I have owned and trained purebred dogs for fifteen years -- German Shepherds and Belgian Tervuren -- and have been asked the same two questions many times: "Are they purebred?" and "Do you breed them?" To the passerby, my dogs appear very striking. They are attractive, well-cared-for specimens of their breeds. They're in top condition and carefully groomed. Walking through the park, they draw attention and admiration from others.
My answer, however, surprises people. "No," I say proudly, "These dogs are neutered." For me, the decision to spay or neuter is a no-brainer. Unless a dog is going to be used for breeding, it should be spayed or neutered. And it is my firm belief that most dogs and most dog owners should NOT be involved in breeding.
Why don't I want to be a breeder? Because I am ignorant. I do not know enough about breeding and bloodlines to make intelligent choices. There are people who have been breeding dogs for many years who have the knowledge and experience it takes to select a breeding pair which will produce quality puppies. I know some breeders who have been doing it for over thirty years. Who am I to compete with them? No matter how much I studied and asked questions, it is unlikely that I could ever know as much as them. They know so much about which dogs are good producers and which are not, and have gained so much experience over the years, that I could not hope to match their success. I say leave the breeding to these experts.
In my opinion, fewer than 25% of people who call themselves "breeders" really know what they're doing. I have talked to many "breeders" of purebred dogs over the years, and most do not impress me. Most don't have the knowledge, experience, or even common sense to breed good dogs. Some don't have a clue as to what they're doing, and are unable to produce dogs which are free of health and temperament problems and disqualifying faults. A favorite saying of the clueless breeder, after producing yet another litter of inferior dogs, is "Oh. Breeding is just a crap-shoot, anyway. Anything can happen." Nonsense! Knowledge and experience allow real breeders to consistently produce quality dogs.
So why would I want to breed? Most likely, I'd just join the huge population of "wannabes." There are a few breeders who know what they're doing. They need puppy buyers. I'm perfectly happy being one of their buyers.
Another reason I've never even thought about breeding is that I've never owned a dog I thought worthy of reproducing. Yes, my dogs seem nearly perfect to the untrained eye. But a closer look reveals genetic defects -- some minor, some major -- in each of my canine companions. My various dogs have had hip dysplasia, cancer, auto-immune disease, and allergies. There have also been temperament problems such as shyness and dog-aggressiveness. While I've coped with most of these problems through proper veterinary care and careful training, the bottom line is that no dog I've ever owned was worth breeding.
How do you know if a dog is worthy of breeding? There's a whole lot more involved than the dog's phenotype (what the dog looks like and acts like). A dog may seem to be of "breeding quality," but what's in the genes? That's what really counts. Only by a thorough knowledge of the dog's genetic background -- what his relatives and ancestors are like -- can you predict what the dog will produce in his offspring. A dog can be very nice (good phenotype) but produce low quality offspring because that's what's in the genes. Consider the fact that the nicest dog from a litter can reproduce the worst of his litter. If a dog has excellent hips, but one of his littermates has hip dysplasia, the "excellent" dog could easily produce dysplastic pups because he's carrying the genes for hip dysplasia. Genetic traits can be hidden for two or three generations before they reappear. It is my belief that unless a dog is an ideal specimen, from a litter of all ideal specimens, out of parents that are ideal specimens, it's a risk to breed.
In order to understand what's in a dog's pedigree, you have to know the phenotypes of as many dogs in that pedigree as possible. Knowledge about all of the dog's littermates is also necessary to predict what the offspring of a dog will be like. Few people have this much knowledge about their dogs.
A dog may be a truly fine specimen of his breed. He may be purebred, and be registered with the A.K.C.. He may even have "champions" or other titled dogs somewhere in his pedigree. But these things alone do not make a dog "breeding quality." It's what's hidden in the genes that's most important.
So why should I breed? I don't have the knowledge or experience it takes to decide on a good breeding pair. Other people do. I've also never had a dog that was so "perfect" that he or she would be worth breeding. But those dogs do exist in other people's kennels. Since I don't have what it takes to be a good breeder, and since I don't have dogs with the right genes, the decision to spay or neuter is an easy one.
Consider the statistics. There are over 500 Belgian Tervuren bred and registered each year. There are over 75,000 German Shepherds born and registered each year. Why should I increase the purebred dog population? If I want another dog, why not just find the best puppy, from the best parents, from the best breeder, that I can find......and buy the puppy?