Tired Of IT!!!!! - Page 9

That's right Jenn. ;-)

Yeah Jeff, the crazy chickens could come out and tear you to pieces...well, they'd try at least.

I guess it all kind of depends on what the particular breeder's motivations are. I got my second GSD 5 years ago and she's been a great dog. At the time I was (unbeknownst) slowly dying of heart disease. Puppe made a big difference in my life, sometimes for the better, sometimes not so much. In the short-term. In the long-term its been an enormously positive experience. I don't really like the idea of spaying because we had a bad experience with that with a bitch we had when I was growing up, so I just don't like the idea. But by the time Puppe was 3, I was tired of running off dogs every time she came into heat so I got a male companion for her. I don't make a lot of money so I thought I'd have a litter (to cover the annual dog food/vet bills/etc) and see how they turned out, and if they turned out good, I could do it once a year. They turned out really good.

Now, I love my dogs but I know they're dogs. I know if you start being a wussy, they're gonna exploit it. I'm certainly not one of the modern cadre of whatever-you-want-to-call-them who assign human status and human emotional states to animals, nor am I someone who claims that dogs are livestock (#1 - We don't eat them so they can't be "live" stock, and #2 - I always say dogs are one step ABOVE livestock), but I do enjoy them for what they are. I spend lots of time with my dogs, exercising, playing, etc, and that includes a lot of time I really could better spend elsewhere. Overall though, its a lot like being part of a family. I have my obligations to them and they are fullfilling to me. Similar to children, they have a simplicity and a freedom that I can see and I can feel, but it comes from my interaction with them and my own memories of simpler and less trying times.


Ultimately I decided on having a pack. I have six dogs (4 of those shepherds). When I'm around, they're overjoyed and when work, school or whatever takes me away they're still a pack. I spend a lot of time with them as a pack and I spend a lot of time with them individually. Its work and its pleasure.


This brings me back to finances. Of course more dogs means more money spent on dogs. It'd be nice if I could put them all in suits or work cloths and send them off to the office or to the jobsite, but it doesn't work that way. So, they earn their keep. They enjoy me. I enjoy them. And every time I send a puppy to a new home I feel a sense of pride. I know they're getting a quality dog and there's a pretty good chance that I just changed someone's life, in a positive way, forever. 

And if you want to see me and my pack, you can look at me on Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1810985914

Horses are bred like this and called brood mares. Goats, sheep, cattle and all forms of livestock are kept in huge pastures and allowed to breed every heat and I don't hear anyone complaining about this.( I am sure they are out there though) I work on a cattle ranch and cows are found dead with calves sticking halfway out because there were complications during birth. Most good breeders are there to help their dogs in case of complications. But when it comes to dogs, some people seem to think that it is cruel to let a great bitch reproduce as much as nature allows until the breeder sees that the dog needs to be retired.
It is just as hard on livestock to reproduce and nurse young as it is for a dog.
When the bitch needs to be retired, a good breeder would either A. Keep the dog or B. Rehome the dog to a home as good or better than it has had.
Most of the great dogs being sold come from breeders who retire and rehome their females. Should people stop buying dogs from these breeders? Some people are looking for a retired female or stud because they are so well trained and way past puppy stage. 
I don't get why the original poster is so upset by this. Maybe they did not think this through from both sides.
I did not read through the whole forum topic because I really don't have the time but I would like to know if the OP has purchased a pup and if they have, did they care at the time whether or not the breeder kept the retired females. Maybe the OP rescued their dogs? I'll come back and read over this topic later but I needed to vent on this a little.
Stephanie

People tend to get upset, for IMHO, they think of dogs as children/babies.  They make really great dogs...terrible children.  My 12 yr old SchH3 bitch lies on the floor.....has never slept on a human bed.  She is my dog...not my littermate.  She produced great for me.  Was bred the last time when she was nine.  I have her son out of that litter, and am very thankful for him!.  For this bitch to have puppies was her favorite thing in the world.

Some kennels have many dogs.  When sold, they make room for a new dog to come in.  It often gives some a chance to have a dog with excellent training and let that dog train a new handler.  The titled dogs can teach so much to a novice handler.

Everyone has to do what is right for them.

That's a good point, Stephanie, as broodmares are commonly bred right after they have their current foal, so are virtually pregnant non-stop for years and years.

Von sprengkraft, how did your bitch do having a litter at that age? Any complications? Did she have a smaller litter from any lack of fertility?