Maxwell 23: Backyard Breeding

[jjmennonite]

17 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

Had I not seen PSarah’s manic smile at the top of that page, I would not have believed it was her site.  The writing is so much better than her tutus2 blog (typo & it stays — I want to think of Steve wearing a tutu over his Dockers, maybe because the grands would find it funny) (I know it will never happen).

The website is TITS2, but tutus2 with your visual is also a fabulous name. 

Be sure to not put buttons in a contrasting colour on your clothing lest someone look at your tits2. 

[nastyhobbitses]

1 hour ago, Granwych said:

What I find disturbing is that the Maxwells won't screen the people who buy Ellie's pups.  Just because they're charging a hefty price tag doesn't mean that a buyer will be a conscientious owner.  Even good dog and cat rescues check out their adopters quite well, and some even require a home visit.

(Now I miss our little poodle.  Fifi delighted us for 16 years before going to the Rainbow Bridge.)

Yup. And I'm honestly surprised they're not screening, especially considering that Christopher makes his Creepy Wedding Photo clients practically submit to a background check and plan their weddings around his phobia of titties and beer. 

[catlady]

I was screened when I adopted Baby Marvin, and I had to agree not to declaw him. His fee was $100, and just because I was willing to pay that for a domestic short-haired kitten was not an assumption that I would take good care of him; hence the screening process. 

I’m really turned off by Sarah choosing to breed Ellie. I don’t know if they’ve ever had any dogs over the years, but given everyone’s surprise here, i’d say that the Maxwells have been without pets for a long time. As such, they give the impression of being amateur hobbyist breeders, and that makes me uneasy. If they had always had dogs and made it known that they love dogs, then they would have an established motivation for wanting to breed Ellie. But they don’t, and I don’t understand why they have chosen to do so now.  Yes, they take good care of Ellie and Arnold, and they can do what they want with their pets. But there’s a big difference between having a pet for companionship and setting up a puppy business.  I hope Sarah has a mentor in this process who can help her ensure that Ellie and her puppies stay healthy and well cared for. 

Here is Baby Marvin:

[OhNoNike]

I think what gets me the most is that she uses the fact they don’t screen as a positive thing.  It’s basically asking people to buy from them because they don’t care what’s happening to the puppies. 

[SPHASH]

20 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Wow. This is something out of the blue. It makes me think of the Washburns who run Happy Hill Pups/the Radical Femininity blog. They own multiple dogs though, so it’s much more of a typical “puppy mill” situation. I wonder if Ellie will be bred again after this litter, or what. 

How did whoever it was find the website?

That was me.  I was browsing thru the archives and stumbled on it.  https://blog.titus2.com/2017/07/31/ellie-the-english-cream-golden-retriever/ 

[mango_fandango]

19 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

That was me.  I was browsing thru the archives and stumbled on it.  https://blog.titus2.com/2017/07/31/ellie-the-english-cream-golden-retriever/ 

Ah. See, people will likely miss that, if it’s from last year. It’d be better if Sarah made a short post called “Ellie Update!” and linked to that. Maybe that’s the next post. Who knows.

[PennySycamore]

Is it bad that I hope that Ellie's breeding session doesn't take, ie, she doesn't get preggers?

[mango_fandango]

The website seems to indicate that Ellie is pregnant, so...

[anjulibai]

It's Steve's birthday. Sarah has a post about how amazing and Jesus loving Steve is. 

Apparently Steve's grandsons adore him. I guess his granddaughters just tolerate him then? 

[Dru]

1 hour ago, anjulibai said:

It's Steve's birthday. Sarah has a post about how amazing and Jesus loving Steve is. 

Apparently Steve's grandsons adore him. I guess his granddaughters just tolerate him then? 

Nah, it's just that the grandsons are the only ones who have opinions that matter.

[Foudeb]

1 hour ago, anjulibai said:

It's Steve's birthday. Sarah has a post about how amazing and Jesus loving Steve is. 

Apparently Steve's grandsons adore him. I guess his granddaughters just tolerate him then? 

The granddaughters look at the life of barren handmaiden drudgery he's dreamed up for them are are going nah thanks, I'd rather get an education and independence than play up to your sick cult. 

I can't blame them. 

The grandsons on the other hand are loving this cult of the penis and debt-free houses thanks to their sisters' unpaid work. 

[bluelady]

In a world where dads are not valued?  Wherever did she get that idea?  Because women work outside the home and husbands don't need to be the sole provider?  Because daughters choose to leave the "umbrella of protection" and live on their own before marriage?  Because children are free to disagree with their dads?  Because sometimes dads are flat wrong (and get called on it)?  

What horseshit.

[Tatar-tot]

The no screening is mind boggling.  They really have no clue how many pure breed dogs end up in shelters.  One nip of a kid or peeing on an expensive rug & the dog is excommunicated.  

A responsible breaker asks the simplest questions:

who is taking care of the dog during the day

who is your vet

have you ever given up a dog? why?

where is the dog sleeping

I am shocked they think money equals a dog well cared for.  Are they going to microchip the puppies? Deworm them?   Are they going to fix the puppies before placing them?  

This entire thing is not really well thought out.  I could see breeding Ellie to give her siblings a dog.  Otherwise, most people who want a pure bread dog that they don’t plan to breed can go to the local rescue, breed specific or otherwise. There are a ton of pure bread Labs and Retrievers given up every day.  

Sarah is extremely naive about the world of dog breeding, animal shelters and rescue.  

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, Tatar-tot said:

 

Sarah is extremely naive about the world of dog breeding, animal shelters and rescue.  

FTFY

I hope some same sex couples want to adopt the puppies.

[Tatar-tot]

Wait till she sees same sex dogs doing the wild thing in broad daylight!  

[LurkerOverThePond]

Teri looks so joyful to be sitting next to Steve... or NOT.

Why aren't we told how he takes his coffee?

And isn't it about time for their annual holiday Colorado Death March?

 

[HereticHick]

8 minutes ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

And isn't it about time for their annual holiday Colorado Death March?

 

Will Chels and John go as well, and will she wear jeans?

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Where do we discuss the Maxwell's posts now? This seems to be all about puppy mills and stuff.

 

Today's post includes an inane comment about fathers not being valued. Right. I know no fathers who are valued. GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE and check out the world, Maxwells! Fathers are more active than ever with their kids.  Because there are families that are intentionally single parent does not mean Dads are not "valued."  Should I, one of those single parents, have not adopted my kids? At 7 and 8 they had almost ZERO chances to be adopted. Should I have said "No, I'll just sit here on my doorstep and wait for Mr.Right to be their Dad?" Gag

[Jana814]

Sarah and the rest of them put Steve up on a pedestal. So they think no other man is as good as Steve. 

[Bajovane]

I have a Shetland Sheepdog from a breeder.   Would have liked to rescue a sheltie but many rescues are extremely picky who can adopt and most require a fenced in yard, which I can't have.  My boy was four months old so I paid half what I would have paid if I got him at 8 weeks old. 

Most shelter dogs in this area are pit bull mixes.  Rare to see any other type. 

[NeckPunch]

He's look old in the photo. How old is he now? All that fasting is not doing him any favours.

 

And of course his grandsons adore him. He shows an avid interest in them! The girls are a dime a dozen, but those boys...

[kpmom]

4 minutes ago, NeckPunch said:

He's look old in the photo. How old is he now? All that fasting is not doing him any favours.

 

And of course his grandsons adore him. He shows an avid interest in them! The girls are a dime a dozen, but those boys...

I thought he looked old in those pictures, too.  I believe he's either 66 or 67.

Sometimes it seems like older men would do well to put on a few pounds.  They end up looking sickly instead of healthy when they get down to a certain weight.

[Black Aliss]

1 hour ago, Bajovane said:

I have a Shetland Sheepdog from a breeder.   Would have liked to rescue a sheltie but many rescues are extremely picky who can adopt and most require a fenced in yard, which I can't have.  

Same here. I was rejected by rescue associations because my yard isn't fenced, although I live on a busy street and all it takes is one delivery person to leave a gate unlatched for a dog who isn't trained to stay in its own yard to wander out in the road and get hit by a car.  Apparently these days, even if I had a fenced yard, I wouldn't be allowed to adopt any dog under age 7 or so, because I'm considered too old for a younger dog.

That said, backyard breeders like the Maxwells, are what give breeders a bad name. A responsible breeder, like the one I got my puppy from, give you a choice--companion animal or breeding. A companion animal can only be registered after spaying/neutering. If you intend to breed, you pay a higher price, and commit in writing to show the dog (conformation and/or obedience and/or other competitions, such as agility) to gain a certain number of points, then do all of the routine tests to determine soundness of hips, eyes, hearing, and no inherited autoimmune diseases) before breeding. There's no indication that Ellie has ever been shown, and the web page doesn't even mention that Ellie is OFA certified, which is the bare minimum of testing that a large dog should undergo before being bred.

Quote

Most shelter dogs in this area are pit bull mixes.  Rare to see any other type. 

Yeah. The ultimate in irresponsible breeding is letting your intact female outside to get bred by someone's intact male pit, which was itself possibly bred for aggressive behavior.

I know some very sweet pitties, but I also cannot count the number of times my own dog has been attacked by this particular type of rescue, even as its virtue-signaling owner is getting dragged along by a dog determined to take on my pup, who is doing everything a dog can possibly do to indicate a lack of interest in any encounter.

The irony that people adopting dogs must have a fenced yard but are not required to actually train their rescue dog is not lost on me. I have dog-training friends who volunteered to rehabilitate some of Michael Vick's fighting dogs. It required hours of work with each dog every single day for the better part of a year before they could be placed in homes. 

[Dru]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

Will Chels and John go as well, and will she wear jeans?

Man, I would love to be a fly on the wall if that happened.

[Palimpsest]

 

1 hour ago, kpmom said:

I thought he looked old in those pictures, too.  I believe he's either 66 or 67.

Sometimes it seems like older men would do well to put on a few pounds.  They end up looking sickly instead of healthy when they get down to a certain weight.

Steve is 67 today.  Looks-wise, I think he has aged very rapidly in the last 5 years.  He also seems to have given control of the businesses to Nathan and Joseph, very uncharacteristically.  I wonder whether it is more than simply slowing down and semi- retiring and that there is something serious up with him health-wise, TBH. 

So I take a few days off the Maxwells and come back to find that Sarah has started her very own puppy mill.  It sheds new light on the oh-so-traumatic dog attack on Ellie if Sarah was walking a bitch in heat when it happened.  

The Maxwells may know enough (unscreened) suckers to buy Ellie's litter but, if not, she'll be in the Walmart parking lot on Christmas Eve trying to get rid of them out of the back of her car.

Other people have already said what I think, but here's a PSA for potential buyers of Ellie's pups:  Buyer beware!  Sarah is asking far too much money for a backyard breeder.  Also there is no such thing as a "rare English Cream" Golden.  There are just some very, very, light Goldens, and the white color is regarded as a breed fault by the AKC.  Sarah was one of the people scammed by this line, but there is no need to join her.

Poor Ellie.  I hope Sarah gets her good vet care.  Poor puppies.  I hope they get good homes in spite of Sarah's irresponsible behavior.

 

57 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

the web page doesn't even mention that Ellie is OFA certified, which is the bare minimum of testing that a large dog should undergo before being bred.

Actually it does.  That doesn't mean that anyone should buy one of Ellie's puppies because of all the other reasons you said.

Quote

 

I’ve taken Ellie through extensive testing to make sure she’s in top-notch health. (Proof of any of her certifications are available just by contacting me!)

Penn-Hip certified/she scored in the top 5% of Goldens/The Penn-Hip test is even more extensive than the OFA hip test

OFA certification for elbows/heart/eyes

DNA panel of tests