Breeding of dogs and cats: how to check, choose a good kennel?

Dog breeding

How does the organization look like breeding purebred animals in Poland and what the future owner of a purebred dog or cat should know?

Every dog ​​or cat owner would like their pet, apart from being healthy and not requiring constant, often expensive veterinary care, to arouse admiration.

How many times on a walk can we see a beautiful dog, full of vitality, with a wonderful shiny coat, which often provokes positive, delightful opinions that certainly bring a lot of joy to its owner.

It is so, that people often judge others, including animals by appearance, and the first impression plays an extremely important role.

For everyone, something else may seem beautiful, which is related to the different criteria we use to evaluate animals.

Nevertheless, it is worth considering what really determines our perception of reality and making such and not other assessments, i.e. briefly try to define all the most important factors influencing our assessment of good appearance.

Everyone, even a person without biological education, will rightly answer that the genes we have in our genome, passed on by parents, determine our appearance.

They must have the appropriate and, most importantly, repeatable features that really make up a given breed.

In this article, I will try to present the broadly understood issues of breeding purebred animals with all the benefits that derive from it, as well as the formal and legal matters.

If you decide to buy a purebred animal, read this article, because it explains what to pay special attention to when choosing breeding dogs and purebred cats.

It seems to me that the issue is extremely important, as evidenced by the numerous questions asked during visits to the clinic and requests for advice before making a specific purchase.

• Why do we choose a purebred dog or cat?
  • Predictable appearance and character
  • Prestige
  • Shows of purebred dogs and cats
• Matters formally: legal regulations
• Kennel Club and Felinology in Poland
  • Purebred Dog Breeders Association
• Good breeding versus pseudo-breeding
• How to choose a good breeding?
• Basic concepts: birth certificate, pedigree, breeding nickname
  • Metrics
  • Lineage
  • How to get a pedigree?
  • Breeding nickname
• You want to buy a kennel dog?
• Puppy / kitten from good breeding
  • Deworming the dog
  • Vaccinating the dog
• Dogs of aggressive breeds: performance certificate
• Myths spread by pseudo-breeders
  • If you want to get a pedigree, you pay for "paper "
  • A pedigree animal from breeding is expensive
  • Another from the litter

Why do we choose a purebred dog or cat?

Why do people choose a purebred dog or cat?

Of course, as always, it is very difficult to unequivocally, exhausting all possibilities to answer the question posed in this way.

There are certainly many reasons for choosing a purebred animal.

Nevertheless, some of them will be repeated very often and will be "to the fore" in the answers.

Predictable appearance and character

Predictable appearance and character

One of the main factors in choosing a purebred animal will surely be the predictable appearance and character of the animal.

When buying a puppy, we often cannot say much about it, except that it is lovely, sweet, very lively and "everywhere ".

Like every "canine child", he likes to play, bite various objects, and requires a lot of attention, care, and a responsible approach of the owner, resulting in appropriate upbringing in the future.

Over time, however, our small, cute puppy or kitten will grow and become an adult with a strictly defined appearance programmed in the genome.

And in fact, only then it turns out what kind of animal we are the guardian of.

Will it have the expected and desired (such as we assumed when selecting a given individual) features that we like?

The guarantee of the predictability of the appearance, or phenotype, is coming from well-known, racial parents.

When choosing a given breed, we are also guided by a strictly defined set of features that determine the future nature.

Before buying, we need to know exactly what will be characteristic of our chosen one:

is it an active animal that requires a lot of exercise, or is it better to serve as a companion spending most of the time at home, on the couch?

It is also important behavior towards children in P. "Innate, exceptional patience " for their taunts, catching the tail and level of potential aggression.

For others, in turn, there may be different features resulting from a given breed of cats or dogs.

The fact of being a purebred animal somehow decides that what we expect when reading about the breed will be factually correct.

Of course, that a given individual may have its own individual features distinguishing it from individuals of a given race, but nevertheless it will also have many features characteristic for a given race, determining race formula.

The broadly understood psyche of a dog is shaped over many years of breeding and a given breed will have its own behavioral patterns, structure and specific instinct, extremely important from the owners' point of view.

It is also clear that even the most of each purebred dog or cat can be created through upbringing, an individual completely different than we would expect (e.g. teach aggressiveness to a potentially benign race) but to a large extent this is the result of inappropriate human work.

Racialism, to a certain extent, guarantees us that we will get the animal we read about in various sources.

A conscious and responsible owner, before deciding on a specific choice, tries to know all the pros and cons, i.e. know exactly what the breed will be, which he will choose also in the context of potential health problems or diseases.

We should remember that breeding farms offering purebred animals are subject to different conditions veterinary checks and they must comply strictly defined conditions (e.g. be free from certain diseases), which is certainly not the case with mongrels selling.

Prestige

The choice of a purebred animal is, in a sense, also a matter of prestige proving the material status of the owner, because the costs of purchasing a purebred pooch or kitten are often not the lowest.

Shows of thoroughbred dogs and cats

Many people choose to have a purebred animal also for purely economic reasons:

because only with such an individual you can compete in shows, win prizes, which later will undoubtedly translate into the price of obtained offspring.

You can see the exhibition of purebred dogs organized by the Kennel Club in Poland in the video below

Best Dog of the Show - Best in Show 2014
Watch this video on YouTube
Purebred dogs or cats are generally much less likely to be found in shelters, and if they are to find their future owners sooner.

I think that there can be more reasons for choosing a dog or a purebred cat and each potential owner must answer individually the question why this particular breed, and the examples provided here are only examples.

Matters formally: legal regulations

Probably every future owner of a dog or cat, before deciding to buy a pet, thinks about practical information regarding this activity, in other words, what he needs to know in order to spend a few thousand zlotys not making a mistake and not causing himself any future problems.

The beginning of creating legal acts in a modern edition was World Declaration of Animal Rights passed by UNESCO 15.10.1978, in which we read, inter alia:

Art.1.

All animals are born equal to life and have the same rights to exist. (

…

).

Polish detailed legal provisions contained in The Animal Protection Act of 21.08.1997. then amended 01.01.2012. (NS. AT. 2011 no.230, item. 1373) define exactly who, under what conditions, can deal with breeding and, consequently, placing puppies and kittens born in breeding on the market.

Already at the beginning of the above legal act, we can read that:

The animal, as a living being, capable of suffering, is not a thing, and man owes him respect, protection and care.

From these undoubtedly beautiful-sounding words, it is clear that we cannot treat an animal as an object and we have certain obligations towards our pupils.

The act specifies exactly what conditions we must meet in order to be able to breed and sell animals without breaking the law.

One of the most important of them will be membership in an organization whose statutory goal will be to breed purebred animals and issues of humane treatment of them.

By humane treatment of animals we should understand treatment that takes into account the needs of animals and provides them with care and protection.

Article 10a together with paragraphs 1, 2, 3, in turn, prohibits prohibits the purchase of pets at marketplaces, fair and exchanges, running these markets (with the sale of animals) and placing dogs and cats on the market outside their rearing and breeding areas.

Here we can also read that:

It is forbidden to breed dogs and cats for commercial purposes.

The legislator clearly prohibits the sale of companion animals at fairs, exchanges, which was once very common, and most importantly, the horror of social acceptance.

We often saw several puppies hugging and squeaking in a small cardboard box, which any potential buyer could freely pick up and touch.

After the purchase, the future owners, unaware of anything, often had to treat dogs that had an infectious disease (distemper, parvovirosis) and unfortunately sometimes ended their tragic young lives.

Therefore, the legislator's move seems right, going in the right direction, has certainly curtailed these reprehensible practices a bit, although I am aware that it did not fully eliminate them.

Let us remember that by failing to comply with the above-mentioned law, we run the risk of criminal sanctions as arrest or fine.

So in order to be able to breed and sell animals fairly and in accordance with applicable law belong to an appropriate organization, which in our Polish conditions is the Polish Kennel Club.

Kennel Club and Felinology in Poland

It is a cynological organization in Poland operating since 1938, which is a member Of the International Kennel Club that is, FCI.

As we can read on the official website of the Association, it brings together breeders, owners and enthusiasts of as many as 350 breeds.

It organizes numerous exhibitions (about 190, including 17 of international rank) and sports competitions (e.g. together with Polish Hunting Association hunting dog work trial competition).

On the website of the Association, you will find numerous, interesting, practical information about breeding and exhibitions, so it is worth visiting and reading from time to time.

Kennel Club in Poland has also issued the Regulations for Breeding Dogs Purebred, where it very specifically defines the rules for conducting this activity and all obligations arising from it.

Cat breeders in Poland are associated in the Polish Feline Association, which is a member of the FCF (World Cat Federation) that is Of the World Association of Cat Breeders.

It operates on a similar basis to the Kennel Club and brings together not only breeders and cat lovers, but also provides professional help and advice in the field of breeding, nutrition and health prophylaxis.

Purebred Dog Breeders Association

An association established by breeders of purebred dogs in 1976 called Purebred Dog Breeders Association is an equivalent organization to Polish Kennel Club.

The Association has NIP, REGON, KRS and a veterinary identification number and is a legally operating, in accordance with applicable regulations, a cynological organization.

The union seems pedigrees and runs any books, that is full breeding documentation.

Pedigree of the dog

It also organizes exhibitions where it promotes rationally conducted breeding of purebred animals of precisely documented origin.

Good breeding versus pseudo-breeding

How to recognize a pseudo-breeding?

As already mentioned, it is worth acquiring a dog with good breeding and some source which undoubtedly influences him later health if characteristics what it will show.

Kennel registered in the Kennel Club is subject to numerous regulations, which guarantees that the offspring obtained from it will have all the features of a given breed.

So if we are looking for a purebred dog with the features we want, I encourage you to buy animals in such places.

Of course, it is enough to search the Internet, enter popular auction sites to find numerous offers to buy a dog "purebred but without a pedigree " or "without a pedigree but by purebred parents ", not to mention rural marketplaces or local press.

Very often, however, such puppies come from pseudo-breeding that is from people who sell cheaper and offer "almost the same puppy as purebred ".

The word "almost " makes a colossal difference, because in fact they are mongrels, which, according to the law, cannot be sold in this way.

Note: you can give in good hands puppies or kittens from our bitch or domestic cat when pregnancy happened (because the sterilization procedure was not carried out), but they must not be intentionally multiplied while reaping tangible financial benefits.

Breeding, although many may seem to be a trivial activity, it really is not and requires it a lot of knowledge, financial outlays, if compliance with a number of regulations imposed by the Association.

Thanks to this, however, we obtain a "final effect " repeatable and do not fix certain health problems (eg. hip dysplasia).

Often the so-called. pseudo-breeders they keep animals in terrible zoohygienic conditions, without any veterinary care, and puppies that are not sold quickly are "utilized " on their own, using barbaric methods known to them.

Are we aware of this?

So if we want to have a healthy puppy, with properly carried out prophylaxis, at least with vaccination and deworming let's choose animals from registered breedings.

I emphasize once again, the sale of the so-called. pseudo-breeding is illegal and perpetuates the pathology present on the market by providing financial resources in accordance with the principle that "demand generates supply ".

So as long as they are willing to buy a puppy for less money "almost purebred ", these illegal practices will not be successfully eradicated.

The problem of pseudo-breeding was successfully shown in the video below - I encourage you to watch it.

Reporters' Express Magazine - Dog Factories
Watch this video on YouTube

How to choose a good breeding?

If the sale of puppies and kittens from pseudo-kennels is illegal and punishable is where to check and where to get knowledge about good breeding?

Undoubtedly, the information on the pages can be very helpful here Kennel Club.

Here we can also check whether the breeding is registered and run in accordance with applicable regulations.

If we decide on a specific breed that meets our expectations, it is worth visiting the nearest branch of the Kennel Club or simply calling to find out about the puppies currently on sale.

Remember that it is valid prohibition of selling puppies at exhibitions, and the place where we can buy a new dog is breeding purebred animals.

The kennel club gathering enthusiasts of breeding a given breed will provide us with all the necessary information, advise us well and guide us step by step so that we can safely and without risk buy a dog, which we will be happy with later.

So let's use their professional advice and tips.

Often, the kennels themselves also have websites, where we can find practical information about puppies and purchase formalities, as well as address details.

Basic concepts: birth certificate, pedigree, breeding nickname

Metrics

Metrics is a supporting document purebred dog, containing the seal of the branch and the signature of its representative, data of the dog, its owner and the Association's hologram.

The breeder receives it after birth control of the litter.

The pedigree is simply an extension of the metric with additional data and subsequent generations.

Only with these documents, we can register the dog in the Kennel Club.

Lineage

By purchasing a purebred dog, everyone would like to be sure that this puppy will belong to a given breed.

It is a document that confirms belonging to a given breed of dogs pedigree of the dog.

It is a kind of guarantee of the dog's origin.

Lineage contains information about the puppy's parents, their achievements, research and training during their lifetime.

There is a production of a document voluntary and no one can force us to have it.

We do not have to subject our dog to further breeding, or if we do not wish to do so, participate in shows with him.

It is a document confirming that our dog does not come from a random place, but was born in a real kennel as a result of well-thought-out and properly conducted breeding work of the owner.

He assures us that the purchased animal and its ancestors were free from genetically determined defects in construction and common diseases (e.g. hip dysplasia in a German Shepherd).

Breeders who have animals with a pedigree from the very beginning, i.e. from birth, usually take great care of their little ones:

they remain under veterinary control and their mothers receive good-quality food that ensures adequate milk yield.

Simply put - the pedigree assures us that when our little dog grows up, he will look and behave like other individuals of the same breed.

How to get a pedigree?

Many owners of puppies bought in a good kennel would like their dog to be able to boast a document confirming its affiliation to a given breed and wonder what to do to get it.

A puppy or kitten from registered, legal breeding at birth is replaced by certificate, which is the first official document stating "raciality", the origin of parents registered in the Association.

We have to go with her to the nearest field office ZKwP or ZF where, after being enrolled as a member, we obtain a document that is pedigree.

Of course, this does not oblige us to participate in exhibitions or to deal professionally with the reproduction of a given breed, as some people think, it is only an official confirmation that our pet belongs to dogs or cats of a given breed.

It is also required contract to buy an animal containing data of the place of origin, which allows for accurate verification of the authenticity of the metric.

They exist national pedigrees and export pedigrees.

The latter applies to animals sold and exported abroad.

The date of obtaining the pedigree is 14 days from the moment of receipt of all correctly submitted and required documents to the Main Board of the Union.

Then it is sent to the branch and picked up there by the person concerned.

For the very impatient, it is possible to get a pedigree in express mode, within 5 working days, which, however, involves an additional fee.

Breeding nickname

Breeding nickname is the name of the breeding where puppies are born.

Each member of the Association, when starting breeding, must apply on a special form for approval of the nickname he has invented.

It cannot repeat or be similar to the existing one (registered in the database FCI or ZKwP), and its absence actually makes it impossible to breed.

All puppies from the same litter are given names beginning with the same letter.

You want to buy a kennel dog?

And now practical considerations what to pay attention to when buying a dog from breeding, because it is in this field that many situations arise when the future owner should turn on the proverbial "red light " and should often withdraw from the purchase.

You don't really need to be an outstanding animal expert and breeder to intuitively sense places where "something is wrong ".

Remember that a real breeder focused on the welfare of puppies or kittens will have nothing to hide, and the conditions of keeping the animals will always be exemplary and at the highest zoohygienic level.

The future pet should be bought in the place of its life, in the area where the kennel is run.

It is there that we arrange the signing of an appropriate purchase and sale agreement and the final selection of the appropriate individual.

A real breeder, passionate about what he does, will be clear, understandable and willing to answer our questions and provide us with a kind of layette containing at least a sample of the food that the puppies are fed so far.

Often (horror of horror) we can meet people who have little to do with the welfare of animals and do not deserve the name of a breeder, for whom financial benefits play a major role.

Such persons will not make every effort to ensure appropriate conditions and at all costs to minimize the costs of keeping animals and to achieve maximum profits, they will try to complete the sale as soon as possible.

We should beware of such pseudo-breeders because by causing harm to our puppies and kittens, they expose ourselves to additional costs.

We cannot be sure about the health of animals from such places, not to mention the correctness of the conducted breeding work.

Let's always look at how puppies behave, whether they are viable or look healthy and how they treat their mother.

These valuable and seemingly trivial observations can tell a lot about our breeding.

And remember:

no stupid questions, if anything interests you, don't be shy to just ask. A real breeder will always provide comprehensive information and share his own experience.

We can ask about possible health problems of the parents, but sometimes such information is hidden by breeders so as not to discourage buyers.

Anyway, an honest breeder will not sell us a sick puppy, because in this way he makes himself "anti-advertising" and gives a very negative opinion about his breeding.

The main thing that we should never forget when fascinated by the charm of a puppy is preparation of an appropriate purchase and sale contract.

Today, a purebred animal often costs a lot, so it is worth protecting yourself with an appropriate document drawn up on paper.

It is the contract that is the basis for any subsequent claims or conditions for obtaining a pedigree.

Puppy / kitten from good breeding

What a puppy / kitten from a good breeding should have?

Deworming the dog

Newly purchased puppy (or kitten) in addition to a complete set of documents (purchase and sale agreement, birth certificate, information on nutrition - short recommendations from the breeder) should be dewormed.

Each puppy or kitten, even from the best breeding, receives somehow "as a gift from its mother " with milk, the so-called. dormant larvae or figures nematodes:

• Toxocara canis,
• T. cati,
• Toxoscaris leonina.

These forms of the parasite are practically impossible to kill in the mother, and at the same time they do not harm her while remaining in a state of hibernation.

They are activated only in pregnancy as a result of hormonal changes, and when transferred with milk, they are a source of invasion in the offspring.

That is why it is extremely important to carry out correctly deworming treatment.

We should start it at age 2-3 weeks in puppies, 5 weeks in kittens then repeat at intervals 3 weeks old (puppies) i 5 weeks old (kittens).

More detailed information on deworming treatments can be found in the article: "Dog deworming " and "Cat deworming ".

Vaccinating the dog

Vaccinating the dog

A puppy or a cat should be in the first weeks of its life spend in the company of his mother, what determines his health and appropriate emotional development (too early separation from the mother and offspring causes serious behavioral problems).

It is at this time that the first vaccination against infectious diseases (puppy 6-7 weeks of age and 8-10, kitten 8-10 weeks and approx 12 weeks).

Such a procedure is not only an expression of the breeder's concern for the health of the animals, but also gives the immune system time to properly develop immunity.

Vaccination is a kind of guarantee that the newly acquired individual will not fall ill with an infectious disease immediately after arriving at a new home.

It also provides an opportunity for the litter to be examined by the vaccinating doctor.

Breeders should be concerned that the future owner of the animal is happy and that his pet is healthy.

Of course, in the recommendations provided to the buyer, he must inform about any treatments or prophylaxis carried out on the animal, along with documentation confirming this fact (e.g. entries in vaccination booklet).

You can learn more about vaccinations in the articles: "Vaccinating the dog " and "Vaccinating the cat "

Dogs of aggressive breeds: performance certificate

Dogs of aggressive breeds: performance certificate

Aggressive breeds, large and dangerous dogs, although the fashion for them has passed a bit, they still have their constant group of admirers.

As long as these animals are treated and used responsibly, there is nothing wrong with that.

On April 28, 2003, the Minister of the Interior and Administration issued a special regulation listing aggressive breeds, such as.:

• Caucasian Shepherd,
• rottweiler,
• tosa inu,
• Canary dog,
• moscow guard dog,
• argentinian dog,
• american pitt bull terrier.

Listing these breeds was to protect other people from potential threats resulting from improper handling of individuals of the above-mentioned species.

Each dog can be a potentially lethal threat to humans, but some of them, due to their character, build or innate instinctive behavior, are more dangerous.

People who want to deal with breeding dogs the breeds listed in the Regulation should obtain a special permit to conduct such activity issued by:

• the mayor,
• the mayor,
• the mayor of the city.

Of course, they are issued under strict conditions:

• application,
• copies of pedigrees,
• dog mental tests,
• copies of completed courses.

A document closely related to "dangerous races" is also service certificate.

It is a special document issued by Main Board of the Polish Kennel Club at the breeder's request, after presenting the results of tests, examinations along with the dog's marks, assessing, for example, his "mental state " and suitability for further breeding, obedience, etc.

Such a procedure ensures maximum safety from having a potentially aggressive dog and is a kind of limitation for all those who want to run pseudo-kennels.

A working certificate is also issued for breed dogs hunting, greyhounds, herding dogs, and sled dogs.

Myths spread by pseudo-breeders

More than once I have encountered various myths, significantly different from reality and passed by "breeders " breeding non-purebred dogs, i.e. mongrels.

It is they who argue that the pedigree is only an irrelevant piece of paper and that their pet, although "without pedigree, then after racial parents ".

So it's time to deal clearly and clearly with some of the most common of them:

If you want to get a pedigree, you pay for "paper "

We can often hear that:

if you want to get a pedigree, you are actually paying for the paper.

This document is a written confirmation that you are becoming the owner of the puppy or kitten healthy, with a properly shaped psyche that is, socialized, coming from parents who have the appearance and character of the breed.

So it is a kind of guarantee of the purchase of the purchased goods because everyone likes to know what exactly they are buying.

A pedigree animal from breeding is expensive

Pedigree animal from breeding it is expensive to buy - this is a common argument against real farms.

However, this is not always the case.

From the pedigree parents, sometimes a puppy / kitten may be born slightly deviating from the breed standard, even having different color which somehow disqualifies them from participating in exhibitions and further reproduction.

Such an individual still remains a purebred dog, most likely not burdened with genetic diseases and is a great choice at a reasonable price, for all those who do not intend to participate in exhibitions.

Another from the litter

I also heard the opinion that if the puppy is e.g. "The seventh from the litter ", even if he is from his purebred parents, he will not receive a pedigree.

It used to be like that, but it is now each puppy born in legal breeding receives a birth certificate that proves it is purebred.

The pedigree is not only a document, but care, and therefore a manifestation of the owner's responsibility that he supports and purchases the animal from the only proper and reliable source and does not support the pathology of pseudo-breeding.

Summary

Choose a pet from good breeding!

About organization of breeding of purebred animals in Poland, one could really write a lot because the topic is very extensive.

I tried to focus on what is most important from the point of view of a person who wants to buy a purebred dog or cat.

It is the moment of choice and the purchase decision that really determines the further life of the dog and our relationship with it.

It can bring us a lot of joy but also cause a lot of trouble when we take a shortcut and choose "cheaper version ", which in the perspective of a few or a dozen years may turn out to be a more expensive and more troublesome version.

Let us not support improper practices of choosing an animal from pseudo-breeders and the practice will die a natural death.

We, on the other hand, will be able to enjoy beautiful animals, which I sincerely wish all readers.

Sources used >>