exactly my thoughts so didnt bother typing oout again - will just steal your quote !!

Neither really, if you decide to breed and go down that road then you should be prepared for the next 10+years that you could expect to have those "pups" come back to you for whatever reason, so that should be considered prior to breeding once or breeding a hundred times.

I think half the problem is that people think - Oh am just doing it the once, but that one mating could result in say 5 pups, those 5 pups could create another 5 pups each and then those 5 another 5 each etc - so just doing it once is a HUGE committment and one that should be taken far more seriously than probably say 80% of those "breeding"actually do.

A good reason to breed.

To establish or continue a line. To produce animals better than what you have, to try and improve on what you have. To breed dogs of the correct temperament and conformation according to the relevant breed standard.

Not good reasons to breed.

To breed to supply the pet market.
To use inferior stock without the relevant health tests.
To produce designer crossbreeds in an attempt to procure sales and more money from it claiming they are "special" or "different."

Good reasons

To improve pn what you have

To produce the best quality health and temperament wise examples of your breed,

T o keep a dog back to show/work and improve on future generations.


Bad reasons

Pocket money,

Let the bitch have one litter

Breeding solely for the pet market,

Deliberate X breeding.



Mmmm. good question, personaly I think if you are taking thatstep , you should have long term plans, ..

To start your own line, and so on.

Just the one litter to keep a pup, not so sure, or because people say, "I would like one of x,y, z`s pups,

I used to be of the opinion that only top 'winning' dogs should be bred from, but then I realized how close minded that was. If only the 'best' dogs were to be bred from, there really wouldn't be many dogs around at all; there simply wouldn't be enough dogs around to supply the pet market, which let's face is what probably 95% of dogs are; pets.

I do think it is preferable to do something with a dog to demonstrate that it is a good example of the breed (especially with breeds that are already way too over bred), but equally I don't see what the problem is in breeding 'pets' PROVIDING everything else checks out. By that I mean the dog/s are fully health tested, the breeding is well planned from start to finish, there are homes lined up for all the pups, the pups will be taken back at any time if there are problems, etc.

What I don't believe in at all is intentional cross breeding but that is a whole other thread.

What do you mean by this out of curiosity?

Breeders who breed for breedings sake, to sell all the puppies and have no intention of keeping any, nor retaining any for themselves. They breed only to sell to the pet public and profit from the sales.

if dawn is talking about the same thing I think she is re: the pet market I can totaly understand the concerns

there are/were a few pet breeders of rotties round my way, some of which I know, have seen there dogs,

when talking to one about a planned breeding, then looking there dogs over, I asked were they concerned about the problem with both the stud dog and the bitches bite/bad mouths,
they said, no the pups will only be pets that was just one problem I had found with the mating, the other was very bad back ends on both dogs,

Yep I agree. Let's face it, if a breeder produces a litter and keeps one for show, there will still be x number left and most of those will end up in pet homes, so there is no need to breed only to produce pets. Out of every 'show dog' litter some pets will be produced anyway. If my Rio has, say 6 pups, I will keep one, I will co own another (an arrangement I have in place) and four will go to homes, and the chances are they will be pets only. They certainly wouldn't go to established show homes, this I know for sure!

Right, gotcha. I would agree with you there.

Sadly I think most breeders do fall under that category; breeding a litter just because they have a bitch and they can. No papers, no health testing, no real passion for the breed, no aftercare/advice for the puppies in the future. For those 'breeders' (I use that term loosely) it is all about the £500 cash they get at the end of the 8 weeks.

All i know is that 1000,s of dogs are being put to sleep each year through no fault of their own and more and more are being bred, that just doesnt sit right for me.

Yup ^^ what she said
The difference between 1 litter and many
your thought for the 2nd litter should be the same as the thoughts for the first litter, the breeder should consider even more strongly if there really is a need for the 2nd litter
the more pups you breed the more rescues die in shelters so your dogs better be really special