To breed or not to breed...

[WorkingGirl3]

Okay, so I know all about German Shepherds, but I am new to the world of Dutch Shepherds. I have an excellent Dutch that I would love to title in sport. He is currently working for me as a narcotic detection dog and a personal protection/patrol dog. He excels at both as well as being a great family member. If he does well and gets some official titles I would like to breed him. The question I have is, I am not a breeder, and I HATE bad breeders. I do not believe in breeding dogs that are not purebred and registered and generally excellent dogs. However, as I have been learning there are lots of great Dutch Shepherds out there that are being bred without registration as an FCI dog is rare. Is it okay to breed a Dutch that isn't registered? Is there something I can do to register him? He was imported from Holland as a pup, I am his third owner and have no idea what is pedigree is. Does this even make sense? Or am I off my rocker? Please help, any information to help me better educate myself is very much appreciated. He is really an excellent dog with a rock solid temperament and work ethic, I would love to see him contribute to the breed.

[johninny]

may not get attention here. suggest posting in whatever.

[Dutchringgirl]

Personally I would say no. there is alot involved in breeding dogs [ not saying you dont know that ]. Would you take back and keep any pups that dont work out? Keep them for life?
For me, for someone to breed means they are going to become a breeder of many fine lines of dogs and really commit to the 'breeder' life. I am against it when someone says because they have a great dog and want to make more. Thalie is great and from top lines but no way do I want to commit to that. Can you screen potential owners to make sure the fit is just right? I would not want to make that mistake and be responsible for mis matching a pair.

[LyonsFamily]

I wouldn't breed him because you don't know his background. There's nothing wrong with non-papered, especially with working dogs, but I'd want to know medical and working history of all relatives as well for generations back and find out if anything had ever popped up in a sibling too. It would be harder to find a female and get the right fit since you don't know what his genes throw besides him and his traits. There are things that skip generations, only show up in females, only affect half the litter, etc. Why are you his third home? Did he have issues before coming to you that could be passed on?

If you want to get involved with breeding, I'd suggest titling him to get the experience and looking for a foundation dog later on from proven lines that you can title and health test and co-breed a litter with someone that truly knows their stuff in this breed. It's hard to place a DS pup if you don't know what you're doing and don't have what people are looking for. Even though the breed is rare, there aren't a lot of people looking for one bred outside of a great breeding and working program.

[johninny]

also raising puppies to the point they leave you [ EVEN if that is ONLY 2 months, which would be unrealistically optimistic on your part, but is ideal for the pups ] is a real science AND art.
many [ most?] of the great breeders are behavioral geniuses that understand all the things that need to be done during the first 2 months [ or longer; but the longer it is, the more responsibility you take and training a bunch of DS puppies simultaneously is no walk in the park ] to produce a stable and flexible dog. i think it is very very tricky; aside from the behavioral knowledge and expertise [ many fine details that i know would never have occurred to me in a thousand years ], to execute all that successfully i would think also requires more than one person to be on-hand full-time [ --do not know your situation or assumptions on that point].

[Mobil]

I know this post is almost a week old, but IMO, breeding dogs should be done for the benefit of the breed and to improve it. I think the reasons listed for breeding in the OP are kind of crappy, no offense meant. I think a responsible breeder is one who knows the line. If you don't know his background, you might be furthering a genetic defect without knowing it. What if he has health problems that haven't manifested yet?

[Mobil]

Oh crap. that said January, not June.

*headdesk*