Tell Me That Is *NOT* A Shiba ?!?

This morning The Woman turned on her internet and found several articles regarding Puppy Mills. This was the first one she read.

Shiba in a Puppy Mill

This next one is a raid on the largest puppy mill to date.

400 American Eskimo Dogs

Here we have some good news! Some teens rescued some dogs from a puppy mill in Michigan and are attempting to find them new homes.

Teens Rescue 41 Puppies

And in Chicago, there was another puppy mill raid:

70 dogs Rescued

The video that accompanies this story does not show the extremes but again, points out that the recent craze of "designer dogs" makes for a fertile ground for fast money making.

The following is an amazing long but informative article about puppy mills and designer dogs. Just reading the first page is enough to make any purebred, carefully lineaged Shiba gag.

The Modern Kennel Conundrum

There comes a point where we have to ask ourselves in the case of a designer dog, are we designing the dog to the benefit of the human race or merely making dogs to meet the needs of a single individual? As the NYT points out, men don't want "poofy" dogs, so Puggles become the designer breed of choice; women are making dogs into fashion accessories so we can assume that ideals such as house and obedience training are out the window.

Between Puppy Mills and the desire for a unique dog that meets your individual needs, we will never stop the overbreeding of dogs because we need to tailor make a dog for everyone who wants one. The remainders become disgarded, unadoptable, or merely classified as "mutts."

If one goes on Petfinder, there are a number of dogs listed under Shiba Inu but actually are most likely mutts. But because they are red, or have a curly tail and prick ears, that must obviously be the foundation breed. Most likely it is not. Most likely, it just looks like it could have been a Shiba, just like any dog that is black must have come from a Labrador.

Shasta

Chadwick

Jindo, the 50 pound Shiba

It is sad when the breed that I am gets mispresented just so that others can show off that they have a Shiba.

On my final note of this tirade, let me tell you about a woman I encountered at the park one day. She had a Lab/Shepherd puppy (a common mix up this way), but the woman added, "and a little bit of Pit." The Woman questioned the other woman about this, and She was told, that the grandmother of the puppy was 1/2 pitbull (and that is assuming that the breeder in that case correctly identified what a pitbull is!) But the interesting part of the conversation was that the talker kept emphasizing "the little bit of Pit" while ignoring the whole Lab/Shepherd mix which in and of itself, makes a fine dog. It's like calling yourself Native American when the Native American introduced into your family line was back in 1850.

Puppy Mills, Designer Dogs, and Fashionable Statements about what your dog is nothing more than fulfilling your own ego trip. At least those of the Shiba People who have carefully selected their opinionated furball don't do it for fashion. Shiba People own Shibas because they are paying for the sins of a past life, and have to relive this one with a Shiba in order to be ready for the next.


I Am Shiba. I Am The Higher Reincarnated Step.