It's been 15 years and over 100 litters since then. He was not the perfect dog, but he was certainly a great stud dog that taught me a lot about breeding. Once I have selected the females, that I am going to keep, I don't finalize my decision to breed them for the first 18 months. I try and understand the various stages they go through. I also try and understand the temperament of the foster parents and how that relates to the dog.
Some foster parents are too easy on their dogs.
The dogs become spoiled, some too strict. The real decision making time on whether to breed comes after 18 months. I expect to see a bitch that can deal with stress. When you take a housedog that lives with a family and bring it into a kennel facility like mine, you will see how it reacts to stress. I can also see what type of temperament a bitch has by putting her on a tie out when we do the bite work.