What About Rescue?

This Land Delightful Doodles strongly supports responsibly managed animal shelters and rescues. It is a sad fact that our society continues to throw away a lot of temperamentally and physically sound dogs every year, and those dogs deserve homes just as much as any puppy we or any other responsible breeder lovingly welcomes into the world.

We fully agree with this statement from the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals):

Because there are homeless animals awaiting adoption in almost every community in the nation, the ASPCA firmly believes that when people decide to bring a pet into their homes, they should first consider adoption from a shelter or rescue group. Those who choose to purchase a pet should visit a responsible breeder, a term whose meaning we explain further below. This position statement focuses primarily on dogs, but certainly has some application to other species, particularly cats and rabbits.  

The ASPCA recognizes that there is a demand for purposefully bred dogs, and we know that there are dog breeders who share our vision for humane communities in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness. These breeders reject the practices of commercial breeders, brokers, pet stores, auctions and others who profit from cruelty and instead plan breeding carefully, place dogs thoughtfully, and take a lifetime responsibility for the animals they have bred and for all of their offspring.

Our support of rescues and shelters includes regular financial and material support of local organizations, our no-exception right of return for any Doodle we have bred at any time in their lives so that we are not adding to the burden on rescues and shelters, and our own family's adoption or fostering of many rescue dogs over the course of decades.

Why Rescue Isn't an Option for Everyone

Sometimes we hear good-hearted, good-intentioned people say, "We should stop breeding dogs and everyone should rescue". There are a few roadblocks to this noble idea.

The first is that dogs have a limited window of fertility. If literally everyone stopped breeding for about 10 years, there would about 10 years after that be no more dogs, period. While some animal rights groups are in favor of this, we are not.

Next, we have a simple math problem.

There are almost 90 million dogs working or living in homes in the United States. The average lifespan for dogs-in-general is about 10 years. So each year, about 9 million new puppies are needed to replace the dogs we have sadly lost. Shelter statistics show that about 3 million dogs enter shelters or rescues each year (and please note: a number of these dogs get counted multiple times as they are moved from one shelter or rescue to another to increase their chances of adoption).

This leaves us at least 6 million dogs short. 

Where are those dogs coming from now? From breeders. 

Some are from a working, sports, or show dog breeder's program. Some are from those, like us, whose main purpose in breeding is to bring into the world functional, healthy, and behaviorally exceptional family pets. Some are from families of good intent but often low knowledge or experience who want to have "just one litter". 

But most are from large-scale, low welfare commercial breeding establishments, commonly called "puppy mills" - I don't think any responsible dog owner, rescue, shelter, or breeder disagrees that we'd love to put these mills out of business. That common goal would achieve so many good things - puppy buyers get the healthy companions they wanted, shelters and rescues see fewer dogs coming in because one of the primary policies of any responsible breeder is to accept return of one of their dogs for any reason at any time in that dog's life, and of course we would see the dogs used for breeding living as all dogs should - as family pets in their homes and as working dogs cared for properly.

How can we end puppy mills? While the sweep of a pen in legislation is a tempting thought, at this time it would just leave a huge number of people without any way to get a puppy in a reasonable period of time, and it's likely that would find its natural "solution" with dogs imported from puppy mills, legally or not, from other countries.

If instead, we as a society encourage the people who are interested in responsibly breeding dogs primarily for companions, who have knowledge and experience and mentors and support, who provide an enriching environment and the status of a beloved indoor pet for all their dogs who are going to create the next generation of family pets, who keep up on best practices in health disorder testing and veterinary care - we can put more and more puppy mills out of business. No one who loves dogs wants to support a puppy mill, and when we have options to make more humane choices, we do.

We must accept the reality that many people want to start with a puppy. There is nothing wrong with this - just as there are many human children in foster care who we want to see in loving families, there is still nothing wrong with having your own baby.

Finally, we have the fact that not every dog in a shelter or rescue is suitable for life as a family pet. When shelters or rescues try to adopt out "every dog" they unfortunately create some intolerable situations for that dog, its new owners, and the community they live in. There are many wonderful family pets waiting in shelters. There are also many reactive or aggressive dogs, victims of neglect, mistreatment, or irresponsible breeding, whose rehabilitation will be expensive in terms of time, money, and emotional energy and often tragically fail - sometimes at the cost of injury or death of other animals or people.

American Veterinary Medical Association U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics 2024

Shelter Animals Count National Database 2024 Annual Analysis

How We Hold Ourselves Accountable

We follow the guidelines of these dog welfare, health, and breeding organizations:

ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

CDP (The Companion Dog Project)

FDC (The Functional Dog Collaborative)

OFA (The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and Canine Health Center)

We follow best practices in responsible breeding:

Enrichment and our dogs' health and happiness are our top priorities.

We will always accept the return of one of our Doodles at any time for any reason.

We keep up to date and follow recommended health disorder testing.

We raise our puppies with a comprehensive curriculum.

We provide a four year health warranty.