The goal of breeding

The goal of breeding must be to produce better dogs – not to produce more dogs. You hear a whole range of reasons for letting Fluffy have a litter from “letting the children witness the miracle of life” to “she’s a lovely dog and my neighbour has a male of the same breed” to “these puppies sell for $800, with a litter of six I could really make some money.” All of these goals are frequently thwarted as the birth becomes a traumatic experience, puppies inherit crippling disorders, and vet bills consume potential profits.

Responsible breeders follow a series of steps to ensure that their knowledge and experience will result in a mating that will produce an exceptional litter of puppies that will go to excellent homes. Before deciding to produce a litter of cute puppies, the potential breeder should assess their dog in terms of:

• health
• temperament
• phenotype
• genotype