I always like the answer No. It's short and to the point. It's even ok to act offended by the offer and refer them to the shelter if they'd like a mutt.

 Quote: ashley hiebing

Wannabe thugs and gangsters are always wanting me to stud out my pit mix. There are a lot of things wrong with that, but the biggest problem is that he's neutered. So I always say that I'm sure he'll try very hard to breed, but he's not going to make any puppies anytime soon =P

But seriously? He's not purebred (way too big, I'm guessing he's got some Am. Bull in him) and his hips suck. And yet still, people STOP THEIR CARS in the middle of the road and ask if I'm going to breed him. *shakes head*

I still get requests for my APBT (at 12 yrs old) ...pure bred, impressive ped. I say no because although I think he is an incredible example of his breed, nerves of steel, very easy to train, always wanting to please me....he has done nothing to prove himself worthy to be bred. Being a fantastic pet doesn't count. If he were a show champ or champ pull dog, then I would....but there are a million "really good pets", and that is not reason enought to breed them IMO.

I just have to put a word in here for the "mutts"... It'd be nice if (after putting numerous FR, Mondio, and PSA titles and hip/elbow clearances on him) my unpedigreed mixed prospect would end up being fit to breed. I'm pretty picky which is why I haven't bred anything yet. But there's always the hope, papers aside. I could have gone for papers I guess but I wanted a certain type of dog. The type that only comes in a mal x dutch KNPV-bred litter.

On the flip side, if anyone were to ask what his pedigree is like I can simply say "whatever you want it to be! Pick a dog, pick ANY dogs..." cuz that's the way "papers" are done over there haha!

I'm not against breeding mutts if there is a goal for the breeding and all the same health testing and titling or temperament is done as is with purebreds, but you can't expect the first generation to all be exactly like dear old mom or dad. First generation mutts are experimental. Every time you add a new breed to the line it's a new experiment. It's up to the experimental breeder to find proper homes that can deal with whatever size or temperament the pups grow up to be.

Competitive mushing kennels are a great example of non-purebred careful breeding. Other breeds with desirable qualities are bred into a stable line. Only dogs that are healthy and win races get to produce the next generation. Loosing dogs are sold off to non-competitive mushing kennels where they can still live the way they were bred to, without being pushed beyond their limits.

That said, I don't like most of the oodle breeders I've seen. I do like the Australian line, that keeps a multiple generation pedigree, and has a breed standard, but the F1 breeders that make all kinds of false claims about exactly how the pups will turn out is just sickening. F1 crossbreeds are experiments. Even if it's been done a zillion times before, there are a number of different ways the genes can combine in each puppy, and you may get no two alike in the litter.

 Quote: angela burrell

I'm in rescue. and it's not pretty. Of my two fosters, one is from a facility with a gas chamber and the other from a place that kills by heartstick.

I'm almost afraid to ask... what is killing by "heartstick?"

 Quote: angela burrell

Indiscriminate breeding is why we have dog pounds, shelters, and rescues. Only 1 in 7 dogs remains in the same home throughout its lifetime. BYBs think they find good homes for their pups but statistically it is not a permanent home. What happens to the dogs when they grow out of being cute puppies?

And virtually every single dog that is put down in a shelter after living a bounced-around life came into the world via human responsibility. A human either failed to protect their female or allowed their male to roam, or a human actually facilitated the breeding.

Tough to think about that, as Angela says, when you volunteer in overcrowded shelters where a very small % of those dogs are going to find permanent homes. (In fact, a quarter of those dogs entering shelters every year, approximately, are not mutts at all. The mutts, of course, have the low end of the scale in possibilities for their futures.)

And now it's worse than ever. The numbers of dogs being surrendered in this foreclosure "boom" is so disheartening. The throw-away dogs.

 Quote: kurt smith

 Quote: angela burrell

I'm in rescue. and it's not pretty. Of my two fosters, one is from a facility with a gas chamber and the other from a place that kills by heartstick.

I'm almost afraid to ask... what is killing by "heartstick?"

Google this:
DOGS, HEARTSTICK

and

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: kurt smith

 Quote: angela burrell

I'm in rescue. and it's not pretty. Of my two fosters, one is from a facility with a gas chamber and the other from a place that kills by heartstick.

I'm almost afraid to ask... what is killing by "heartstick?"

Google this:
DOGS, HEARTSTICK

and

NOPE. Not doing it. With your reaction Connie, I do not need to read it or see it.

You have no idea what I have put up with, with one lady in town.

Lady: I think I am going to breed my dog.... maybe you want to breed your male with my female?

Me: Ummm, no thanks.

Lady: Why not?

Me: Well I'll make you a deal, If you can tell me what breed of dog you own, or even the several breeds it is made up of... I'd give you a hundred dollars.

Lady: I get it, jerk.

Me: Walks away.

I'm actually thinking of crossing my civil, nerve-shot defensive-aggressive malinois female with a poodle. I'm going to sell the puppies as malin-doodles. They will bite your kids and neighbours, but they won't shed on the sofa.

Why? She's a good pet. Actually, no she isn't. But she's ADORABLE and she looks so cute as she's putting her teeth through your hand or calf. Surely that's a breedworthy trait!

So, anyone interested in a malin-doodle?