bigpoodleperson

Would you guys buy/consider buying from a breeder that has an Excellent reputation, does all the health testing, shows her dogs, BUT has bred one bitch 6 times and another bitch 4 times?

I am having trouble getting over this. Everything else looks good, and she is very well known. This is the only thing ive found so far that i dont like, but i dont know if *I* think it is enough or not to cross her off my list.

cbrand

Absolutely.

6 times is quite a lot, but was the bitch producing amazing puppies? I believe that a bitch who is a great producer should be bred. She gives back to the gene pool in a big way. I would rather see a great producer have 6 litters than an average bitch have two. This would all have to quantifiable for me though. If you are going to breed a bitch 6 times there better be evidence that she is an amazing producer. It would not be enough for me to have a breeder say, "Oh her puppies are amazing!" I would want to see titles, conformation or performance to prove that her puppies were closely meeting the breed standard ideal.

Keep in mind too that if you are breeder, you often want to see what your line produces when bred to different studs. For this reason, I think it is totally reasonable to breed a bitch 4 times.

Finally, every bitch is different. My Sabrina was a breeding machine. At the end of 8 weeks, you would never know that she had even had a litter. She was ready to go right back into the Obedience ring. Now Gracy? Not so much... one litter just about did her in.

Eklectic

Were they bred back to back to back or were they given a break between litters?
Was it detrimental to the bitch?

For me, it would come down to the bitches' health first and then to the puppies!
But how can you know about it (the health part) if you are not part of the process? How can you determine (as a buyer) that the bitch was healthy enough to have healthy puppies after 3 or more litters in a row?

Also, as a buyer, it might be hard to find out it! Most buyers do not know enough to check everything!

bigpoodleperson

Thats true Carol, thankyou. I was hoping to get other views good and bad on the matter. This bitch produced 20 champions out of those litters (one litter had 8 champions, not sure how many were in the litter total, but wow). I would call that a top producer. I dont know about performance titles. The breeders website is not helpful at all, and almost no pictures. She is close enough to me that i would like to visit her sometime though.

I would assume that alot were back to back breedings though. If she is at least 2 years old before being bred (they do OFA), and has 6 litters, then depending on when she was first bred and how often her heats are then she would of been breed at over 8 years old. So i would assume (hope) that some were back to back.

Dogsinstyle

I would love to know which bitch that is! As far as I know there are only 3 or 4 that have produced 20 champions.
Carole

desertreef

I can only think of one, off hand... Graphic Sauvie Quick Silver. But I don't know how many finished Ch's she's produced.
There were many, but I agree 20 is quite something!

Dogsinstyle

I checked my SPD, she had 13.
Off the top of my head, I think Molly Brown's Cream de Cocao and Joycelyn Marjorie may have had 20-21, but I can't think of any others.
Carole

roxy25

Just food for thought with a pro handler anything is possible

I would not be worried I totally agree with cbrand on this.

TinyPoodles

I don't get hung up on the "numbers" game.

Every "BREEDER" will have a different way of doing things or an idea on what is acceptible.

I look at the female and if she is healthy, still producing healthy pups
conforming to the breed standard (which these obviously are) well I would have my answer and all things considered (health, title, testing) I would purchase a puppy "despite" the amount of litters.
Must be one healthy mom too...good sign

Obviously this person is breeding with a goal in mind (champions) so she is doing a breeding for a purpose as well.

Cdnjennga

I would consider the breeder, yes. That fact alone would not turn me off him or her. My main interest would be in visiting and seeing what quality of life the dogs she has bred have. The 4 litters I'm comfortable with, 6 does start to make me a little uneasy. While that bitch may be a top producer, she has spent a whole year of her life pregnant and another whole year raising puppies. I'd want to know what she's been up to outside of her mothering.

Every puppy buyer is different. For me, it's not just about producing "the perfect poodle". Its also about ensuring the breeder treats their dogs in the way that I am comfortable with them being treated. So if I were you, I'd be going to meet the breeder, check out their facility and talk about their breeding program. Then I'd have a much better idea of whether I was comfortable with those numbers or not.