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Date Posted: 19:08:30 10/16/03 Thu
Author: Dan G.
Subject: Re: Question for DanG...
In reply to: Cheryl 's message, "Question for DanG..." on 15:42:26 10/16/03 Thu

Cheryl,
Thank you for a well thought out criticism of my posts. I knew that this subject would cause a few ruffled feathers, but not what it turned into. I sincerely thought that breeders would not take this personal when I said as my opening sentence in my first post,

"To the breeders out there, don't take this the wrong way. I'm strictly playing devils advocate here. I have my own views on this, but nothing is black and white..."

and I then repeated this a couple of more times. The reason I asked if you had ever been a breeder was so that I could see from what angle you are taking your stance, but not to see how much experience you have. I wanted to see how breeders or future breeders felt on the matter. I myself have thought of breeding in the future. My conclusion is not set in stone like some of the others, because I do feel that there are important issues and a huge responsibility that goes along with breeding. And this is why I brought it up. I met a lady who used to breed. She stopped because she felt (for many of the reasons I posted) that breeding was actually a self serving and self fulfilling practice for herself rather than being good for the animals that she cared most about (the dogworld). I didn't know how she felt and would have probably avoided the topic if I did know. Because when I mentioned that I was considering breeding, the debate was on and it lasted forever. I walked away agreeing to disagree but felt that I had actually lost. Ever since, I have questioned a few breeders on the topic. Right off the start, I always get either very vague answers or in one case, the breeder (different breed) thought that breeders that culled weren't picking the right pairs. (Now to the clique, don't hang me on this, I didn't say it, that breeder said it)

So I thought that I would post it up here and see what would come in. The only decent responses I got from any breeders were from you and Jerry. Someone else mentioned to me that I was a little too aggresive with Jerry on my response to him, and if you were insulted Jerry, then I truly do apologize. I was just using the same arguments that I got and trying to see what response you would come back with. I was not trying to personally attack your reasons or ethics at all. And when I said at the end "Thank you for your honesty" it was sincere and not a sarcastic remark. I know JB can even back me up on the fact that I had emailed him personally and asked to not take offense to a seemingly direct criticism (the waiting list issue). So this was not my intention at all.

My own personal stance on it, is and was this, when I had the discussion with this lady I mentioned. If I am going to breed, then I would feel comfortable knowing this:

1) I have personally seen what the show breeders are doing to the German Shepherd and I feel that the same can happen to the BB. Since the BB is still quite a rare breed in the states, I believe that the initial impact of the first breeders here will determine where this breed is headed. And I know that I would do a good job. Would I cull? Like I said before, this is a given, for all of the obvious reasons.

2) If I do breed, I will have a waiting list as well :) If the list never gets long enough to justify a breeding, then I won't do it. Finding responsible owners is a huge responsibility on the breeder.

3) The best will stay with me and the rest will go to friends in the BB world, friends in my own GSD group that I work with here and a limited amount of private residences. I plan to give the pups away in exchange for 2 yr. health insurance policies for those pups along with a deposit to be returned when the dog is neutered or spayed. I don't want to charge for them because I don't need the money. It may take me longer to get to where others get when they do charge but if I start out in the rythm of collecting money for my breedings then I believe that it is possible to get stuck in a position where you can cloud your decision making with money in your sub concious. And/or grow to expect the money and rely on it to advance to the next step in your program. So this way I remove any temptation to ever make a decision based on money. I believe we're all human and we all can make mistakes. This is a position that I'm not willing to put myself into.

4) Are there good dogs in shelters already, meaning that there is no need to breed more dogs into this world? Yes and no, and admittedly, this is my biggest problem. Although, here is my take on it.

Shelters have dogs with unknown backgrounds. Especially health wise. Dogs live short lives as it is and these short lives can be shortened even more by all sorts of health issues. These health issues cause a tremendous amount of heartache in a family. I do believe that people come first. And if there is a home that wants and is capable of sharing a life with a companion, then I think that this experience should not be passed up by that family. I also believe that if I can provide that family with the best possibility of a healthy companion, then I will in part return the wonderful experiences that our family has shared with our dogs.

I could go on, but thats the scope of it. And when I said this to that lady, she simply replied that it was a good excuse, but an excuse indeed. :) What do you say to something like that? I still don't know.

Have a good night Cheryl,
Dan G.

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