Every day there are more webpages, more advertisers, more breeders… more available litters at many different prices. I ask myself where this breeding boom of Spanish Water Dogs is headed.

Almost forty years ago I took the initiative to show to the world MY BREED, I made the standard, I acted… without any subsidies from the government, dog houses, etc.

I never would have imagined that my passion for the Spanish Water Dog could infect so many enthusiasts and lovers of this race as there are already, but this also brings a serious risk motivated by the large demand of puppies that a fashionable breed implies.

After the boom of Dalmatians, there was a downturn; after the boom of Siberian Huskies, there was a debacle… could the same thing happen with the yorkshire Terrier, the French Bulldog, or the Spanish Wate Dog, some of the most desired breeds in the present day?

Regarding our breed, more than 1000 puppies are being registered annually in the book of spanish origins, LOE or in the RRC, and there are also many puppies raised without a pedigree, without health control, without taking into account the most basic norms of breeding… these puppies are sold in pet stores, street markets, to whoever and for whatever price.

My question is: those who sell a dog as well as those who buy and take it home should think if they are acting correctly, since this dog, so cute at first, will grow up and live for around 15 years. Have you ever asked yourself how you would like to be treated if you yourself were one of thes dogs?

I applaud those breeders who respect and love their dogs as if they were members of their family and require of the new owners certain conditions of good treatment and love for the dogs, as he who is not ready for a dog should neither be able to have children.

I again think of how the use of chains with humans was abolished long ago– when are we finally going to stop using them with the innocent dogs who only want to be with us all the time? There are true dog abusers who condemn their dogs to be restricted like this for life. Certainly, they have not thought what this poor dog must be feeling. One should neither sell nor gift a puppy or an adult dog to an irresponsible person.

Locked-up dogs, without direct sunlight or freshair, in wet environments, spending cold winters and suffocating summers… how many hours would these owners themselves bear these conditions? One cannot sell or gift a dog to someone who is going to leave it abandoned in a kennel, in a closed patio almost without light, or on a terrace with “weak sunlight.”

Perhaps I am repeating myself in what I write year after year, but I cannot keep quiet when someone calls or writes me reporting that in so-and-so town lives so-and-so breeder or owner who keeps his dogs in poor conditions.

If anyone who reads this feels alluded to, they should know that it is not my intention to offend anyone; but it is an outcry for the wellbeing of dogs wherever they be, regardless of their owners, be they rich or poor.