Would you all be so anxious to breed if you knew your dog might die?

Question

An experienced breeder friend of mine bred one of his girls. She was a very healthy (checked out by the vet before breeding), two-year old female having her first litter. The pregnancy proceeded normally with no signs of trouble. She went into labor and simply dropped dead (later diagnosed with heart failure). Her owner had to CUT HIS PRECIOUS DOG OPEN WITH A KITCHEN KNIFE to save the babies, then had to spend weeks caring for the orphans around the clock.

While most dog pregnancies go smoothly, if you are not prepared to deal with a scenario like this you should not be breeding. It CAN happen to YOU.

I'm not sure the comparison with humans is valid, after all women make a DECISION for themselves whether to have children (although I wonder how many women REALLY consider the possibility of death when making decisions that lead to pregnancy). This is a decision we are making for our dogs.

Also, women are surrounded by doctors/nurses/experienced midwives throughout delivery, whereas all our bit ches have is US and our judgement. We need to be prepared to deal with any scenario, physically and emotionally.

I know I've been lucky so far. Even though I'm very careful with my girls, I know perfectly well that even the best precautions are sometimes not enough.

Answer 1

One of the most upsetting things I observed while working for vets was: backyard breeders seem to catch all the breaks. Reputable breeders seemed to have more troubles like this.

I don't know why, but you think Karma would not work this way.

Oh, we did have one lady whose Pug had to have an emergency c-section over a holiday weekend at an emergency vet clinic - who promptly chewed out the vet for "not warning her this could happen".??? Vets are not there to judge people OR their dogs, or tell them to breed or not to - no one ever asked them first what they thought! If someone decides they are going to breed, they assume any risks. Period.

Answer 2

I couldn't do that. I don't breed but I take in a lot of pregnant homeless dogs. I have never had anything like that happen even with the mutts that have never had any care. Hard to believe isn't it? We did take in a pregnant husky (Pure) All but one died within 4 months. It was horrible I felt so bad for the girl that had decided to foster her. They were all fine to begin with. Then just started dropping. No rhyme or reason.

I know the smaller breeds usually have more trouble and I try my best to try to explain to people just cause its a chihuahua doesn't mean the risk is worth the money you'll make on the babies. People figure its just a dog they don't realize the reprocussions of birth.

Answer 3

A breeder of any animal, there are horrible things that happen all the time...Yes even women have horror stories. I breed Lionhead rabbits.... There are tons in things that can go wrong....I havent had to deal with any YET but I am prepared.... I stongly advise people readup on birth defects before they breed any animal...Being a breeder is not easy money

Marjorie--- There are tons of purbred dog that are close to being wiped out ... Good breeders keep the blood line strong....You also need to keep in mind the number of mutts that are killed in shelter are very high Higher the pure breeds

Answer 4

That's a scary and sad situation. Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's going to deter anyone.

The same risks exist with humans. Perfectly healthy women have perfectly normal pregnancies, and then something goes wrong and the mother and/or child dies. The risk of this happening doesn't stop people from having children. Therefore, I don't think the risks of having a healthy dog die during pregnancy is going to stop people from breeding her.

But hopefully people's desire for children (great enough to risk death in childbirth) is greater for their desire to have puppies. I hope there are few readers out there who only want puppies a little bit, but not enough to take on any risk of killing their dog.

Answer 5

Very true!! One of the Rott mommys we had years ago my grand father had to do about the same thing!!! She was a grand Champion show dog and was not bred until she was 3 years old! All the healthy certs and everything!!! Out of 6 puppies only 4 lived because she started showing signs of dis-stress 1 week early!! He rushed her to the vet and the vet preformed emergency surgery. Conga did not make it. My grand father almost gave up breeding when he lost her

Answer 6

Thank you.

No one can stress enough the importance of weighing every scenario before making the decision to breed a dog.

I'm sure that your friend will also tell you that there is no money in breeding dogs. Professionals don't make any money until their dogs have been proven in the ring or field, and then their offspring begin to be worth enough money for the kennel to begin sustaining itself.

Puppy Mills crank out hundreds and hundreds of puppies a year. Had this dog been a puppy mill *****, she would have been tossed in a dumpster, puppies and all. Puppy mills make their money on volume as well as not spending it on medical care.

Answer 7

What I can't understand is why people continually breed "purebreds" when there are so many animals euthanized every year. Many of these are purebred animals. I know, I used to manage a dog pound. I live in a rural area, but the pound was always full, many of the animals were of purebred quality. Ninety-five percent of these animals had to be euthanized.

I even kept animals much longer than the law allows, gave all animals inoculations and helped them become free of parasites. I spent most of the money back on the animals, so I was not in it "for the money." If I wanted to I could have made much money selling animals to labs, but felt this was unethical. I, personally, ended up with several dogs and around 25 cats at home. I finally left this position and could not face the poor animals anymore. I received many calls wanting me back, because I was compassionate. But, I could not save them all.

STOP BREEDING!!! Neuter and spay your young animals. Do NOT let them have a litter first, this is an old wives tale. It is much healthier for the animal to be spayed or neutered before the have they chance to become pregnant or experience breeding.

Answer 8

do you know how many women die during labor? It is estimated that around 529,000 women die each year from maternal causes. And for every woman who dies, approximately 20 more suffer injuries, infection and disabilities in pregnancy or childbirth. This means that at least 10 million women a year incur this type of damage.

Answer 9

I would not breed dogs for many reasons.
Are you not aware that there are 15 dogs born for every one human? http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.cause&cgid=1&rgid=2&stid=10

Are you not aware that there are millions of dogs killed every year because of not enough homes? http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost/voices/voi.valdyke.animal.html

Are you not aware that only 1 dog in 10 gets a permanent home? www.safehavenforcats.com/main.htm

Are you not aware that one female and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in just six years? http://www.metroplexanimalcoalition.com/SpayNeuter/didyouknow.html

That coupled with the health benefits of spay/neuter WHY would you breed your dog? www.sniksnak.com/benefits.html

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/myths_and_facts_about_spaying_and_neutering.html

Answer 10

Thank You right on so many people do not see the importance in this . Please spay or neuter your animal it is too important not to . I do hope some of these byb's take your advice . thank you once again .