This article is an
excerpt from a letter written by Ann and Mark Milligan of BonMead Farms in
response to a stud owner's inquiry as to what they consider when offering a
stud dog to another breeder. The resulting
document is the product of discussions with and contributions by like-minded
breeders. Ann and Mark have been
involved in Bernese Mountain Dogs since 1983.
These concerns are
based on our experiences and on other breeders' experiences. We have spent
fifteen years trying to learn about Bernese, about our own line of dogs, and
about other families of dogs. We have
tried to understand for ourselves what kind of things are the most and the
least important to consider when we choose to breed dogs. We are still
learning, and we have made mistakes. We
always try to help, and we try to avoid obvious and unnecessary problems for
dogs and for the people who care for them.
We look at offering stud service as an equal
responsibility of the stud owner and the bitch owner. The lives that are created from a breeding are all precious. All
of the puppies are of equal importance and value. Every pup produced should live a fulfilled and well cared for
life.
There are three basic
things we consider before accepting a bitch for breeding: our stud dog and his
pedigree, the bitch and her pedigree, and the person who owns the bitch.
THE STUD DOG and THE
BITCH
The qualities and characteristics any
combination will produce is based on the genetic makeup of the sire and the
dam. We found in many litters produced by our stud dogs that some puppies were
not anything like the sire or the dam. The sire and the dam offer more than
what they appear to be themselves.. We found offspring sired by our stud dogs
often more closely resembled family members in the pedigrees of the sire or
dam. Sometimes they were like the
brothers and sisters or like the grandparents.
We decided to try to
learn about dog families so that we could have a better idea what our own dogs
and other dogs had the potential to produce. Understanding what is good and not
as good in pedigrees can allow a stud dog owner to manage their dog from the
standpoint of maximizing the good traits he and his family possess and can
minimize the incidence of less desirable traits in offspring. Knowing about the
bitch's pedigree is of equal importance. Trying to produce sound, healthy dogs
with good temperaments is a reason to understand pedigrees.
THE BITCH OWNER
We ask all kinds of
questions before we agree to breed our dog to an offered bitch. We ask
ourselves if we feel confident the bitch owner will be able to care for the
pups and place them responsibly. Is the bitch owner a concerned and
well-informed Berner owner? We try to
avoid working with people who know very little about their bitch. We try
to avoid working with people who have gotten their dog from a breeder who did
not think that it is important to be discriminating and careful with breeding
animals. We try to avoid bitch owners who are not honest and up front about
their dogs' strengths and weaknesses. We have found it very hard to work with
bitch owners who are not realistic and believe that a good stud dog can erase
their bitch's faults and shortcomings. We avoid bitch owners who have little
concern for the kind of dogs they produce and who do not offer support to the
owners of their pups. We encourage people whom we choose not to work with to
become knowledgeable about their dogs.
We also consider any
inquiry for use of our stud dog in terms of how the bitch owner keeps their own
dogs, how they have placed pups in the past and whether or not that bitch owner
has had experience with breeding Berners before. The kind of information we receive from a bitch owner allows us
to understand if that owner will be able to appropriately evaluate and place
pups. The answers to our questions give us an understanding of why the bitch
owner is breeding and what kinds of things are important to the bitch owner
when they produce a litter. We try very hard to explain to the bitch owner what
our stud dog can and cannot offer any bitch in terms of the genetic strengths
and weaknesses in his pedigree and from any of his history of producing. .
So here are some
things we like to have before we breed:
1) copy of pedigree
(4-5 generations)
2) Copy of AKC
registration (This tells us who owns the bitch and her date of birth. It will
also tell us if the bitch is on a full or limited registration.)
3) Ask if the bitch
has been bred before. When was the last time she was bred? When was her last litter born? Not all breedings
result in litters. How many times
she has been bred? Were her previous
breedings successful in producing puppies? Have her litters been delivered by c-section or were her pups
naturally whelped?
4) Ask how the bitch
owner plans to place the pups and if he or she intends to keep a pup. WHY is the breeder breeding this litter?
5) Will the pups that
are placed be sold as pets on a spay/neuter agreement and on a limited
registration?
6) Ask the bitch
owner why they believe our stud dog will be the correct choice for their bitch.
7) Ask the bitch
owner if he/she has any health concerns in their bitch's pedigree. (ALL dogs have health concerns in their
pedigree. Is this bitch owner AWARE of what those concerns are?
8)Where will the pups
be raised?
9) Will we be kept
informed about the pups produced from this breeding so we will have a good
sense of what our stud dog can offer a bitch and what he cannot offer?
10) How will the bitch
owner evaluate the puppies for placement? Will he/she be able to assess the
physical and temperament characteristics present in the litter?
11) Ask for a copy of
ALL certifications.
12) Require a
brucellosis test. If the bitch has been bred previously and not produced pups,
we might require a vaginal culture
negative for bacteria and micoplasm to safeguard our stud dog from infection
potentially present in the bitch.
We have no blueprint
or rule book that we can offer others about these matters, and the list above
is offered in the hope that some or all of its' contents might be helpful.
We can only say to
others that it is your own sense of what you think is important for the pups
your dog produces that will guide you in how and where he can be offered to our
breed. If there is anything we can help
you with, please be assured we are here to offer assistance.