What Made You Choose to Become a Breeder

I have been wondering about this. My goal with my dogs is to give them the best possible life I can, they are my family and that is all there is to it.

I have never really thought about breeding, we have had offers in the past ref stud etc Of course pups are lovely but that is not a good enough reason in my eyes. If my circumstances were to change etc and I had more time etc things may be different, if I felt I could make a genuine positive contribution to a breed.

I feel some breeders do a fine 'job' and I know we need such breeders or we would not have dogs to buy!!

We'd been in the breed well over 20 years before we even thought about it and that was only because we started to show and realised that most breeders keep the best themselves.
We really only breed when we want a pup but I have had two litters I didnt keep from for various reasons, one of them being the puppies werent good enough.
I like to think we give back to the breed I spend hours pouring over pedigrees and every litter I have I try to improve the quality of the breed.

hi werewolf
when i started breeding i alway's try to improve the breed ( i alway's vet my prospective buyer's ) last year my girl's had 5 pupp's between them and i used a stud dog he had a good pedigree and the pup's were lovely' but next time i breed i will be using my own dog wich i bought from a kc acredited breeder and had to go 200 miles to pick up i had her e mail me his pedigree and all his paperwork prior to this and what a stunner he has turned out to be, he has 2 german champion's and 5 ndl champ's in his pedigree so the next litter will have in totall 10 champ's in there pedigree so i will definitly be improving my breed much better, there was a lovely couple who bought 1 of my pup's last year who alreedy keep ringing me for another pup and the vet thay take her to want's 1 as well but there going to have to wait untill next year for there pup as cody is only 9 month's old and the girl's arnt due in season untill october so werewolf that's my reason to improve the breed oh and im going to start showing cody so hopefully he will have some cc to his name

My reasons for breeding were similar to Jacquies, I showed my dogs for over 15 years before I bred a litter, I had excellent dogs that were doing well in the ring and were wonderful to live with as family pets.

I also had a list of people interested in pups if I ever decided to breed from any of mine. I only ever bred to keep something that I could continue showing and I hoped that, each time, I would at least match the dogs I already had, and perhaps, improve on them in some way...I wasn't disappointed.

In the 20+ years of owning English Setters I bred 2 litters and kept 2 from the first litter and 1 from the second, the 3rd litter in my name was actually bred by the bitches breeder. We owned her in partnership but she had my affix on, I was ill at that point and had to rehome them all but she wanted a litter out of Leonie before she went, (not something I agreed with but its done and dusted now), there were only two surviving pups, the breeder kept one and the other went to a pet home...I had no input into the litter other than them have my affix on.

I had one litter of Irish Setters in my name, 2 pups were born and I kept them both.

I realised a dream when I bred my litters but, having been through my health scares etc., I'm not sure I would want to do it all again, it's very hard work and so very sad at times, (lost a pup from both litters, one at 4 days old and one at 10 days and its heartbreaking). Having said that, it is very rewarding to have something that you have bred, and to see the littermates making their new owners so very happy

Do you not think there is to much breeding going on, that breeders should stop and take a look how many pups which are the same as the breeders are going to breed are up for sale. do you not think we have to many dogs of certain breeds already....

Dont understand how this answers, or has anything to do with the original questions!?

It was a question to the breeders...

I got that bit Maybe worth starting a new thread though?

I think you are right in some instances, there are some breeds that are crying out for something to be done. However, in my breed, the English Setter, you cannot get a rescue dog for love nor money and pups are snapped up the moment they are born. I am thrilled that this is the case but it isn't much fun for a friend who is looking for an older companion for one of her setters and cannot find a setter that needs a home.

There are breeds that are being overbred and ending up in rescue but, as DD says, thats a whole different thread

I plan to breed next year. I have had my bitch hip scored and will have my dog scored too, and if his score is well below the mean he will be used. I am planning this because I want to produce excellent quality pups for show primarily, and I plan to keep two pups. There are rarely any of my breed in rescue and I already have homes waiting for four pups, and that's a year before anything happens. I want to produce pups that will excell in type, temperament and health. There are very few people breeding Estrelas in the UK. I want to establish a quality line and improve on what I have already. I know some people will never understand the reasons behind breeding, but I will have a breeder return policy to prevent my pups going into rescue. Potential homes will be thoroughly vetted before any pups will be homed.

I wouldn't breed from my JRT though. I don't see a need to breed from her as she is a pet only. I could probably make a lot of money from her but it would be benefitting myself, rather than the breed, certainly not the bitch.