kevin rochford

About kevin rochford

Kevin Rochford is from Georgia and breeds West Highland Terriers AKC proudly supports dedicated and responsible breeders. Hello just a little background on me. I served 4 years in the U.S. Army, after my service time was over I joined the police dept in Atlanta Ga. I retired from Law Enforcement after 32 years. While in the dept I did K-9 for a number of years with my German Shepherds. My wife and I love our hobby and started a very select breeding program with the shepherds and produced some of the finest pure working line litters of shepherds in the U.S. Upon my retirement we fell in love with West Highland Terriers and over the last several years started to raise some litters. All West Highland Terriers are not the same what I am talking about is, You produce what you breed. Today to many breeders have no idea what's in the pedigree of the dogs they are breeding, or the health history and most don't care all they see is dollar signs so they breed whatever they have available at the time Sires, & Dams with allergies, or skin problems without caring about the outcome, These breeders also will breed the females they have over and over again with no break for the Dams body to recover. Problem is when you breed like this chances are very high the puppies born from these breedings will have health problems, or poor temperament, the losers are the poor pups and the new owners. If YOUR A BREEDER AND READING THIS YOUR GOAL SHOULD ALWAYS BE TO PRODUCE A BETTER PUPPY FOR THE GOOD OF THE BREED, AND NOT BREED JUST TO LINE YOUR OWN POCKETS. I have always and always will only breed a dog with strong sound temperament, Also a strong health history, that is why I do Genetic Testing on my Westies, I also will NEVER breed Westie's that have known Allergies. I breed Westies with show lines into my breeding program as these dogs have to have the correct coat, have to be within the standard size set, and have strong confidence. These are all genetic traits which will pass into the puppies. I strongly believe when doing a breeding you have to understand what's going to produce a strong healthy sound puppy and it all starts with knowing how to research a pedigree and understanding it so you can select the best parents that will produce a strong healthy litter. Best of luck in finding your perfect new fur baby. Please stay away from puppy mills these breeders are destroying our beautiful Westie babies. Some clues to a puppy mill breeder are 1, When you can't inspect the outside property backyard, and other areas on property. 2, When you can't meet the parents to the pup. 3, When the breeder wants to meet you away from his home. When you see adult dogs being kept in cages, When a breeder is breeding multiple different breeds of dogs. When a breeder wants the pups gone at the earliest age of just 6 weeks or younger. Also when they are trying to sell their pups lower than anyone else. These are some of the warning signs that should make you run the other way. I have even found breeders displaying pictures of dogs in their photo gallery they don't even own to try and fool buyers. NOTE I have been asked by a number of people about breeders using CKC papers instead of AKC registration papers and asking was there a difference. There is a huge difference . NO Reputable breeder would use CKC in America not to be confused with the CKC in Canada here in America CKC is notorious for using it's registry and registering non pure bred dogs since the only proof you need to register is to apply and to say it's a pure breed and CKC will register the dog, or puppies. The Only breeders using CKC are breeders that CAN NOT register their dogs with AKC which requires documentation, and verification that the dog is 100% a Pure Bred before registering a dog. I myself would NEVER even look at a breeder advertising CKC registered pups as I know this is a con the breeder is pulling on the buyer just so he can say yes my pups are registered. BEWARE It's not worth the paper it's written on to PROVE the dogs are purebred. I hope my information has helped. When talking with a breeder if you feel red flags are coming up my strong suggestion is to move on to another breeder in the end your be happy you did. Owning a Westie can be the joy of your life, or it can be a constant heartache with going back and forth to the vet for health, and skin allergies your poor baby is suffering from because of a bad breeder. AKC Inspector recently came to our home and paid us a huge compliment saying in all he had inspected over the years we were one of the top Kennels .