I need help...and FAST!

[Wheekness]

Okay, so, my friend, Jane Doe, has a purebred male Shih Tzu, Bob. My other friend, Janet Doe, is probably going to get a dog herself. She wants to get a female dog so that Bob and the bitch to breed. No matter how many times I try to explain the precautions you must take before breeding, and that she just plain shouldn't DO IT, she doesn't care. I told her about money problems, possible disease, and that spaying or neutering is best. What do I do to show her that she should neuter her dog?

[SummerRiot]

Tell her that the bitch can also have complications during pregnancy and die, tell her that the bitch can develop a disorder from lactating and die..
Tell her that if they mate "improperly" there can be severe issues that happen afterwards

Also, if she wants cute, healthy little puppies.. she better get at LEAST each dog tested for their eyes, hips and elbows.
As well as make sure they are at least conformationally correct - matching two dogs with horrible conformation can lead to very disformed puppies.

[bubbatd]

Ditto Summer!!!! Telling them how much it will cost , may change their minds !

[MomOf7]

How about if the female has to have a c-section? Imagine what that costs!!

[Wheekness]

Exactly! It'll be quite costly.

Or what if the dogs get parva? I'm sure that she'll regret it then. This is a huge mistake on her part, I KNOW it.

[bubbatd]

Wheekness .... it's not the cost of a could be problem .... it's the cost put into the dogs before breeding is ever considered ...tests , titles, etc plus going through at least 4 heats with the female . Then at least 8 weeks of total litter care .......

[otch1]

If you'd like to "show her" a reason not to breed the dogs... Roger Caras , spokes person with the ASPCA helped put out a very compelling pamphlet during one of their national campaigns. It, of course, showed pictures of abused, neglected dogs and how your donations help. Then, when you opened the center of the tri-fold pamphlet there was a picture of a pile of puppies. Approx. 30 little furry babies, at first glance looking like they were peacefully sleeping, until you saw paws sticking out the bottom of the pile and realized how deep it was. They were all dead. A paragraph below discussed their spay and neuter campaign, overpopulation, and that this was just one weekends euthenasias' at a major metropolitan animal control. Alot of people were upset by that pamphlet saying that the ASPCA went too far, trying to shock the public. (This was over 10 years ago?) I believe you can still find this material if you give their office a call and ask them to mail it to you. My feeling about that is, you can lecture people all you want on why they shouldn't breed their pets, they're likely to do it anyway, simply because they can. Show her the picture and ask her to think of one truly good reason why she should. I wouldn't bother possibly straining your friendships. Go ahead and "shock them" Sometimes a picture says it all for you!!

[Caren+Bailey]

Good luck

I am still in the process of talking a friend of mine out of Breeding her Bitch.
I thought that i had done it, until i heard her say to another friend that she will let the dog have 1 litter before spaying her

[bubbatd]

They don't have " just one litter " for themselves ...it's the owner that want it !

[Boemy]

How about printing out that thread where the OP's dog DIED and had to be revived? Maybe that will hammer home some of the risks . . . especially for a small breed!