THE STAFFORD KNOT | BREEDER EDUCATION SERIES
From One Breeder to Another

Making thoughtful decisions about the dogs we choose to breed.

One of the more difficult lessons I’ve learned over the years is that loving a dog, appreciating its qualities, and wanting to see those qualities carried into another generation are not always sufficient reasons to breed it. When we have raised a dog from a puppy, watched it mature, invested in its training, and celebrated its accomplishments, it can be difficult to look at that same dog with the objectivity we would apply to one belonging to someone else.

I think this is something almost every breeder encounters eventually, whether they’ve been breeding for two years or twenty. We become attached to our dogs, their pedigrees, their individual personalities, and sometimes the plans we’ve made for them long before they’re mature enough to evaluate properly. There’s nothing wrong with having hopes for a promising youngster, but I’ve learned that it’s important to allow those plans to change as the dog develops. Sometimes the dog we hoped would contribute to our breeding program simply isn’t the dog we thought it would become.

And sometimes that dog is still absolutely wonderful.

Learning to See What Is Actually There

When evaluating breeding stock, I believe we have to consider the entire animal, not simply its most attractive qualities or the accomplishments we’ve worked hard to achieve. Health, temperament, construction, soundness, breed type, and family history all deserve consideration, along with an honest understanding of what that individual might contribute to future generations.

As a preservation breeder, my responsibility is not simply to produce another litter of attractive puppies or another champion. It is to consider whether a particular breeding contributes something worthwhile to the breed and whether I’m making decisions that will serve the generations that follow.

This is where the idea of kennel blindness becomes particularly relevant. It’s easy to recognize faults in someone else’s dog while finding perfectly reasonable explanations for those same faults in our own. We may excuse a structural weakness because the dog has a beautiful head, overlook a temperament concern because it has been successful in the show ring, or convince ourselves that an otherwise disappointing dog deserves to be bred because its pedigree represents something we don’t want to lose.

I’ve certainly had dogs I hoped would become part of our future, only to recognize that the best decision was to take a different direction. Those decisions aren’t always easy, particularly when considerable time, money, and emotion have already been invested. But breeding should never become an exercise in justifying our previous decisions simply because we don’t want to change our plans.

I also believe we need to be careful about confusing success in competition with breeding value. Titles and accomplishments can tell us something about a dog, and I have always enjoyed showing and competing with mine. Those achievements are meaningful, but they are only one part of the picture. A dog can be a wonderful show winner without necessarily being the right choice for a particular breeding program. Likewise, a dog that never achieves an impressive record may possess qualities, a valuable family history, or genetic diversity that deserve thoughtful consideration.

Understanding the Bigger Picture

Of course, no dog is perfect, and breeding only animals without identifiable faults would leave us with very few candidates. Every breeding involves choices and compromises, which is why understanding the strengths and weaknesses of entire families is so important.

A fault in one dog may be less concerning when we understand its background and have reason to believe it can be managed responsibly through a carefully considered mating. Other concerns, particularly those involving health, unsoundness, or temperament, may carry consequences that make breeding difficult to justify. Some hereditary conditions also require specific testing and informed genetic management rather than blanket assumptions about affected dogs or carriers.

This is where I believe good mentorship can make a tremendous difference. An experienced breeder who knows the dogs behind a pedigree may recognize qualities or concerns that aren’t obvious from photographs, show results, or health certificates. That knowledge can help us make better decisions, provided we’re willing to listen, ask questions, and occasionally hear something we weren’t hoping to hear.

We should also be willing to consider the opinions of people who don’t necessarily share our preferences. I appreciate having knowledgeable friends who can evaluate my dogs honestly, particularly when they see something differently than I do. We don’t have to agree on every detail, but being willing to examine another perspective is far more useful than surrounding ourselves with people who tell us only what we want to hear.

Another consideration that doesn’t always receive enough attention is what happens after we make the decision to breed. Every puppy we produce becomes our responsibility, regardless of whether it develops into a show prospect, a performance dog, or a much-loved family companion. Breeding suitability is therefore about considerably more than the potential quality of the next generation. It also involves our ability to provide appropriate care, place puppies thoughtfully, support their owners, and remain accountable for the dogs we bring into the world.

Knowing When to Change Our Plans

I don’t believe responsible breeding means always making the perfect decision. If that were possible, we would have solved many of the challenges involved in preserving purebred dogs long ago. What matters is approaching those decisions with sufficient knowledge, honesty, and humility to recognize that even our best plans may need reconsideration.

Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that choosing not to breed a dog can be every bit as meaningful as choosing to breed one. It doesn’t diminish the dog’s value, erase its accomplishments, or make it any less deserving of our affection. It simply means we’ve decided that its greatest contribution may be something other than producing the next generation.

And sometimes, after careful evaluation, we may decide to breed a dog that isn’t everyone’s idea of perfection because we understand what it offers, what concerns need to be considered, and how that decision fits into a much larger breeding plan. Responsible selection requires judgment, not an inflexible checklist.

For me, the important question has become less about whether I can breed a particular dog and more about whether I have a sound reason for doing so. What am I hoping to preserve or improve? What do I know about the dogs behind it? What risks am I accepting, and am I prepared to take responsibility for the results?

Those are questions worth asking before making any breeding decision, regardless of how much we love the dog standing in front of us.

Because ultimately, our responsibility as breeders is not to prove that our dogs deserve to reproduce. It is to make thoughtful decisions about whether they should.

Questions Worth Asking Yourself

• If this dog belonged to someone else, would I evaluate its breeding qualities and shortcomings in the same way?
• Am I considering this breeding because I believe it offers something valuable, or because I’ve become attached to a particular plan?
• Can I explain what I hope to accomplish with this breeding, including the risks and compromises I’m accepting?

---

From One Breeder to Another is part of The Stafford Knot, Inc. 501(c)(3) Breeder Education Series, developed in collaboration with Wavemaker Staffords.