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Moderador: quino
Dogs do not need to "fulfill their manhood" or "experience motherhood" ....
We have something called animal overpopulation, meaning thousands of animals - purebred and mixed - are being put to sleep every DAY because there simply are not enough homes for them all.
Dog breeders on here are breeding Rottweilers for a purpose. We want to better our breed and make every litter produced mean something ... whether our goal is to continue a certain bloodline or keep something back to show/trial ....
So you need to ask yourself, what qualities does your stud dog have to offer the breed's gene pool. Just being an intact male dog does not mean it should be bred. Just because he's "a great pet" does not mean he should be bred. Just because "the neighbor says he's real nice" does not mean he should be bred.
There are several features we look for in our breeding candidates. These are health, temperament, conformation, and pedigree.
Health is more complex than having all his shots. It means he has been xrayed clear of hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and hopefully you also take the time to test the heart (free from things like SAS), VWD, eyes (CERF) thyroid, and do a brucellosis test. Any owner of a female will require the hips, elbows, and brucellosis to be done. These tests cost $$$ ...to clear my male of hips, elbows, heart, eyes costs over $400 by the time I was done! Brucellosis will need to be done regularly. You will also want to do a sperm count and perhaps collect semen for if there is a bitch that cannot be shipped, you will need to ship it for AI.
Temperament encompases many things. We all have different ideas about what consitues good temperament but the main things to keep in mind is that the dog is confident, self-assured, high in drive, etc. Schutzhund (which is talked about often on here) is one sport which tests a dog's temperment. There is too much to mention in relation to temperment, but any bitch that is looking for a prospective stud dog is going to want to see some titles! I can think of 20 stud dogs off the top of my head who are SchH3 (schutzhund 3) and have shown in the conformation ring ... these are the stud dogs who the owner of a bitch is going to go to! Not to joe schmo's dog from down the street who has not proven himself on the field.
Conformation is fairly cut and dry. Most of us go by the ADRK's standard which writes out in detail exactly how the Rottweiler should look. This is more than just "big black and tan dog". It means we have the correct desired proportions for the skull, length of back, depth of chest, mouth pigament, shoulder angulation, etc. Take a look at the standard for the Rottweiler. Have someone who is a longtime breeder that knows structure, evaluate your dog. Go to a german style show and have your dog critiqued and rated by a liscensed judge. Go to an AKC show and see how he looks against the other dogs. As with the temperament, the owners of bitches are more interested in a stud dog that has conformation titles, and not just some dog down the street. They want a dog that has proven himself to be an excellent example of the Rottweiler breed!
Pedigree is also subjective, but take a look at your own dog's pedigree. The parents are hopefully well bred individuals and the breeder took the time to match up excellent, healthy, sound representatives of the breed. The parents, grandparents, and great grandparents should be titled and you should know as much as possible about your pedigree. If you do not know your pedigree and the pedigree of the bitches you breed your dog to ... you could unknowningly come up with a bunch of white spots or cleft palates or other deformatites. You need to know a lot about pedigrees in particular to be a stud dog owner. You have to know what lines work with your dog and which lines do not. Every dog in your pedigree should also have health checks done...if your dog is from an AKC breeder, it most likely has relatives listed in the OFA database (http://www.offa.org) ... if it is a german pedigree, the health certs will be listed on the pedigree (HD+/-, HD Frei, HD/C for example)
As far as "finding a female" the best advertisement is to get out there and compete with your dog. That is what dog shows and trials are about! We are out there proving our breeding stock and showing them off. As I said before, there are many, many great stud dogs out there that are going to be more desirable than some untitled, unknown dog! Nobody that is reputable will breed to your dog over some of these dogs that have achieved outstanding awards and titles. http://www.therottweilerchronicle.com has a stud dog directory which lists just a handful of these dogs. There are many more. In any case, in the world of dogs - the owner of the bitch will come looking for YOU. Not the other way around. We have a saying and that is "stud dogs come a dime a dozen, but bitches are worth their weight in gold". That means if you want to breed your dog, prove that he's worthy of being bred. If it all sounds like a lot of time and money, do the breed a favor and get him neutered. He will be much healthier in the long run for it.
Hope this helps.
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- Dana -