Originally Posted by izzy's girl

Okay, so I'm still up watching the closing ceremonies. I'm a sucker for the Olympics. As far as the "false accusation" part of it I was referring to "five litters on the ground at one time," because that was not true. Aside from that, yes, we are all entitled to our opinions and thank you for sharing. It is discussions like this that helped me to ask the right questions, see the documentation, and get honest answers when looking for another dobe. What happened with my first was heart breaking and am really not wanting a repeat performance. It is devastating to have a member of your family (what I consider my pets to be) die in your arms as you are rushing her to the hospital. I think it is this type of forum that keeps people honest and always striving to be better at what they do. So thank you

Originally Posted by RedFawnRising

That reminds me, I despise the conformation on that red stud posted on their home page--breed ring experts--am I wrong here?

That shoulder looks extremely steep and straight to me, and he looks weak in the gaskin/hock area too.

Just overall not a balanced athletic-looking dog to me.

Originally Posted by Incredibledobe

Are you kidding? He has 5 litters right now! I believe that makes around 11 this year- could be wrong about that, but not about the 5 litters. I am on the UDC board and there was much discussion and much research before denying his membership. Sorry, but he is still breeding just as much. Let's see, from his website:
Litter 1 born 5/25/2008
Litter 5 born 8/18/2008
So, that would be 5 litters in 3 months, now who's lying?

If he is such a responsible breeder, answer this, or maybe you can ask him and get a straight answer - why does he need to breed that many litters? Shouldn't it be about quality and not quanity?

As for breeder support, one of the things that pisses me off the most about him is the fact that he has said you pay for this. Everyone else is doing it for free, but Steve is so special, you need to pay him for breeder support?
From his website...

I


Are you kidding me? The dog that is highly trained as a seeing eye or assistance dog is supposed to "know" someone is ripping you off? Okay, this has got to be number one of the list of the stupidest things I have ever heard. Anyone with the least bit of common sense or the tiniest bit of dog knowledge has got to realize this is 100% bull***t! Gee, we used Dobes at CCI as assistance dogs many years ago and they did transactions without ever knowing the difference.

From the FD website: Note the several!

And I won't even go into his training and titling, but get someone who knows how to train for sport or PP and have them go over his you tube videos with you. It's no wonder he is still trying to title his bitch. But then , isn't that always the excuse? "In preparation for SchH I, ZTP, title whatever. Of course, it's hard to title a bitch when she is always pregnant!
LMAO!

Originally Posted by izzy's girl

I'm not sure what your referencing with "several upcoming litters" as his site currently says "watch for our next planned breeding." Also, the litter on 5/25 was litter 5 and the litter on 8-18 was litter 1. I was last at his place on Aug 1 and there were TWO pups at that time from the 5/25 litter. No other puppies. But again, thanks for a forum like this where people can at least discuss in a (hopefully) civil way what is currently going on with the breed.

Originally Posted by Incredibledobe

So do you think a puppy from FD is not going to get cardio? I'm sorry for you, I know how heartbreaking it is, I too have lost one to cardio. But Steve only just had a FEW of his dobes echo'd for the very first time. Sue Krom (who did them) reported on this to the UDC board.
I am very familiair with some of his lines and sorry, but cardio is there too. As for the lie about 5 litters, you only have to look at his website, aas I posted above.

Originally Posted by Incredibledobe

I just visited his site and copied the text from it. It is there, under available puppies unless it has changed in the last 5 minutes. Those dates still reference 5 litters in 3 months.

Originally Posted by juliabustard

Why is it that every time there is a critical discussion of a breeder people pop up out of nowhere defending the place? I'm sorry but what do people do? Sit at home and Google the breeder daily to see if they can jump in and stick up for them? Seriously. It happens every friggin' time. There is no way that it's coincidence.

Originally Posted by izzy's girl

No I don't think any line is completely "immune" from a cardio problem. Actually I am in the medical field and understand cardiac testing as it relates to humans fairly well. There is NO definitive test. There is only the ECG, echo, and holter testing; all of which has been done yearly on the dam and sire of my pup and documentation was provided. In fact my girl who died actually had a clear echo done by a board cert. cardiac specialist, but then dropped dead. That just means that at the time of testing, no issues were noted. But Steve did go through the potential issues in the lines, why he picked the lines he did, and any past known cardio conditions. I don't know how long he's been doing the above tests, but had documentation for my pup's dam and sire.

I'm really not on this site to be argumentative, I just believe it is important to give the other side of the story as the posts throughout many months seem overwhelmingly negative toward family dobes. My guess is that if the shoe was on the other foot you'd appreciate someone clarifying some inaccuracies.

Now, I really do have to go to sleep! Yikes

Originally Posted by izzy's girl

No, it's probably not what you would consider a coincidence. If you'll notice, that post was my first. I've spent months reading this site but have never posted. I was actually on the site trying to find some more opinions, info, resources, etc on feeding a raw diet (something steve and I discussed this morning... looking for arguments from both sides). While at it i searched to see if i could find any more of the old threads about family dobes. I had read much of the stuff BEFORE I purchased my pup, and honestly, went in a bit skeptical. So, I guess I just wanted to give the flip side. I've never liked seeing someone falsely accused.

Now, since I don't have time to google the breeder daily and wait for something to pop up... I'm off to bed. I have a living to earn