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end of the line


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This is coming from a sports backgroud but was wondering if some of it is based from the breeds working roots.

 

At what point as a breeder do you stop breeding a dog due to what was produced? If you had a litter and only your pup was an improvement to the parents would you still breed the pup? Would you breed the parents again?

 

Say your dog had 7 pups(the only litter). You keep 1. 4 go to working homes and 2 get stuck with active pet home. The 4 pups you placed in working home only do so-so and have some issues. The pup you kept actually works really good. Would you breed her still? Would you tell the potential homes for the offsprings the issues the girl littermates have?

 

Ir even if you bred the parents or dam again and only a handful of the pups proved useful. Is the 1 pup that is a complementary to both the parent worth breeding(she is what you had hoped to produced)? Or do you end the line and go elsewhere? Can you explain to me your decision?

 

Hope i am asking the question right!

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I would not repeat that cross. Old time advice. If you breed a litter and the pups aren't what you wanted, then try a different stud. if the pups still are not what you wanted, do not breed her again. One good pup out of a litter is not good enough IMO. All should be at least the equal of the parents , with most better than the parents.

 

This is from a working viewpoint. IMO sports are more a matter of the trainer's ability to channel what the dog has so I would NOT ever breed for sport dogs.

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I think one has to take into account where the pups went. If they go to novice handlers vs. open/experienced handlers that can have a bearing on how the pup "looks" as it matures. We often hear that you can get litters where not all the pups will even work. As a minimum standard I would want all the pups in a litter to show working ability. Unless you keep them all, there's no way to know for sure just how good they will/can be--too many variables once the dog ends up in someone else's hands. I know dogs I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot-pole that have done extremely well with their handlers (open level trialing), and I'm sure folks would say the same of some of my dogs.

 

That said, if just one pup out of a litter had any talent, I might use the bitch/stud again (likely on a different stud/bitch, although I know of a cross where the first litter was returned to the breeder but the repeat breeding produced some real stars) because it could have just been a poor cross. If a second cross also produced mediocrity, then I'd assume my dog (bitch or stud) was not a good producer and stop trying. I think it's risky to make such a decision after just one cross (genetic issues notwithstanding); a poor match one time doesn't mean you couldn't get great ones with a different cross.

 

J.

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i am curious with what do you do with the one pup from the cross that IS showing promise? Would you breed her/him? If yes do you let the new owners know there were issue with her littermates?

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I probably would not breed the dog. Much depends on many variables. You said there were "issues with her littermates" this could be a wide range. Did some not work due to lack of exposure or really bad handling (or just 'it' happens) are there health or temperment issues?

 

Whenever you breed you should take the whole picture into account, not just one or two things. Certain traits should be valued higher than others. For me, producing consistantly is important too, otherwise you are producing a lot of 'pet'(meaning non working) pups and there are enough of them already, so why put more into the world? A bitch (or dog) whose littermates were either unknown ability or poor (or worse non existing) doesn't have good odds for producing a whole litter of better than average pups. Do we need more mediocre dogs?

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  • 2 weeks later...

How dogs are raised and the amount of individul attentions can play a big part in how well a dog takes training and how much they try for you. A dog raised by an Open handler who has numerous pups at the same time may never have the required social conection to realy want to please their trainer or have the confidence to take the criticism and move forward. With yrs of experience of raising puppies

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