mating prior to neutering??

[Terri H and Kramer]

I am ready to neuter our 6 month old Kramer, but my husband thinks we might want to offer him up for stud service prior to having him neutered. He IS an exceptional dog, but......? Any thoughts on this?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

No I won't preach. I bought my dog from a home breeder. Just like you she thought her dog would make some wonderful puppies. I would love more doodles too, but please promise me you will at least read below.
Please take just one week to: Volunteer at your local animal shelter, humane society, dog pound, or numerous shelters in Los Angeles. The Red Cross does not take in animals only human. Thousands of pets are left without homes after these events. Do a search for animals that need shelter after the fire disasters. If it is not possible to leave your home than just do a search on Petfinders. Do it everyday for one week. Then ask yourself should we breed our dog.
If it's a doodle you love join our Doodles Resource and Rescue Collective.
http://doodlerescuecollective.ning.com
See how many doodles are homeless.

[Adina P]

Hi Terri,

Unless you got your dog on a breeding contract from your breeder, you should NOT use him as stud.

1) ALL responsible breeders either sell for PET or BREEDING. If you had a responsible breeder that sold him to you as a pet only, then you'll be violating your contract with your breeder. If you did NOT get him on a breeding contract, then very likely you got him from a breeder that was less than responsible and did not do testing on his parents, etc. Thus you'd be breeding a dog without a solid health background.

2) It is VITALLY important that you only breed dogs that have their full testing completed: Hips rated by OFA or PennHIP, eyes cleared by CERF or PRA, cleared for Von Willebrands disease either through parentage or by DNA test, etc...etc. PLUS you want to test for brucellosis which is a canine sexually transmitted disease--both your dog and the female would need this testing.

Without this testing to prove that your dog can NOT pass on certain things or to reduce their chances of passing on certain things you're setting things up for bringing a possibly unhealthy litter into this world that is overflowing with litters. There are a LOT of doodles in rescue due to casual breeding...please reconsider breeding and adding to that population.

3) Unless your dog is cleared for breeding due to contract AND health testing, you're not likely to find a female that is WORTH breeding to. No responsible breeder will breed with an unknown, untested male. So chances are you'll ALSO only find a female that is unknown and untested--thereby multiplying the potential for health issues that might get passed on.

Please read this info on responsible breeding and the link to health problems in doodles...unless you plan on taking that full responsibility -- it's a rather dicey thing to breed just for fun:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/what-to-look-for-in-a

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

hi
I second Adina's message and Joanne's. It is possible that your husband, like many of our DHs may just be having a hard time with the whole concept of Neutering. Help him understand that it will keep your male healthier and dramatically lower his chances of getting prostate cancer. Six months is a good time to neuter him. Your darling Kramer will not even know he is missing some parts - he is not at all like a human male that way. please talk your DH into neutering now. Good luck!

[Terri H and Kramer]

Yes I am falling STRONGLY on the side of neutering Kramer ASAP...it was a glimmer of a thought my DH had, in the neutering discussion. I am well aware of shelters overpopulation, and I did look for a dog in various shelters for months before deciding on a doodle. The major factor in choosing not to adopt was the shedding issue. I am a clean freak and the shelters seemd to have mostly pit bull mixes and chua..how do you spell it?? lol! I was a little nervous since my son was mauled by a boxer when he was 6. I mean the dog tried to kill him, not just a bite or a nip! It was the most frightening thing I have ever had happen to my kids...so you understand that getting a dog PERIOD was a huge step! So a doodle made perfect sense... no aggressive tendencies and no shedding! I love my dog to pieces but don't want to contribute to the overpopulation of shelters. BTW...how do you find a doodle that is homeless? I did look for one but couldn't find any...I sure wish I had known about this site first. Thanks everyone! Terri

[Adina P]

Terri there are two major organizations in the USA that do EXCLUSIVELY Doodle Rescue.
1) IDOG.biz

2) Doodle Rescue Collective

NEITHER is a shelter, but they are a network of foster homes around the USA and take applications from those looking for doodles.

Please don't get me wrong....there's NOTHING wrong with buying a doodle from a breeder. It's just that we believe strongly in only supporting responsible breeding practices in those cases.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

The same happen to us also Terri. I searched for months ( I did not know about this site) and found some really scary dogs to adopt. I was filled with guilt and struggled with these emotions about dogs I should get out of shelters. Of course, I like my arms and legs too!
Also
We just neutered Spud 6 weeks ago. I thought he would make a great looking dood dad too, but at the same time I was spending time on the DRC site and saw all the homeless dogs again. Also, DK has so much good information out there about responsible breeding and I have learned so much.
Just wanted to let you know the thought crossed my mind too, as I am sure it crosses many other doodle owners just before we spay/neutered our pets.
Good Luck in your decision. Thanks for listening to our side.