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Originally Posted by iLuv Reeses  Hi guys, I'm no breeder and I think it will take me a score to even start breeding. It's just that, I love the breed and the ring (which I can't wait to join in).
Anyway, in my quest to learn more about the breed I came across breeders of all types. Forums such as YT also helped me alot from learning with actual experiences from you guys.
From those who really love the breed, there's no other acceptable answer when it comes to the reason for responsible breeding. It must always be, to improve the breed.
What does it truly mean to improve the breed? Let's say all specimens are healthy (assumption) for breeding.
I often see pet-quality yorkies (with a pet pedigree) being bred to a champion. Does it improve the breed?
Or both the dam and the sire should have desirable qualities to contribute to the breed?
It's just that I feel saddened seeing champion sired dogs/bitches used in a puppy mill's breeding program (both the small-scale and large scale) and the lines of the ancestors that took years and hard work to improve only go to waste and only used for marketing purposes.
Share your thoughts and opinions. |
Saying that all the dogs are healthy and have been tested, improving the breed means that you are breeding and striving to consistantly produce puppies/dogs that meet the YTCA standred for the breed. Lets say I have a bitch and I want to improve on the top-line or quality of silk, then I would breed to a stud that has these qualities in hopes for improvement in these areas. Any puppies that do not meet YTCA standards are then spay/neutered and placed in loving pet homes and not bred.
I feel that a responsible breeder will not stud their champion/show quality dog to a very pet quality bitch. To me that is "breeding down". You may see some improvements in the puppies produced but the quality will more than likely not be present in that litter. Spay/neuter/place. The owner of the show dog should tell the owner of the bitch that she is not breeding quality and if they are really interested in breeding/showing to go to shows and learn as much as possible in order to make a wiser choice to start a breeding program. As a breeder, I would want the best quality I could buy to start with.
Most responsible breeders have "wised up" over the years to unethical breeders getting ahold of champion stock. Years ago, there was more trust in what people said and did in reguards to their breeding practices and there was no AKC limited on the paperwork. This is how most mills and byb'rs got ahold of champions stock, most of which should have been neutered and spayed. But since the word CHAMPION was in the pedigree, some even 5 generations back, the dogs were used for breeding and the pedigree was used as bragging rights in order to sell more puppies. There was also alot of registration switch-a- roos back then and this is where most of your off colored yorkies came from. Back in the day, there were almost no AKC kennel inspections and zero DNA testing. It was pretty darned easy to claim that any mix was an AKC Yorkie.
Hope I explained that ok!