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  01/03/08

Hi

  Ok where do I start , well if you have looked around this site you will of guessed by now I love this breed , to take a dog whether it be a pup you have bought from a breeder or a more mature dog from a rescue, to love it nurture it train it and watch that dog blossom into the most loving friend and companion you could ever have is great .

   But all responsible owners know that. 

  But certain quarters of the media, MP'S councilors and politicians only want to jump on to an allready over croweded band wagon ,for the sensationalism just to increase newspaper sales or just to get thier names in papers or faces on tv .

Ok im not stupid or blinkered there are problems within the breed ,but there is within all breeds . Im lucky in being involved in rescue that I get to meet and talk to many people who are involved in this breed , as owners ,whether it be breeders , people who show thier dogs , breed club members and committee members of the breed clubs and members of the breed council .I firmly believe as an owner it is my responsibility to help promote this breed I love and do whatever I can to keep it and enjoy the freedom it has now . below are some of the things I have recently suggested to the Kennel club and the breed clubs and to a member of the breed council .

  1/ Why not put restrictions on the breeder not the dog ,

 let me explain as it stands breeders can register as many litters as they want each year just by owning 2,3,4 or more bitches . My Idea is to put the restriction on the breeder themselves say a limit of only 2 litters a year can be registered to them , including their home address, this I see as a way to help stop puppy farmers /back yard breeders from just registering litter after litter with the KC , as the value of unregistered litters that dont carry the KC brand name has a lower value , and therefor makes it less a money making opportunity for them. imo Genuine responsible breeders who only have the interest and improvment of the breed at heart would not fear this scheme .

  2/ microchiping of all KC registered litters

All litters the KC register, must be microchiped at registration to the breeder , that way dogs are tracable all thier lives , this not only protects the breeders as it would make it virtualy impossible for people to break thier contracts and just breed with the dogs where restrictions apply and register them with the KC. Or pass the dog on into rescue with out any paper work under a different name again braking the terms of thier contract with the breeder, good breeders would not have anything to fear from this scheme as its very rare for thier dogs to tun up in rescue and if it did they could be informed straight away .

  3/ accredited rescues

The kenel Club run an accredited breeders scheme ,ok I know a some of clubs and breeders dont rate the scheme as it stands but thats another matter , But as the Kennel club publish a book every year that contains breed rescue's ,people believe that the KC endorse these rescues but if you ask the KC outright they will deny this .So why dont they or the breed clubs run an accredited rescue scheme ? , whereby all rescues they list must meet a minimum set of requirements ie mandatory spaying /neutering, microchipping ,vaccinations ,home vetting and a minimum stay for dogs in rescues say a min 14 days before they are put up for adoption at the very least ,as it stands now Z.R.R is the only rescue [to my knowledge ] that has a clause in its adoption contract where by new owners are asked to attend a local training class with in 6 weeks of adoption to continue socialisation and training of the dog once he/she has been adopted .

  4/ Rescues to have a voice

This is something I feel strongly about , I believe its about time rescue organisations were represented at top level why ? , because we are at the sharp end day in and day out and at grass root level . We see and deal with the same problems and dogs comming from the same places / breeders time and time again . I would love to see rescues unite and have our own officail body that not only could we be held accountable to ,but could represent us in these closed shop meetings where the future of dog ownership is decided . Remember regulation is better than legislation

  BYB'S are different problem ,

  imo, ok to stop this problem mandatory spaying and neutering must be the key to this problem, which does two things , cuts down on the unwanted dog population and stops so many ending up in rescue, and leaves breeding to those who know what they are doing, and also they can be held accountable if it all goes wrong .

That way if you want to breed/show then you must be a registered breeder, ok I know people will say "but I dont want to breed just show my dog ", well thats fine register with the KC ,but just dont breed your dog .

  If you dont want to show/breed then s/n ,theres no reason not to [ UNLESS MEDICAL]. Education of the buying public is the key, most of the public do believe the KC brand name stands for something , so use that to its full potential .

  If it can be shown that we as responsible owners ,responsible breeders , rescues etc have put our house in order , then the powers that be have no alternative but to go after those who are the problem .

  Like I have said regulation is better than legislation, if we leave it up to politicians mandatory spaying and neutering will be the last of our problems , all ready this year alone 3 rotts have been shot dead on the streets , 1 was trying to help his owner ,1 was a stray/ escapee who panicked and one who was left tied to a bannister on a landing at a block of flats by his owner, please be aware there are forces behind the sceens who are working to have this breed of ours abolished , when was the last time you heard of the police shooting dogs on the street in public with such regularity her in the uk , if they hadn't been rotts they wouldn't have been shot .

JON [AKA ZEPTHEDEP]

Having been around dogs since I can remember , I was about 6 yrs old [ in the 60's ] when I had my first dog [ not a rott ] . then in 70'S I saw and met close up the most majestic, most stunning , most loyal looking dog I had everseen . Sorry guys thats the romantic view and complete B/S .

Truth in the late 70's I met and seen for the first time a gangley strange looking pup , big paws , big head and just looked like the most confident pup i had ever seen, it was being trained as a show dog, it was a rott pup of about 4 mths old , and I thought ,now thats a dog, and I just fell in love with it ,then in late 80's was the first time mags and I ever come accross any personel negativity towards our breed . It was a lovley summers day and we lived near a canal , so had took our 14 week old pup for a trot along the tow path and stopped at a pub for a beer , with in 10 mins we were asked to leave the beer garden as we had one of "them" dogs.

Since the 80's I have never been without rotts in my life , anyone who has read my site will know the love and passion I have for this breed , and had and still have for my Zep , he was not my first rott or my last and I love them all deeply , but I believe you allways have that one special dog in your life .

Being involved in rescue people have often said to me I would love to do what you do . Am I proud of what I do YES , am I proud that im needed sadly not , I am ASHAMED THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE NEEDED not only for our breed but all animals .

jon [aka zepthedep ]

I dont think good breeders should stop breeding , lets be honest about it, its a small % of their dogs who do end up in rescue ,infact if all good breeders stopped breeding tomorrow, where would our breed be in 5yrs from today if we are left with just the bad breeders and BYB'S .It would be a disaster for the breed .

  Imo breeding is no longer seen as a privalage , but a right by some people , just because someone has a dog /s they think its ok to just bang out pups year in and year out, or breed because its the old addage "well they should have a litter before they are done " attitude with no thought to improvment/quality to the breed they are breeding .

  In rescue today on the mainland there is 100's of rotts in rescue , looking for homes , along with this there are some 10/12 trying to be handed in each day [ remember the same people ring all rescues so nots let get bogged down in well we had ex amount offered and so on ] plus on estimate 4 rotts pts in dog pounds daily .

  But thats not to say rescues should just sit there and stay silent secretly blaming everything on all breeders , unless we are prepaired to stand up and be counted and talk to all the CLUBS and the BREEDERS involved in our breed and explain the situation we face day in and day out our dogs will allways be seen as the poor relations of the breed .

  Myself I dont have the all the answers , I dont believe anyone has , but if we were all to come together

BREED CLUBS , BREEDERS , RESCUES and sit down and discuss the problems we are all having in our own field , who knows what could be achieved , one thing I do know ,there is an epademic out there re our breed , not only with the problems we face within our breed and the pressure from certain quarters to have our breed banned, but with the amount being produced , ok the KC can bang on about there was 30 % less pups registered last year , [even with their relaxed rule of back to back matings ] . What good is less pups, if all the KC are going to do is LET PEOPLE prouduce PUPs to a lower standard and quality , with a high % that will end up in rescue.

As I said right at the begining

SHOULD ALL BREEDERS STOP BREEDING NO .

NOW if you ask me should we all be helping to stop some breeders stop breeding then the answer is yes.

Remember devided we fall ,

united we should stand

jon [aka zepthedep]

PLEASE NOTE THE BACKGROUND NOISES WERE NOT IN THE STUDIO BUT IN BENS HOUSE WHO RECORDED THE INTERVIEW FOR ME, SO BLAME 8 MTH OLD RODNEY FOR BARKING ,HEE HEE. it is eddited so its just chat

17/01/08

It is with disappointment and shame I write this ,

  But in the 20 odd years I have loved and owned this breed , never have I felt so disappointed at how in the last 4 weeks or so, it now has become so apparent to me, firstly with the damning statement by an official

  Mr D Parish of the

  THE ROTTWEILER CLUB .

That "all problems with rottweilers over the last few years have been down to re-homed dogs "

at a meeting held on the 16/01/08

Makes me wonder if this is the offical stance of this particular club , A club that many consider to be the oldest rott club there is , if not im sure many would be interested on the offical stance OF Rottweiler club on his statement as to whether or not he was representing the views of their club, or giving his own personal opinion .

And now with the latest attack not only rescue dogs but rottweilers in general at their open show on the 23/02/08 a representative of the MATLOCK & DISTRICT CANINE SOCIETY a Mr Lennox did openly state that

 not only that rottweiles should not be pets but "should not even be in the building " . This was only after a demand by another committee member that zepthedep rottweiler rescue remove a rescue dog from the premises ,his offence being what we can only assume was being a rottweiler and the crime of being a rescue , this from a canine society that openly advertise for rott owners to enter and show their dogs at their show ? . This was something that the KC representative in attendance explained as the dogs were part of our fund raising stand was permissible , something that we as a rescue had checked out with the KC ,as we at zepthedep rottweiler rescue do many, many meet and greets with the rescue dogs through out each year to help promote the breed.

As I said in the beginning I am so disappointed that we now not only seem to have a very biased media to fight to try and save our breed, but as a rottweiler lover /owner and re-homing co-ordinator for zepthedep rottweiler rescue I am ashamed to say we now have people with in the dog world now turning on our breed .

  To those individuals concerned I ask you this , with an already over zealous baying biased media,do you realy think these type of comments help the breeds image.

  My plea to you

PLEASE ,PLEASE stop this now , as a rott lover I am so ashamed to see such attacks on this breed coming from with in the dog world . It is now time for us all breed clubs , the KC ,rescue's , owners , show organisers and all dog lovers to band together and help keep this breed and help promote this breed we love and do whatever we can to keep it and enjoy the freedom it has now.

jon [aka zepthedep ]