Dog breeding
Dog breeding is the vocation of mating carefully selected specimens of the same dog breed in order to reproduce specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics.
Who is a dog breeder?
Who is best qualified to be a dog breeder, and what constitutes proper dog breeding is at the core of many arguments in the hobby of dog fancy. Fanciers do tend to agree on what are not good reasons for dog breeding: providing a sex education experience for children, making money and experimental breeding top the list of disparaged motives.
At its best, breeding is a blend of science and art. The skilled breeder has at least general knowledge of dog genetics and health, and in-depth knowledge of the breed standard and conformation points of his chosen breed. Dog breeders agree that care for the development of the breed and concern for the health and wellbeing of each individual animal must be uppermost in a breeder’s motivation.
At worst, breeding can be a slip shod enterprise in which the major concern is profit, with little regard to the health and welfare of the dogs involved. These often take the form of so-called ‘backyard breeders’ (the term for random or ignorant breeding conducted on a small scale), and ‘puppy mills’ or ‘puppy farms’ (larger businesses). It must be pointed out, however, that many excellent breeders run small-scale programs in their homes, barns or back yards, and there are profitable large-scale business operations run with knowledgeable staff and superlative veterinary care, so size and motive alone are not indicative of the quality of the breeding program.
The birth of a litter of purebred puppies is recorded in a breed registry. These are maintained by organizations whose primary concern is securing the lineage records of the breed. Kennel clubs are one example of these, but such registries are not the exclusive province of show dogs, as is sometimes thought; the clubs of working dogs also maintain records of their dogs’ lineage.
Becoming a registered dog breeder
Breeder qualifications
Requirements for the breeding of registered purebreds vary from club to club. Members may have to open their kennel facilities initially or periodically for inspection by the Registry, and/or pass tests to determine their breeding knowledge.
Brood stock qualifications
Most kennel clubs allow for any registered puppy to be bred from once it reaches a suitable age. Established breeder are sometimes conservative about selling entire animals for breeding, as poor issue may reflect badly on their kennels. Some clubs maintain an adjunct or limited register, for puppies of purebred parents not deemed to have the qualities for showing or breeding, or who exhibit a fault. A few breed clubs, such as the Swiss breed club of the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America and the Mini Foxie Club of Australia have additional, strict requirements for the certification of adult dogs before breeding.
With the advent of genetic testing, many registries are considering it advisable to test breeding dogs before mating, and some have made such tests mandatory. Among the genetically-transmitted conditions that can be screened are:
- Genetic blindness
- Genetic deafness
- Hip and/or elbow dysplasia
- Luxating patella
In addition to the reguirements of the registering authority, the owners of stud dogs and brood bitches may have their own conditions of mating. Kennels are said to be open (dogs standing at stud and bitches to be serviced by outside males) or closed, where no outside matings are allowed. These days, many owners with dogs "standing at stud" state that these are available "to approved bitches only", meaning that the stud owner will not allow mating with bitches deemed to be in any way undesirable.
A person wishing to start in dog breeding must therefore first learn about the breed and how to choose quality breeding animals, then they must find animals of good quality for sale that they can afford, and then find suitable mates. The process can be extremely time-consuming and there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence from new breeders finding it difficult to start in dog breeding due to the reluctance of established breeders to sell or share their stock.
See also: Selective breeding