It does make the house smell a bit liverish but not in a heavy, obnoxious way.  You don't need parchment paper or grease, just place the sliced meat on a baking sheet or pan.

Here is a picture of my girl, Saga, waiting on her favorite treats.

[gustava]

46 minutes ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

It does make the house smell a bit liverish but not in a heavy, obnoxious way.  You don't need parchment paper or grease, just place the sliced meat on a baking sheet or pan.

Here is a picture of my girl, Saga, waiting on her favorite treats.

[Quiverless]

Sarah Maxwell has a puppy.  http://blog.titus2.com/2016/01/25/meet-ellie-the-english-cream-golden-retriever/

She says she'll explain why she wanted a dog, but then she just explains that she wanted a dog. Surrogate baby, maybe? In any case, I'm actually pleased for her. It's someone of her own to care about.

[Bethella]

There's already a thread.

 

[Quiverless]

Eek! Sorry! I looked for it but I guess I missed it.

Please to be deleting, powers that be, if you should see this!

[Quiverless]

On 1/28/2016 at 6:11 AM, sparkles said:

I hope it doesn't end up being a substitute for a child

That was absolutely my first thought when I saw that post: She's got herself a fake baby. Second thought was: Good for her. She's got something/someone of her own. That's almost like being an adult.

[anjulibai]

Well, this was bitchy, even for the Maxwells:

Quote

Lauren H. says:
February 9, 2016 at 11:33 am
My gramma, who spends a lot of time training her dogs, swears by beef heart, which she gets cheaply from the butcher’s at her grocery store. She chops it up and freezes it, too. I’ll have to mention these liver treats as a back up, because her butcher doesn’t always have beef heart when she needs it.
>>>>>
Whewwee. She’s a tough lady indeed. Can’t quite imagine handling frozen meat chunks as it would sure be a mess and maybe even raw meat can be hazardous to one’s health. Almost wonder if this is a joke, but oh well. The liver treats are freeze dried, very clean, (not messy to handle), and cheap.

 

[Guest]

Quote

Almost wonder if this is a joke, but oh well.

Yikes, paranoid much, Steve?  They really should be nicer to their fans.  Somebody has to pay for those liver treats.

[Mango]

ANd of course the funny thing is, beef heart is muscle. It's WAY less messy than liver!

[Pretzel]

Someone really is a little full of himself. Can we see who this comment was answered by? I can't imagine Sarah having such a tone. She wouldn't write like that. Must have been Steve. 

[blessalessi]

I wonder if John has answered for a laugh?!.  It is very odd and doesn't sound like Steve or Sarah.

[Sweet Fellowship]

On 2/7/2016 at 0:30 AM, Koala said:

 

I am going to go with no.  If Ellie came from a responsible breeder, Sarah probably only has limited AKC (meaning if she breeds Ellie, the puppies won't be eligible for AKC registration), effectively limiting what Sarah could reasonably charge for the dogs.

I hope she got her from a responsible breeder, but if she did, I am shocked Steve wasn't intimidated by the prices.  Our German Shepherd breeder is considered one of the best in the business,  and her starting price is $3000.

Stevo probably feels a few thousand dollars is worth paying than having to find Poor Sarah a husband. He just doesn't seem to want to let her go.

[mango_fandango]

Holy moly. That comment is all kinds of WTF.

[Eternalbluepearl]

That comment about the beef hearts didn't sound like a joke to me. It sounded like normal dog training talk. The Maxwells are weird with a capital W!

[OnceUponATime]

7 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

That comment about the beef hearts didn't sound like a joke to me. It sounded like normal dog training talk. The Maxwells are weird with a capital W!

It sounded like a 10 year old kid to me. One who is probably only allowed to comment on "wholesome christian" blogs.