If You Were a Breeder.....

If I were inclined to breed, it would be Siberian Huskies. And it would definitely not be to sell them in the Home Depot parking lot, like this one woman I know.

I would breed for the original and correct reason, preservation of the breed. Starting from clean foundation stock, I would breed for workability and temperment and health. That is, they must be human friendly and feel like pulling a couple of hundred pounds at about 20 mph for sometime. I would care not a whit for conformation, only that the structure is good for the breed and its purpose. That is, I would not be breeding dogs for show but for the breed. So, my pups wouldn't necessarily win in a conformation show, though they might. I would health test for HD (not really common in a true Sibe line) and eyes. Sibes most often suffer from coroneal dystrophy in their geriatric years.

And if Faramir thought the breeders he went to were anal-retentive, I could only say that I would be just as anal about it. I could not let these pups just go to any home. I would have to be satisfied that an owner knew as much about the breed and its history as I do and I would have absolutely no problem educating them until their eyes glassed over and they nodded off to sleep. They would have to be as capable as I am. I'm not asking for the whole world. But you've got to exercise them daily, whether it's a long walk, pulling something, or enough space to run at full speed for minutes to an hour. That they would be committed to obedience training and follow the rules for Husky care exactly, i.e. never walk them off-leash. That they provide truckloads of socialization, including other small animals and children while they are still puppies. That this home is their forever home. If they can't commit to 12 to 20 years, don't even bother.

In fact, I know I would be a donkey's hind end. My first question would be to ask them if they know where the breed came from. And saying "Siberia" doesn't count. I want some kind of proof that they have researched. Bringing me a single page printed from a Sibe site would be a dang good start. Like I said, I can be particular.

It's hard to guarantee that kind of ownership, especially here in the south, where there isn't a big need for dog sledding. I don't even think there's a dog carting club, which would be the next best thing. My contract would require bringing the dog back. I don't think I would refund money because I asked for their commitment from the start. I'm doing them a favor by taking the dog back, though it is for my own moral reasons. Then, I would either have to re-home, trust a rescue, or keep the dog for its life.

If I can help it, no dog of mine will be in a shelter.

Hence, I don't breed. I love the breed so much, I could give a pup away if I knew it was going to the right home. But I would have to charge a price just to ensure, somewhat, the seriousness of the owner. That being said, I have seen purebreds at the shelter. How does that happen? How does someone spend $1500 and the dog ends up at a shelter?

Then again, Shadow's purchase price at the puppy store was $200 and he didn't get to stay with his original owner. People, at whatever financial level they are at, will spend a huge chunk of money, relative to their finances and then, later, not be able to keep them, sometimes, through no fault of their own.

I'd breed Marlowes!
 
I was actually just talking to someone last evening about how to go about getting a b&t as a pet, because I get the impression that most reputible b&t breeders won't place in to pet homes, as this is a working breed. I told her that her best bet would be american b&t rescue because they get all kinds through there, puppies, adults, likely mixes and clearly ure, and many of them are failed hunters and therefor less drivey (though they have an adolecent ridgeback currently, so they know all about drive!).
 
I'm a pretty big advocate of b&ts as pets for responsible pet owners who understand what it means to have a high-drive working breed. With agility, tracking and all the other dog sports out there, plus SAR, it is possible to meet such a dog's needs if its important for you to do so. For every prospective home, I'd make a recording of what a b&t in baying sounds like and make them play it for an hour every day for a week and then get back to me!
 
I'd value a good drive (after all, what is a coonhound without prey drive? that's silly and it's what makes them what they are), but also an absolutely rock-solid temperment, and I favor the UKC conformation standard over the AKC. I find AKC b&t's to be too big, too blocky (does this happen to every AKC breed? they get all huge and blocky?), but UKC b&t's tend to be more elegent and petite, which I like.  And of course health. I wouldn't breed Marlowe (aside from the fact that he's neutered!) because he suffers from head tremors which, while harmless, is a genetic defect.  My ideal b&t is one who can rock in the agility ring or SAR field work one day, laze around on the couch with his owner the next, and excel on the bench the next. 
 
But I'd probably never breed anyway. There's too many dogs in shelters for me to personally be able to justify that. B&t's are a really misundestood and underappreciated breed and I'd love to see all the ones currently in rescue and shelters get homes first.

 
Okay, so I'd breed papillons and it's something I am considering actually doing in the future.  My main focus would be health and temperament.  All my dogs would be tested for genetic problems especially paying close attention to luxating patellas and PRA as those are the most common ailments in the breed.  No dog that scores low on these tests would be bred.  Papillon should be ideal companions and any dog that varies from this personality (ie.  bites, etc) would NOT be bred.  I would also breed for conformation as I believe the look of the breed is an important characteristic of the breed.  My dogs would be shown in conformation and obedience or agility if at all possible.  But temperament and health comes way before aesthetics.   And I cna guarantee I'd be very picky on my screening process.  []
 
 

Beardies for me!

Once I really get into showing and see what's out there I will have a much better idea of what to breed for, as of now I'm just in the learning stage and am by no means ready to take on breeding myself. I would work with an already well know breeder and then maybe go off on my own. I would defently want to breed for a combo of a working, agility and show which in this breed has not had as much of a split as other herding breeds.

I also like shelties but there is already so much compitition in that breed that I would feel a little unconfortable about breeding them. It's still something to consider.

Probably not westies lol I love my Maisie, but I don't know what I'd do with 5 of them. Honestly, I don't know what I'd breed!

So are Border Collies recognized by the AKC? They aren't by the CKC, although there are still lots of breeders in Canada.

They were "recognized" by the AKC in 1995 after a long bitter battle of resistance within the breed. http://www.bordercollie.org/akc.html Disclosure - I'm a director of the US Border Collie Club referenced therein. [] The vast majority of US Border Collies are, at this time, still registered with the ABCA, the working registry. The ABCA rejects using conformation competition as a selection standard for breeding Border collies, and in fact now deregisters any member dog which achieves a conformation title. Future efforts will focus on further restriction of dual registration (the AKC has permanent open registration status for the Border collie because their gene pool is so small).

Any breeder of Border collies, or indeed puppy buyer, therefore has some soul searching to do because the two camps are SO far divided and the split will get worse in the future. I know where I stand on this issue, it's not why I don't intend to breed in the future - but it's an example of why a starry-eyed future breeder needs to get deeply involved in their breed of choice before taking the plunge.

For instance, Xebby, did you know of the controversy over working Beardies? Beardies and BCs have crossbred since time immemorial - for many years there was no difference indicated in the ISDS books. They now include a notation "Bearded" - deliberately ambiguous whether the dog was purebred or simply a carrier of the dominant bearded gene. Beardie fanciers here have imported some of these dogs and have been met with great anger and scorn and a demand that they call their dogs something else. We in the working world don't want to be in the same position someday, trying to justify our existance just because our dogs don't look the same and we don't put a high value on conformation competition.

Here's one working at the National Finals (photo by Christine Coval, all rights reserved):

Funny that you ask. I ad soem guy at Petco this weekend basically call me a idiot for fixing Rory. I did my best to give him the "too many pit bull speeach" but he wasnt hearing any of it! UGH!!!
 
I would breed French Bulldogs, I just love them to peices and in my area I hardly see any or breeders for that matter. However this is out of pure selfish cuddly reasons. I hear they have major health problems as a lot of bulldogs and I havnt begun to investigate them at all, it sounds liek ti would take a lot. I also hear that a lot need c-sections so again its purely a cuteness factor!
I dont think I have it in me to breed dogs, I would want to keep them all, I'd probably be mean to potential cutomers and not let anyone touch them, ha ha!

I would breed Puggles, Labradoodles, Snoodles, Mini Labradoodles and Goldendoodles  *lol* J/k
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I would breed Dalmatians. My goal would be of course to produce good quality dals, do health tests, show, exc. I would also like to do road trials, agility and obedience. I would like to have the most rounded dogs you have ever met!!
 
But my ultimate goal would be to get rid of the stigma that surrounds deaf dals. I would try to convince other breeders not to euthanize deaf puppies and to instead place them in responsible loving homes. I would also (of course) be active in rescue.
 
Honestly though I wouldnt breed. If I had unlimited space/time I would have my own all breed dog/cat rescue.

Let me start off by saying this:  I wouldn't breed Pharaoh Hounds.  I wouldn't breed them because these are dogs for people that can put up with a permanent prankster who does what he wants, and will walk all over you to do so.  I wouldn't breed them because I've seen and I have a PH rescue.  I wouldn't breed them because these dogs are so very special to me that I'm not sure I could let one go without knowing where he/she is and how he/she is doing.  I wouldn't breed them because I'm not prepared to provide a home for an entire litter of pups.  I wouldn't breed PHs because I am overprotective of them. 

I'm totally in love with Pharaoh Hounds.  But out of ten thousand people I'll stand alone.  IF I could assure that all of my requirements were met for the puppies, then I'd breed them.  I'd look for high drive, temperment and, of course, conformation.  I'm a sucker for the heads that one sees from the K'azar line oh PHs.  But what I'm concerned the most about is the thin lines.  I'd like to go to Malta and import a male, or a couple of frozen vials, without being too specific. and bring some fresh into the US. 

If I woke up one day with all the resources, money, and time to breed,,,,,,I would open a rescue. I guess that's just where my heart is at, rescuing dogs. There are so many great breeds out there, I dont think I could pick just one to dedicate my time and efforts on,,,because I'm always seeing new dogs I'd love to meet and work with. For example, I would LOVE to meet a pharaoh hound someday, I never knew such a breed existed until I joined this forum but now after reading everything Xerxes says about them I just have to meet one in person someday. If I were to list all the breeds that I would love to own I think I'd need more space, time, and money than anyone in this world has.

I totally agree with Xerxes...
 
But if I were to breed, it would be Doberman's and it would be to better the health of the breed. This breed is plauged with so many problems, it is rediculous. I hate how cardio takes so many good dogs before their time!

I do breed (sled dogs) but if I were to breed any other breed, probably would have to delve into Chow Chows. They're an amazing breed (i own one myself, my fifth Chow in my life) and are great working dogs. Two of my sled dogs have Chow in them, and we also use them for hunting, one of the original purposes of the breed.
If one day I start breeding Chows, I know where they'd come from, and my full intentions with them as well.

For instance, Xebby, did you know of the controversy over working Beardies? Beardies and BCs have crossbred since time immemorial - for many years there was no difference indicated in the ISDS books. They now include a notation "Bearded" - deliberately ambiguous whether the dog was purebred or simply a carrier of the dominant bearded gene. Beardie fanciers here have imported some of these dogs and have been met with great anger and scorn and a demand that they call their dogs something else. We in the working world don't want to be in the same position someday, trying to justify our existance just because our dogs don't look the same and we don't put a high value on conformation competition.

Wow, thats something I never read in any of the "books", great info!

Thanks for that bit of information, like I said I have a very long way to go before i can even consider breeding. I'm sure there is much more info on my breed that I just haven't come across. As far as I had understood beardies were unchanged from the time they entered this country... guess I have a lot to learn... Still, I love the breed and enjoy any hearding breed so it really doesn't discorage me in any way, I just have to read more and talk to more experts to form my openions.

Not sure I could breed….would have a hard time letting them go, would be too picky about the owners I would chose.  In all honestly the only breeds I have enough interest in to even consider breeding would be sighthounds and maybe danes. But what am I gonna do…breed a greyhound…hell no! Too many are needlessly killed every year. I can#%92t see bringing more into this world
 
 
I honestly think I am much better suited to rescue.  I can truly appreciate responsible breeders and I have nothing against breeding, but I don#%92t think I could go there myself.     

I would probably breed Beagles for field, show, and health.  Currently, with the little bit of the breed I've seen, you either breed for show or field (or giants and tiny ones for the BYBs)  The two look so different.  Show beagles are more square and bulky, and a field beagle tends to be thinner and finer boned.  I don't know how to explain it exactly though.  I want a good in between though.  I prefer the show look, but want one that can due to its original job well.  I would also do agility with them, and perhaps tracking.  But I would really stress on health testing since they are a more popular breed now.
I think one day I may breed (not sure on the breed though).  There's something about it that just makes me want to do it.  I want the joy of planning a breeding, screening homes, waiting for the big day, raising the whole litter, and of course my first one that I was the breeder of to get its first title and watching the others do the same.  But before that I'll get into rescue, and hopefully one day become a foster home for a litter.