If You Have To Attack Other Breeders, Your Dogs Probably Aren't Speaking Loud Enough

By Laura | Hoku Kennels

A Funny Thing Happens When You Start Health Testing

The moment you start publicly posting health certifications, OFA results, DNA testing, pedigrees, and actual documentation, (and this happens even before and to other breeders who do not health test) something very strange starts to happen.

Suddenly, people who have never had an opinion about you before become extremely interested in what you're doing. And by "interested," I mean they start discussing your program, your dogs, your prices, your breeding practices, your website, your social media posts, your choice of dog food, the direction of the wind, and possibly whether Mercury is in retrograde. 

Welcome to the dog world.

1. The Dirty Little Secret Nobody Talks About

Here's something I wish more puppy buyers understood. The dog world is full of incredible, dedicated people. It is also full of drama—probably more drama than a reality television show and a high school cafeteria combined. The unfortunate reality is that some breeders spend more time watching other breeders than they spend improving their own programs. And once money, competition, and egos get involved, things can get ugly. Very ugly.

2. Why Do Smear Campaigns Happen?

The answer comes down to one simple factor: objective competition.

Even breeders who don't health test at all will often get attacked also simply for existing as competition. In a market where someone relies on impulse buyers or flashy photos, an educated breeder who raises the standard becomes an automatic threat—not because you said a word about them, but because your transparency naturally highlights what they aren't doing.

When buyers start learning that OFA hips, elbows, cardiac, thyroid, and CAER eye exams exist, breeders who rely solely on marketing or "vet checked" claims suddenly face harder questions from educated families. Because verifiable data is difficult to argue with, attacking the messenger becomes their easiest way to try to protect their market share.

When one breeder openly publishes:

• ✅ OFA Hips (radiographic joint conformation evaluated at 24+ months by three board-certified radiologists)
• ✅ OFA Elbows (radiographic screening for developmental elbow dysplasia, which affects nearly 50% of evaluated Chow Chows)
• ✅ OFA Cardiac (auscultation and/or echocardiogram screening by a veterinary cardiologist)
• ✅ OFA Autoimmune Thyroiditis (approved laboratory blood panels checking T4, free T4, TSH, and thyroglobulin autoantibodies)
• ✅ OFA Eyes / CAER (annual in-person ophthalmic exams performed by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, ACVO)
• ✅ OFA Patellas (physical evaluation for patellar luxation)
• ✅ Embark Breeder DNA Results (screening for 270+ genetic mutations, coat loci purity, and genetic Coefficient of Inbreeding)

...while another breeder has none of those clearances available, which conversation would they rather have? A data-driven conversation about health testing, or a gossip conversation? You already know the answer.

3. The "Anonymous Pile-On" Playbook: How Online Smear Campaigns Really Work:

If you spend enough time in breed groups on Facebook, you will eventually see a very specific, coordinated pattern play out:

1. The Anonymous Post: Someone posts an inflammatory accusation using Facebook's "Anonymous Member" feature so they cannot be held accountable or fact-checked.
2. The Coordinated Pile-On: Within minutes, rival backyard breeders and their personal friends jump into the comment section—often pretending to be unrelated "concerned buyers" to make a coordinated attack look like a crowd.
3. Refusal to Provide Direct Vet Verification: When a responsible breeder requires a signed contract (including initial vet checks and dietary/care guidelines) and asks for an actual medical diagnosis sent directly from the attending veterinarian's clinic email—rather than a cropped screenshot or a generic clinic pamphlet after a grooming-table accident two years later—the accuser refuses and runs straight to social media instead.
4. Rewriting History on Disclosed Conditions: Sometimes a breeder is completely transparent before a puppy ever leaves home—having their veterinarian examine a puppy with a visible eye issue, disclosing the condition openly to the buyer prior to purchase, and providing the veterinary ophthalmologist's referral contact. Months or years later, if that buyer connects with rival breeders, the story suddenly changes online into absurd claims that the breeder hid the issue or blamed something ridiculous (like fire ants)—even when dated veterinary records and pre-sale messages prove the buyer knew from day one.
5. Irrelevant Personal & Medical Attacks: When attackers run out of arguments about the dogs, they get personal—mocking a breeder's appearance or spreading distorted lies about private, medically necessary surgeries (such as preventative breast surgery or abdominal muscle repair after multiple C-sections).

Stop and ask yourself: What does a breeder's personal medical history have to do with OFA hip scores, cardiac clearances, or puppy nutrition? Absolutely nothing. Personal attacks are the ultimate giveaway that an accusation has zero factual foundation.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, ethical breeders keep every wire receipt, import document, signed contract, pre-sale disclosure, and veterinary record on file—and continue submitting their dogs for official OFA evaluations regardless of what anonymous accounts say online.

4. Five Questions Every Puppy Buyer Should Ask:

Whenever someone tries to steer you away from a breeder—or claims their own dogs are "top quality" without showing paperwork—politely ask five objective questions:

1. Can you share the parents' registered names or AKC/FCI registration numbers so I can look them up on ofa.org?
2. Have both parents completed all five Chow Chow CHIC requirements (hips, elbows, patellas, thyroid, and current CAER eye exam)?
3. Can I see the full Embark or UC Davis DNA health and coat-locus report (not just a breed-percentage screenshot)?
4. Can I review a multi-generation pedigree showing health clearances in the lineage?
5. Are all certifications independently verifiable in a public database?

Those five questions clear the fog immediately—because clinical certifications leave a permanent, searchable paper trail, while rumors leave nothing.

5. "My Vet Says They're Healthy" — Why Wellness Exams Aren't Enough

One of the most common excuses buyers hear is: "My dogs don't need all that testing because my vet says they're healthy."

A routine veterinary wellness exam is vital—I take my dogs to the veterinarian regularly. However, a general practitioner cannot look at a dog standing on an exam table and visually diagnose:

• Subclinical hip or elbow dysplasia (which requires specific radiographic positioning and specialized radiologist grading)
• Early-stage autoimmune thyroiditis (which requires specialized endocrine blood panels before outward symptoms ever appear)
• Inherited retinal or lens disorders (which require slit-lamp biomicroscopy and indirect ophthalmoscopy by a board-certified ACVO ophthalmologist)
• Recessive genetic carrier status (which requires laboratory DNA sequencing)
• Long-term orthopedic risk for future offspring

That is precisely why organizations like the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) exist.

6. What Health Testing Actually Does (And What It Doesn't)

Buyers also deserve complete honesty about what health testing can and cannot promise: health testing is not a magic wand. No breeder on Earth can guarantee that a living animal will never develop an illness or injury. What comprehensive health testing does do is replace guesswork with data—allowing breeders to avoid pairing two carriers of the same recessive mutation, select away from structural joint laxity, and stack the genetic deck in favor of healthier, longer-lived generations.

The Part Nobody Wants to HearEven when preservation breeders do everything right—completing every radiographic, ophthalmic, endocrine, and genetic test available—nature is complex, and occasionally a puppy can still develop an unexpected issue.

The true measure of a breeder is how they respond when that happens. Responsible breeders communicate openly, require direct veterinary documentation to evaluate the case accurately, support the family, and adjust future breeding decisions. Unethical breeders deny, deflect, and pretend problems never occur.

7. How to Spot a True Preservation Breeder:

You don't need to get pulled into online arguments, choose sides, or play detective. Simply look for verifiable transparency. A true preservation breeder will readily provide:

• ✅ Publicly searchable OFA / CHIC records
• ✅ Multi-generation pedigree documentation
• ✅ Comprehensive DNA health and trait reports
• ✅ Honest education about breed strengths and challenges
• ✅ Written contracts, health guarantees, and lifetime breeder support

Good breeders do not need to tear others down to elevate themselves. Their documentation speaks for itself.

8. Why I Focus on My Own Dogs (And Refuse to Play the Gossip Game)

I've learned something very important over the years: 

I don't need to win internet arguments, participate in gossip, or explain myself to anonymous accounts online. My responsibility belongs to my dogs, my breeding program, and the families who place their trust in Hoku Kennels.

People often ask why I don't publicly respond to rumors, screenshots, or false statements that occasionally circulate online. 

Could I spend my time collecting screenshots, defending myself, and airing every disagreement publicly? Sure. 

Could I probably write an entire book with the things I've seen over the years? Absolutely. 

But that is not why I am in this breed. When families are searching for a puppy, they aren't looking for breeders tearing each other apart. They want to know:

• Are the dogs healthy, sound, and well cared for?
• Is the breeder transparent and knowledgeable?
• Does the breeder invest in genuine genetic and orthopedic screening?
• Is this the right companion for my family?

No amount of drama improves a pedigree. No Facebook argument improves a dog's hips. No rumor improves a breeding program. At the end of the day:

• OFA numbers don't care about rumors.
• DNA tests don't care about gossip.
• Health certifications don't care about social media drama.

Facts remain facts.

9. How My Faith Shapes How I Handle Conflict:

As a Christian, my faith plays a major role in how I approach both life and breeding. That doesn't mean I am perfect—far from it. But it does mean I strive not to live in a constant cycle of bitterness, retaliation, or public conflict.

Over the years I have learned that not every accusation deserves a response, not every rumor warrants attention, and not every attack requires a counterattack. 

Sometimes the strongest response is simply continuing to do the right work quietly and consistently while allowing time, documentation, and truth to speak for themselves. I trust that God takes care of me, my family, my program, and my dogs. He always has—and eventually, truth always finds its way to the surface.

10. What You'll Never See Me Doing:

You will never see me using my website to attack another breeder by name. You will never see me using my platform to start public fights. You will never see me trying to build my reputation by destroying someone else's.That is not who I am—and frankly, I have far too much real work to do. Between caring for dogs, studying pedigrees, planning health-tested pairings, maintaining OFA and Embark records, grooming, sanitizing puppy areas, attending veterinary appointments, and trying to stay one step ahead of the never-ending tumbleweeds of Chow Chow fur rolling through my house, I simply don't have the time.

I would rather invest my energy in my dogs, my program, and the families who trust me.

The Bottom Line: 

If you are researching breeders, keep your focus simple: ignore the noise, ignore the gossip, ignore the anonymous comments, and ask for:

• ✅ Verifiable health testing
• ✅ Public OFA records
• ✅ DNA health & coat-locus results
• ✅ Complete pedigrees
• ✅ Written transparency

Facts don't get offended, facts don't hold grudges, and facts don't start Facebook arguments.

The next time you see a breeder spending an unusual amount of time attacking another breeder, ask yourself one simple question: 

What are they trying to distract me from? 

Because responsible breeders are usually too busy grooming dogs, cleaning puppy pens, scheduling specialist vet appointments, reviewing pedigrees, filling out OFA paperwork, and vacuuming enough fur to build a second Chow Chow to worry about everyone else's business.

Trust documentation. 

Trust transparency. 

Trust verifiable facts. 

And remember: 

Dogs don't read Facebook comments. 

Laura

Owner, Hoku Kennels
Diary of a Mad Chow Breeder