~ Breeding ~
~ Breeding Shelties ~
"The good, the bad, and the ugly"
Oh yes, the ugly.
I cannot begin to describe how responsible I feel toward the sheltie as a breed. More than one or two of you may think I've flipped my lid, I'm sure. Believe me when I say, I am not alone. I know countless others just like me, so I can fairly confidently assure you, I am not sheltie crazy. I just have a lot to say about something I hold so very near and dear to my heart as I do the Sheltie.
I have many thoughts about breeding and its many aspects. These pages are fraught with strong opinion - mine - and should be taken as importantly as any opinion should be (NOT! LOL). Though I do believe some very good things come from pure-bred breeding, the bad things about which I speak are not made-up horror stories I have created in an attempt to frighten you or scare you off. This is reality. It is certainly MY reality, MY problems, MY pain of suffering and loss, so please, for the sake of the sheltie, take heed my words before jumping in with both feet. And trust me when I say, I am not unique. Every breeder I know worth his or her salt has experienced and felt as I have and do feel...
There is nothing more breathtaking than a healthy, beautiful, sound, intelligent and versatile sheltie. The look in the eye, the depth of their being shining forth, are things to behold, indeed! The work to achieve this goal is also enormous. Breeding priorities are of paramount importance, as are future plans for the result of any breeding. We cannot simply plan for today, breed for the dollars you might make tomorrow, forsaking the future and the breed altogether. Without direction, focus and goals, without breeding with the sheltie as a whole breed uppermost in your mind, you are merely creating puppies that already overrun our shelters, humane societies and rescues. If you wish to breed for the money it will make you, you are breeding for the wrong reasons. If you wish to breed merely for the puppies you may create, or for someone to experience the "miracle of life," you are breeding for ALL the wrong reasons and I'm afraid you are setting yourself up for one of the most harrowing disappointments Life could possibly deliver.
Breeding - creating life - cannot be undertaken without first a basic, essential acceptance of the fact that death will follow wherever life is created. Sometimes that death comes in a period of time that can be measured in a decade or more. Sometimes, that death comes before Life has really had a chance to take hold. And sometimes, that death comes when you are most unaware of its existence, when you are most vulnerable to the pain which results from such loss... A puppy merely days old... A puppy several weeks old and coming into its own... A young adult female (maybe your beloved pet) while attempting a difficult birth... A young or middle-aged adult due to health issues that, with knowledge and care and concern for the breed, could have been eliminated... Pick an age, a reason, for if you do this you will sooner or later suffer them all.
Breeding is best left to those who have the time, energy, and willingness to do this for the right reasons: To improve the sheltie as a breed in each and every litter planned and undertaken. These breeders know what they are doing, and do the very best they can for their own shelties, as well as the breed as an entire unit. Each litter planned is done so with mountains of research into the individuals considered for breeding. Knowledge of the Standard - the guidelines set forth by the American Shetland Sheepdog Association (ASSA), and adopted by the AKC as a standard of the Shetland sheepdog for breeders to breed toward - is essential. Knowledge of health issues and temperament problems is also essential (please see Sheltie Health), for the dedicated breeder does not wish to perpetuate or create health issues that may impede the ongoing progress of the breed. Purchasing your pet from just such a dedicated breeder will afford you, as a pet owner, the opportunity to enjoy everything that makes a sheltie what a sheltie is, with as much lessened risk of health problems occurring as is humanly possible. The pet owner benefits first and foremost from the results of dedicated and ethical breeding practices. As a pet owner going to such a breeder you get the best sheltie the sheltie world has to offer, without having to undergo the intense training and study required to breed properly. It is not necessary to breed in order to acquire a great sheltie.
And you don't have to risk losing your pet by breeding her, to get the best by going to a knowledgeable and responsible breeder. NO sheltie breeder undertakes to breed without first accepting the fact they might very well lose the bitch in the process. For no breeder, no sheltie, no female dog of any breed for that matter, is immune to the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Human mothers today still die while trying to deliver a child. For dogs, it is even moreso, as technological advances reaching toward the human medical realm are a long way from that of our pets.
And, are you aware, an unspayed female dog is in an extremely high risk category for developing potentially fatal infections of the female organs? She is also at extremely high risk for developing mammary tumors, and cancers that move swiftly and with deadly precision toward total destruction? Are you aware that by not neutering your male he is also at an extremely increased risk for contracting prostate and testicular diseases and cancers? The risks are just not worth it if you love your pet! (for more information please see Ailea's Spay/Neuter page)
As a final note on this business of breeding, and I speak from the experience of one who has bred and who now basically enjoys the lives of the Shelties around her - Breeding is NOT fun. It is not educational, unless, of course, you wish to know all the intricate ways Death can enter your heart. Neither is breeding profitable. Factoring in testing that is required to breed healthy animals, as well as the expense of locating and getting your bitch to the PERFECT stud for your girl (regardless of where he may be located), paying for use of that PERFECT stud as well as all the upkeep and maintenance required to support a litter properly, means your money pocket has a bottom you will see much more often than might be comfortable. It means you might lose your precious girl due to a difficult delivery - which will be expensive in its own right. It means after all the hard work, all the expenses and energy expended, you maybe don't even see puppies, or see puppies that do not survive at all. It means heartbreak. Mean, vicious and difficult to understand or process heartbreak.
God
Bless the shelties
And the loving hands that care for them!
A Sheltie Good Morning
When I awake
each morning she is there
Her warm tongue, satiny smooth,
strokes my cheek in daybreak greeting,
the happiest 'hello' I will ever receive.
Her paws rest
upon my chest in quiet patience,
her eyes already a-gleam with mischief,
her tail twitching like a cat's.
The moment I
stir she bounds from the bed and dances,
laughing wildly at my morning cobwebs,
and she chases me through the house and to the door,
a madcap race.
The door I open
for her happy body
and she bounds through the gap,
racing down the steps to pause and glance back.
She speaks to
me once,
an invitation to join her in her frolic on the wet grass,
and then she is gone in a dash,
exploring the secrets of the early morning garden.
Written in honor of our Rookie,
Willows Shadow Dresed In Blu
By: Amy C Butcher,
Ailea's Place
Copyright 1996, all rights reserved.
Or Continue to -
The Sheltie Standard
(Off-site link to
ASSA site, browser "back" to Ailea's Place please)
Hoops to Jump in Conformation?
The Breeder and the Puppymill
"Leave the war behind!!"
A Breeder's Responsibility to Rescue
One breeder's opinion
And always, always you
can turn to-
Spay and Neuter Information
Please feel free to e-mail Amy with any questions or comments
