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Katherine Nevius, Minstrel Boxers, Vienna, VA

A while ago, a member of the Showboxer-L sent a message that embroiled the list in a long discussion of a topic I think gets swept under the mat. In it, she said:

As someone who got into the breeding of Boxers specifically as a reaction to the fates of my first few (all pets), the question seemed a good one. All three of mine had different genetic maladies. What caused the ripples on the List was the fact that the author of the post requested specific information on people's experiences with breeders who do not stand behind what they sell when health problems crop up.

Such an uproar ensued! Complaints were filed in "open court" by List members incensed that anyone should ask for names and histories. "How dare they?!!?" "It's a witch hunt!" "Who can believe such stories?" Etcetera.

I smiled.

This is a typical reaction when a nerve gets touched.

What DO you do if you're the victim of an uncaring breeder who takes your money and runs, leaving you with a seriously ill or even dying puppy -- one that you now love and wouldn't part with for the world? One that you're certainly ready to spend multiple thousands on to cure, if a cure even exists? Give it back in exchange for a pup from a future litter? Has that concept ever made sense to anyone?

Early on in my time as a Boxer owner, I was sold a precious plain fawn male. He lived with me precisely two weeks before a combination of ills -- subaortic stenosis and megaesophagus (and the recurrent pneumonia it caused) -- took him from my arms into God's. I grieved in a way I can't describe; nursing a sick baby creates an enormous bond, and it felt nearly impossible to let go. Although it did nothing to assuage the grief, at least the breeder had the grace to refund my purchase price (although not the more than a thousand dollars I’d spent in the interim, of course). He also came to the vet and, because I simply could not face the pup’s fate, allowed me to leave while he stayed and, very responsibly, did what had to be done.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to deal with a breeder who’s so ethical. I sold a puppy to a family in Maryland last year. They were the last ones to get on the waiting list for a pet, but they were the second chosen as parents for an eight week old MinstrelPup. That’s because their situation was so compelling.

They’d been sold a four month old "who wasn’t working out in the ring" (no kidding; that’s what they were told). Very soon thereafter, it was determined that the pup had kidney disease and would not live without expensive, labor-intensive supportive care. The family told the breeder about the diagnosis. No offer of refund was forthcoming. This is what the breeder did offer: "We’ve never had that in our line before." Yeah. We can all name THAT tune.

Two years later, and literally thousands of dollars as well, the family continues to struggle with this bitch’s issues, going so far as to give her daily subcutaneous injections of fluids along with a special diet in hopes that she’ll make it a month, even a year longer.

The breeder never bothers to call. All I can hope is that at least she thinks of doing so from time to time. Every time I venture into the area where her dogs are shown and see one in the ring, I can think of nothing else. As her future champions prance and show off to the glory of her kennel name, there’s a beautiful fawn relative at home in Maryland who clings to life only through the good graces of loving owners – NO thanks to the thoughtless person who created her.

I have often, in the public forum of this or that mailing list, opined that our main responsibility in breeding is to the unsuspecting future owner of the pets in our litters. They are the innocents. Mostly unaware of potential problems in the Boxer, they rely on us for two things. The first is a beautifully-bred representative of the breed with a pedigree to which they can point with justifiable pride. The second, and FAR more important, is at the very least total emotional support combined with instant recompense when a sad tragedy turns a relatively new but already beloved pet into a precarious visitor whose costs may mount as the years go by.

Probably no rational person would suggest that a refund be offered if genetic disease rears its unwelcome head years after a pup goes to its new home. But when that tragedy occurs in short order after the purchase, how anyone can even think of holding on to (in the case mentioned above) $800 for their own purposes when the new family may invest literally more than the cost of a house’s down payment in the struggle to keep a defective entity with them just a little longer seems criminal. That tariff’s awfully high -- even for a puppy "from champion lines," don’t you think?

When families come to me seeking baby Boxers, I explain that there is really no such thing as a guarantee of good health in this breed; in fact, the only meaningful guarantee might be that a Boxer may very well encounter a breed-related condition sometime during his or her life. As experienced breeders, we know that we are selling potentially defective merchandise. The very least we can do is refund the purchase price if the defect shows up early, and be thrilled that someone else is willing to supervise and even pay for the treatment that follows – if they’re sufficiently fortunate even to find viable treatment.

I tell you what… if I produced a puppy with a terminal illness, I’d pay a lot more than $800 to someone willing to love and nurture it until loving and nurturing’s effects no longer make a difference.

I’ve been wondering if maybe it’s time there were a Better Business Bureau arm of the AKC. Or maybe we don’t even need one. Internet mailing lists provide instant communication among literally hundreds of people who may brim with information on whatever topic you’d care to address. We shouldn’t be surprised when, on an important occasion, someone asks for input on a breeder’s behavior.

If you conduct your day to day life in a manner that brings credit to your avocation, you likely have nothing to worry about. If you don’t, thanks to the Internet, you can probably count upon being found out.