Back Yard Breeder

Quite often, people make a decision to buy a puppy in haste. They check the newspaper or go online where they find several breeders with lots of puppies to choose from...and cheap too! A word of caution: Things may not be what they appear. In this section, we will help you to understand why you should be wary of the back yard breeder (BYB), how to identify them and what kind of damage they do.

How to Spot a back yard breeder
1. A BYB does not health test their dogs.
2. They are unable or unwilling to discuss the faults of their dogs. Often, they become defensive. They usually are happy to discuss other peoples dogs and their faults.
3. They have unusually low prices. OR these days most of the worst breeders have extremely high prices. In general any APBT that is over $1200 is a rip off!!!!
4. Little or no puppy buyer screeing is done, they dont care as long as your check clears. Good breeders will always want to get to know (in detail) about the puppy buyer.
A BYBer has no legitimate contract to protect the puppy or the breed. Another BYBer trait is to have extremely breeder centric contracts. (puppies back, stud rights forever, etc)
5. puppies are often unclean.
6. They don't require pets to be spayed or neutered.
7. Their dogs are often oversized and structurally incorrect according to the breed standards.
10. There are multiple litters available each year.
11. Their females are bred multiple times, sometimes beyond what is safe for the dog. Usually if a female has been bred 3-4 times in their lifetime this is plenty. More than this and you are dealing with a puppymill disguised as a BYB.
12. A BYB will tell you anything you want to hear to close the sell. Ask for PROOF of health tests and titles especially things like PenHIPP which many breeders claim but not many breeders actually do because there is no online database to check. Watch for the breeder that does PenHIPP exclusively.
13. Oftentimes, a BYB will advertise "Rare Blue Pits", or the new color "Merle". Caution: merle is NOT a color of a purebred APBT, and Blue is not "Rare". "Best red noses in the country" "some of the finest..."
14. BYBers can be disguised as ethical breeders but you can spot them as they breed more than they need. It only takes 1 or 2 breedings in 1-2 years to maintain a line.


BYB Excuses

15 One of the biggest tips for identifying the BYB or overbreeder is that they will talk SHIT about everyone elses dogs except their own! BYBers are usually angry or else extremely smooth.

A BYB is everything Reputable Breeders are not.

BYBs have dogs that were obtained for the purpose of breeding.

They usually do not health test their dogs as it is expensive to do so, nor do they screen potential puppy buyers.

puppies are placed with whomever has the money to pay for them.

Breedings are done without thought to genetic defects, structure or overall health.

Basically, they will simply select two dogs of breeding age.

There is no pedigree research and the dogs are bred frequently and haphazardly.

It is not unusual for a BYB to breed a single female 6 or more times in her lifetime and then place her in another home when she can no longer produce.

BYBs normally have lower prices than the reputable breeder because there has been no health testing done, and in order to move the multiple litters they have each year, puppies must be priced to sell.

The average BYB will sell puppies from $100-$400.

A BYB focuses on quantity, not quality.

Much damage can be done to a breed by a BYB.

By not health testing, the BYB produce dogs with genetic faults and unsound structure. By not putting forth the effort to screen buyers, many of these dogs end up in shelters across the world. Many BYBs do not keep their litters in clean environments which causes disease and sometimes death.

A BYB may not be easy to spot, until further investigation. Quite often they show their dogs or participate in some other competitive sport, they belong to a breed club? and may even be very friendly toward you. Listen closely and do your research.

Back Yard breeders Excuses

Even worse than the BYB is the Puppy Mill