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starlady
Okay... I did breed poodles for a few years. Came to my senses. Spayed my two breeders when they were 3 years old. My parents owned my male and my father refused to neuter him. That dog ended up spraying all over the house and then had a huge tumor on his testicals.
Now I spay my girls at 7 months. I won't let them have even ONE heat cycle.
On the other subject. The breeder that bred my last two surely does NOT think that everyone should breed. She is very vocal about what she calls 'idiots who think they're breeders'. She takes great care with her breeding. She won't breed a femal more than once a year and only breeds them from 2 to 4 years. They are then a house pet. She makes special note that her pups are not sold for breeding or showing and are for pets only. She also likes people to send pics of the pups as they grow up and she keeps scrap books of the pictures. It was tough to find this woman and I had to drive 2 hours out in the hills of Virginia to get to her place... but it was well worth it.
That is a rare thing indeed. I hate breeding in general, but there are a rare few who really just seem to love the breed for what they are, not necessarily for their "show qualities." I hate the way show animals get tossed around and inbred to the point of crippling health problems.
But good breeders do exist who breed sparingly and with good attention to maintaining genetic health as well as it can be.
The breeder my parents got my Cornish Rex cat from was like that. She bred very seldom. My kitty was not "show quality." She had too much of a "tabby face." But she was everything people love about the breed: outgoing, silly, cuddly, energetic, and with a low shedding coat. She didn't have the best genetic line, but the breeder was trying to improve that.
I will say that even if buying a pure bred wouldn't have been my choice if I'd been older, they did seem to put some thought into selecting a breed. Cornish Rexes are known to be great with kids (although I was also taught to respect animals, so I never put her through the wringer).
I guess I just don't understand it. I see too many homeless animals. But if people are going to breed, that's how it should be. I wish it weren't so rare.