I never said Julie was selfish, I said it "is" selfish in its simplest form. Its our choice in every aspect of it. Its done for OUR benefit, because it sure as hell isnt beneficial to the bitch!!

You have a point Eileen and I would add it's more selfish IMO to breed to make dogs look a certain way than to breed for character and love. Improving the breed sounds good but looking at some breeds I do wonder how many actually breed for health and temperament over looks.

No you didn't call her selfish Dawn and your pov made perfect sense but earlier in the thread Julie was called selfish for thinking of breeding.

Every litter I have bred has been to improve the breed & from fully health tested parents & the puppies have been better physically than their parents.

I've never bred just to create more dogs for myself. If I had I wouldn't have 7 dogs now, three rescues, two gifted & 2 bought as puppies.

I am not breeding from any of my males & only possibly one of my entire bitches, she was bred to work(not to be pretty)& comes from a long line of purely working dogs-none of which were bred to be pets nor for their looks, however I do consider that they are/were all beautful & definitely fit for purpose. I am actively looking for a dog for my bitch who matches her health status & working ability(hopefully with even better working ability than her)

As you chose a breed that for years has been bred only for it looks & size-it is somewhat hypocritical to critize others who breed from similar breeds that are solely for companionship

So now not only am I selfish for having a thought but also a hypocrite ? Wow ! BTW as I said before I have had nothing but rescues for 30 years Betty is our first dog from a breeder.

All our rescues bar 2 were bred for the show ring and never looked right so were abandoned by people who had ideas of how perfect a dog should look.

Now to me that's selfish.

I chose Chihuahuas as I live in a flat and want to get back to campervanning which we found slightly cramped with Mollie (retriever cross) the small size was what we like. You can breed small and still have healthy dogs, I wouldn't have gone to anyone not breeding for health and temperament, I didn't mind she isn't the right shape for her breed standard.

Breed standards have never been anything I have taken notice of, huge Yorkshire terrier, and our last Chihuahua was too big for standard, all our others were odd in some way and didn't meet the standard for their breeds. Loved by us though.

I think we're a long way off that really, so many dogs needing rescuing and unwanted unplanned litters needing homes, so many healthy dogs being PTS daily.

It's sad that you had such a bad experience with a rescue organisation.

Hi Julie isnt going out to breed Tea-Cup chihuahua for loads of money,she is keeping the pups as they only have very small litters,so why jump on her,we are all aware of the breeders out there who dont give a dam what they are breeding,I had a dalmation who after her first season I was going to spay her but she got an infection,so we decided to wait,that was a mistake,as right up to her being spayed,she kept having false pregnancies,her nature changed,before she would allow the resident cat to lick her bowl,she became snappy and dog aggressive,a far cry from the soppy daft as a brush dog we had before,she never really changed.So depending on the bitch as every bitch is differant you make the judgement on your bitch'es temprement which as a responsible dog owner you would know if she will be a good mother and have healthy pups, Border havent you just had a litter? so I would expect you to be understanding where Julie is coming from.Gemini54

Chihuahuas are not a first time breeders breed & BTW they don't always only have one or two, a breeder of Chihuahuas(now deceased)near me used to have litters of 5/6 on a regular basis. It is a fallacy to believe that it is easy to breed them just because they are popular & bred by many byb as well as pet breeders. As i outlined they do need a depth of knowledge not only for the breeder, but also their vets. They are very susceptible to hypothermia as neo natals as well as the genetic conditions.

Keeping a litter of 5/6 into adulthood & beyond is definitely not to be recommended

I owned & showed & worked my dogs for over 30 years before I bred a litter & the breeds I had are easy whelpers & excellent mothers, as well as the puppies being very robust from birth.

I stand by what I wrote, to breed simply to supply oneself with a "family"of dogs is selfish & to condemn other people who breed to the breed standard for their breed whilst planning to breed from one of the most altered breeds in the world(they weighed far more & were much bigger than they are now, when they were in their original state)is hypocritical

One big problem with what you are saying is I was asking questions, seeking information and others have brought me to the point I think it would be a bad idea for Betty so won't do it. Your posts just made me want to dig my heels in and prove you wrong. Very good way of helping people make the wrong decisions for their dogs you have there.


I had one moment of madness talked round by caring people here you could so easily have pushed anyone not used to this forum away and they could easily have made completely the wrong decision.


Never known anyone be called selfish and hypocritical for simply asking questions before unique way of making friends you have there.