17/09/2026
๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ
For most of my life, I was a very firm believer in โAdopt, Donโt Shop.โ
I grew up with rescue dogs, volunteered in animal shelters as a teenager and genuinely believed that choosing a breeder instead of a dog in need was the wrong thing to do.
But after many years of owning rescue dogsโand eventually experiencing the other side of the storyโmy opinion changed.
Not because I stopped believing in rescue. I still believe rescue organisations do incredibly important work.
I simply stopped believing that rescue is automatically the right choice for every family, or that purchasing a puppy from a responsible breeder is something people should feel ashamed of.
Over the years, I have loved some incredibly special rescue dogs. But many also came with significant health or behavioural challenges that I wasn't prepared for.
My first dog was Cooper, a little Fox Terrier X who came from an animal-hoarding situation. He was five when I adopted him and had extreme fear aggression towards unfamiliar people, food aggression, problems around other dogs and severe anxiety.
I spent years working with vets, behaviourists and trainers to help him. We made enormous progress, although changes to his routine could sometimes make it feel like we had taken ten steps backwards.
I persevered with Cooper until the day he died at the incredible age of 21.
Then there was Sophie, my Pomeranian X Poodle. I adopted her at two. She suffered terribly from LeggโCalvรฉโPerthes disease as well as a collapsing trachea. At only six years old, I eventually made the heartbreaking decision to have her euthanised.
Jessie, my Belgian Shepherd X, was also adopted at two. She had severe dog aggression, food aggression and hip dysplasia. Her dog aggression was so difficult that I even flew a dog behaviourist from Tasmania to South Australia to work with us.
She was an amazing dog despite her challenges, but caring for her was incredibly demanding. When she unexpectedly passed away at 12, my grief was mixed with something people don't always feel comfortable admittingโrelief that the constant management was over.
Lucy, my Border Collie, came to me as an eight-week-old puppy. She developed severe epilepsy. Despite medication, her seizures continued and eventually caused significant neurological damage. She was euthanised before she even reached her first birthday.
Lulu, my Cavalier, didn't come from a shelter but from an owner who could no longer appropriately care for her. She lived with a severe heart murmur. Her previous owner had apparently paid around $4,000 for her, yet she came with no evidence of health testing from her parents.
To me, that represents exactly what responsible breeding should be trying to prevent.
Snow, my Malamute X Border Collie, was adopted from a shelter at around one year old. The shelter knew I had young children, but Snow turned out to have severe food aggression. With toddlers in the house, it simply wasn't safe.
He was returned to the shelter, where I was told a behavioural assessment hadn't been completed because his previous owner had reported no problems.
And finally, there was Lewis the Labradoodle.
Lewis was approximately three when I adopted him and he was HARD WORK. ๐
He destroyed the house when left alone, had terrible recall, killed a cat and my children's guinea pigs, had very few manners and seemingly little training during those crucial early years.
He was powerful, overbearing and honestly, at times, completely nuts.
But he was also wonderful with my children.
Once again, I paid for trainers, worked with my vet and used medication to help manage his behaviour.
And I loved him.
I committed to him for the next 10 years.
After all of these experiences, I eventually realised something.
๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ.
There are absolutely beautiful, healthy and well-adjusted dogs in rescue. There are also rescue dogs carrying trauma, behavioural challenges or health conditions that require considerable time, money, knowledge and management.
Not every family has those resources.
So, for my next dog, I decided to go to a breeder.
And that experience completely changed my perspective.
The breeder was transparent about her dogs and knowledgeable about what she was producing. The puppies received early socialisation and stimulation, were raised on quality food and I was provided with health-testing information about the parents.
I had lifetime support.
I signed a contract stating that if my circumstances ever changed, my dog would go back to the breeder rather than potentially ending up in a pound or shelter.
For the first time, I felt like someone wasn't simply selling me a puppy.
They were taking responsibility for the life they had deliberately created.
That puppy was Milo, who later became the father of our own puppies.
That experience planted a seed in my mind:
๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ.
I wanted to produce happy, healthy and stable puppies while doing everything reasonably possible to reduce the risk of preventable hereditary health and temperament problems.
I wanted puppies to experience extensive early socialisation and enrichment.
I wanted new owners to receive education and support instead of simply being handed a puppy and wished good luck.
As a dog groomer, I especially wanted families to understand their puppy's coat and grooming requirements from day one so that dogs weren't eventually surrendered or suffering from severe matting simply because nobody properly explained their needs.
I wanted my puppies raised knowing love, handling, people, grooming, household noises and everyday life before they ever walked through the doors of their new homes.
And most importantly, I wanted to remain responsible for the dogs I brought into this world.
That means carefully choosing homes, using contracts, having desexing requirements where appropriate and having a lifetime return-to-breeder policy.
If one of my puppy families' circumstances changesโeven years laterโI want them to contact me.
๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐.
Ethical breeding isn't simply putting two nice dogs together and selling puppies.
It's researching genetics and pedigrees.
It's appropriate health testing.
It's considering temperament.
It's carefully planning a pairing.
It's socialisation and enrichment.
It's educating puppy families.
It's being transparent when something goes wrong.
It's supporting owners after the puppy leaves.
And it's accepting responsibility for the lives you deliberately chose to create.
There are irresponsible breeders.
There are irresponsible owners.
There are also wonderful rescues, wonderful foster carers and wonderful ethical breeders who all ultimately want the same thing:
๐
๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ, ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ.
I don't believe we should be fighting each other.
I don't believe people should be shamed for responsibly purchasing a puppy any more than they should be shamed for choosing rescue.
๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ .
Rescue and ethical breeding can exist alongside one another.
My experiences with rescue didn't make me stop loving rescue dogs.
They taught me exactly what kind of breeder I wanted to become. โค๏ธ๐พ
