What Constitutes a Puppy Mill?

I want to address this because of a new special forum troll buddy, who's "friend" has a puppy from a breeder. When presented with mountains of evidence listed by other people about what constitutes a puppy mill, he refuses to recognize that this place shares many features of a dog farm (the word "farm" is even in the kennel name!) So, I present you readers with a list of commonly accepted features associated with puppy mills, and ask you to decide for yourselves. PS, google the name and "puppy mill" pops right up in the search results.

1) USDA license
2) Multiple breeds with multiple litters on the ground
3) Designer breeds and mixes
4) Brokering for larger operations with smaller satelite facilities in cooperation (can be called back yard breeders)
5) Sick and injured dogs lacking medical care
6) Money is the priority
7) Limited health guarantee if any (a 1 year health guarantee is LAUGHABLE!)
8) Seem nice enough, but remember, their job is to make you comfortable so you buy from them, they are salespeople more than anything
9) Will sell to who ever has funds
10) Dogs are not standard and not shown (this is a big deal in Shibas, they need to be within standard and they need to have been shown before being bred)
11) Contract covers sellers' best interests, if there even is one
12) Lack of health testing (OFA, Penn Hip, Cerf) on breeding dogs but will almost always say "the Vet said it's healthy" when asked
13) Almost always will NOT mandate spay/neuter or return of dog if new owner is unable to care for it
14) and the list goes on for miles

Just because a dog farm seems to care about and professes to love their dogs, does not negate the facts. Just because the dogs have AKC registration, champions in their history, live indoors and are raised with children, does not rule out shady dealings and questionable motives or ethics. At best, that indicates a backyard breeding operation, where at least more often than not the dogs are actually cared for and there aren't that many of them, but still...when I read stories about this puggle puppy and this same puppy that almost died, I doubt very much that the intentions go beyond making money in a day and age when so, so many mix breed dogs and purebreds are in need of homes in shelters across the nation.

Don't take my word, here are some more interpretations. If it looks like a duck....

Where Beebe Came From

@ Okami's daddy: Beebe was my first Shiba, and my first pet while living on my own. I bought her off a Northwest Source online ad from a very nice private home. Her mother was purchased from an infamous local backyard dog dealer named Clarissa Cope in Arlington, WA. Trust me, there is a lot more to this unscrupulous person that is just appalling. They (her mother and she) sell mostly ACA/APRI Shibas after being kicked out of AKC Shibas. She often has online ads offering teacup mixes, designer mixes, and shibas/shiba mixes, frequently under alias names, but usually the phone numbers are traceable so I know it's her. She usually offers really (ugly) dogs at way inflated prices listing them as "rare" or "unique" due to mismarkings and faulted colors.

 Beebe's sire, this sesame fellow above flirting with her mommy, had AKC "papers". Their happy union was the result of a mutual handshake agreement reached at a meetup from what I can tell. When I first saw him, I thought he was very handsome and nice, but then again, I really, really didn't know much about Shibas then. Don't laugh, I honestly thought because the breed was rare, that it wouldn't matter if I got one out of the paper since the "show" world had not had time to "corrupt" them and cause poor health. I was soooo way off, it's embaressing.

The breed was in terrible shape when it first came to the US, and it has only been thru the focused efforts of past and present breeders (breeders meaning the reputable people who imported dogs at great cost, formed the breed clubs, helped push for AKC recognition and who trialed and errored and selected to improve health and temperment), that the breed has survived after near extinction in post war Japan. Like it or hate it, the breed IS improved and genetic diversity has increased, as has better health and temperment because of the work of people in the show world. Now, many won't agree with me and will cite the very obvious poor health, temperments and lack of conformation of the unfortunate Shibas coming from backyard breeders and puppy farms.

I agree that those people (I can't even really call them breeders) are not interested in improving the breed and have harmed it, but the real BREEDERS are constantly striving to make progress in spite of that. There have been and always will be shitty breeders in every breed, and the unfortunate reality is that dogs will end up in puppy mills, even rare breeds. Hopefully the many great breeders/enthusiasts who are out there never give up caring about the breed and will keep showing, or else all that will be available is the largely unhealthy mill/byb shibas, and wonderful dogs like Ike will disappear forever. Like AKC or hate AKC, the people involved are the best people to support if you love the breed.

 Here are some pictures of Beebe's mommy. She was a pretty cute puppy and very sweet tempered and pretty as an adult. Her owner was very nice and well intended and I do not hold any bad feelings towards her. I see a lot of Beebe in both her parents.

 The above photo is one of my only surviving puppy pictures of Beebe. I was intent on not getting head over heels enthralled with her just because she was a Shiba and a puppy, I didn't want to become one of those people who got google eyes whenever someone mentioned the breed. So I didn't take many pictures and now I regret it.

 This was her nearing 6 month-ish to 1 year picture. This was the time when we all started noticing that she was not really a healthy dog (allergies, mange, immune issues and temperment problems). This was when I also woke up and got with it, and started doing real research into the breed. We entered our first training classes way late in her development. In my arrogance, I felt I knew enough about dogs and had watched enough Dog Whisperer to know how to teach her to be obedient. The Cesar Milan dogma I tried with her resulted in a very unhappy dog and owner, several dog bites and a very unpredictable dog. I had been consdering dumping her with a rescue. I firmly believe that Dog Whisperer training helped ruin my puppy experience with her and this is why I will never endorse his methods.

This is also when I joined some online Shiba forums and began seeking advice from reputable, prominant AKC breeders. I was pointed to an outstanding behaviorist with lots of breed experience, who recomended positive training based on current research (as in, no alpha/dominance bs). She became a different dog and I became a better person. This is when I fell in love with her, and this was the start of a sometimes frustrating, but immensly rewarding journey into AKC, Obedience, Rally, Agility and Flyball.