I work for a company that runs a bunch of pet websites. We have a message board system on each site, monitored by a friendly army of volunteers who help make sure that everyone feels welcome and the trolls stay under their bridges.
Today on the forums on our dog website, DogHobbyist.com, a post was made (now removed because it launched a scorching hot flame war) that was not really all that different from a thousand other posts made there over the years. Posts like this were made over on the AOL dog boards when I ran their pet site, too, and I have absolute faith that as I write these words here, posts like it are being made on message boards, forums, and email lists all over the world.
Since I can't link to the one in question, I'll paraphrase it (and its ilk):
Hi! I'm new to this forum and I'm glad to be here. I have a question for those of you who are breeders.
I have a beautiful girl and I'd like to breed her. My neighbor (brother in law, sister, cousin, butcher) has a male and we'd like to put them together. I think my girl is having her period because she's bleeding. Does that mean she's ready? We put them in the yard together and she acted like she wanted to bite him and he keeps peeing all over and ignoring her.
Behind the scenes, each of the forum's regulars heaves a deep sigh. They know what's about to happen. They are helpless to stop it.
First, the forum's resident friendly educator takes a crack. She is usually one of the most popular members of the forum, and always tries to make everyone feel welcome, and to gently explain the facts of life to the newcomer without driving her away.
Welcome to the board! I'm sure your girl is really wonderful, and you're lucky to have her in your life! But there's a lot more to breeding a dog than just putting a male and female together. You have to do genetic and other health screening tests, and understand the pedigrees of the dogs enough so that you can make a good decision about breeding them together. Will their puppies be healthy? Will they really represent the best of the qualities of that breed, or will they have temperament, health, or other problems that could have been prevented?
Also, there are a lot of dogs out there in the world who don't have homes. Are you sure you will be able to find good homes for all these dogs?
There is a lot of research to do before breeding a litter, and since you don't even know about heat cycles, you probably haven't done that research. Please skip this season and instead, spend the next few months educating yourself on the breed standard and responsible breeding practices.
Perhaps a few more folks will weigh in, each being more or less friendly than the first responder was. One of them will be the Cynical Bitch - the one who slices, dices, and skewers the wannabe breeder and then, dusting off her hands, walks away. She's usually one of the ones who ends up cleaning up the messes made by backyard breeders, doing rescue and finding homes for the dogs of her breed who, like the majority of dogs born in this country, do not remain long in their original home. She won't be kind but she will be right.
Then the original poster will reply:
I can't believe you judgmental people. My girl is perfectly healthy. The vet said she was fine to breed. I got her from a good pet store, and I paid $1900 for her! All my friends and family members want puppies from her, I won't have any trouble finding good homes for all of them!
I am not some snobby show breeder or someone who has to do DNA testing on her dogs! I'm just trying to produce some nice puppies out of my beautiful girl! I can't believe what a bunch of snobs you all are! Thanks for the "welcome"!
In the meantime, I sit here with my beautiful dog Rebel. He and his brother both have a genetic kidney defect called cystinuria. He's a show champion and stunningly gorgeous, and I bought him intending not only to show him but to breed him. Instead, I ended up forking over a couple thousand dollars to have surgery done on him to help prevent him from dying of a urinary tract obstruction. He is the second deerhound I've owned to have this defect.
His sister, Raven, just died of osteosarcoma, which is in Scottish Deerhounds a genetic form of cancer. I won't even tell you how much money I spent trying to save her life, but I'd spend it all again to have her back.
So I guess when "breeders" like that accuse breeders like me of being "snobs" and "judgmental" when we tell them that if they don't know how to tell their bitch is ready for breeding, they SURE as shit don't know how to analyze a pedigree to look for genetic time bombs ticking away in there, and they also have no idea how to look at two dogs and understand what's likely to happen when they are bred together, nor do they have the least idea how ethical breeders feel when the breeds they are dedicated to preserve and improve are cranked out like some kind of assembly line product by ignorant little backyard breeders who don't know their bitch DOESN'T GET HER "PERIOD," I get a little bit pissed off.
I really would like to invite them to take a stroll with me through the genetic minefield. I have a map, and I am damn good at reading it, but even at my most cautious, I've set off a few mines in my day. And while the fallout hurts like hell, the sad truth is, when those mines get tripped, it's our dogs who are blown to pieces.
Ah, the AOL message boards. I applied to be a volunteer on the pet boards and was rejected numerous times... I still hold a grudge ;) I actually run a small, private message board for a group of people who were tired of the flame wars on another set of AOL boards -- public message boards are such breeding grounds for discontent. No matter how "nice" you try to keep the conversation, it doesn't take much for someone's nose to get out of joint.
As for the breeding thing, I felt very sad when I neutered my "excellent lineage" Anatolian, but it was the right thing to do. I'll leave the breeding to the professionals, and just enjoy my dog as a companion.
One last thing... my "sort of sister-in-law" (it's complicated) bought her son a dog two years ago. I thought it was just a pet. I mentioned having it spayed and she told me she wasn't going to spay it, she was going to breed it. I told her she shouldn't breed it, as she had no experience, and didn't have the money for any medical care if there were complications. She angrily said to me, "If I don't breed it, how will I get my money back?"
I'm happy to say that she never did breed the dog, but it was never spayed, either. It's a problem just waiting to happen.
Posted by: Leigh-Ann | 13 October 2005 at 12:33 AM
After spending a fortune to acquire a show/trial quality golden retriever, and spending a thousand fortunes treating his hip dysplasia, anemia, epilepsy and hypothyroidism, and then rescuing a seriously ill (and ill-tempered) pomeranian who was used for the first four years of her life as a puppy machine, and recently adding a lab/rotti mix puppy born on a farm to an unspayed mom ("well, gosh, we just can't figure out how she could have gone and gotten herself PREGNANT")...
Imagine my joy when my MIL and her otherwise lovely mother said of our new addition "Oh, she's beautiful! When are you going to cut off her tail? How long are you going to wait before you breed her?"
After a sharp look from the hubby, I managed back "Lex likes all her appendages just the way they are, thank-you-very-much, and we also feel that there are already far too many unwanted dogs in the world and we have absolutely no urge to create any more."
And of course, her response was "But at least you could make back some of the money she's going to cost you!"
... at which point hubby thought it safer to remove me from the room...
Posted by: Kim | 13 October 2005 at 01:01 AM
I just love the "get my money back" folks.
I have written before that the acid test of a good breeder is, do they take the dogs they bred back at any time and for any reason. However, an equally good one might be, "Do they make money or lose money breeding dogs?"
If they make money, they're doing something wrong. Or as one of my favorite sayings goes, "Want to make a small fortune in dogs? Start with a large fortune."
Posted by: Christie Keith | 13 October 2005 at 12:51 PM
......snort. Oh yeah.
.....You forgot a couple of things.
"My dog has such a wonderful personality that everyone wants one of her puppies. They can't wait to have a dog just like her!"
"My dog might be getting ready to have her puppies. How long does pregnancy last anyway? Should I take her to the vet or can she have her puppies at home?"
.......There's an old beagle that wanders the neighborhood a few blocks away getting into trash. You can tell by the state of her nipples that she's had litter after litter. I wish I could find her a retirement home. And yes, I'd just pick her up off the street and whisk her away.
.....sigh
Cathy, Leo the reddog angel, 6 kitties, 3 dogs
Posted by: Cathy | 14 October 2005 at 09:11 AM
Where was I when the comments started flying? Neutering a dog has nothing...nothing...to do with whether or not you're a good owner. I'd no more neuter my male German Shepherd Dogs than paint them pink and pass them off as flamingos. Nature created them as they are to function as complete beings as they are; when we chop off body parts to "improve" them or their quality of life, we presume far too much. It does not take castration to prevent litters, it takes a watchful and caring person on the other end of the lead. What's more, in larger breeds like mine...I don't know about smaller ones...castration can lead to a greater chance of prostate cancer later in life.
When you're talking about idiots who breed dogs "to get their money back" or who allow it to happen out of carelessness and disregard for them or their offspring, you're talking a "human" problem that should be solved on that end of the lead, not the dog's.
Posted by: Gil. | 14 October 2005 at 11:56 PM
Not to rock the boat, but what about testicular and ovarian cancers, pyometria, and the overabundance of idiot dog owners out there who not only can't keep a proper watch on their pets, but also can barely handle a castrated dog, let alone a big male with a sex drive?
Myself, I'm torn... we try to bring all our pets up as holistically as possible... and while I do agree that holistic care involves keeping the animal itself whole, how do you shoulder all the potential negatives?
Posted by: Kim | 15 October 2005 at 02:50 AM
A note for the scientists among you:
While one study suggested an increased risk of prostatic carcinoma in castrated dogs:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12431819&query_hl=50&itool=pubmed_docsum
(Aside: less than half of the dogs with carcinomas were castrated - 26/56 - which makes me wonder how they worked out that castration actually increases the risk..)
another study proposed that the incidence of prostatic carcinoma was related to the DURATION of exposure to testosterone: 'The vast majority of canine prostate carcinomas affected elderly sexually intact dogs or dogs that underwent surgical castration AFTER sexual maturity'
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11027417&query_hl=53&itool=pubmed_docsum
Why not read both articles? Or wait until the scientific community has definitive evidence for or against neutering male dogs (as they have done in females where it is well accepted that spaying before the second season reduces mammary tumours to approx. 2% of that in entire females).
Posted by: Mickey | 01 March 2006 at 05:21 PM