What IS a backyard breeder?

[scamperfarms]

Originally Posted by gayef

Can anyone say "Persian"? *smile*

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Oi i do belive we can..dont even get me started, lol

 

[bengalbabe]

Originally Posted by gayef

By making exceptions for the types of breeders you mention in your first paragraph, you would apparently be in the small minority. As you can see from some of the responses here, unless a breeder produces kittens who meet the current breed standard and unless they show those cats, they are summarily dismissed as an irresponsible breeder.

Is that fair? No. It is right? No. But it is a fact.

I actually think it is counterproductive to make a label such as "backyard breeder" and make a list that people must fit into. Everyone does things thier own way according to thier own circumstances. We all should not have to explain why we do things our own way. I don't vaccinate until the kittens are 16 weeks of age, does that make me a backyard breeder? I shouldn't have to explain why to anyone but my kitten buyers.

It's all about intent. There are simply good breeds and bad breeders. There are no "backyard breeders". If there are, maybe we all are backyard breeders since we do breed from our homes. I know I have more than a few cat enclosures in my backyard.

 

[bengalbabe]

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I actually think it is counterproductive to make a label such as "backyard breeder" and make a list that people must fit into. Everyone does things thier own way according to thier own circumstances. We all should not have to explain why we do things our own way. I don't vaccinate until the kittens are 16 weeks of age, does that make me a backyard breeder? I shouldn't have to explain why to anyone but my kitten buyers.

It's all about intent. There are simply good breeds and bad breeders. There are no "backyard breeders". If there are, maybe we all are backyard breeders since we do breed from our homes. I know I have more than a few cat enclosures in my backyard.

Sorry Nial, I hadn't read your post before I posted this. I said almost the exact same thing as you. You can tell we have been on the bengals list too much...lol

 

[sol]

Originally Posted by cococat

This caught my interest and I would love to expand on this.
If she doesn't show actively then how does she know for sure they are standard and beautiful for their breed? How did she get that "good eye"? A lot of people say they have a good idea, but I don't think that means all of those people should be breeding.

She's been breeding for 15 years (or maybe even longer than that) and she has been showing some. The fact that she basically didn't show the last years of her breeding career (she has retired now) doesn't mean she's been isolated. Even though not showing she has attended shows, she's sold cats for breeding and showing and the show results from the cats give her feedback on how she's doing.

I thinkg 15 years in the game is what have given her a good eye. She has a very good picture of what a good Devon Rex looks like and she's fairly insensitive to trends that come and go. I believe this is the key as to why she mananges to produce litters even in type and with good type. She doesn't care about what's currently trendy.

 

[goldenkitty45]

IMO there are very few breeders who know enough about type, etc. to be able to just breed cats and not show. It takes YEARS of experience and a certain knack of being able to pick up on things. But you cannot just breed and never show or know what is out there and produce show quality cats.

Many long term breeders may not be as active after 15-20 yrs, but they should know by then what's what.

I still say a good breeder will breed AND show and keep active in the cat fancy. There are many judges in cat shows that are retired or semi-retired from breeding but they know standards very well

 

[ferriscat]

Originally Posted by kitytize

I guess I would have to ask is it wrong for a person to want to raise a litter or 2 a year because they love their chosen breed but can't really afford to show or maybe work on weekends or like someone else posted they are preserving the orignal breed? What if they chose their breeding stock from very decent lines, had all the necessary testing, and had contracts? I would make exceptions for this breeder.

I would as well, although I'd like to know that this breeder still maintains a sense of community within their breed; that is, they keep in contact with other breeders.
Not everybody lives in an area that makes it easy to show. Not everybody works with a breed that gets lots of recognition at shows, either. It's really hard to show a breed that grands one point at a time when you've got a limited budget. We all know that it can take some time to produce a cat worth showing, so I'd like to know that if this breeder produced something wonderful, they'd do everything in their power to get recognition for their efforts.

 

[cococat]

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO there are very few breeders who know enough about type, etc. to be able to just breed cats and not show. It takes YEARS of experience and a certain knack of being able to pick up on things. But you cannot just breed and never show or know what is out there and produce show quality cats.

Many long term breeders may not be as active after 15-20 yrs, but they should know by then what's what.

I still say a good breeder will breed AND show and keep active in the cat fancy. There are many judges in cat shows that are retired or semi-retired from breeding but they know standards very well

Yup, I think this too

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Sol

She's been breeding for 15 years (or maybe even longer than that) and she has been showing some. The fact that she basically didn't show the last years of her breeding career (she has retired now) doesn't mean she's been isolated. Even though not showing she has attended shows, she's sold cats for breeding and showing and the show results from the cats give her feedback on how she's doing.

I thinkg 15 years in the game is what have given her a good eye. She has a very good picture of what a good Devon Rex looks like and she's fairly insensitive to trends that come and go. I believe this is the key as to why she mananges to produce litters even in type and with good type. She doesn't care about what's currently trendy.

I just have to say that just because she's been breeding 15 years doesn't make her any kind of expert. I've seen some breeders that think because they have been breeding for some number of years they know more than a lot of others when in fact their ignorance shows up over and over again. Those specifically are the breeders I would personally stay away from. I would rather go to a breeder that admits they don't know it all than one that thinks they know everything - I'd trust the one that admits they don't know everything far more.

Some people, no matter how many years they've been doing something don't necessarily learn anything.

 

[sol]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I just have to say that just because she's been breeding 15 years doesn't make her any kind of expert. I've seen some breeders that think because they have been breeding for some number of years they know more than a lot of others when in fact their ignorance shows up over and over again. Those specifically are the breeders I would personally stay away from. I would rather go to a breeder that admits they don't know it all than one that thinks they know everything - I'd trust the one that admits they don't know everything far more.

Some people, no matter how many years they've been doing something don't necessarily learn anything.

I'm not talking about people in general. I'm talking about this particular breeder and she breeds high quality kittens without showing. Of course, I wouldn't have bought a queen from her if I didn't believe she breeds healthy and beautyful cats.

She does in no way believe she knows everything, she just happens to breed very beautyful and even kittens.

I personally believe that some people just have "the eye". It's a combination of practical experience, theoretical knowledge and just pure talent. Congenital talent.

 

[jcat]

Originally Posted by gayef

I believe there are at least a couple of breeders in Germany, I think, who are breeding to the TICA Thai Standard. However, as I mentioned before, I find it unfair and historically incorrect to call a Siamese anything other than a Siamese. In fact, a lot of the so-called Thai cats do not possess any of the old blood lines and IMO should never be confused with an Old Style Siamese - the proof is always in the pedigree.

There are, and many of them advertise their cats as Thai cats - "Old Type Siamese" or "Traditional Type Siamese".

This cattery, which seems to have a lot of champions, doesn't:
males: http://magicthaigoblins.de/Katzen/zuchtkater.html
females:http://magicthaigoblins.de/Katzen/zuchtkatzen.html
current kittens: http://magicthaigoblins.de/Ihre Katze/angebote.html