The Art of Breeding Great Danes
To Breed or not to Breed…
…That is the question, to sort of quote the famous Bard.
The breeding of dogs is truly an art. The artist’s medium is living flesh. When one plans a breeding the purpose should be improvement of the breed. Obviously one must be extremely knowledgeable to have a chance of attaining this goal. The breeder must be willing to thoroughly health check both parents, to make sure the temperaments of both parents and their ancestors is typical of the breed, and to take full responsibility, both practical and financial, for every dog they cause to be born until the day it dies. Besides this the breeder must have a thorough knowledge of pedigrees, conformation and the Standard for the breed. One does not obtain this knowledge overnight. This is why no novice should breed a bitch unless they have an experienced mentor to guide them, in our case, this came in the form of a remarkable lady who at the age of 76 had been breeding Grate Danes for over 35years and, had forgotten more than we will ever probably be blessed with in terms of her knowledge in the show ring. We were also fortunate enough to meet some other very experienced and distinguished breeders who were happy to part with the knowledge they have built up over the years, to make sure at the start of our programme, we did not fall headlong in to breeding mistakes that could have taken years to rectify. Our mentors, these were the ones who took the time to educate us, advise us and guide us with their experiences and their wisdom, we would like to pay special tribute to your time and effort and we thank you for your guidance. Be prepared to spend a lot of money on your litter and know in advance that you will NOT MAKE money! Be happy if you break even.
Those of you who have or will purchase a Dane for a companion only need not even read this chapter, because your dog should never be bred. Your dog was purchased as a pet because he or she did not have that exceptional conformation that made him/her worthy of breeding. Now I know this sounds a bit elitist, but there are good reasons why the breeder designated your dog to be of pet quality. Not every dog needs to be bred but that in no way demeans the wonderful attributes of your loved pet. Dedicated breeders strive (or should strive) to breed only from the very best specimens in the breed in order to, hopefully, keep improving the overall quality in the breed from litter to litter. If the breeder of your pet quality dog did not sell you the dog on limited registration or specify that your dog should not be bred and you’re actually thinking of breeding it, please give serious attention to the following.
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ΛΑΖΑΡΟΣ said,
July 18, 2007 @ 12:52 am
ΜΙΛΑΩ ΜΟΝΟ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΜΕ ΕΝΔΙΑΦΕΡΕΙ ΑΓΟΡΑ ΕΝΟΣ ΑΡΣΕΝΙΚΟΥ ΜΟΛΛΟΣΟΥ ΜΠΟΡΕΙΤΑΙ ΝΑ ΜΟΥ ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΕΤΕ?