# Why do breeders rehome their breeding dogs?



## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

I follow a GSD breeder on facebook and saw today that she's rehoming one of her breeding females. She's 7 years old, and I believe her most recent litter is headed to their new homes at the moment.

Is 7 a common age to retire a breeding female? And is it common for breeders to rehome their dogs when they're done breeding?

I dunno...it just seems kinda cruel to me. Here's this dog who's been with you for a fair chunk of its life, produced great puppies, and...you're just gonna get rid of it?

It just seems a little unfair for the dog. I don't want to be judgy, so I'm hoping someone can help me understand this. Maybe something to do with wanting other breeding dogs to diversify bloodlines...??? Difficulty of keeping multiple intact females in a household?? I dunno. Again not wanting to judge this breeder but want to understand why they do this. Is it common for breeders to do this?


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Most breeders don’t have just one or two dogs in their house, and they simply can’t keep every dog. My breeder friends want to give their dogs an opportunity to have a real home, with their own family, and not have to be one of many. So they find them homes.


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## peachygeorgia (Oct 5, 2021)

I can see how it comes off cruel, but breeders strive to improve the breed, and to do so they may need to make more room so they can continue producing puppies, or another home may just suit her better now that she's no longer being bred.
Im sure they treat it like they would selling a puppy, the dog goes to an awesome home that fits their needs, and will come back to the breeder if it can no longer stay.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Dogs are also way more resilient than most people think. 

I have a good friend that has GSDs, and a couple of years ago she acquired a retired champion female corgi from another friend of ours. She’s taken that darling little dog and has gotten several nose work titles on her, as well as obedience and rally. This beautiful little dog is getting to do way more than she would at her breeders home. It’s a win win for everyone.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

It’s better than spending their older years outdoors in a kennel alone and with no purpose. They are still young enough to pursue activities. Otherwise the breeder would have dozens of older dogs. A friend took in several older females when her breeder got sick and could not keep them all. My breeder also downsized her kennel when she moved and didn’t have much choice. She was unable to keep that many dogs in her new home.


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## Honey Maid (Dec 25, 2020)

That's how a friend of mine got a wonderful Great Schnauzer. Breeder did not breed till a bitch was at least 2 years old, titled, and medically clear of any problems, hips, eyes, etc...... Then, only bred twice, and then the dog, about age 5 or 6, by then, was given to a good home. My daughter got her Great Dane that way, Sydney was about 5 or 6 when my daughter got her. The breeder checked my daughter out thoroughly, before giving her the dog. Sydney lived to be 13. 

If I was dogless, and didn't want a puppy, I'd LOVE to have an older dog from a reputable breeder.


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## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

Honey Maid said:


> That's how a friend of mine got a wonderful Great Schnauzer. Breeder did not breed till a bitch was at least 2 years old, titled, and medically clear of any problems, hips, eyes, etc...... Then, only bred twice, and then the dog, about age 5 or 6, by then, was given to a good home. My daughter got her Great Dane that way, Sydney was about 5 or 6 when my daughter got her. The breeder checked my daughter out thoroughly, before giving her the dog. Sydney lived to be 13.
> 
> If I was dogless, and didn't want a puppy, I'd LOVE to have an older dog from a reputable breeder.


Oh yeah, me too...they're selling this dog for $4K though, lol. Bit rich for my blood. But makes me think there's still breeding potential in her. And wow, 13, for a Great Dane?? That's shocking!

Thanks for all the replies, everyone...I understand a bit better.


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## Hopps (Dec 5, 2021)

banzai555 said:


> Oh yeah, me too...they're selling this dog for $4K though, lol. Bit rich for my blood. But makes me think there's still breeding potential in her. And wow, 13, for a Great Dane?? That's shocking!
> 
> Thanks for all the replies, everyone...I understand a bit better.


Wow that's pretty expensive. I've seen retired breeders at age 5 go for about 2k, a bit less than puppy prices. But retired breeders at 7 were significantly cheaper, $500-$700. Also all retired breeders sold by the reputable breeders I saw were spayed.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Most breeders will spay the female prior to rehoming. Often females are bought just to breed, when their breeding career is over, they will be rehomed to a pet home. Not cruel at all.


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## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

Jax08 said:


> Most breeders will spay the female prior to rehoming. Often females are bought just to breed, when their breeding career is over, they will be rehomed to a pet home. Not cruel at all.


yeah and makes me think the purpose of this sale is to another breeder who will continue breeding her. The description talks about her regular heat cycles and how she has produced excellent litters....


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

banzai555 said:


> yeah and makes me think the purpose of this sale is to another breeder who will continue breeding her. The description talks about her regular heat cycles and how she has produced excellent litters....


then yes it is. There isn't anything wrong with that either. if she's in good shape then she can have a couple more litters. Maybe this owner wanted her bloodline for a particular reason.


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## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

It’s not cruel. Often times these dogs go to very loving homes and get spoiled the rest of their days. Breeders only have so much space and so much time to work and take care of dogs. So better to rehome the dog to a place where they can get the attention they deserve.

Every breeder has their own set of ethics. They do what they feel is best. Every breeder runs their business differently and has different goals. Different number of dogs produced and so on. My personal opinion and that’s all it is, is my own opinion. I don’t want to breed a female more than three times. I want to breed her between 3-6 years of age then she’s done having litters. I want to stay ridiculously small scale. So small I don’t even know if you can call me a breeder lol. I also like handling females. So my personal PPD, sport and pet dogs are my females. So it’s easy for me to say that I keep them. Heck at this point Estelle is my next in line. Honestly even if she fails her health clearances she’s not going anywhere. I just won’t breed her. But she’s here for life.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I like to keep my breeding females, because I love them and want to see how they age. When you have 0-2 litters a year, you can maybe keep all your breeding bitches. I lost Odessa at 14 I think this year, and still have Bear and Karma, both retired at 12 and 9. But breeders keep dogs sometimes to the detriment of the dogs. It takes nothing to get over your head. You keep up and coming bitches, your breeding bitches, your retired breeding bitches, one or two with genetic issues you don't want to saddle anyone else with, and a return that ended up in the wrong hands and now you don't want her to go anywhere else. And before you know it you have 22 dogs, mostly bitches, and you're resembling a hoarder. 

With a bunch of dogs like that, each one gets almost nothing of you. If you have staff and family and maybe sattelite owners/handlers/breeding partners then each dog might be able to be the individual she should be. But that takes time to develop, the relationships between people and it can be tricky. On the other hand, letting some of the dogs that are not currently in use in your program go to good homes, can actually be the most loving thing you can do for them. Not everyone wants puppies. If you can keep your numbers low, develop relationships between the puppy buyers so that you don't personally have to keep every dog/bitch that you want to know how they turn out, and what they produce, then the critters you do keep have had a better upbringing to that point, and will make a really nice pet for someone else. 

I currently have 11 dogs ranging from 11 weeks old to 12.5 years old. My nine, ten and 12 year old dogs do not need a lot in the way of training, outings, etc. Most of them are pretty happy staying at home most of the time. And I keep them kenneled, usually with one of their offspring. And that just seems to work for me. Bear is in with her 4 year old daughter, Tinny. And now the stud-fee pup, Eowyn is in with them. Karma is in with her almost 3 year old daughter Vera. And that works great. I've been keeping Uzi in with Columbo, but I don't want Uzi to have puppies, so I either need to get her spayed, or separate them. Eventually. Cujo2 is fixed and in with Hepzibah, which works. Kojak was in with Ramona. She turned six, and never had a litter. I made the decision to rehome her. As I did Lassie. And Dolly. What you have is a really sweet bitch, who has great lines, and good temperament, good manners, but is wasted staying in my back yard. Yeah, she keeps Kojak company, and is no problem to keep. But now she goes camping with her people, and they take her places and do things with her. She has one canine house-mate, but is, for the most part, the center of attention, instead of one of a dozen who stays at home and gets a treat once every other month, if she is lucky. 

I used to take Babs and Jenna, Hepzibah, and Joy, and a few of the others with me, one at a time when I would babysit my sister's kids. Some more than others. Then when I worked at her building, I mostly took Babs. Heidi or Moofy when Babs was in heat. Now I have a friend who takes my dogs, mostly in pairs, and while they are with her for a week or even a couple of weeks, she uses them with folks she works with, but she also lets them run on her property, in the creek, but not the river, and around the grandchildren. We call it going to camp. If I have bitches that stay together, she takes them both, like Bear and Tinny. Right now she has Columbo and Uzi. She had Karma, Vera and Columbo while I was sick. She had Columbo and Vera when Karma had the W-litter. 

The point is, that cruelty and unfairness was mentioned. The reality is that the cruelty or unfairness is actually the opposite of what you think as a pet owner. Going from one of a bunch of dogs, to being an only or being one of a pair is actually a good thing for them. I didn't let Ramona go because she did not produce for me, or because I didn't want to be bothered with another dog. She was no bother at all. She was kenneled with a dog, so it did not help at all to get her out of there. But she has a better life, with more attention than I could possibly give her. I gave her to these people because I love her so much. It is not cruel. And yes, with fewer dogs, I can do more with each of them. It is easier to rotate them with my friend. Sometimes I have 7 dogs here. And half of them, near-geriatric. When I was sick that was really good. 

Knowing where your breeding bitches/dogs are going, being able to see how they mature, but giving them an even better existence is a win-win situation. The thing is, to be a breeder, you don't just buy a bitch, and possibly a dog, and breeding them a number of times and then when she passes, get another one. Someone who does that, might be working with her breeder. But a breeder develops a line of dogs. For this you have to grow pups out, you need to work with the pups, you need to breed progeny, and make decisions about that mating and the pups out of that mating, whether to go forward with them, or to end that branch. You just can't do that with the number of dogs most pet-people would consider manageable, keeping all of them til death do you part. So some folks breed a female between 2 and 6 and then rehome her. Others have a number of people showing, handling, and breeding their females, in a co-ownership deal that is neatly spelled out about who makes the breeding-decisions. Life happens in twists and turns and hills and valleys, and what works for some folks won't for others, or at different points in life some things make better sense.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

@banzai555 

My friend sent me this last night from an "age vs breeding" discussion. I have not watched it yet and she briefly summed it up for me.





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Q&A with Dr. Hutchison, DVM: Good Breeder Webinar from Good Dog on Vimeo






player.vimeo.com


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

the breeder we got our pair from will adopt out her breeders, no charge. One of the litter mates of our gal-dog took home one of the old gals and gave her a very good life. I haven't tracked the rest. When our big-boy's mom was available to retire I almost wanted to bring her home. I hope she ended up on the couch with another wonderful family.


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## Honey Maid (Dec 25, 2020)

Hopps said:


> Wow that's pretty expensive. I've seen retired breeders at age 5 go for about 2k, a bit less than puppy prices. But retired breeders at 7 were significantly cheaper, $500-$700. Also all retired breeders sold by the reputable breeders I saw were spayed.


Wow, I'm with Hopps, Dogs were spayed/neutered before they went to their new home, and price was $500.00 tops.


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## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

Honey Maid said:


> Wow, I'm with Hopps, Dogs were spayed/neutered before they went to their new home, and price was $500.00 tops.


Yeah and maybe that's why this situation seems a little odd to me--seems clear they are hoping to sell her for top price to someone who will continue breeding her. 

Just doesn't seem like a great life to be a breeding female and constantly passed around from owner to owner solely to pop out puppies. I get why it might be good for the breed, I guess I sometimes feel that breeding is done at the expense of the quality of life of the breeding dogs. I know that's probably an unfair generalization and please don't rip me apart for it. If this female were retired and going to a home to live out the rest of her days as a pet with a nice family, I'd be more okay with it, I guess, and understand how that's probably better than remaining with the breeder.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

$4000 is not top price. A young, IPO1, female is about $7500. An IPO3 is around $15,000. It's the going price for an older, breeding, female. If they are selling her, and advertising her, as still breed worthy then they are not retiring her. Would I make that choice for a 7 year old? Most likely not. But again, if the dog is healthy and the blood lines are really nice, then it could be a legit choice for one more litter to someone who wants those lines. I think you are judging a situation without knowing any details. Why don't you ask the breeder directly for detail on the why of it all instead of guessing and online quarterbacking? The worst that can happen is they tell you to mind your own business.

The breeders I know that buy females will rehome them. Those same breeders who have had a female from 8 weeks and have trained and titled her? They keep them. I know a breeder that bought an awesome female. She had been living in a dirt pen and basically having her puppies under a rock. She lived the next few years in a kennel environment, well cared for. Graced people with incredible puppies and is now living the life of a house pet. Reputable breeders do not neglect their dogs or just pass them around. They are well cared for and live many years of retirement in great homes. I would absolutely buy a female just for breeding to get the traits I want and then rehome to just live her best life. 

So yes, I think this is an unfair generalization. These are not back yard breeders using and throwing dogs away. This is where our dogs come from. not all homebred dogs work out and breeding on the same lines bottlenecks kennels. They have to buy females from outside at times to bring in lines and traits. Breeding is not for the weak.


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## banzai555 (Sep 2, 2019)

Jax08 said:


> $4000 is not top price. A young, IPO1, female is about $7500. An IPO3 is around $15,000. It's the going price for an older, breeding, female. If they are selling her, and advertising her, as still breed worthy then they are not retiring her. Would I make that choice for a 7 year old? Most likely not. But again, if the dog is healthy and the blood lines are really nice, then it could be a legit choice for one more litter to someone who wants those lines. I think you are judging a situation without knowing any details. Why don't you ask the breeder directly for detail on the why of it all instead of guessing and online quarterbacking? The worst that can happen is they tell you to mind your own business.
> 
> The breeders I know that buy females will rehome them. Those same breeders who have had a female from 8 weeks and have trained and titled her? They keep them. I know a breeder that bought an awesome female. She had been living in a dirt pen and basically having her puppies under a rock. She lived the next few years in a kennel environment, well cared for. Graced people with incredible puppies and is now living the life of a house pet. Reputable breeders do not neglect their dogs or just pass them around. They are well cared for and live many years of retirement in great homes. I would absolutely buy a female just for breeding to get the traits I want and then rehome to just live her best life.
> 
> So yes, I think this is an unfair generalization. These are not back yard breeders using and throwing dogs away. This is where our dogs come from. not all homebred dogs work out and breeding on the same lines bottlenecks kennels. They have to buy females from outside at times to bring in lines and traits. Breeding is not for the weak.


Understood, thanks for the explanation. Sorry for generalizing.

Also lol, had no idea the green checkmark reaction meant "helpful". I'll use that one more!!!

EDIT also for the record this thread was not me trying to "online quarterback" this breeder, I mainly wanted to understand if this is a common thing and the reasoning behind it. I honestly really respect this breeder and have no reason to think they maltreat their dogs in any way, this was just a little surprising for me.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

banzai555 said:


> Understood, thanks for the explanation. Sorry for generalizing.
> 
> Also lol, had no idea the green checkmark reaction meant "helpful". I'll use that one more!!!
> 
> EDIT also for the record this thread was not me trying to "online quarterback" this breeder, I mainly wanted to understand if this is a common thing and the reasoning behind it. I honestly really respect this breeder and have no reason to think they maltreat their dogs in any way, this was just a little surprising for me.


I understand. It's an honest question. it's just kind of turning into quarterbacking which is the nature of these threads. the problem is that there is no single answer. It all depends on the situation. I can generalize that a reputable breeder takes care of these dogs and rehomes them to great places to live out their lives. Reputable being the key word. 

another thing to consider is a trainer's preference. I like males better. But maybe I want to breed one of my males someday. I would buy a female to do so if there were no litters from him that I liked. 

My female's breeder has two litters on her. She lives with me and is 100% mine. But this is often another avenue for breeders to expand on the females they have available to them.


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## davewis (Jan 7, 2020)

One of the respected breeders here in Wisconsin has all their breeding dogs living in family homes. They can watch them develop. If they like what they see, they breed them once per year. The dogs only stay with the breeders long enough to give birth and nurse the puppies. The whelping rooms are nicer than my living room 

It is a decision they made to balance the quality of life of the dogs, the ability to select from several unknown dogs, and make enough money to keep the business going.


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