MORE THAN EVER - THINK BEFORE YOU BREED

The club has received quite a few requests recently from breeders of BMD litters across the UK who are struggling to sell their puppies. In view of the economic situation in the country this is not really surprising. The media is full of stories relating to the number of dogs being abandoned and how rescue centres are full to their brims of unwanted dogs whose families can no longer afford them. In financially testing times spending a large sum of money on a large pedigree dog is not such an appealing or practical idea.

The club would always urge caution and serious thought on many fronts before breeding a litter but the aspect of finding prospective suitable homes should be given even greater priority than normal during these difficult times. We would suggest that you at least have enough potential homes in mind for your puppies before they are born.

The club does not run a "puppy register" or any similar such process as in the past recommendations from the club have led to problems as people consider this a strong recommendation. However, members of the committee are always willing to give one to one advice on finding a puppy to people who contact us. The number of such requests has dramatically reduced over the last few months.

The club would always advise breeders that they shouldn't be breeding unless they are prepared and able to keep all the unsold puppies giving them a balanced upbringing until a good home can be found. This is quite an undertaking, as puppies get larger and more active they are more and more difficult to manage especially as a group. More importantly, accepted knowledge is that around 8 weeks of age is the optimum time for puppies to move to their new homes in terms of their phsycological development.

We would also hope that in this testing environment breeders do not drop their standards and still look for excellent homes for their puppies and don't get desperate and accept a less suitable placement than they normally would. This will only lead to more difficult work for the various breed rescue organisations but more importantly more unhappy, possibly mistreated, neglected and unwanted dogs.

Thank you

BMDC of GB July 2008

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