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I was off at obedience trials this weekend and I called up a fellow dog friend and we had a long discussion about breeds and breeders and showing and all that. She and her husband show in conformation and put two (AKC and CKC) championships on their male last summer. She's helped mentor me in the conformation ring but has also been very supportive of my other endeavors (and is amazed to see what my chows do .. *L*). She's also been a breeder although she hasn't bred any litters in the past four or five years.
We've discussed Khana's merits (Khana is my two year old chow bitch) and whether or not I should consider breeding her. Khana has a lot of excellent physical qualities, comes from exquisite bloodlines, has a perfectly wonderful temperament, has earned two performance titles and will earn more, is pointed in AKC and CKC conformation. I have no immediate plans to breed her and she would of course have to have her health tests completed first. Her sire is the first chow in the history of the breed to pass all the recommended health tests for chows.
My friend knows how deep the bond is between Khana and myself. I became very ill when she was just ten weeks old and I spent the first three months of our life together mostly bedridden. I depended on Khana to entertain me, snuggle with me, and basically give me a reason to live. She slept with me and I did most of her early training while laying on the bed or in a recliner. We were together 24/7 (still pretty much are).
So my friend says to me "you won't ever breed Khana .. you're too close to her". She went on to say that she was once told by someone who mentored her way back that a breeder should never get too close (emotionally) to their brood bitches. You have to be able to deal with the situations without being over-run with emotion. You can love them and consider them to be important to you, but you can't have that really deep bond because it becomes too difficult. And she went on to say that people who are really really close to their dogs tend NOT to breed.
I understand what she's saying. It takes a certain amount of objectivity over emotionalism to go through breeding, I think. You're putting your bitch at certain risks that they wouldn't have otherwise. Those risks have to be more important to you than the bond you have in some ways - otherwise you wouldn't breed.
I kept Dora (my now nine year old bitch) intact for years because I considered breeding her. She's a nicely cobby chow, good temperament, and I left her intact while I worked on titles with her to see if I might want to breed her (her previous owner - a show person - wanted a pup from her). I love Dora. But when I thought of breeding her, I didn't have a huge fear of what might happen to her. I realized the risks but felt that if she ended up being what I thought she should be I would breed her without too much hesitation. It ended up that she didn't have some of the qualities I wanted to see so she was never bred. But breeding her wouldn't have been tremendously difficult emotionally for me.
The thought of breeding Khana scares me at times. She is what I want to see in a chow. I think breeding a chow like her would be a good step in the breed. I just don't think I can do it, however. Even if she came back with ALL the health tests passed and EXCELLENT hips, and earned advanced obedience titles and all that - I just don't know that I could do it.
So (typical long post, I know .. I always try to explain things fully .. *L*) - what are your thoughts on attachment to a brood bitch? I'm sure everyone wants to feel they're very close to their breeding bitches, but does it make sense that there has to be a tad bit of emotional removal in order to handle breeding without completely falling apart from anxiety?
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
... I think working at a vet's for so many years and seeing what CAN and DOES go wrong has created a lot of fears for me .. at least that's my excuse .. *L*
We've discussed Khana's merits (Khana is my two year old chow bitch) and whether or not I should consider breeding her. Khana has a lot of excellent physical qualities, comes from exquisite bloodlines, has a perfectly wonderful temperament, has earned two performance titles and will earn more, is pointed in AKC and CKC conformation. I have no immediate plans to breed her and she would of course have to have her health tests completed first. Her sire is the first chow in the history of the breed to pass all the recommended health tests for chows.
My friend knows how deep the bond is between Khana and myself. I became very ill when she was just ten weeks old and I spent the first three months of our life together mostly bedridden. I depended on Khana to entertain me, snuggle with me, and basically give me a reason to live. She slept with me and I did most of her early training while laying on the bed or in a recliner. We were together 24/7 (still pretty much are).
So my friend says to me "you won't ever breed Khana .. you're too close to her". She went on to say that she was once told by someone who mentored her way back that a breeder should never get too close (emotionally) to their brood bitches. You have to be able to deal with the situations without being over-run with emotion. You can love them and consider them to be important to you, but you can't have that really deep bond because it becomes too difficult. And she went on to say that people who are really really close to their dogs tend NOT to breed.
I understand what she's saying. It takes a certain amount of objectivity over emotionalism to go through breeding, I think. You're putting your bitch at certain risks that they wouldn't have otherwise. Those risks have to be more important to you than the bond you have in some ways - otherwise you wouldn't breed.
I kept Dora (my now nine year old bitch) intact for years because I considered breeding her. She's a nicely cobby chow, good temperament, and I left her intact while I worked on titles with her to see if I might want to breed her (her previous owner - a show person - wanted a pup from her). I love Dora. But when I thought of breeding her, I didn't have a huge fear of what might happen to her. I realized the risks but felt that if she ended up being what I thought she should be I would breed her without too much hesitation. It ended up that she didn't have some of the qualities I wanted to see so she was never bred. But breeding her wouldn't have been tremendously difficult emotionally for me.
The thought of breeding Khana scares me at times. She is what I want to see in a chow. I think breeding a chow like her would be a good step in the breed. I just don't think I can do it, however. Even if she came back with ALL the health tests passed and EXCELLENT hips, and earned advanced obedience titles and all that - I just don't know that I could do it.
So (typical long post, I know .. I always try to explain things fully .. *L*) - what are your thoughts on attachment to a brood bitch? I'm sure everyone wants to feel they're very close to their breeding bitches, but does it make sense that there has to be a tad bit of emotional removal in order to handle breeding without completely falling apart from anxiety?
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
... I think working at a vet's for so many years and seeing what CAN and DOES go wrong has created a lot of fears for me .. at least that's my excuse .. *L*