[bella_blue]

My best friend from high school is a BYB. She owns two purebred Chihuahuas that she bought at a pet store. She has had 4 litters out of them, and they're only 4 years old. (This last time was an "accident." She left them together in the laundry room while the female was in heat but had no idea they would do anything. Yeah, "accident" my a$$!") She always complains about how much she hates having puppies in the house, but as long as people keep expressing interest in her kyooooote little Taco Bell dogs, she's going to keep breeding her dogs (because she makes at least $2,000 a litter, I'm assuming.) Should I even bother trying to educate her? If so, how the heck do I approach it without sounding preachy? I've never tried educating friends on the harm of backyard breeding.

 

[Bustersmommy]

I cant help you out but this is most definitely an interesting post and I am sure the answers you get are going to be that as well.Sucks to be in this type of situation.I will say this though since you have known her since high school and she is considered a best friend I don't see why you wouldn't be able to talk to her about this.You are looking out for her dogs health and that of the puppies as well.Best of luck on this one.

 

[Biscanton]

parhaps you could talk about how the having more than 3 litters total is dangerous for one dog and her health might be at risk
so to prevent that risk she should have her spayed
if she cares at all for the dogs she might not want to risk the health of one of her little dogs

that way you come off as just being concerned for the well being of her pets and not preachy
and hopefully the end result is she gets her dogs fixed

 

[Bruiser1523]

I was in the same situation before, one of my friends was a BYB. It is so hard to confront them, but you should do it. I made childish remarks in a joking manner to let them know I didn't approve of it. I would ask how many times are you going to breed that dog, and I would also say poor dog you are always spitting out babies. I would go over to their house and call it a puppy mill. I know this is all childish, but he!! it worked, the got the dog fixed after my remarks, and other friends remarks.

 

[Bruiser1523]

parhaps you could talk about how the having more than 3 litters total is dangerous for one dog and her health might be at risk
so to prevent that risk she should have her spayed
if she cares at all for the dogs she might not want to risk the health of one of her little dogs

that way you come off as just being concerned for the well being of her pets and not preachy
and hopefully the end result is she gets her dogs fixed

I am not trying to be an A$$, but people that are BYB's, tend to not care about the dogs health. All they see are $$$. That is just my perspective.

 

[bella_blue]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think her most recent litter is still at her house (they're probably 6 or 7 weeks old now), so next time I talk to her I'll ask how they're doing and ask about the momma dog. It makes me sad to think of any dog, especially a dog so small, as pretty much being nothing more than a baby factory. If I approach the situation as "I've read that having more than 3 litters in such a short period of time is bad for a female dog's health," maybe she won't think I'm trying to be condescending. I'll work in the whole pet overpopulation thing, too. I don't know if she's planning on breeding any dogs other than the two she currently has, but I definitely want to educate her on the harm of backyard breeding in general.

 

[Lisa]

I have a good friend who at one time wanted to breed her BYB/puppy mill (not sure which) daschsund as well as her non registered BYB yellow Lab. The Lab is now spayed, the Doxie still intact with no plans of her breeding him. It took much patience and explanation on my part. I asked her why she wanted to breed them and pointed out the many arguments against in a gentle manner (man I wish I was better at doing that on the internet...lol). I find it depends alot on the person. Some have open minds and want to learn how to do the right thing and others immediately get offended and go on the defense. Only thing you can do is try and remember you dont want to lose a friend over it. Now my friend is VERY anti BYB/puppy mill. She has totally changed her outlook. Major success story.

 

[Tia]

wow that is awful! poor little dog! I wish you the best of luck trying to educate her and helping her dog. I have lost SOO MANY friends over talking about dogs and litters byb etc.. especially at work , i had people not sitting by me anymore. People were telling people "thats the dog girl dont sit by her" and to tell you the truth i dont care. I speak my mind and i educate the best o can i do start in a nice way but when they get defensive, i just tell them enjoy your short life dog and her mutt puppies, that usually always makes them leave me alone.
Best of luck to you and i really do hope you dont loose a friend about this. Really no one can give you opinions on what to do, shes your friend YOU deicde what is best....

 

[Rooney]

I'm sort of in the same situation....not byb friend, but irresponsible owner friend.
He got his pb puppy when he already had a dog tied up outside because it tore up his bedroom. I had told him to get a crate and train his dogs to go to them. All I have to do is say the word, "cage" and both of my dogs run for them. they sit there and wait for me to shut the door. His dogs sh!t and p!$$ in the house and probably don't know that they are supposed to go outside. Lack of adequate potty training is not the problem, it's the, "The puppy will learn on its own" attitude that (aside from laziness) has trained this dog. Essentially, he has trained his dog to destroy the inside of his house when he's gone. so now he is remodeling his house. Guess where the dogs are going to end up........you guessed it. Outside in a small kennel. Now I could see this being ok if he were going to bring them inside when he came home, but I'm sure that won't be the case for long. He'll be too lazy to clean them off and that enclosure will become their permanent home.

The last dog he had kept outside for tearing his house up ended up biting the neighbor girl. Her parents hate him and she antagonized the other dog until it bit her. You don't have to be a genius to see where this will probably wind up...........I see him causing a ban in town....
:x :x

He and I will likely have a falling out over this.

 

[angie7349]

GGGRRR

I understand your frustration I don't think that all BYB are out for a quick buck I think that some are just uneducated about their dogs. My step brother had a Rotty that was as sweet as pie with small dogs and all people but he was TOTALLY aggresive with other large dominant breeds...I told him a million times to get the Rot nuetered and that may help the agression a little he scoffed at me like I am a total fool and never did what I asked.....Well the Rot kept attaching other Dom. dogs and eventually had to be given up to someone that could and would care for him the way that he needed. My step brother loved that dog but he did not understand him and sadly was too arrogant to heed my advice...He lost his best friend because of it and I know now that he will think twice about how to handle a dog before he gets it.....If your friend loves her animals but is just uneducated about breeding then she may respond to an appeal for the animals and pups safety? I hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!