Don Quixote read so much about knights and chivalry, he thought he could be one. He saw giants that needed defeating, and rushed in to battle and attempted to "save" damsels in distress, only to find the harsh reality was that his "giant" was simply a windmill, and the damsels didn't want saving. Despite his best honest and true intentions - he found this annoying thing called "reality" collided with his ideological dreams.
As the owner, trainer, and foster-home of dogs for the past 25 years, I have often looked at the things I liked or disliked about my dog and others', and thought, "why would someone breed such a trait?" or "I wouldn't have bred such and such."
It is easy to be a critic and think it's an easy thing to take two good dogs and put them together to make your ideal puppy. But as I started interviewing and picking the brains of breeders about my intentions of possibly becoming a breeder, I quickly got the sense that it can be a hairy[sic] business on the back end. What we see and admire from the outside of a good breeding program is the product of a lot of hard-work and strategy, and years of heart-ache and experience.
I initially thought that meant getting dogs returned, or hearing that one of your puppies was lost to a catastrophic accident, or abused in some way. What I hadn't considered was what it takes to even get to the point of breeding a litter in the first place.
Dismiss for a moment all the genetic and personality testing and training you've done with your potential breeding dog, and the risk of losing your beloved pet to some complication of pregnancy or weaning. Assume all of that testing is done, and you've accepted the risks involved.
In the meantime, you are raising and training your puppy, seeing all the good and the bad, and wondering, "do I want that in my next generation?" What do you do? Do you just trade that puppy/dog in like a used car on the off-chance another one would be better? You've already grown to love it, "warts and all" and breeding intention or not, you made a commitment to love this dog for its lifetime. Do you simply up the ante and add another one to the collection? Pretty soon you have 20 dogs, and none of them are getting the attention and training and life they deserve, and none of them will be "perfect".
Do you take the chance of passing on these undesirable qualities with the good ones? Well, depending on the severity, there are absolute and "hard stops" one should accept when breeding (such as a dog that prior to breeding exhibits epilepsy, blindness, etc.). But for more "annoying" things, you don't want to be unethical and potentially breed puppies that may exhibit these traits, but at the same time, if we removed every single dog from the gene pool who had some flaw, we lose a significant amount of genetic diversity, health, and increase the chances of mutations.
This is why eventually one may have a wonderful all-around "perfect" family-friendly dog... and then they end up with cancer and eye problems running rampant through the breed - because everyone is a close relative descended from these few "perfect" specimens, and all the healthy diversification has been bred out along with the niggling traits that didn't turn out to be so bad (when compared to the alternative of guaranteed cancer).
So now you start realizing there is no such thing as a "perfect" specimen - and if there is, what are the chances your single breeding prospect is it? What if you meet the sire of your dreams only to find out he's neutered? These are the road-blocks and realities of breeding a great dog. This is probably why a lot of hobby breeders will have 5+ dogs, or a network of intact dogs - because it's impossible to simply have one dog from stellar lines and guarantee it will pan out to be of breeding potential, or even throw good puppies, or might not be introducing some as-yet-unseen mutation that doesn't show up for several generations.
What it comes down to is the art of "balancing" the good and the bad, and hopefully improving on the dog you have and not making it worse.
So what can one do as a potential puppy-buyer? Be patient, and have an open and honest relationship with an open and honest breeder, and realize some stuff is out of anyone's control or best intentions.
An honest and ethical breeder:
Is concerned with the quality of their puppies throughout their life and their impact on and contribution to the breed.
Will do as much research as possible, and may need to make some tough choices you would not personally make or be comfortable with. (If you're uncomfortable with their choices, find one whom you are comfortable with).
Will be visible about the problems in their line, and potential issues you may have as an owner, despite their best efforts.
Will be upfront with you and will guarantee a home you can return your dog to if it turns out to be a "dud" in some unexpected way.
Will want to know of any issues or concerns you have as they arise through your dog's lifetime.
Is concerned with quality-control, and wants their puppies to be the best puppies they can produce, even if that's not as perfect as they or you would like.
Will guarantee that they did their best, but CAN NEVER give a 100% "you will never have any problems" guarantee. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not honest. The best anyone can predict is you shouldn't have any foreseeable problems, but will also let you know "here are the known facts you will want to be aware of."
It is easy to say, "I would do such and such differently" from the outside, not knowing the vast limitations that a breeder has to strategically work with to make the best pairing available/possible. That being said, it is important to respect the work and heart an ethical breeder will put into producing the most sound puppies and dogs from their breeding program, and to not criticize - because it's easy to say "I would have done such and such" and not actually know what the circumstances are on the actual playing field.
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