Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Dog Lovers )

I live in WA and have a 1yr old male bichon... I would like to breed him and find him a girlfriend but I have no idea where to look and find others who wants to breed their female bichons. Where can I find this information?? Thanks )

Hi, and welcome!

I'm a breeder of Scottish Deerhounds, and I am passionate about the issue of dog breeding, so please forgive me if I sound a bit obsessed. OK, more than a bit. <G>

I know that it's really hard for someone who has a dog and who wants to breed it to have someone have a negative reaction to that. I can see how it might tick you off, to have me, a breeder, suggest maybe you shouldn't do this. Why is it ok for me to breed, and not you?

There are a lot of unwanted dogs in the world. A LOT. Millions are put to sleep each year by shelters, for lack of a good home. So for me, the only good reason to breed dogs is to improve and preserve your chosen breed. To me, this should be done by those who have studied and been involved in the breed for a long time, or newcomers to the breed who are being mentored by someone who has been involved in the breed for a long, long time.

In the case of Bichons, this would be a show and/or obedience competition breeder, as the Bichon is not a working breed. I absolutely think that dogs can be bred for something besides showing and/or obedience competition, such as herding or agility or hunting or search and rescue or being a guide dog. But as far as I know, there are no Bichon breeders who have as the goal of their breeding program, to produce Bichons who have jobs.

You might say, but I don't care about all that showing stuff. I just want my dog to father some puppies! It doesn't matter if it's a show dog!

Or you might even say, but my dog IS from a show breeder!

If your dog is from a show breeder, that breeder is the one who can help you find a bitch who might be suitable for your male.

No matter where your dog is from, you need to know the pedigrees of both dogs intimately, to understand what traits, both in looks and in health and temperament, that are produced by those dogs, and be able to make an educated guess what the combination of those two pedigrees will produce. Serious hobby breeders, in other words, those of us who do this for the passionate love of our breeds, do it that way. Casual or "backyard" breeders, or puppy millers, do it to make money or for fun or just carelessly, because they don't really think about it.

But why did you get a Bichon? Wasn't it because of some traits it had, looks or personality, that appealed to you? If a breeder doesn't try to preserve those qualities, doesn't understand where they come from and how to obtain them in their breeding program, the risk is there that future Bichons won't really look or act like the Bichon you love. It takes skill and committment to preserve and improve a breed!

Also, to be blunt, there are only two types of bitches out there: Ones who are good enough to breed, and ones who might be wonderful pets and companions but do not improve on the breed, or preserve valuable traits in the gene pool. If your dog is not of the highest quality, only the owners of the second type of bitch will be willing to breed to your stud - people not involved in the preservation and improvement of the breed, but those interested in making money off the pups, or showing their kids the miracle of life, or just without thinking about "why."

If your dog really is breeding quality, many bitch owners will want to breed to him. If you got him from a show breeder, ask his or her advice. If you got him from a pet store or backyard breeder, then please consider carefully before you bring a litter of puppies into the world. Those of us who take breeding very seriously have extensive screening processes and guarantees to make sure our little ones never end up in shelters or puppy mills. We have contracts and we make ourselves responsible for the puppies we produce for their entire lives. Are you ready for that? Do you understand why it's important?

I hope you do not take this the wrong way. I only know what I can see in your post, and perhaps I've misjudged the situation. I wish you the best.
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/