When my parents breed dogs we re-homed our bitches when they were too old to breed from as everytime we tried to keep one the other dogs that were still breeding would turn on the old bitch. It may have been because they were terriers, I don't know as they lived inside and were part of the family and they were all related.

Having said that all our bitches were rehomed, for free, locally and the owners stayed in touch so we knew they had gone to good homes. In fact my parents turned down a lot of money which they were offered by an american for one of our older bitches as they didn't want her traveling to America. Then gave her away to a family home a few months later. She even managed to win first prize in a local dog show for best pet when she was 18+, she was entered by her owners grandkids and made the local papers, though they described her as a mongrel, which she definately wasn't just old by then!!

I don't think re-homing bitches in necessarily a commerical decision sometimes it is in the bitches best interests. When my parents stoped breeding they keep all the remaining bitches until they died. My Dad has since worked out that they never really made any profit from breeding when you take into account the costs of vet bills, food and general care.

I have never seen dog breeding as a viable commercial business unless done on a large scale which most breeders don't do as the dogs welfare then suffers. Most of your small local breeders won't be making a profit but then they probably don't see the cost of keeping and caring for their dogs as a cost, if you get what I mean.

Do breeders breed for money?

Often to be successful as a breeder you end up keeping multiple dogs. In some breeds multiple dogs can't run together, esp. of they are of the same sex. In my breed, bitches tend to not get along as they mature, and the fights can be deadly. Often girls must be separated.

Someone such as myself, who does not keep kennels, you end up in a situation where dogs are crated and rotated, etc.

Dogs rebound quickly from being rehomed in my experience, even older dogs.

I would always rather a girl spend her golden years lying on someone's sofa and being the only dog rather than being rotated among 4 or 5 others to get free time in the house.

The fact is that breeders often have many dogs. For those of us who prefer housedogs instead of kennel dogs, careful rehoming of older dogs into great retirement homes is an option that should be held open.

As I said, I have never done it, but I would not fault anyone who did if the dog goes to an outstanding home where it will get more one on one attention and time.

Often to be successful as a breeder you end up keeping multiple dogs. In some breeds multiple dogs can't run together, esp. of they are of the same sex. In my breed, bitches tend to not get along as they mature, and the fights can be deadly. Often girls must be separated.

Someone such as myself, who does not keep kennels, you end up in a situation where dogs are crated and rotated, etc.

Dogs rebound quickly from being rehomed in my experience, even older dogs.

I would always rather a girl spend her golden years lying on someone's sofa and being the only dog rather than being rotated among 4 or 5 others to get free time in the house.

The fact is that breeders often have many dogs. For those of us who prefer housedogs instead of kennel dogs, careful rehoming of older dogs into great retirement homes is an option that should be held open.

As I said, I have never done it, but I would not fault anyone who did if the dog goes to an outstanding home where it will get more one on one attention and time.

When my parents breed dogs we re-homed our bitches when they were too old to breed from as everytime we tried to keep one the other dogs that were still breeding would turn on the old bitch. It may have been because they were terriers, I don't know as they lived inside and were part of the family and they were all related.

Having said that all our bitches were rehomed, for free, locally and the owners stayed in touch so we knew they had gone to good homes. In fact my parents turned down a lot of money which they were offered by an american for one of our older bitches as they didn't want her traveling to America. Then gave her away to a family home a few months later. She even managed to win first prize in a local dog show for best pet when she was 18+, she was entered by her owners grandkids and made the local papers, though they described her as a mongrel, which she definately wasn't just old by then!!

I don't think re-homing bitches in necessarily a commerical decision sometimes it is in the bitches best interests. When my parents stoped breeding they keep all the remaining bitches until they died. My Dad has since worked out that they never really made any profit from breeding when you take into account the costs of vet bills, food and general care.

I have never seen dog breeding as a viable commercial business unless done on a large scale which most breeders don't do as the dogs welfare then suffers. Most of your small local breeders won't be making a profit but then they probably don't see the cost of keeping and caring for their dogs as a cost, if you get what I mean.

Often to be successful as a breeder you end up keeping multiple dogs. In some breeds multiple dogs can't run together, esp. of they are of the same sex. In my breed, bitches tend to not get along as they mature, and the fights can be deadly. Often girls must be separated.

Someone such as myself, who does not keep kennels, you end up in a situation where dogs are crated and rotated, etc.

Dogs rebound quickly from being rehomed in my experience, even older dogs.

I would always rather a girl spend her golden years lying on someone's sofa and being the only dog rather than being rotated among 4 or 5 others to get free time in the house.

The fact is that breeders often have many dogs. For those of us who prefer housedogs instead of kennel dogs, careful rehoming of older dogs into great retirement homes is an option that should be held open.

As I said, I have never done it, but I would not fault anyone who did if the dog goes to an outstanding home where it will get more one on one attention and time.

Someone such as myself, who does not keep kennels, you end up in a situation where dogs are crated and rotated, etc.

well when the dog doesnt show anymore, and her others do, it means the dog being left for long periods of time on its own, she lets them go so that they can be with someone all of the time, it gives the dog more one on one time with a person, something which she doesnt always have the time to do.

Personally I think this happens when the hobby/business becomes more important than the individual dogs.

You see it in agility too. Basically there is only room for the 'productive' dogs - whether that be as breeding stock, agility winners etc.

I do have slightly hypocrytical views on this though because I accept that it isn't practical for a working farmer to keep all his retired dogs (though many keep some) yet I frown when breeders/agility people do it. I guess one big difference is that the farmer never pretends that the dog is a much loved pet or that he owns the dog for any reason other than to work it.

But if you had experience of the younger bitches picking on the older ones, why did you keep breeding? Why didn't you let your old girl live her life with you rather than creating a situation which you knew would result in her being rehomed? Evidently carrying on breeding (whether for money or as a hobby) was more important than any of the individual dogs.

I can certainly understand that in some cases it is better all round for a dog to be rehomed. I just struggle with the concept where anyone would knowing continue doing something which would certainly result in one of the older dogs having to be rehomed.

I took in a collie last year to save him from being PTS. I had plans to keep him but he (not deliberately) was causing too much stress betwen my two bitches.

Now from an agility point of view, I would've loved to have kept this boy, he had real potential (which neither of my other two have) and I think could have done really well. But that would've meant rehoming my older bitch instead, something which I just could not have done.