>>554361>>555742>>555712>>555697Guise. This is 4chan, so let's tell the truth. There are a few good breeders, but most in the US (and an increasing number in the UK) breed for bench traits and those, the majority, are slowly fucking up whatever good traits remain in most breeds. Brain hernias in KCC Spaniels. Rage syndrome in Cockers. Cancer in Goldens (Cancer Retrievers to your vet). Needle nose collies. Hip dyplasiac Labs. The list goes on.
Also, many, many shelter dogs are damaged, sickly, abused or neglected. A lot of them have problems not detectable in a five minute "interview." That ok for a pet to a conscientious owner with patience or money to train them up diligently.
But for a high-performance /out/ sporting dog, athlete, hunter, or dock dog, the best solution is to pick a target breed or two, and then make a habit to watch the shelters until one comes up. Then go meet it. Toss it a bumper or a decoy. If it's gamey, you'll see that immediately. Also if it's not. Feel free to say "no," and wait for the next one.
That's how I got my blue ribbon agility competitor and multi-species-hunting bird dog. I could only rescue one anyway (so saying no did not contribute to the death of any more or fewer dogs that if I had not finally adopted the one I was always going to get anyway, and I didn't contribute to the breeding practices of "conformance" selection.
Temple Gradin does a pretty epic takedown of US dog breeders in
http://www.grandin.com/inc/animals.make.us.human.ch2.htmlBut if you know dogs, you know it's true. How else do you end up with floppy-eared Border Collies that won't react to a sheep?
