the ANSWER

Hoarding is only one of the problems.

Our society has changed from one where the average person was free to let their dog have a litter of puppies, and where most people got their pet puppy from a mother dog who was a pet, to a society where dog breeding has largely become a business.

To keep it a business, people in the business often think they have to prevent the people who buy one of their puppies from becoming dog breeders.

There are 4 laws which I believe would fix a great many of the problems in dogs, or at least open the door for those problems to be fixed:

1) FED. End the loophole that allows dog raising to be an IRS tax shelter.

2) FED. End the USDA exemption for direct sales of puppies. Sell more than 25 dogs/cats in a year, and you need a USDA license NO EXCEPTIONS. Don’t blow it like last time by adding exemptions. If the USDA can’t do the inspections, then don’t bother. Talk about a conflict of interest!

3) Local. Set a maximum number on how many adult UNFIXED cats/dogs a person can own (include co-ownerships in the total).

If you can’t get a state law for a 12 dog/cat limit, go for a 50 dog/cat limit, but don’t do nothing.

If you can’t get a city or county law for 4 UNFIXED (not neutered/not spayed, ie fertile) dogs/cats, then go for 12 or 20, or 100, but set some limit.

4) Local. Set a maximum for the number of unfixed adult dogs/cats allowed to be kept on a property. This is also to keep dog breeder from cheating by saying “Yes I have 50 cats in my garage and 75 dog in my basement but I don’t legally own them, the cats are strays, and the dog belong to friends.

In short, taking the production of pets away from puppy mills, and hand it back to pet owners.

A good breeder, who doesn’t inbreed and who ships seamen or sends her female to be bred, and who only breeds her best dogs, is only breeding her best dogs. 4 top unfixed dogs make for a better kennel,

than 40 unfixed poor show dogs with few legit wins, who produce 100 puppies a year so that the dog breeder can sort through them searching for one who is showable.

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Boomerang

One of the problems with using other people to do your work for you, so that you can have more control over more dogs, is that it keeps you from facing the psychological problems that are developing – no I’m not a professional, it’s just my opinion based on time spent at dog shows and with show dog breeders.

But I believe that, except in strictly for profit commercial use, it should be obvious that if you have to get other people to house your dogs for you, because your own home it too full of pets – then you have too many pets.

A normal person, with a few pets, doesn’t have someone else raise and keep her pets for her – that would negate the entire point of having a pet!

When you start to ‘sell’ puppies but still feel they are yours, and you just can let go of your control over the puppy – maybe you should be getting profession help. Really.

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I love you

Another way, is to breed an easier breed. But beware, all is not as easy as it seems.

If you have big dogs, you might think they are more work than little dogs. But many breeds of little dogs yap, and yap, and yap. Some of the breeds are notorious for being hard to housebreak, and many of them don’t take the cold well.

Terriers often fight.

If you can get a breed where they all run loose in a pack, or where you can have two packs: one male dog pack, and one female dog pack – wow – is that so much easier than having to take care of individual dogs in crates or on chains.

IMO, no one factor is going to make for more work than dogs that fight with each other.

What breeds can be housed in packs. Many breeds can be kept in a pack until they are a year, or even 2 years old. some breeds, the females can run together.

One breed, the people say that 4 is the maximum number of their breeding dogs that anyone can house together. Two females might squabble, but three female make for a situation where 2 will gang up and kill the 3rd. Some reason, 2 are the maximum in males. Hence: 4 max size for a pack.

Foxhounds from pack lines are sometimes kept in huge packs over 30 hounds together – no problem.

Beagles from field pack lines are often kept in packs.

12 female beagles + 1 stud Pug = lots of puggle puppies.
Female beagles are IMO, easier than some breeds.

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Boxed in

Another way to limit yourself is to build runs, but only enough for Your Magic Number of dogs. Only keep enough crates for that many dogs. And stand firm.

If you think you might be too temped to go over, then keep yourself at one less than your magic number.

If you have already gone over Your Magic Number of dog, then you have a problem. If you are not emotionally attached to some of them you could re-home them. If you are don’t want to bother to sell them yourself, you could call a rescue or shelter – but I just can’t recommend any, you’d have to try to research one in your area or ship.

There are some rescues on Petfinder
http://www.petfinder.com/index.html

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Hoard Train

Another way to limit yourself is to focus on training, instead of showing.

You can do both – in that there are obedience shows where you show off your dog’s training, not just his grooming, and conformation.

Once you take a dog through basic obedience, you don’t dump him, you go up to the next level, then the next level.

Once you have gone through the levels you can focus on winning with the highest scores – actually you can do that while you are going through the levels – but that’s a lot to ask.

And there are performance clubs: mushing, herding, tossing disc, lure coursing, tracking, dancing, guard dog, weight pulls, earth dog tunnels, rally, agility, or you could just train your dogs to star in funny dog videos and put them on YouTube.

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Dog Limit

One way to help a person self limit, is to take a cue from the tribe of 99.

(they lived on an island and self limited their human population number to 99 people – each with a different name, which must be one of the 99 allowed names).

When you have fixed the maximum number of dogs, then fix the names too. One woman told me she called her 7 show dogs: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . .

I look at her, she had to be kidding!

But no. She said she got too many dogs, and they became a mess. She had no time. The kids had to raise themselves, she was too busy with the dogs.

So she asked herself: How many dogs can I properly take care of?

She felt that she could bathe one dog each evening, so 7 was her limit. She called them: her Sunday dog, her Monday dog, etc. because that was the day they were scheduled for her to bathe and groom them, and that became their names.

If a dog died or was sold, then the replacement dog got the name of the dead dog, and his slot in her bathing schedule.

I wouldn’t name dogs after the days of the week, but I could understand picking your 7 favorite dog names and re-using them.

If that makes no sense to you, then you have probably have not deal with having to supervise a pack of dogs running about a yard – where you have to call out a dog’s name at split second notice to prevent a fight.

But above all else, remember what happened when an outsider ruined the culture of the Tribe of 99. Extra people, malnutrition, cultural collapse.

Never go over your dog limit.

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Answers?

There are ways that some show dog breeders use to stifle the tendency to hoard. (Without giving up showing dogs).

The best way is to have a good relationship with a spouse who is firm, sane, and not suckered in by the same things that lure you off the right path.

Actually, the best way is to stay the Fig away from cults.

But here are some ways that I have heard – hear ye and be yea wise, or wallow in troubles like the unlearned swine!

1. Decide on a number of dogs that you can easily care for, in a presentable manner, at all times, without them running your life.

Write this number BIG on a full sheet of paper, and put the paper somewhere that you will always see it. On your refrigerator, on the wall by your mirror, as your desktop background, or write it in Calligraphy with colors that match your furniture, frame it, and hang it on the wall.

Tell everyone what the number if for – it is your own self imposed limit law, the maximum number of dogs and cats that you can have at one time. Puppies over 3 months old count – plan accordingly!

Reduce to this number of dogs, or never have more than this number. Stand firm.

Long before you feel the pull to have more than this number of pets, condition your spouse to NOT become an enabler. Tell your family about your number, about how this is the most dogs you should have.

Tell your spouse that they must stay strong and not let you get more than this number of dogs.

When you reach that number of dogs, then for each puppy you keep, each show dog you buy, then one of your dogs has to be found a new home BEFORE you get the new dog. But, but, but what if I find the perfect dog, and I have to buy him now or I will miss my chance?

Plan for the fact that this will happen. If your limit is 5 dogs, than only have 4, that way you always have an option open.

If your limit is 10 dogs, only have 9, if your limit is 60 dogs – get professional help.

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Young Jung

Those of you into Jung (I like him better than Frued) probably have heard of the Myer-Briggs personality test. (MBTI)

You know the one, where it figures out where you are on 4 continuums:

Extrovert or Introvert
iNtuitive or Sensor
Thinker or Feeler
Playful Pack-rat or Judgeful Junk-tosser.

Okay, that’s NOT what the J and the P stand for, exactly, but it’s certainly in the right ballpark.

“Please Understand Me” is an easy read and a good read on this – and NO I am not in anyway associated with the book or the theory, or any of it, I just like it, and it is one of the few books that actually help, not just entertain.

It helps explain your boss, your friends – or lack there of, your kids, your spouse or potential spouse. You can teach the method to children. I builds respect between people. It explains our differences.

I’ve never been to one of their parties, where you get clumped with other people who have the same 4 letters that you do – the quiz puts you into one of 16 basic human personality types, and teaches you to see that most people fit into one of these 16 personality groups.

This link leaves out the fun stuff but explains it well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator
.

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Dead ‘wood’

No matter how you cut it, if you breed and show, dogs for competitive victories, you often reach a point, where you have to make this choice:

a) you get rid of losers before you replace them with another puppy.

b) you periodically have “spring cleaning” or “get rid of the dead wood”.

c) you have kept so many animals to show, that you have more than you can take care of – you have become a hoarder.

There are some dog breeders whose losing dogs can be sold as pets. We are NOT talking about them! (yet)

Many dog breeders who show their dogs, understand this. To some of them, it is not something to be ashamed of, because, of course they have to kill the dogs that they don’t want, like, what, you think they are going to keep 50 dogs?

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Hoarded dogs

Having too many animals is not the same as having too many shoes, too many stacks of old newspapers, too many duplicate tools, too many clothes in your closet, too many cars, too many old letters, too much food saved up, or too much money in the bank.

It’s work. Not just clutter, work.

Animals can be called “livestock”, but having a 100 cats doesn’t make you richer.

Collecting is NOT abnormal. Cleaning is NOT abnormal. Being extreme IS abnormal.

Sanity is often a balance between extremes. Most of us handle this teeter- toter reasonably well, most of the time.

But a person can get obsessive-compulsive about cleaning too much, or obsessive- compulsive about hoarding too much.

You can be out of balance because you are a Neat Freak (like Monk on TV) or because you are a slob or a hoarder.

I believe you can be both at the same time too. You can hoard oodles of things, but build shelves, and additional rooms so that all your collections are neatly put away.

You compulsively collect them, and obsessively put them away, or
obsessively collect them, and compulsively put them away?

I knew someone, who was up in construction, and he had a 6 car garage built, but he couldn’t get his car in it because there were only paths through the boxes. Most of it was neatly put away in boxes, but he had a huge volume of junk.

I knew some else, whose house usually looked like a pig sty. She had piles of fast food containers on the end tables, clothes and toys scattered everywhere – the place was horrible. But I went over her place one day, and it was clean.

I asked about it. Because she didn’t save items, she simply failed to put the garbage in the garbage, when she wanted to clean the place up, she could do it in one day.

The place looked good. But after the expected guest left, the hamburger wrappers and uneaten French Fries, the dirty socks, the papers all started to fill the living room, the kitchen, the floors.

These are two different kinds of problems.

I know someone with several different collections, all put on shelves, or displayed well, kept meticulously clean, he has loads of useless stuff, but he would be horrified if anyone compared him to the person who didn’t bother to throw out the garbage.

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Stacked 2 the Max

One show dog breeder said: Of course she had the losers ‘put to sleep’ (paid the veterinarian to kill them), because if she didn’t, she’d have dogs stacked to the ceiling.

The way she said it, and the way another person nodded as she said it, I think it was probably either a quote from somewhere, or something someone they knew had said. Sort of an in joke, that went over my head.

But it brings out an obvious truth: If you had a 6 breeding dogs, and you keep 4 puppies a year as possible show dogs, and one of those becomes a real show dog, but you keep the other 3 because “What else can you do with them?”, and then the next year you keep 4 more puppies, and then. . .

Well, if the dogs aren’t being bred for their temperaments, but for their nice coats, and conformity to show standards, then they will fight, so the dog breeder puts them in plastic boxes, stacks the boxes on top of each other, and soon has a houseful of dogs.

She becomes a hoarder.

Now, if her blood turns a little colder, she starts to kill off (oh sorry, I meant “puts to sleep”) some of her dogs (or sells them to a buncher for lab experiments), now she ‘only’ has 8 dogs, so she isn’t a hoarder, and is now a better person, and less crazy, than what she was a month ago, when she had 20 dogs, right?

Somethings not right with that picture, but what?

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Hoard

Of course people complain about what they believe are the worst breeders – those breeders who aren’t like them.

There’s usually a big load of ‘mud’ to sling around when it hits the fan.

Dog breeders in the smaller dog camps, (smaller cliques), get picked on enough to have to be more aware of the problems, but dog breeders that belong to more powerful dog camps are sometimes in a position where nobody says anything truthful to their face, so they feel blindsided when video shows like Pedigree Dogs Exposed (on Youtube now) comes out.

Instead of “Oh here we go again.”, its “What? That can’t be true! I’ve been doing it this way for 40 years, I can’t be wrong!!!!!!!”

Never say you can’t be wrong, unless you really really know that you can’t be wrong, because, as Obi Wan said (paraphrasing from memory): Truth is often how you look at it.

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Hoarding

Terrierman mentioned that A&E (telly) is having a show on hoarders. It appears to be a seriers that starts Monday Nov 2, and will run on Monday nites for at least 7 weeks.

Terrierman invited comments. We shall see if that was foolish or not. Most people, who recognise that they are hoarders, probably aren’t going to gripe “What’s wrong with being a hoarder”?

But I’ve hung around enough dog show people and some cat shows, to know, way beyond any shadow of a doubt, that there are plenty of people who do NOT believe that having a house full of animals makes them hoarders.

I had a friend who used to quote someone else as saying “I ONLY have 200 dogs!” My friend thought that 200 dogs was a lot of dogs, but my friend had a couple dozen dogs, and she thought that was a reasonable number.

Can you breed dogs, with the intent to win at dog shows, and NOT be a hoarder?

Sure you can, if you kill the losers, then your house isn’t full of dogs.

In some breeds, and in other breeds where the dogs have been socialized, (instead of drugged into being calm for the show), you can sell the losers to the public.

But, if you raise dogs as exhibition objects, who are born, raised and kept in a kennel, they are often unsocialized. They often have never been in a house, and have never been with around children.

To someone with plenty of money, who raises dogs for tax write-offs and who has fallen into dog shows, and for whom the goal is to win at dogs shows – the dogs often are like a 2 year old car – time to turn it in and buy a new one.

People have told me simply that they feel that it is too much of an insurance risk to sell the show dogs that lose, so they kill them (well they call it “putting the dogs to sleep”).

Hoarding is covered in these open yahoogroup archives:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/political_dog_law/message/59

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/pet-treaty/message/15

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