There are altered classes offered at some shows and in the veterans class, they don't have to be intact.

There is so much that goes into breeding dogs and what makes a good stud dog. A dog may cross wonderful on certain lines, or certain bitches and horribly on others. You really have to look closer at pedigrees than you do in horses.

There is just no point in showing altered dogs. It isn't like showing stallions, which are usually(not always) a serious PITA to deal with and have to have a different life than if they are a gelding. It just isn't a big deal to leave a dog intact. You don't HAVE to breed it just because it has testicles. Same with bitches.

Thanks Jim. I got it, and had misunderstood prior.

Do you always require your potential new puppy parents to show? What about "pet quality" pups that probably won't be great show dogs?

PeggySue,
showing and breeding are two different things. As Julie points out, just because a dog or bitch is intact does not mean it has to be bred. But, the AKC's Conformation rules do assume that dogs and bitches are being shown to be bred. Is that both archaic and arcane? Perhaps. But, as Julie also said, there are places within the AKC structure for neutered and spayed dogs to be shown -- Veterans for example.

I guess the basic question is why spend the time, money and energy showing the dog if you do not intend to breed it. The answer is that you enjoy the "sport" which is why some other venues -- IABCA for example -- have classes for neutered males and spayed females. But at the top levels of the sport, breeding is presupposed.

I have a fundamental philosophy about things that goes something like this: if you want to play a certain game, you need to understand the rules. If, after understanding the rules, you don't wish to play that game, that's OK. But if you decide that you don't like the rules and want to change the rules -- well, that's kinda presumptuous.

The AKC does just fine doing things their way. There are other venues for showing dogs just for the sport of it. If the AKC changes their approach, then I'll show my non-intact dogs in that venue. If not, I'll look for other venues. Either way, I'll play by the rules or not play at all.

Jim

Jim,
we evaluate our litters at 7 1/2 weeks of age and rank the puppies based on our -- and several other breeders, judges and handlers -- opinion of which dogs are show quality and which are pet quality.

The dogs that go into show homes do so under a show contract that "requires" (actually requests) that they be shown a certain number of times when they get to be of showable age -- 6 months. If, when they are shown, they actually win with competition, then the opinions of the judges are the best indication that they are show dogs. If they don't win, then we don't require that they get shown any more. However, if the owners wish to continue to show them, and we agree, that's fine.

Our pets are sold under a limited AKC registration and a contract that requires them to be spayed or neutered at 12 months of age after we have had a chance to see them. The limited registration ensures that if those owners do breed the dog or bitch (you can only control a certain number of things) their puppies cannot be registered with the AKC.

We like to wait until the dogs are 12 months of age before they are neutered or spayed so that God's hormones can do their thing in terms of the physical development of the dog. Also, we like to view them at 12 months to see if there was something we missed when they were babies. Some dogs take longer to develop than others and we like to be able to look at them at 12 months and if they are show prospects at that age, we would offer to pay for showing them. That would require that we change the registration.

We have yet to do that. Not that we haven't seen some really lovely "pets" that probably could and should show. But our objective in breeding is to put good dogs into wonderful homes. Showing or breeding them is not our primary objective. Making sure they are loved for their lifetimes is.

Hope that answers your questions.

Jim

Sure does, thanks.

Hey Jim,

Congrats and nice shots. They are all adorable. It makes me want to add a rottie...or some companion for Mahkayla. The cats really just think she is just a bit stupid and don't pay her much attention.

James