Advice for prospective American Bulldog puppy buyers - do not purchase from a breeder that has a blanket policy of selling their dogs without breeding rights. Breeders who are proud of their breeding and stand behind their work to improve the breed would never do that. They'd want their bloodlines to be bred. It's very clever IF you don't want people to know what kind of dogs you actually produce. This arose in a discussion when we were asked why in some other countries the AB community is a lot tighter so more information is available regarding a breeder and their productions when a perspective buyer does their research in picking the right puppy. It's not because there are less ABs or less breeders. Here's the answer in full: @Olga has noticed for example that breeders here in the US try to sell their dogs without breeding rights - those customers are usually never seen or heard from again and all the issues they'd end up having stay on the down-low and out of public view. Of course they likely don't go to a show either for others to see what's been produced. Here's an example: http://www.bybeesambulls.com/puppies.html On the bottom of the page: "We only sell with limited reg. we do not sell with breeding rights...if you are someone looking to make an "investment" and to start breeding we are not for you we like our dogs to go to permanent forever family homes." Here's the thing - A breeder that is proud of his/her work wants their bloodline to be bred, because they want to raise the quality of the breed and stand behind their work to be judged in public. For a legitimate breeder, selling with no breeding rights is the exception, not the norm. They'd never sell a dog that is breed class without breeding rights. And they don't have 2 different prices for a single dog based on breeding rights. Only if the breeder deems that a given pup should not be bred for very specific reasons (but still healthy) is it sold but at a cheaper price with no ability to breed. What we've seen here in the US so far: Organizing kennel and judges put up the show to get their own dogs titles and there's barely anyone not affiliated with them in attendance. Of course the attendance is horrible since it's rigged. But because not a lot of people are at the shows most haven't seen these titled dogs to decide whether they're legitimately champions. You get titled champions through this kind of show racket and then the community gets no visibility into the breeding result from these "champions" because they're sold into "loving homes" with no breeding rights. After all, the unsuspecting buyer is getting a pup with Champion pedigree! And so the vicious cycle continues because there's no transparency. Under FCI, in order to register as a kennel, the person must have veterinary, cynological, or zoological education. This probably really bumps up the standard as well. Also, there are usually centralized forums online for the people involved in the breed. People also tend to speak up and start scandals when something scandalous happens, like a limping dog or an adult with his tail in his ass win rings - one belonging to the organizer and the other belonging to a judge at the show - which is what we saw at the show just recently organized by Alison Bybee. This lack of transparency and information is killing the breed in the US. If you speak to those who have seen ABs at shows around the world, they'll likely tell you that the average quality of an AB is lower in the US than it is in many other countries.
