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Old February 6th, 2003, 01:02 PM
summerblond summerblond is offline
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Question breeding and hypothyroid

I have a female cocker spaniel and she has been diagnosed and is on thyroid medication for a low thyroid. I had wanted to breed her, can you please give me info on what affects breeding would have on her and on the puppies.
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Old February 6th, 2003, 03:24 PM
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BrunosMom BrunosMom is offline
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Because of the current state Cocker Spaniels are in right now, I would suggest NOT breeding her. Cocker Spaniels are having MAJOR temperament problems right now and are currently the #1 biter in America and Canada. These temperament issues need to be worked out by the professionals who have been breeding this breed for years.
Failure to do this, in a few years will result in possible breed specific legislature which faces many breeds now. (the banning of a breed of dog)

Because of your dogs health problem, it could be passed onto the puppies. Not to mention that very often, problems with the thyroid also mean that there are other problems within the dogs body. We don't want to risk problems in the future for the pups and putting your dog through an unhealthy pregnancy.

You might want to visit www.petfinder.org before you think about breeding your dog. There are currently over 100,000 pets on that site looking for home. Most are purebreds.
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Old February 6th, 2003, 10:11 PM
summerblond summerblond is offline
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Wink to brunos mom

Hi, thanks for your reply, I understand what you are saying, I have heard about the cocker rage syndrome, I figure just like with pit bulls and the name they have ended up with, and the way so many people are misinformed about the pit bull, I believe, (but am going to research) that it is in the breeding, the upbringing, if you are not good to your pet, if you abuse it and don't treat them like part of the family they do and react what would come natural, to retreat, or attack. Sure, it could be from the way one of the parents were treated and it gets handed down, simialr as to our mental abilities or disabilities because of our upbringing , where we came from and the hand me downs.
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Old February 7th, 2003, 06:43 AM
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BrunosMom BrunosMom is offline
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A lot of the problems with pit bulls lie in the "backyard breeders" who were breeding unreliable lines- human aggressive lines which is very different for pittys. How you bring up a dog can only do so much against natural urges. For instance, you can't stop a border collie from herding things, it's just natural for it. For unreliable lines natural means things like fear aggression, high prey drives etc. things that cause bites.
I'm not saying your dog is unreliable at all. But what I'm just saying is that there is a big problem right now in the cocker community and it is best to let the professionals figure it out until you think about perhaps getting into hobby breeding. You may want to talk to a few breeders within your area and get their imput, I can defitently get some contacts for you if you are interested.
I just know what it's like right now to have to fight for a dog with a bad reputation. I'd hate for any other person or breed to expierence this. I currently have a waiting list of 58 pit bulls trying to get into my foster program. Most will be put down this week, and I'll get another 25 next week. With the cocker community, they are starting to see this too. No one will adopt our breeds because they think they are nuts (thanks media!).

PS. How old is your dog?
-Sara
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Old February 7th, 2003, 10:07 AM
summerblond summerblond is offline
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Our dogs

Hello, just wanted to reply, I know of quite a few breeders in my area of the Cockers, that was what I meant when I said I wanted to do some checking, I plan on talking to a couple of them, see what thier professional opinions are and what problems they may have incurred etc. So, you don't raise pits, huh? you save and foster them!? I love it!!! I just looked at your profile, My cousin would love you, she has three pitbulls and they are absolute babies, my aunt has one and he is absolutely sweet as can be. As far as my girl, I didn't originally get her for the purpose of breeding, although I have always wanted her to have one litter cause she is so sweet and motherly, I mean, let's put it this way...I know this might sound rediculous or might turn your stomach...but...I also have two rats as pets which are just as babied and sweet, well, my girl mothers them! I have had her since she was 8 weeks old, she is now 5 years. I also have gotten a male who is even more of a baby than she ever had been, he is a year old. Other than my girls thyroid they have came from decent backgrounds, but...because of her thyroid I only wanted to let her have one litter, which was why I inquired. That is neat that you foster, can you explain how that works, do you get paid for that or is it all on you?
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Old February 7th, 2003, 11:11 AM
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BrunosMom BrunosMom is offline
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The fostering is all paid for by me, I do get donations and they help out a lot, however I still put out about $900 a month out of my own pocket. The feeling I get saving these animals lives is priceless. Most come from horrible situations, the one girl I rescued about 2 months ago was taken away from her owners who starved her to death and kept her on a two foot chain outside with no shelter. She was infested with fleas, had scabies, kennel cough and was skin and bones. Now she's working towards her Canine Good Citizen. It's priceless.
To tell you the truth, I recommend you foster some puppies from your local pound before you breed. You will learn how to take care of them, and the shelters pay for the whole expense. Once they are able to be adopted, they go back to the shelter and find homes. It is practise before the big thing.
I use to have rats too, they are wonderful pets! I thought they were both females, but nope. They weren't. 12 babies later, I had 14 rats. That was interesting.
Because your dog is motherly and sweet is not a good reason to breed her. She's 5, which is the oldest age you should breed a dog at. Is she AKC registered? Does she have championships? These are the only dogs who really should be bred. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to be honest. If you would really like to help dogs, foster pups from the local shelter and if your cocker is a good mom, she'll help mother them. And again, 5 is very old for a dog to be bred, when you breed them older is increases their chances of cancer of the uterus. In smaller breed dogs such as the cocker spanial, cancer is pretty common.
If your dog does take to the puppies your foster, she is capable of producing milk for them. You really should try this, instead of putting her through a labour that could kill her. If she has good motherly instincts then this would be the ideal situation for her.

-Sara
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