Perfect answer, thank you, Will. Ginger, you should advise the people who have the female to get her spayed as well.
Janice Jarman

Sorry, Ginger, I misread your post. You should have your bitch spayed and advise your friends to get their dog neutered. Do some research on "What can go wrong" with breeding/birthing dogs. Do some research on dog overpopulation. Check out rescue sites for dogs for your relatives/friends.
Janice Jarman

I second what has been said; there are way too many of the smaller breeds like Lhasa Apsos being produced in places called 'puppy mills,' where dogs are kept in small cages all the time, often stacked on top of each other so their waste falls through onto the dogs below them, receiving inadequate nutrition, no socialization, etc. This is where most pet store puppies come from, and is one of the main reasons there are so many health problems with dogs nowadays. The people who operate these 'puppy mills' do not care about the health or welfare of the dogs they are breeding; they simply breed and breed and breed their dogs until they can no longer breed, in order to make money off the puppies - and because people continue to buy puppies from pet stores, and from advertisements in the local newspapers, these people will continue to remain in business and continue to ruin the breeds of dogs that they are reproducing. Another problem is 'backyard breeders,' which, like you, often have good intentions, but not enough knowledge about what they're doing. They think, "Fluffy's such a good pet, and everyone just loves her, so I think I'll breed her and let my friends have the puppies because they'll be just like her!" These people usually do not take into consideration the massive amount of time and money that it takes to breed a female, care for her throughout the pregnancy, make sure the whelping goes well (the mother and/or the puppies can easily be lost during the birthing of the pups), and to care for the puppies and mother until the puppies are ready to go to new homes at 8 weeks of age. It's VERY expensive, and responsible breeders rarely make much of a profit off of the puppies. Often, all the money that is made goes right back into caring for the mother and getting her back into good condition (birthing and raising puppies is very hard on a mother dog).

Again, rather than breeding your dogs, I would strongly suggest telling your friends to adopt a dog from the local shelter or finding a rescue group if they know they want a purebred dog. In the long run, everyone wins that way, as Will said.

 Quote:

Perfect answer, thank you, Will. Ginger, you should advise the people who have the female to get her spayed as well....Janice Jarman

I am so glad Will said that. Kristen's post about overpopulating iis 100% true, and is only too polite.

Please don't become a hobby breeder so you can "give friends a puppy."

I know you won't, once you have read these replies from people who care deeply about dogs and are answering you so honestly.

Thank You all for your input and I just want to say that I know that yall care about dogs as I do But I did not want to get chewed out by asking a question. Please in the future use some tack when talking to others about something that they are really concerned about. I am not saying that everyone was hateful but most of you were and I was just asking a question about a concern that I had. For those of you that took the time to explain to me what I was getting into I say think you for the rest of you all please use some tact when talking to other people.
Ginger

I actually think everyone was VERY tactful... it could have been MUCH worse! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ginger they used tact. THey didn't tell you what they'd really like to do to dumbasses that want to make more pets while there are thousands dying in shelters. Search petfinder for your breed if you don't believe me.

I've worked for a vet and can tell you that most small breeds end up having small litters and needing a C-section, which is easily over $1K at an emergency clinic. The only reason most backyard breeders can sell their dogs so cheap is because the just let the mother die, or open her up themself on the kitchen table. If you want to keep your female you will spay her. When all of these people that supposedly want a pup find out they will have to pay 4 or 500 just to cover your expenses they will back out on you and leave you with a huge credit card bill and unwanted puppies. You'll have to end up either giving away the pups or selling them to bad homes (the good homes want dogs from lines that have extensive health testing, more$$$) and still loosing money.

Everyone else assumed you had enough sense to not need it spelled out for you. I, however, have seen enough people in the exact same situation that I have no problem telling you my opinion to let you know just how much everyone else was holding back.

 Quote:

Ginger they used tact. THey didn't tell you what they'd really like to do to dumbasses that want to make more pets while there are thousands dying in shelters........everyone else was holding back.

I was so impressed at the restrained answers everyone gave. I personally almost cried when I read the unthinking reason for creating more pet dogs in a world filled with unwanted pet dogs....

But assuming it was only unthinking, as opposed to uncaring, I was extremely polite.

When I wrote this : "Please don't become a hobby breeder so you can 'give friends a puppy'....I know you won't, once you have read these replies from people who care deeply about dogs and are answering you so honestly," I thought I was politely giving every possible benefit of the doubt to someone who just hadn't thought it through, or seen the results of overpopulation in shelters and on streets....and that now you would understand.

No one was tactless......VERY far from it.

Ginger - we'll use tact when you use some brains, thanks. Odd how sensitive some people get when it's pointed out that they're being thoughtless and short-sighted.
Oh well....

And having said that, it's time to lock the thread.
Topic closed.