So I have a lot to say about this subject. I recently bred my Great Danes, the litter is about 6 weeks old now. I learned almost everything I know from my mentor, a Dane breeder with about 30 years under her belt, and from numerous text books. I would be considered a "back-yard breeder" to many. There are a few reasons for this.
One, and most importantly to those who judge, I do not show my dogs. I do not believe in showing. It is all too political and unjust IMO. Both of my Danes are AKC registered, but that is only because it is too hard to find a breeding quality dog that is not AKC, UKC etc, registered nowadays. I do not believe in the AKC and what it stands for. I have never thought that the AKC, or many kennel clubs for that matter, truly care about the dogs they have registered. Registration with a kennel club does not guarantee quality, health, temperment, etc. Registration is just paperwork that tells you that your dogs is purebred, but that is not always the case! Registration papers are so easy to forge its a bit rediculous. I do not think that I need a judge to tell me if my dog is exceptional or not. Most of them give their own biased opinions anyways and pick their favorite breed, not the dog that deserves to win. Instead, I have my dogs temperment tested, trained (both are canine good citizens and therapy dogs at a local nursing home), health checked (hips, eyes, heart, blood, etc) and well socialized (members of one of the largest Dane clubs nationally). They are apart of my family, they are our "kids."
Two, our puppies are not registered. This is because every puppy that we bring into this world is pet only. This correlates to my opinion on showing and the above paragraph. Registration is not needed unless the puppy is going to be shown or bred (in the general public's opinion), and since all of our puppies are pet only, we don't bother with registration. We have the papers and pedigrees to show people that they are in AKC registered parents and are not related in any way, as well as all their health records. I personally think that a pedigree is the number one tool that a breeder can use, along with health checks and temperment testing, and that show titles are just bragging rights. I talked with probably 100 people about our puppies who were interested in adopting one. Almost all of them asked if they were registered or not, and almost all of them did not mind one way or another. I would say that about 98% of people (based on the people that I talked to) were looking for a pet only puppy anyway. Why should a pet-seeking family have to pay thousands of dollars for a potentially unhealthy, ill-tempered "show dog" that has been bred to look good? I am certainly not saying that all show dogs are like that, but you have to admit that some really are that way.
Three, we own both parents and only have this one breeding pair. Most top breeders have multiple breeding/show dogs. We do not breed as a way to make money and its certainly not our "career." Instead, our dogs are our lives! We live and breathe for their well being. We do not treat them as property, but as family. A lot of the breeders that you will come across treat their animals as property, but I am not saying that they do not love and care for their pets. Its just a differece of outlooks on the situation.
On another note, I think that it is absolutely necessary to have a spay/neuter contract on every puppy, no exceptions. To ensure this, I give them $100 back after I see that their puppy has been fixed, which can cover the entire cost of the surgery if they go to the right place (which I recommend to them). I also donate $50 for every puppy to a local rescue of the adopting family's choice to give back to the community. I also volunteer for the local Dane rescue too. How many breeders do you know that do all of this?! I certainly havent met any...
So, IMO I am proud to be what most would call a "back-yard breeder" no matter how much criticism I get!
To get back to the whole reason this thread started, I whole-heartedly agree that there is a huge problem with the entire setup of dog breeding these days. People need to realize what is most important for the dog, not for them or their pocket book. I wonder if anything will change after this whole thing?!