Before you breed your dog, analyze
your reasons
Many people entertain thoughts of breeding their dogs.
Reasons can vary from wanting to recoup money spent on
the dog, creating "one" just like precious Fido,
experiencing puppies or a million other reasons.
In the United States, we have a serious pet overpopulation
problem. Purebreds are not exempt from this problem. The
numerous breed specific rescue organizations across the
country can attest.
Before creating a litter of puppies, take a hard look
at your reasons of wanting to breed. Do they warrant adding
to that population?
Purebred fanciers want to see their breed continued,
so dogs do need to be bred. However, not every dog should
be bred, nor should every dog owner be a breeder.
What makes you and your dog stand out above the crowd,
to be the ones creating future generations? Is your dog
an excellent example of his/her breed? Are you skilled
enough to make that decision in an unbiased fashion?
Poor reasons to breed:
Recouping
your investment. Breeding is an expensive
venture. If you want to be a responsible breeder, you
will need to perform the appropriate health tests on your
dog, to ensure s/he is free of major genetic problems.
You also need the dog evaluated by more than one educated
and unbiased person. Typically the easiest way to do that
is by showing the dog. These things are not cheap and
quick.
Without cutting corners (to avoid putting future generations
and owners at risk), one will not realize a profit on
breeding dogs.
Wanting
"one" just like him/her. It
takes two to tango. It's unlikely any pooch in the litter
is going to be exactly like mom or dad.
A litter will likely create more than just one dog. An
average litter is 6-10 puppies. In six years, one
female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce
67,000 dogs. That is a little more than
"one" just like him/her. Once you sell the puppies,
their owners may decide to breed them as well. What if
the original breeding pair had a major health problem
that didn't arise until after the breeding? All of those
future dogs could be affected or carriers of the problem.
That is a lot of heartbroken owners!
Wanting
to experience puppies. This is
a selfish reason to bring more dogs into the world. If
you love puppies, there are other ways to spend time around
them, such as volunteering at your local animal shelter.
You could also seek out a responsible breeder within
your breed, to assist them with their litters of pups.
This will serve in two ways - allowing you to get your
"puppy fix", while also learning about breeding
and rearing puppies. There is never a need to reinvent
any wheels, so learn from those that came before you.
Wanting
the kids to experience the miracle of birth.
The whelping process is not glamorous. You could
easily lose your female and/or the entire litter. It can
be traumatic for your kids to witness.
If you would like to educate your children about the
"miracle of life", consider videos and books
dedicated to the subject. Why make your dog a science
project?
If you still aren't convinced, read this compelling hard-fact
article, "Announcing
the Miracle of Birth Video Tape".
Wanting
your dog to have a litter. There are no
medical benefits for the male or female dog to
have a litter. Nor will your dog know it is "missing
out on anything".
It is hard on the female to carry and whelp and puts
them at risk of dying while giving birth.
There are, however, numerous health benefits to spaying/neutering
your dogs.
Do you have the Traits
of a Responsible Breeder?
Breeding your own dog - what
you need to know
More information to come. Meanwhile,
check out this Breeders'
Corner, full of links and articles for the aspiring
breeder.
