Need your arguments about breeding?

Question

My brother has a 1-1/2 y/o Brittany Spaniel. Beautiful animal with no papers. My dear brother got into his mind he wants to breed his dog so he can have a from his beloved dog. I gave him all the arguments about dogs overpopulation etc. but of course these words are just from me his big sister so what I need is to back up my sayings by sending him websites discouraging backyard breeding.

Hope you guys can help me with that.

Many thanks!

Ilovetorufl: Thank you for your concern, my brother did ask for my opinion.

Answer 1

Got a bunch:

The ever popular flow chart:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c219/skatekitten2288/Petneuter.jpg

http://www.wonderpuppy.net/breeding.htm#breeding
http://www.21stcenturycares.org/misbreeding.htm
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/NoPuppyMillsVA/Responsible_breeding/responsible_breeding.html
http://www.dogplay.com/Breeding/ethics.html
http://www.learntobreed.com/
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding.html
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder3.html
http://www.geocities.com/virtualbreeding/

Answer 2

Maybe what will help your brother is to realize that if he breeds his dog, it doesn't guarantee an offspring that is just like his dog. He could buy a registered (or non-registered) Brittany again and get similar characteristics- common with the breed. I am guessing he has a female and wants his dog to have a litter. He will then be faced with all the possible complications and extra care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, nursing and weaning AND placing the other pups in good homes where they will be well taken care of.
It would be much easier for him to buy another Brittany!
Have both the puppy (at six mos.) and the dog he has now spayed and they'll be great companions for each other.
http://gmbrittanyspaniels.com/caring.html

Answer 3

argue with him that the dog has to have just as GREAT partner to breed with as his dog or the puppies are only going to come out mediochere. It takes 2 great wonderful excellent parents to produce a great puppy. What if his dog has 12 puppies, Brittney's dont have small litters, while they dont generally have 12 they COULD have 12 or more. Is he going to keep all 12? Think about your area are there enough good home for him to find places for the rest. Many people dont want Brits cause they are very highly driven hunting dogs and longer haired. Use this argument too. Even if he is going to keep one, is he prepared and ready to pay for all expense? I would research and print some info off for him on shot pricing, spaying and nueter of puppies, wormer, emergency C-sections, vet visits and so on and so forth. This can be pretty good stuff to deter a BYB

Answer 4

Everyone has pretty much pointed out the monetary drain of breeding, and the horrible things that can happen during birth.
Your brother obviously loves his dog very much, if he wants to continue the dog's "presence". If that was all it took, all of us on here who have loved a dog would have been breeding feverishly to get our beloved lost dog back. It just isn't going to happen, no matter how hard we wish for it. Each dog is special in its own way, and that can't be reproduced by any method known to man.

Each day I wake up and look into the eyes of my 10 year old aussie mix, Sophie, and wonder how I am going to go on without her. She is my dog soulmate. I spayed her at six months, because as much as I would love to see fuzzy little blue merle aussie puppies from her, none of them would ever be her.

Instead, when I lose a great friend, and I have lost three in the last year, I spend my time saving another helpless dog, and come to love each new one as well.

I am sure they will all be waiting for me when I go.

Answer 5

No one should breed a dog for the reasons you listed. First of all, the dog is NOT registered with AKC and secondly, he will have to keep the pups for 8 weeks, have them vet treated for shots, etc, removal of dew claws, feed them as they are weaned from mom and last, but not least, find good homes for them. What if they don't all sell? What will he do with the ones that don't? Turn them over to the pound? There are enough "back yard breeders" now that produce pups that are not quality babies. He needs to think long and hard about breeding the dog. Chances of getting one like the one he has (looks, temperament etc.) are very slim.
I would suggest he look at the rescues for these dogs and see where the ones that are not wanted wind up, some after going through awful lives.
He should adopt from a rescue and not breed more unwanted pups. Just who is he thinking about the dog or himself??????

Answer 6

Here are a few of the costs of breeding a litter.
First you have shots for the mother throughout her life until she is ready to breed, usually after age two is good. That will be at least a few hundred dollars. THen you need to have her screened for genetic abnormalities, including thyroid, hip/elbow dysplasia, eye deformities, and a pre-breeding exam. This will run into the thousands (about 3-4 thousand per dog).

Then you will need to find a compatible male who has also had his health exams and vaccinations. This may take several months. Then you will have to pay a sizeable stud fee. If the dog has all of these screenings, then it will be at least $500.00.

Then, if the breeding takes and you get the dog pregnant, you will need to have at least two exams during her pregnancy to ensure a healthy litter. If all goes well, and she has her puppies naturally, you may deliver at home, but you do run the risk of losing your dog during delivery or even after due to a retained puppy or hemmoraging. If it does not go well and the puppies need to be taken by c-section, it will cost around $1000.00 for the c-section to take place. If the mother lives, then you will get some sleep, but if she dies coming out of the aenesthesia, you will be bottle feeding several babies every two hours, not to mention that you will have to stimulate them to go potty before and after feedings.

Once the puppies are three weeks old, you will need to worm them in a ten day interval. A bottle of reliable worming agent costs about $100.00. At six weeks, they will need their immunizations to begin every three weeks until they are twelve weeks. A case of Durimune costs about $160.00, plus shipping.

Also, at any time you may lose one or all of the puppies. I am not trying to run scare tactics on you, but I am a licensed kennel and I have experienced all of these things in my years of breeding. I highly recommend that you do not do this, or if you do, you consult with a breeder of extremely high reputation. This is not something to be trifled with. There are real dangers to your dog, the puppies,and your heart, when you breed a litter. Whatever you decide, I wish you only the best, but please keep in mind what I have said.

Answer 7

Get prices from the vet for how much it'll cost to support all those puppies (because unfortunately, she won't have just a single "descendent") with their first shots and everything.
Then let him see this website http://www.dogsindanger.com it makes me cry every time I look at it, it's a website showing pictures of dogs who have a certain amount of time in shelters until they're euthanized - perhaps that'll bring the overpopulation problem home to him, seeing the pictures and reading just below a sad-eyed puppy "I have one day left until I'm killed".
Good luck and THANK YOU for trying to discourage it.
(Though honestly, you might have gotten more vehement answers if you had acted like you were your brother and asking about breeding the dogs...people get really angry about that :P)

Answer 8

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your brother is probably going to do what he wants to do, regardless of what we say, or what you say. I have a brother, I know all to well how that works. If he is going to breed his dog, you could influence him to do it the right way. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily agreeing with his decision, just trying to be helpful with the situation. Has he ever considered trying to get papers on his dog, or register her? Maybe, you could suggest this to him. You could help him to find a "good" bloodline to breed with. If you have a good vet, that shares in your views on backyard breeding, you could schedule an appointment for your brother and his dog to be seen. The vet would be able to give him a professional opinion on the subject.

This is probably something you feel very strongly about, many people do. However, we can't expect other people to have the same opinion. My advice to you would be to get involved as much as you can with local organizations, letting people know how you feel, regardless of what your brother decides.

Remember, while you feel strongly about this, don't let it come between you and your brothers relationship. As much as we love our pets, your brother is family. If you can not sway his decision, be there for him as much as you can, and help him to do things the right way.

Hope that helped. Good luck...

Answer 9

Perhaps the experience of the people I bought my first b*tch from will help:

They had a healthy, 2 year old female having her first litter. She was a well-bred champion. She had the best of care and attention. The breeder was with her when she went into labor and simply DROPPED DEAD. He had to cut her open with a kitchen knife to save the puppies, then hand raise a litter of 8 pups.

Not that this is LIKELY to happen, but if your brother is not prepared to do what this breeder did then he should not be breeding.

Answer 10

Lets say his dog had 5 puppy's then he sells everyone of them, thats 5 puppies in a shelter thats going to be put to sleep. I am running into the same aguement w/ my mother inlaw. she is getting a dachound and has every intention of breeding it. all because she wants to see "cute little newborn puppies" I think backyard breeding should be a form on animal abuse. dogs live much healthier longer lives spayed or nuetered.

Answer 11

His reasoning for wanting to breed his dog simply doesn't work. If he wants a new dog like the one he has he needs to repeat breed his dogs parents. In the puppy his dog would only be half the equation.