Every year hundreds of thousands of dogs are put to sleep in the United States. These are shelter dogs. Dogs that ran away from home, dogs that were dropped off at the shelter because their owners didn’t want them, and dogs that were taken from neglecting owners.
This is a tragedy. What a horrible way to treat who we call “Man’s Best Friend”. I believe that most of this needless death could be avoided through a few responsible practices on the part of dog owners.
The main and number one reason that we have so many euthanized dogs every year is due to poor breeding practices. To put it simply, there are far too many unwanted dogs born to far too many irresponsible dog owners.
In my years working with dogs I have come across many dog owners who want to breed their dogs. I often ask them why they want to breed and the answers, in my opinion, are crazy.
“Well, I want my kids to be able to witness the miracle of birth.” I have heard this one a number of times. This is one of the worst reasons you can have to breed a dog. If your main desire is education then buy a book about animal reproduction. Rent a documentary about animal breeding, don’t bring more animals into the world. Bringing an entire litter into the world just so your kids can see a birth is irresponsible. What often happens to the poor puppies is that they are given away to friends and neighbors or out in front of the local Wal-Mart. The potential owners are never pre-qualified to determine if they would be a good dog owner. The net result is often a new dog owner who is completely unprepared for a puppy. How many of these puppies end up at the shelter when their owners decide they can’t handle a puppy? There are no accurate statistics but the hundreds of thousands of dogs in shelters are a testament to this practice.
“I think it is only fair to allow my dog to have a litter. She is such a sweet dog she should have the chance to be a mother.” Ahhhhh! I scream inside every time I hear this phrase. Just because you have a sweet, female dog doesn’t mean that you should allow her to have puppies. Your dog doesn’t have a ticking biological clock urging her to be a mom. Sure, instinct kicks in when she goes into heat but if you spay your dog she won’t come into heat. Besides, as the human owner with a better and more elevated level of judgment, you should be the one who determines if she should be a mom, not her.
I am a huge advocate of responsible breeding practices. I support dog owners and dog breeders who breed dogs in order to improve their chosen breed. That is to say, breeders who recognize a fine representative of a breed and breed that dog with another fine specimen in order to theoretically improve the breed. These breeders then responsibly screen potential owners to make sure that their puppies will be raised by good dog owners.
The consequences of poor breeding are ugly. Please, don’t breed your dog for the wrong reasons.
Ty Brown
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/dog-breeding-when-is-it-okay-to-breed-your-dog-53931.html
When is it okay to breed your dog? Do you have to breed your show dog?
I asked this before and I think people got the totally wrong idea. This is just a generalized question. I have no intention of breeding any dogs at this point in my life or later. Though I do plan to get a wellbred dog for conformation. But I don’t want to breed it. Not that I am against breeding well bred dogs because I am not. I just don’t want to do it.
Here is the original question:________________________________
So I know there are some people out there that feel that there should be no breeding of dogs what so ever. Which I don’t get because we would then lose many if not all of our wonderful breeds and have nothing but mutts running around until there are finally no dogs out there at all. Other people believe only show quality dogs should be bred or working line dogs should be bred. Then you have people out there that think all dogs should be bred be it show quality, pet quality, mutt quality (AKA designer mutts).
So when is it okay to breed your dog?
Are you required to breed your show dog?
ADD: I am hoping there will maybe be someone educated from this question. Again I am not against breeding well bred dogs. I just don’t personally have any desire to do so.
So when is it okay to breed your dog? – When one knows what they are doing and their goal is to breed and produce the best examples of their breed(simplified answer)
Are you required to breed your show dog? – Nope. Because just because you show a dog doesn’t mean the dog is worth adding to your breeding program for one reason or another.
I plan to work and show my next dog and MAYBE put him out to stud if he turns out well. I know what is involved and its not something I would enter into lightly.
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It is "okay" to breed your dog when:
- They obtain all breed specific genetic clearances (OFA, CERF, BAER etc.)
- They are temperament tested
- They obtain championship recognition in *something* (be it show, herding, agility, protection etc.)
- YOU (the breeder) are fully educated on the implications of breeding
- YOU have a breeding mentor to help you
- YOU have an experienced vet that is on-call for any potential questions or emergencies
- Homes are lined up for the pups
- Money is set aside for potential complications
- YOU are willing to take the pups back at any point in their life if the owners are no longer able to care for them.
The owner of a show dog is under no obligation to breed. There are many more factors involved for a dog to be "breeding" quality.
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You are not required to breed a show dog. Most of the time people breed show dogs with titles so they can make more money off of that dog. Thats all it boils down to on that point. And not that I ever condone it, but if you just are curious, you should not breed your dog before it is 18 months old. Dogs are then done growing by that time. You do not want to stunt the growth of your dog by breeding too young. I only know that because I was once told that breeding dogs is much like breeding horses. Which my friend’s mother does, so I know a lot about it. Breeding pure dogs is a great thing if you have homes lined up for them, but not if they are just going to be stuck in a mill (that is inhumane and cruel) Hope this help at least a little bit.
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experience.
I kind of asked something similar to this already today, guess amazing minds think alike. I am wondering the same thing. In addition to that, not that I ever want to breed my dogs, my female is spayed and my male will be neutered as soon as they drop lol, but going along with your when is it ok to breed your dog…. what if you would like to become a breeder and you have show quality dogs. At what point are you deemed qualified enough to breed said dogs? 5 years of experience? 10 years? never?
I agree with the notion that not ALL dogs need to be bred, obviously. But what about our wonderful purebreds that may not be of show qulaity? Show breeders get all the glory when they are often times not the best either. I have seen them cage their studs for 20 hours per day, give away dogs after 5 years of showing bc they are now too old, and sell puppies at a lower price when they are not up to par with their champions and then calling them "pet-quality" and these were breeders of CHAMPION bloodlines. Its all so confusing, we should just start forum.
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While I am a "rescuer" type of person & would always encourage people to adopt their pets, I understand what you are saying & I would never tell someone that they shouldn’t be able to buy a purebred dog of their choice.
I don’t think we could ever completely stop breeding dogs – we would lose the genuine purebred dogs, working dogs, etc.
My personal beliefs on this are:
breeders should be professionals who have the dogs best interest in mind (show/ working/ conformation in mind).
Breeding designer mutts should not be allowed – they are mutts & the shelters are full of them (as well as plenty of purebred dogs, too!)
Breeding so your kids can see the "cycle of life" should not be allowed.
PETS ought to be spayed/neutered (unless there is a health reason for the animal).
Puppies/Kittens should not be sold in pet stores.
ANYONE who breeds a dog ought to be regulated and monitored (I realize this gets tough, but hey – this is what I think) – they should be limited to the # of breeding dogs they can have, there should be regulations that are enforced for the conditions the dogs live & breed in (no cages where dogs never touch the ground), there should be monitoring of the number of litters and number of puppies that are produced so the females are not bred at every opportunity.
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You breed a dog no sooner than the age of two after you have had all breed-relevant health clearances done. OFA and CERF or equivalents are required by most if not all breed clubs according to the breeding code of ethics. An orthopedic veterinarian can do OFA hip and elbow scoring, or x-rays can be taken at your veterinarian and sent in to OFA for scoring. This weeds out hip dysplasia, which in its early stages is not detectable on a routine vet exam, and many vets may not notice it on an x-ray either. CERF is eye clearance, things like PRA are prevalent in many breeds.
Some breeds require further testing, such as screening liver or heart problems, no past history in the pedigree of cancer or bleeding disorders, etc.
These things are what differentiates a well bred dog, purebred or not, from a badly bred dog, purebred or not. The dog may or may not be a part of a kennel club and may or may not be purebred (sled dogs, lurchers, curs, etc). The important thing in a well bred dog is that the breeder has done the necessary health clearances to ensure as humanly possible that the dogs are free of genetic health conditions that, if passed on to pups, can be debilitating or even fatal, let alone potentially prohibit the dog from doing the things it was bred to do or to even go for a walk with the family (hip dysplasia anyone?).
You do not have to breed a show dog. However, to show a dog it must not be spayed or neutered. With care you can keep your dog from breeding and show it or title it in working competitions. There is absolutely no obligation to breed.
Also, there is a common misconception that anybody who breeds mutts is a bad breeder by default. This is a dismissively, insultingly false claim. Most competitive sled dogs, for example, are mixed breed dogs–some of them with little to no husky in their recent ancestry. What differentiates these dogs from backyard bred dogs are health clearances, mushers who know their dogs’ pedigrees like the back of their hands, and breeding specifically to fill a niche not adequately fulled by siberian huskies, samoyeds, or malamutes. The same goes for some hunting dog breeders, and it’s how we got the now recognized plott hound.
The quality of a dog’s breeding should not be determined by papers or purebred pedigree, but by the knowledge of the breeder, the care taken prior to, during, and after breeding, care taken to home the pups, and health clearances for their breed or every breed involved in the mix.
The thing is, you’ll be hard pressed to find a reputable breeder outside of breed clubs. Not all mushers take such care breeding their dogs, which is a shame and also why many of these dogs are ill-temperd. The same can be said for breeders of other mixed breed working dogs. But they are out there if you know where to look.
Also, Casey is mistaken in her answer. Reputable breeders charge as much as they do for their litters because health testing can cost a fortune. Many breeds are also predisposed to serious complications during pregnancy and whelping, and the travel and entry fees associated with shows or working competitions also cost a fortune. The cost of the pups helps the breeder recoup A FRACTION of the money they have poured into their dog. Backyard breeders, by contrast, often breed for profit.
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"Are you required to breed your show dog?"
Of course not. Just because a dog is shown and/or gets a title, doesn’t mean he/she should be bred. Further, some dogs with titles will, upon having health tests completed, be found to have serious issues that *should* prevent them from being bred (PRA, hip or elbow dysplasia, etc). I’ve seen lots of dogs finish championships who have *nothing* to offer the breed. Nothing terrible about them, but extremely mediocre. Likely finished mostly being shown against equally mediocre littermates…. Besides, some people just like the enjoyment of showing, and don’t even want to get into breeding.
"So when is it okay to breed your dog?"
First, a must is to have clearance for genetic health problems. Minimum for most dogs would be hip X-rays and eyes examined by a canine ophthalmologist, but of course it varies by breed.
Second, both parent dogs should have good temperament. Especially the mother, who has a much greater influence while raising the baby puppies.
Third, the breeder should give written guarantees about health issues covering at least until 2 years of age, and longer for the issues which may take longer to show up. I always roll my eyes at breeders of large dogs whose guarantee expires at 24 months…which is the earliest a dog can be OFA’d. Nice loophole…. The contract should state exactly what happens if the puppy develops one of the health issues, not just be some vague "oh he’s guaranteed", which can mean anything. Or nothing.
Fourth, the breeder should be willing to take back the dog at any time during it’s life. I can’t imagine not wanting to be in control of where my puppies end up, because a part of me goes with each and every one of them. The oldest dog I’ve re-homed was 10 years old (his owner died).
Now, I realize that my above requirements leave open the option of breeding non-purebred dogs. However, since they would also eliminate 95% of the current breeders of mutts or designer-dogs, I don’t have a problem with that. Having loved and owned (but never bred) mutts, I am not one of those snooty people who think that only purebred dogs have the right to live.
EDIT:
Just to clear up a couple of things:
"give away dogs after 5 years of showing bc they are now too old"
No. W place retired show dogs in loving pet homes. Mine happen to be pets their whole lives, and there is no way I could keep everyone and still give quality time to them. The choice therefore is to stop breeding and furthering my efforts in my breed, or to place some (not all) of the dogs who are no longer being shown. I’ve had lots of dogs finish championships that I had no intention of using in my breeding program. Just the fun of showing them. Then I place them with loving families. Those families in turn get a pet that is already well-trained. Not everyone wants to go through the puppy stages. Win-win situation.
"and sell puppies at a lower price when they are not up to par with their champions and then calling them "pet-quality" and these were breeders of CHAMPION bloodlines."
Of course not all our puppies are "up to par". Anyone who claims that all their puppies are top show quality is a liar. We keep the *best* from each litter, to improve on the next generation. No point in breeding that mediocre one who can probably finish his championship but has nothing exceptional to offer. And yes, most of us do sell "pet-quality" at a lower price. Those dogs are sold on non-breeding agreements or spay/neuter contracts. Having a lower price means a wider selection of families from which to choose, very important when your main concern is finding the best HOME for that dog, where he will live out his life as a much-loved family member.
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No. no show dog has to ever be bred
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No, you are not required to breed a show dog. There are many many dogs, that I know of, that once they earned their Champion title are spayed or neutered. Others keep their dog intact for whatever reason but never breed. There are other who do breed.
Me, I have never breed a litter. Both my dogs are finished CH. I enjoy the competition. Will I breed in the future..maybe. I have lots of time before I make that decision. For me, it’s not just about "show" quality (conformation aka breed shows), but I also want a dog that is smart and can do it’s original job. My "show" dogs also compete and titled in obedience and agility and they do real hunting. So that means, not only do they meet the written breed standard, but they are biddable enough to work with people and yet, can and do perform their original job as hunting dogs.
Personally, I have no use for a dog that is "pretty" and meets the breed standard, if it doesn’t have a brain.
edit: Health clearances should be done, but do depend on what breed you own. Some breeds need to OFA’d other not. Some need CERF’s others not. Not all genetic diseases have testing available.
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