07/06/2023
BREEDING THE ..."RIGHT WAY”? WHAT MAKES A RESPONSIBLE DOG BREEDER?
BACK-TO-BACK, WHEN TO START AND STOP BREEDING, BREEDING CHALLENGES, RETIRING AND REHOMING DOGS, WHAT IS AN ACCEPTABLE NUMBER OF BREEDING DOGS TO HAVE, LITTERS, RETIRING, BREEDING GOALS, LINE BREEDING/INBREEDING, AND BEST DAYS TO BREED.
Many "people"are quick to express their opinions on what are good or bad practices when it comes to breeding. Many of the most opinionated vocal people are ironically enough, Novice Breeders or Pet Owners that have never bred. Novice breeders tend to breed "by the book", or the way they are "told" or "heard" is the right way. Novice Breeders can quickly "parrot" what they have read on other Breeder's web sites, but when asked to clarify with their "rational" behind their thoughts, they are unable to.
Experienced Breeders: Make many discoveries and venture into new territory, helping others along the way sharing the knowledge that they have accumulated and the rationale behind how they gained their insights, in magazines, newsletters and or educational web pages where they are often invited to contribute.
Experienced and Reputable Breeders spend time and money, educating themselves, because they are willing and wanting to learn how to be better Breeders, how to better their breed and of course how produce the next generation of quality pups for their breeding program.
Experienced Breeders know that the learning never stops and readily admit that they do not know everything and are open-minded enough to "continually" learn from others.
Breeder Goals: Some breeders are breeding to perfect type or color, qualities, temperament, or health or working ability.Some Breeders put two dogs together for the long-term goal of using their own creative efforts. How far in advance and how much vision goes into some breeder's goals for their breeding program depends on many different beliefs, practices, and directions they will take to best meet their breeding goals. As a result, not every breeder will breed the same way.
Challenges: Creative choices and breeders should be able to exercise their choices. If the mental and physical health of their dogs and puppies are ensured above all else. A breeder should be constantly improving and getting closer to the ideal, for their breed and what characteristics they are trying to achieve with their goals. Some breeders achieve nothing with their dogs other than producing puppies and they feel totally justified in selling the pups for breeding purposes, to others. These breeders feel that if their puppies are selling, then this is good enough for them and it is up to the puppy buyers to decide.
Number of Dogs: Often "people" will site that how many dogs a Breeder owns will define a good or bad breeder. No matter how many dogs a breeder owns, each dog should be well cared for and be mentally and physically in good condition which usually in itself will self-limit a breeder to a manageable number. To breed for improvement, a breeder MUST have more than a couple females to breed and should be breeding with the intention of keeping pups for themselves, for their breeding program. As a result, a breeder will have a few females, to be breeding towards goals. Some breeders are also working on different lines, or colors which will mean they are owning more dogs than someone working on just one line or color. Responsible breeders are breeding to better the breed and their lines, by keeping puppy(s) out of their breeding(s) to constantly improve on the next generation.
Rehoming Retire Dogs: Often breeders will have older dogs that are done in contributing towards the Breeder's program. A good Breeder knows their limits. So often, when they have a retired dog, they will want that cherished dog to enjoy the benefits of being in a home, where they can enjoy the "undivided" attention of a family and the new family benefits by not going through the trials and tribulations of puppy hood and getting a well-trained, beautiful, loving adult.
~Retiring a loving friend to another home is not an easy choice for any Breeder ~But being a responsible Breeder means always remembering what is always best for their dogs.
The number of dogs that a Reputable Breeder has or owns can constantly fluctuate, as will the numbers of litter they produce because reputable Breeders are constantly trying to achieve different goals towards improving their breeding lines.
Litter Produced: Often "people" will site that how many litters a year a breeder has, will indicate if a breeder is good or bad. All litter should be produced responsibly no matter how many litters are produced. This means that ALL pups must be mentally and physically in good condition, well socialized and have good loving homes lined up. Several litters should not be a sign of a good or bad breeder. Rather the goals in producing the litters, the care and health of pups produced, the condition of the facility or home that the puppies are raised in, the condition of the pup's parents and the breeder's ability to have all the pups placed in quality loving forever homes should be indicative of the quality of the Breeder in question. Which again will usually in itself, will self-limit a breeder to a manageable number of litter that Breeders can properly raise and care for.
BREEDING BACK-TO-BACK HEATS: Breeder is breeding every heat cycle (back-to-back) or breeding every other heat cycle should NOT be a sign of a good or bad breeder. Rather the goals in doing the Breeding, the Mental and Physical state of the mom, the Breeder's ability to have loving homes lined up for all pups produced should be indicative of the quality of the Breeder in question. As we can see in the photos below, every female is different, not one practice is appropriate for every female, and not every breeder has females in top physical condition.
~ In breeding there is no "cookie cutter" way to breed. ~
Research On Back-to-Back Breeding to Support the Science Recently at an AKC Dog Breeding Discussion held at Michigan State University with keynote speaker Dr. Claudia Orlandi Ph.D. (AKC's breeder of the year and author of The ABCs of Dog Breeding) shocked many breeders when it was disclosed that there have been scientific studies to show that it is detrimental for dams to skip heat cycles. It was shared that once you have begun to mate a dam that you should NOT skip any heat cycles until she is finished breeding. A dam is said to be "finished" breeding when her litter size is drastically decreased. The study involved following females that were bred every heat cycle and females that were bred every other heat cycle. After they "finished" breeding, the dams were spayed, and their uterus dissected.
Those showing most stress, and damage of the uterus were the females that were bred "every other" heat cycle. Part of the rational that skipping heat cycles is harmful stems from the fact that with consecutive heat cycles there is no "flushing action" of the uterus, which normally occurs by having a litter of puppies. The female will go through Estrus no matter if she is bred or not and by breeding a healthy dam back-to-back, can lessen the chances of the female experiencing pyometra, infections and false pregnancy.The choice to breed or not, should be contingent upon the goals the breeder has and for sure the mental and physical health of the female, above all else.The important information to take away from this study is that a breeder with healthy females does have "choices".
What Age to Breed: Some people will say, "You should not breed a female before 2 years of age".
However, many experienced Breeders, will breed healthy females at 1 year of age or a female's second heat. Many "experienced" Breeders believe that breeding when the female is mature will avoid Pyometra and fertility problems that can happen when the female goes through too many heat cycles and is not spayed, or not bred.
AKC registers litters from: Females 8 months of age until 12 years of age
AKC registers litters from: Males 7 months of age until 12 years of age
AKC considers these ages "acceptable practice." "Physically" a female should not be bred before she is physically mature.
Physical Maturity: Determining when physical maturity depends on when a female comes into heat or estrus. The magic age of "2" years of age came about when X-raying and grading hips through OFA began to eliminate or reduce the chances of Hip Dysplasia being passed on to puppies from affected parents. To have a dog's hips evaluated and certified, a dog must be 2 years of age on the day the X-ray is taken. This is the ONLY reason that 2 years of age became common practice and no other reason. Some females are mentally and physically ready to have pups at 1 year of age and some others not until they are 3 years or more.
Every female is different, and it is up to all breeders to know their dogs and do what is best for them. A lot of breeders experiencing problems with conception or infections, because of letting their females go through too many heats without being bred.
It was finally discovered that OFA Preliminary Evaluation can be done at 4 months of age had 97.9% reliability.As well breeders also began using another tool called Penn Hip (Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program) which is an evaluation also done at 4 months of age. In Canada breeders also have the option of using OVC (Ontario veterinary college) to evaluate hips at 18 months of age. Some breeders also feel totally comfortable in breeding their females "before" OFA certification "if" they were out of Ofa'd parents, knowing that producing a litter has minimal affect her structurally. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends radiographing three to four weeks before or after the heat cycle, and three to four weeks after weaning a litter of puppies. All breeders should be doing every available conclusive DNA test available to date as soon as possible. Basically, Breeders do have.... Options of breeding a female when they are physically mature.
What Days to Breed: How many times to breed a female during her heat cycle is an age-old debate. "Ideally" it is accepted practice to breed 10th, 12th day and 14th day and only ever, once a day. However, many Breeders found that their females were "missing" or had small litters, even after using a different proven male. This is usually because breeders ignore their female. A female will tell you when she is ready to be bred, by her flagging when her v***a is touched. There is no point in ignoring this sign just because it is the 8th or 9th or 16th day according to your records, as you may have missed the early signs of heat. Some breeders even panic and decide to AI rather than miss another breeding opportunity. Of course, a lot of AIs are done incorrectly, introducing foreign materials into the sterile environment of the bladder, causing infection and no pregnancy. This resulting "infection" can have a breeder "incorrectly" thinking this is the reason a female missed. When doing an AI use an experienced vet. Some breeders are afraid that breeding beyond the usual dates could result in pups being not fully developed. While this is a real possibility, the chances are MINIMAL and the opportunity for a successful litter is generally worth the risk.
WHEN TO RETIRE BREEDING DOGS
AKC registers litters from: Females 8 months of age until 12 years of age
AKC registers litters from: Males 7 months of age until 12 years of age
AKC considers these ages "acceptable practice".
Canine Reproductive specialists will say that a healthy female can be bred until the number of pups in her litters is drastically decreased. Some breeders spay their females after a certain number of litters have been produced or until they have reached their breeding goals with that female. Some other breeders have bred their females until a certain age. Experienced breeders have bred HEALTHY females at 8+ years of age. The choice to breed or not, should be contingent upon the goals the breeder has and for sure the mental and physical health of the female, above all else.So really, a Breeder has "choices" of what age they will breed their female(s) till.
INBREEDING, LINEBREEDING, OUTCROSS BREEDING: Inbreeding, line breeding or out cross breeding choices. In the 2000s, online pedigrees and COI programs became readily available to the public. COI stands for Coefficient of Inbreeding and is the calculation used to determine the level of inbreeding on an individual dog or puppy. The higher the number for COI the closer the dog or puppy was in**ed. Public access to this information was met with great enthusiasm, with some Breeders deciding to avoid all Line and inbreeding, equating a litter with a high COI as being an undesirable breeding. Some breeders decided that knowing the COI on each of your proposed breeding was a valuable tool to consider but that it would not be the deciding factor in doing or not doing a breeding. Some breeders decided that they would construct a breeding, using the COI to find out if the breeding would be close enough on a common ancestor of merit, to enhance their breeding program, knowing that a higher COI on healthy lines could really bring forth desirable qualities. Online pedigrees and COI programs are a wonderful tool available to breeders, enabling them to make educated choices for their breeding program, however how well the knowledge is used, is limited upon the Breeders knowledge and experience.
~ GOALS, ARE WHY REPUTABLE BREEDERS, BREED ~
Goals are why all Reputable Breeders breed and how each Breeder attempts to get to those goals will differ greatly. I am sure most of us have had moments in our life where we have felt self-righteous, usually when we first start out breeding and were very naive before we found experienced Breeders to use as mentors. We have looked at what someone else is doing with his or her breeding practices and thought "Wow how awful they are doing that" New Breeders learn fast that they do not know everything. They cannot possibly know what others are trying to accomplish in their breeding goals unless they ask, not judge. New Breeders usually learn as they make their own mistakes and mentally mature in the process, usually eating a good helping of "humble pie" along the way. New and experienced Breeders should keep their minds open to learning opportunities, from wherever they come from, including breeders of other breeds, breeders of other species, but especially learning from those Breeders who have been, or are successful, in their breeding programs.Bottom line is that a Breeder cannot be open to learning, advancement, or growth, if they are too busy being critical of those around them.
Breeder has also had to consider that "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Breeders should use common sense and consider the short and long-term consequences for all their actions.
