From: diannes@carson.u.washington.edu (Dianne Schoenberg)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Get Your Pet Neutered
Date: 23 Jan 1993 01:23:34 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: carson.u.washington.edu


[re: decision-making table for deciding to neuter vs. breed]
>...this approach to breeding your dog is BULLSHIT.  It files in the face
>of one of the reasons people have dogs -- to enjoy the attributes that
>they already have...

Don't you see here that you just negated your entire argument?  Careless
breeding does *not* lead to offspring with the attributes that their
parents have--you can end up with *anything*.  Remember learning in high
school about Mendel's experiments?  He bred short peas to tall peas and
got offspring that were 75% short, 25% tall.  But if you bred this
generation again, you could get anything, short or tall, regardless of
what the parents looked like. 

Dog genetics is similar but far more complicated.  You can breed two black
dogs and get yellow pups; you can breed two dogs with good hips and end up
with crippled offspring; you can breed two dogs with good temperament and
end up with fear-biters.  IMHO if you are not prepared to spend quite a lot 
of time reading up on genetics, researching bloodlines and becoming educated
about your breed you have no business even thinking about breeding a
litter.  I know that I have been reading, talking to people and learning
about breeding for more than three years now and still don't feel qualified 
to breed a litter yet--the more I learn, the more I know I need to learn.  

Even more unfortunately, the average pet owner doesn't have a clue how his
or her dog stacks up against others.  I've seen far too many people who
really love their dogs and think their dogs are intelligent just because
they don't potty in the house too often, beautiful even though the dog's so
narrow in the front that it can hardly walk, and sweet-natured even though 
the dog is so untrustworthy that it cannot be taken out of the house.  This
dog might be a wonderful pet *for that owner*, but its qualities would
hardly justify reproducing it.  To quote from another source, everyone
thinks (and *should* think) that his own child is beautiful--but that
doesn't mean that its qualities would necessarily be of merit to others.  
To use an example from my own case, I am proud of my own dog's intelligence
and eagerness to please, but when I take him to training class and see
others that have these qualities in even more abundance, I have to be
realistic about what my dog might have to contribute to future generations.
*This* is the real reason to show and trial, *not* to have a Champion or a
Field Champion to brag about or to sell puppies from, but to remain honest 
with yourself about your own dog's individual merits.

>I know, I know.  I just fell out of the mainstream, but my philosophy
>has worked well for almost 50 years.

Au contraire.  You're very much in the mainstream, and your philosophy
does *not* work well--just ask the very few people who work in the
shelters, killing the animals produced by the very many who either don't 
know about responsible breeding, or don't care.

*****************************************************************************
Dianne & her kids:                                   diannes@u.washington.edu
             K.C.: U-CD Nightwind's Elan, HC HCT CGC (Briard)
              Chloe: Found a Four-Leaf Clover, HT CGC (OES)
*****************************************************************************



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