Advice re: breeding - please don't judge

Dear All,

I'm far more of a lurker on this site than a poster, but I get masses of satisfaction out of reading your posts and seeing pictures of your fabulous dogs.

I am a member of another forum, which is not related to dogs in any way, but in one section of it I found the following post, and upon reading, I felt I ought to ask for your advice on what to say, in a sensitive manner, to potentially and hopefully get the OP to consider/rethink and subsequently abandon her motives about breeding her dog.

we have a female shih tzu who is ready now, to have a boy friend to make babies (and to afford her flight back to ,.....in a few months)

Our dog is a KCC Registerd full pedigree Shih tzu, we have her bloodline certificate, but we dont need another full pedigree as long as he is mainly a Shih Tzu thats the most important, we are not looking at selling these lovely puppies to be as show dogs but as lovely house pets and family memebers.

We had a male lined up but just this second they pulled out due to them moving house and having too much on their plate.

We dont have money really but would be willing to offer a puppy for payment.

Our dog will be ready in a few days literally.

I understand how this goes against pretty much every motive for breeding that responsible people have, but I also have to understand that, much as I despise it, this sort of thing goes on in the real world. I absolutely hate to think of this poor dog being used as a money making machine though, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to - sensitively please as the OP is having a hard time in other areas of her life atm - potentially talk this person out of breeding her dog simply for money, or at the very least what health checks should be run on the sire and dam prior to breeding, and also what follow up care should be given to the pups before they are sent to their new homes.

Thanks so much, and I am very grateful for your help. I know this is an absolutely awful situation, but I have to be a realist and admit that this sort of predicament occurs; and whilst in an ideal world it wouldn't, and all pups would be born to responsible breeders with the thought of healthy happy dogs in mind, I would love to think that I presented a balanced argument which raised the appropriate questions, and subequently managed to help this poster rethink her motives and potentially save her dog and any resulting pups from an unhealthymiserable experience.

Thanks in advance,

Em.x

You cant help but judge them type of breeders, although i'll keep my opinion to myself .. arghh!

There is'nt a nice way to ask, they all seem to get offended straight out.
The question is, has she thought about the risk of lossing her bitch, has she saved money to raise the litter and pay for emergency vet care that the girl and any pups may need, has she got the time and patients to raise a well balanced litter, does she know what she is doing, or know some one that does, has she got homes lined up.

and most of all does she herself believe her reason for breeding is a good enough one.. Tell her to walk around a few rescue shelters and still breed for no reason other than money, while millions of dogs sit their waiting for another chance..

Tell her how hard its becoming to sell pups, as more and more people are being educated on responsible/ethical breeders - Can she keep a full litter if she cant sell them, does she want to add to the rescue problems. ??

Not sure what health tests the breed need. She should know that

I had this situation with someone at work, who I really like, but was shocked that they were breeding their dog...

Could you somehow do a light hearted post, e.g.

"Puppies? How lovely! Are you all sorted out with your health tests and stuff? Do you have buyers for the puppies - bet they're excited

And all that time you'll have to take off work to spend with mum and pups - heaven!!

What about your vets - do they know how to deal with dogs in labour and stuff like that - have you given them a ring? I heard that some vets aren't good at coming out for labour emergencies and charge loads etc - what a cheek! Best to check now, and maybe swap vets over if necessary."

The problem is, I guess, how far do you go before you end up telling them that it might cost £000's if something goes wrong etc. You have to keep it fairly light-hearted, especially since they're not on a dog-specific forum, or actually asking for advice.

I suppose you can always include a story, from a friend-of-a-friend/a dog forum etc re something ghastly happening to a mum and litter - I bet you could find loads of them on here!

You could always send her the link to Dogsey, but as you might have seen, we can be harsh on first time breeders, and, as you've said, there is other stuff going on in her life right now - maybe not the ideal time to breed??

Could you somehow do a light hearted post, e.g.

Agree with the above, you catch more flies with honey , as they say.

Something I always like to add to the above is this (its nto true , but they dont know that) but hopefully one day it will be

Have you got your (liability ) insurance sorted out , you know !! if any of your buyers come back to you with a sick puppy,!!! you do know the law holds you responsible for the puppies you breed and ensuring their health, thats why most breeders only breed from health tested dogs and it costs them a fortune to have all the medical tests done.

They do that so they can ensure the pups they sell are as healthy as possible,(and have records to back it up) to cover their own backs, just in case some one claims they sold them a dud pup


With a bit of luck it might make them think twice about what they plan to do.. if they think they may have comebacks on them and it costs them money, it may change their mind....hopefully.

Good idea Jackie - never thought of that before!!

Thank you so very much for your excellent advice. Wise words as always!

I'm trying so hard to keep all my civility about me, but it's very frustrating as this person is hoping to breed to raise money to help pay towards their imminent emigration. I sincerely hope that I can offer her enough 'sticking points' to make her realise that breeding simply for money is a terrible idea.

The part which I find increasingly irksome is that they can only offer a pup as payment for stud fee, because they have no money. As you so rightly state, what on earth would happen if anything went wrong with the pregnancy or labour.

Still, I'm trying hard to keep a very balanced view, and remember that we live in the real world where such situations occur, and as such, it's not my place to judge, but to help out wherever I can (and hopefully talk her out of it!). It's just a shame that the dog is the one who might suffer.

I will do everything I can to hopefully stop this bitch from being mated, and thank you so much for your advice.

Em.x