There's definitely a lot to think about and I agree that for the life threatening conditions, testing on breeding stock is important. But that's just the minimum.
I'm curious to know what breeders feelings are about sharing outcomes of the other factors you listed in their tried and true decision matrix?
Reputable breeders, to me, are only reputable because they've done enough breeding to be fairly confident about what would happen if they breed 2 dogs together. But that takes years of breeding to get there. How willing are these breeders (who have spent the time and effort in doing this) on sharing this knowledge with new breeders? So that new breeders can do it properly too?
And I mean, just because a new breeder thinks he/she has their ducks in a row doesn't make them a good breeder until, and I hate to say it, they've made enough mistakes to find the right combo or formula but by that time it's too late. But if seasoned reputable breeders don't share their knowledge, new breeders are on their own. I imagine new breeders in order to do their own learning are good at marketing their pups in order to keep going with their breeding program and expand that knowledge.
I've been doing a lot of reading here on yorkietalk and elsewhere and since everyone's entitled to their opinion there's a lot of arguments and counter-arguments, it makes it hard for me to come to a decision about what I feel about breeding and breed clubs in general. The only bottom line I've made is that it would be great to have a mentor just like a seasoned doctor teaches resident doctors about practice. Of course I'm just generalizing since it's not at all the same. |