Breeding to keep a pup..

IS breeding from your bitch so that "you" as the "breeder" can have a pup, a good enough reason to take a litter from her?.

whether it be from a bitch that is shown, worked or a pet..or is it just ok for some of these and not the other(s)?.

Many people breed from there bitch to produce a pup to take into the ring and carry the line on in the show world, some people breed from there working bitch to produce a pup to carry on the lines in the working feilds..and some people breed from there pets so that they can keep a pup from her!!
in your opinion what is acceptable and what is not!?

I have seen many people on other places say that it is selfish to take a litter from a bitch just so that you as the breeder can keep one! as there is still more pups to find forever homes for..your opinions please!


'Hope i have posted this in the correct place'

Devil Dogz..

I think, breeding to produce a puppy for yourself,( to work or show) is thee best reason for breeding!!

Before I was more enlightened about the overpopulation of dogs and before I took on a rescue myself, I had contemplated this many a time in the past with some of my gsd bitches. I'm sure, people who are unaware of the horrendous goings on in the world of the BYB's and the current number of dogs in rescue, then I suppose everyone who loves their OWN dog enough, will always think to themselves, that they'd love another one just like he/she is wouldn't they? It's only human nature imo to do that . That's why people with one child, have another, and maybe another, it's the nature of the beast so to speak.

The only reason I did NOT go ahead with any of this wishful thinking in the past, was because I knew I just wouldn't have been able to cope with the birth, I had no experience in any of that, also the thought of losing my dog through said birth, or having her at the vets with serious problems, and I have to say, that is the ONLY reason I didn't go through with it many years ago. It seemed a good enough reason for me to leave it up to the experts, so I did, I always bought my puppies from a breeder, some of them not so reputable perhaps.

So my answer NOW to your question is a definite "no"! I think it's both stupid and selfish and these people need to be educated about the number of dogs we have in our rescues, let alone being bred every minute of the day by BYB's! That's my twopennorth!

p.s. I'm taking here of a bog standard bitch, nothing special, just that it's yours!

I completely agree.

The only reason I would breed from a bitch(or dog)would be to improve the breed, in health & in all round improvement to the actual breed.

I would never breed just to have a puppy for myself, I did intent to breed from Jessie, but her hip score put paid to that idea. I'm now planning to buy another bitch & hopefully breed from her to improve the working ability & health of my chosen breed(Border Collie)

Breeding done properly isn't the faint-hearted & it isn't a way of making money.

Totally agree, and I think you have to think extra hard about how easy it is to home puppies too. There are already thousands of unwanted dogs in rescue, many of them Collies, GSDs and Staffies, so people breeding these dogs need to ask themselves 'what's so special about my bitch?' Just being pretty and having a sweet temperament is not enough.

I plan to breed eventually, but I will be either having Rio mated overseas or importing a dog from Portugal to widen the gene pool over here and improve the breed. And I will be keeping a pup, too.

ETA. I expect the whole thing to cost me a small fortune also! So it's not a money making thing!

I do breed for myself.

I only have a litter when I want to keep one to show.

I have never had a problem finding forever homes for any pup I have bred and they all come with a guarantee that I will take the dog back regardless of age if for any reason they can no longer keep it. They are my responsibility for life.

No one will make me feel guilty for that.

I also fund raise, do home checks and transportation for rescue.

My boyfriend wants to breed from his GSP bitch and i'm trying my hardest to talk him out of it. He said he perhaps would keep a dog and a bitch, also to breed from because he wants to keep his bitches lines going.
He has many friends who have GSP's also and he'd mate her with one of those.

Now all he's seeing is the fact that his bitch is a good hunter. He's totally missing the fact that she hasnt had any health tests (her mum died of cancer at a young age) or hip scores done (she doesnt even get vaccinated or wormed!), she has a very hard mouth which is highly undesirable in a gundog and thought to be hereditery, and she is a huge whinger, again, not what you want in the field or the home tbh.

I dont think breeding a bitch to keep a pup yourself is a good enough reason, unless you are a genuine breeder, I dont think Joe Bloggs should attempt it. Why not buy a pup from the same breeder if it's those particular lines which are sought?

Doing your research on your breed and the dogs behind yours is an absolute must as is doing all of the recommended health tests for your breed.

I would also never keep both a dog and a bitch out of the same litter simply as breeding prospects.

mum is the same..she breeds when we want something to carry on in the ring with..Have homes lined up for the rest, although things can and do go wrong..
If some one comes to us for a pup we ask them if they have considered a rescue before a pup...our website states about the amount of rescues and we would always help
some one get a rescue before a pup, we foster and transport dogs for both our breed rescues and the little dog rescue..

So Yes mum only breeds to keep something for her self and aims to improve the breed in all aspects.
imo as long as the rest of the litter is treated the same and considered when planning the mating there is nothing wrong with breeding to keep a pup to further our line in the ring and produce pups that we would hope to be well bred and be good examples of there breed..


I agree health tests and researching your breed is a MUST before planning a mating..
just because 'friends' have dogs of the same breed imo does NOT mean there going to be a good match for the bitch (you need to choose a stud that will improve on the bitches weak points, as no dog is perfect..you need to consider lines, you dont want to breed something to close..
DevilDogz