I bred maltese many years ago and took a break from breeding to raise my family. When I came back to it with yorkies, breeding was a much different world. So many people now are just breeding dogs for money, with no thought to the quality of the animals that they are breeding or to preserving the standard of the breed. It was much easier in the past to find a mentor and start with great show prospects and breeding stock. So many of the long time breeders have been burnt by people who are not totally honest that it can take a long time to earn a mentor's trust.
Showing is actually my thing, puppies I love to have around but I hate whelping and putting my girls at risk, so I breed very rarely and with a lot of thought to make sure I am improving my stock with every breeding. There is a lot of study and record keeping involved with proper breeding. I had a lot of trouble finding a mentor due to my geography, living in the middle of nowhere in Canada but having a great mentor is the key to success.
I have been showing and breeding yorkies for about 6 years now, so I am still very much a newbie with a lot to learn yet.
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Audrey |