What makes someone a backyard breeder?

[franktheskank]

Or what makes someone a responsible breeder?

Obviously there are so many dogs in rescue it is best to buy a rescue dog but if everyone stopped breeding then dogs would die be extinct in a few years surely?

I think belonging to a professional association would tip it.

The Kennel Club has good information. If people blindly breed dogs, then they could be bringing dogs with integral health problems into the world because they don't know what they're doing.

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/breeding/

My personal view is that a backyard breeder is someone who puts little thought into the breeding of their dogs. This could be someone who didn't spay/neuter nor make an effort to keep their dog from mating, or someone who actively mates dogs with no thought to temperament or health.

I think a responsible breeder can tell you in detail about their breeding aims and why they bred the specific dogs they did, and about the health issues in the breed(s) they are using (and as a prospective purchaser I would read up and decide if I'm happy with what the breeder is doing).

I'm not aware of any single definition, but broadly speaking, backyard breeders will share several of the following characteristics

• primarily motivated by profit, rather than breeding dogs primarily to improve the breed and contribute towards another purpose (e.g. show, agility)
• breeding dogs pretty much because they're there, without regards for actual demand for those puppies and hence their ability to find new homes (e.g. litters of staffie puppies, when rescues are already overflowing with staffies; bizarre crosses with portmanteau names like jackahuahuas and pugapoos). Similarly, selecting a stud dog because it's available, not because it's necessarily the best match for the bitch.
• lack of proper testing for genetic conditions known to affect the breed, and / or continuing to breed from any dogs known to be affected
• having a bitch have too many litters of puppies, breed too young / old, or do something else that prevents the KC registration of purebreed puppies (there are many bad reasons not to register eligible pups, and no good ones)
• lack of proper screening of new owners, and a lack of ongoing support for the new owners

Very often there is little to distinguish a backyard breeder from a puppy farm except the scale of the operation.

This documentary is a few years old, and has an awful title, but it does show a lot of backyard breeding and the problems with it. It's like watching a car crash about to happen in slow motion. www.channel4.com/programmes/dogs-on-the-dole

if everyone stopped breeding then dogs would die be extinct in a few years surely
It's not going to happen like that, realistically speaking. There are reputable breeders who would continue breeding. There are always going to be some genuine accidental litters. And if the number of puppies coming into this world reduced to the point where people actually had to work a bit harder to get one (rather than it being possible to pick up a pup for £50 off Gumtree), it would be no bad thing as it would put off those who do it on a whim or are otherwise less than committed to dog ownership.

Having numerous different dogs and breeding them depending on what is fashionable that year. So ( yes you neighbour) when all the doodle cross breeds were the rage having a few poodles, different colours and mating them with whatever to produce furry sweet cross breeds that the world wanted! When pugs were fashionable it was pugs and most recently it's Frenchies. The poodles still get bred just not as much
It's all totally about making money ( though must say dogs can be well looked after and not particularly over bred)
Imo a responsible breeder is someone who primarily breeds and is expert on one breed. They will take their bitch to mate with a good match dog all over the UK to get that good match, not just use the neighbours dog

What avocados said.
We are so overpopulated with dogs, people really, really need to stop the random breeding.

A responsible breeder is one who chooses the dam and stud specifically for the characteristics they will bring to the pups, and understands how genetics work (ie, not just thinking you will get the best of both for instance), who puts time, effort and money into preparing for a litter. And who has the knowledge and skills to deal with whelping - plus does all the work of not just getting pups to survive to 8 weeks, but to equip them with skills to be great dogs

Good breeders ive dealt with have always had heavily vetted waiting lists of people (who were happy to wait up to 3 yrs for their right dog).
While they were breeding for show, they knew any that needed to be sold had great homes ready and waiting for them.