The Harsh Reality of Backyard Breeding

Like puppy mills, there’s another thing called “backyard breeding.” Backyard breeding isn’t as huge of a problem as puppy mills, but it’s still really important to know about. Backyard breeders are basically someone with a handful of dogs, unlike the hundreds in a puppy mill.

There are all sorts of backyard breeders. My beef is against the people who use dogs, especially female dogs as puppy-making machines. First, they start getting the dogs pregnant as early as 6 months, when it is essentially just a puppy. Then they keep getting the dog pregnant 2-3 times a year versus the usual recommended time of once a year. Then they make the female dogs have 10+ litters of puppies throughout their lives, which is way more than the recommended limit.

This can be a highly profitable venture. With minimal cost, if the breeder gets 10 puppies every year and sells each for $500, they make $5000, which is a lot of money. The next set of parent puppies are taken from the litters themselves so there is no additional cost of continuing the business.

This overbreeding puts significant pressure on female dogs and their health suffers significantly and each successive litter is weaker as well. In backyard breeding, the owners make the female dogs have more than 15-20 litters of puppies throughout their lives, which is way more than the recommended limit. Slowly, as the dog has fewer and fewer puppies in each litter, the owner might either put her down or abandon her on the streets. They don’t think it's worth having to feed a dog if they aren’t getting a profit from them.

Besides health issues, backyard breeding makes the overpopulation problem worse. Backyard breeders don’t spay or neuter their dogs, so there are a lot of unintentional litters and more unwanted pets. These animals often end up in shelters, and because there’s not enough space and resources, many of them get euthanized. The overpopulation problem shows that we need stricter laws and more public awareness about proper breeding practices. Also, backyard breeding affects communities because the animals from these breeders often have behavioral problems due to poor socialization and care. This makes them harder to train and more likely to be abandoned, creating potential dangers with many dogs roaming the streets.

In conclusion, backyard breeders don’t really know what they’re doing or follow any proper guidelines. They aren’t the responsible breeders who take their time to make sure their animals are healthy and well-treated. Backyard breeders are usually just using dogs as money-making machines.