What is Breeding?
Breeding, in its most common form is the mating of a female dog (bitch) to a male dog. This can occure naturally among any member of the dog species (Canis lupus familiaris), although dogs usually mate to those of the same size (a Collie will not mate to a Yorkshire Terrier).
In the dog world, people, known as “breeders” force the mating to happen at their chosen time in order to hopefully produce puppies. There are 5 main motivations that causes a person to want to breed:
1. Love of Dogs
2. To Better the Breed
3. Want to propogate a descendant to a much beloved pet
4. Fame
5. Money
These motivations are listed from best to worst – with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. The more responsible breeder will have motivations higher on this list. The most responsible breeder will have motives #1 and #2.
LOVE OF DOGS: The love of dogs will motivate a breeder to educate himself on all aspects of dog ownership, dog culture, and dog ethics before he ever thinks of bringing more puppies in this world. All breeders must have this trait as this will ensure a more healthy, well taken care of, happy, well-bred dog.
TO BETTER THE BREED: There are millions of unwanted dogs put to sleep each year. A responsible breeder does not wish to bring a living, breathing creature to life if he has not planned for him to have a great life. Also, his love for dogs motivation has probably led him to specific breed. Becoming a breeder with the goal of bettering the selected breed (according to it’s written standard) is the most healthiest of all motivations and is what everyone should aspire to before ever bringing pups into this world.
The most unscrupulous reason to become a breeder is for the money. This motivation causes greed, and is what drives the puppymill industry. Dogs in this world are abused, neglected, unloved, and treated as whelping machines just to pop out more and more puppies who propgate a vicious unhealthy, parasite infested life. Many of these dogs are more prone to genetic disorders, personality problems, and disease.
Before purchasing a pup, or starting the road of breedership yourself, ensure that either the breeder in question or your motivations are one in which your goals are to strive to ensure the betterment of the breed.
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3 Responses to Intro to Breeding
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Um… one correction- dogs WILL mate with dogs of other sizes. I fostered a corgi x collie litter last summer, and a chihuahua x pointer litter the summer before that (the idiot owners assumed that since their male chih was so much shorter, their pointer bitch was safe. They didn’t count on her laying down, and this isn’t unusual.)
I see in the case of the chi and corg, the shorter dog was the male. Have you ever had any experience with a larger male mating with a tiny female? (i.e. a male collie mating with a female yorkie as the article mentions?)
The point being – while it is physically possible for 2 dogs – regardless of size – to mate, it is not recommended for those who vary in size, and it’s typically a lot harder for huge males to mate with tiny females (as well as dangerous for the female, who’s body can not withstand the growing puppies of the larger breed).
Dogs will mate with all different breeds, sizes, e.t.c of canines. If a small-breed female dog does mate with a large-breed male dog, she will have trouble giving birth to a large litter of large puppies.