working cocker breeding bitches

[SkyeSue]

just wondered if there is ever any ex-breeding bitches of working lines on the rescue boards? Not that I'm wanting one,  but just wondered if the same kind of thing goes on with working cocker breeding bitches, as show types......I'm presuming not, but just curious 

[sophiew]

Good point, I've only ever seen show type cockers as ex-breeding bitches...

[gorgeouspoppy]

Abbey was an ex breeding working cocker that I fostered for Many Tears. 
She was overweight when I had her but thats because she had found a home, and was well loved for 6 months but returned to MT.  But she came from a puppy farm in wales originally!
Jo.x

[SkyeSue]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

[joanne_v]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

Yep they sure can and its becoming more common now along with the rise of popularity of workers as pets. There's a huge puppy farm in Lanarkshire that churns out badly bred workers (or posssibly show/worker mixes so even worse). I bet there's several breeding working cocker bitches in there 

[Nette]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

Yep they sure can and its becoming more common now along with the rise of popularity of workers as pets. There's a huge puppy farm in Lanarkshire that churns out badly bred workers (or posssibly show/worker mixes so even worse). I bet there's several breeding working cocker bitches in there 

  awful ...............it's heartbreaking knowing what goes on in these places 

[Crazy Cocker Gang]

unfortunately its becoming more common. workers are also being used by puppy farmers to get the more unusual colours and being put to shows. Flynns older relatives that came out the puppy farm same time as he did (all Bitches) are all workers.

[mcphee]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

Yep they sure can and its becoming more common now along with the rise of popularity of workers as pets. There's a huge puppy farm in Lanarkshire that churns out badly bred workers (or posssibly show/worker mixes so even worse). I bet there's several breeding working cocker bitches in there 

I find all puppy farming abhorrent, but Jo can you explain (just for interest) why a badly bred worker/show cross is worse than badly bred worker or show strains. Isn't there slightly less chance of genetic issues?

[joanne_v]

Nothing to do with genetics but yes that may be true in some cases. Just the fact that mixing the two strains means you end with dogs who may be high energy dogs who look like show cockers or vice versa. There is no good reason to mix the two and the results cant be predicted. At least if a show type acts like a show type then the owner will hopefully be able to care for them well and if a working cocker looks and acts like a typical worker then it will hopefully go to the right sort of home (although I dont think puppy farmers will care too much who they sell to).

A mixed type, for example mixing a noisy insecure show cocker like Lily (who does not have a good temperament but I still loves her  ) with a very high hunting drive working cocker could be disasterous if those traits from the parents passed onto offspring.

[Nicola]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

Yep they sure can and its becoming more common now along with the rise of popularity of workers as pets. There's a huge puppy farm in Lanarkshire that churns out badly bred workers (or posssibly show/worker mixes so even worse). I bet there's several breeding working cocker bitches in there 

I find all puppy farming abhorrent, but Jo can you explain (just for interest) why a badly bred worker/show cross is worse than badly bred worker or show strains. Isn't there slightly less chance of genetic issues?

Working and show Cockers are two strains of the same breed, it's not a cross of two different breeds where you may have a chance of fewer genetic issues. When comparing to purebred working Cockers crossing with show types actually increases the risk of the resulting dogs carrying the gene for or developing FN because as yet there have been no documented cases of this in workers but it does occur in show types. Other than that there is just no need to cross the two types, it doesn't improve the breed in any way which should be the aim of any good breeder. I know of no good breeder who would cross the two types, it's generally only done by people who don't know what they're doing and/or who don't care and commercial breeders who breed indiscriminately by putting any dogs together, often to get particular colours as liver is more common in working types. These breeders are also very unlikely to health test their breeding stock.  

[PennyB]

Have moved this as its more a general cocker discussion really rather than a rehoming thread

[Helen]

So....I take it that working cockers are/can be puppy farmed in the same way as show cockers?? It's just that I've never heard of this before 

Yep they sure can and its becoming more common now along with the rise of popularity of workers as pets. There's a huge puppy farm in Lanarkshire that churns out badly bred workers (or posssibly show/worker mixes so even worse). I bet there's several breeding working cocker bitches in there 

I find all puppy farming abhorrent, but Jo can you explain (just for interest) why a badly bred worker/show cross is worse than badly bred worker or show strains. Isn't there slightly less chance of genetic issues?

Working and show Cockers are two strains of the same breed, it's not a cross of two different breeds where you may have a chance of fewer genetic issues. When comparing to purebred working Cockers crossing with show types actually increases the risk of the resulting dogs carrying the gene for or developing FN because as yet there have been no documented cases of this in workers but it does occur in show types. Other than that there is just no need to cross the two types, it doesn't improve the breed in any way which should be the aim of any good breeder. I know of no good breeder who would cross the two types, it's generally only done by people who don't know what they're doing and/or who don't care and commercial breeders who breed indiscriminately by putting any dogs together, often to get particular colours as liver is more common in working types. These breeders are also very unlikely to health test their breeding stock.  

Completely agree - especially about the health issues and FN.    I have no doubt that the offspring are lovely pet dogs but I really don't think it does either strain any favours 

[t1gg3er]

Like Skyesue, I didn't realise working types were being puppy farmed 

Our 2 working type girls both came from working (in the true sense of the word) mums & in both cases the breeder had at least 3 generations (mum, auntie, grandma, half sister) of the 'family' so it was great to spend some time with them & see how we could expect our girls to turn out.

[peggysmum]

whilst i have never yet fostered an ex woking cocker pf bitch (plenty of show types sadly) i have fostered a working cocker puppy called ruby, i do believe she appeared in the rehoming section last year, she was rehomed to a member from here and is lovely, and exactly as a worker should be  :banana:but as far as i know she is perfectly fit and healthy, luckily for her ofcourse, same can not be said for the girls i foster.

[HeatherandBenjy]

Our Fizzy is an ex-puppy farm worker  

She (and several other workers including Crazy Cocker Gang's Flynn) all came out of the same puppy farm. Fizzy is six and as far as we know had been there all her life.  

When she came out she stank to high heaven, I could put my hands around her waist she was so thin, she had an ear infection, rotten teeth, a heart murmur (which potentially she has passed on to her offspring  ) and had been blinded in one eye because she had been hit so hard on the head.   She has a cataract in the other eye... I don't know if that's genetic or not.

This was her on her first night with us. 



She's physically recovered as much as she can, but breaks my heart by standing over Oscar or Buddy when they are cleaning themselves, waiting for them to suckle her and rounds up all of her tennis balls (surrrogate puppies) to take to bed every night......

I love her to bits   but I do worry about what goes on in her little head.... and what she has passed on to lots of her puppies.   And I can't say what I would do if I ever met her previous captors.