am very aware that I have only been in NZ for 3 years....I do not want to come over as a migrant who left their own country to criticise their host country, so I apologise if there are any Kiwis reading this who are offended...I am talking about my own experience and perceptions of the area I live in.
I talked to a local petshop owner about the puppies (and kittens ) they occasionally have for sale. The babies come from local 'ma and pa' breeders who don't have the knowledge or the money to do 'proper breeding' including testing etc (maybe not the interest either...get the impression some of them look on it as astay at home version of having a small franchise etc in order to earn a bit more money). I know with doodles I have only been able to trace 2 'professional' breeders in the country who claim they do the genetics and health testing etc (and one of them is where I got Charlie)...I don't know much about other breeds but I get the impression that there just aren't many breeders who approach it professionally out here, cos they haven't got the money...and in many ways NZ is behind the US and UK in its attitude towards dogs, breeding, training etc....I'm doing the same things in training classes with Charlie that I did in English classes 30 years ago (minus the choke chain tho!) and I am regarded by many people as being sentimental because I am unhappy that so many dogs out here are allowed to roam free, or are left out in the garden all day (maybe all night too). I think that pet dogs are considered to be only one step up from farm dogs and are treated accordingly...I don't think many people are aware of the likes of Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar and Carol Lea Benjamin. This may be because many Kiwis find it hard to make ends meet, have 2 jobs etc, but the reasons don't change the facts. Of course, with this awful recession, the number of animals up for rehoming has gone up astronomically!
I would also beware of thinking that the 'quality' of'puppies can be judged by their price....out here, pet shop puppies are among the highest priced ones I've seen! There is still the thinking amongst the general public that if it comes from somewhere they recognise it must be ok and therefore they're willing to pay over the odds for that feeling of confidence (plus, of course, the 'cute' factor!)
I guess you have much the same problems of public awareness in the States...I saw a couple of Rachel Ray programmes last week...they were both about dog pounds, and how you could get really good dogs there. BUT they both spoke briefly about buying pups from reputable sources, and mentioned pet shops as one of these places.....so some good, some bad!
