Mabel the Rescue Dog

4 min read (Articles narrated by Mabel)

On my blog, I spend a lot of time talking about adopting instead of shopping. It’s something that I believe very strongly in. When given the choice, you should always adopt instead of shop.

However, I wanted to point out that breeding dogs isn’t all bad, but irresponsible breeds and too much breeding has made it bad over time. So, when is breeding acceptable and when is it not?

When is Breeding Acceptable?

Of course, without breeding, dogs wouldn’t exist. All animals would go extinct if they never had children. However, breeding is an issue for dogs because they’ve been domesticated, but there aren’t enough homes for them all.

Dogs are currently very overpopulated. Too many dogs are euthanized in shelters each year, and breeding is only adding to this issue. The more dogs that are bred instead of adopted, the more dogs that die. It’s a sad reality that we face. Plus, many dogs that are bred in puppy mills, which is unacceptable!

However, there are some reasons as to why dogs should be bred. The list is short though:

Breeding Specially Trained Dogs

Dogs like service dogs and police dogs often need to be certain breeds. Not every dog has the right temperament to be a guide dog or to work on a search-and-rescue mission. So, dogs have to be bred to fill these roles. These dogs can change people’s lives, so they are greatly needed on this planet.

Specially trained dogs need to start learning at a very young age. They are almost always bred specifically for that purpose, so they are not bred simply for a profit like many other pups. It’s important that dogs like this are bred so that they can help make the world a better place. Of course, rescue dogs can often fill these roles too and should always be considered first!

Making Sure Breeds Don’t Go Extinct

Of course, if not dogs were bred, some breeds would go extinct eventually. No, I’m not talking about Labradoodles or Teddy Bears because those aren’t real breeds, they’re just mixes. I’m talking about purebred dogs like Golden Retrievers and Poodles.

I wouldn’t want some of these amazing dogs to go extinct due to a lack of breeding. Although some dogs like Shih Tzus and French Bulldogs have been bred so much that they have too many health issues. This is when I would argue that these breeds (even though I’m a Shih Tzu and I know how awesome we are) would be much safer if they weren’t bred at all. I know many people love these dogs, but that’s just the sad reality that I’ve noticed.

That being said, breeds going extinct isn’t really an issue at the moment. So many dogs are being bred that there is even too many of certain breeds. This would only be an issue if all breeding just stopped completely.

I think a certain amount of dogs should be bred each year to keep the breeds from going extinct, but beyond that, breeding has just gotten way too out of hand! Why would you choose to breed a puppy when there’s plenty of dogs already waiting for a home?

How Has Breeding Gotten Out of Control?

The issue is that too many people want to breed the perfect puppy. There are lots of families that don’t even consider adopting. Instead, they just decide that breeding is the only option.

What people fail to realize is that you can find nearly any dog at a rescue or shelter if you look hard enough. Yes, even puppies and purebreds can be adopted! Many people will use “but I want a purebred puppy” as an excuse for not adopting… but that’s not a valid excuse at all.

Breeding has gotten out of control because not enough humans are aware of the real issues that many dogs face every day. Many dogs are being abandoned, euthanized, and harmed every day just because of a breeding craze. If more people chose to adopt over breed, a lot of dogs could be saved.

Don’t let people make up excuses anymore. Adopting is always an option.

How Can We Fix This?

Adopt, don’t shop is the simplest way to put it. But it’s more than that. Word needs to be spread.

Many people will argue that them breeding one puppy won’t make a difference. That one purchased puppy isn’t hurting anyone. But think about how many people are making those excuses. If every person that thought they weren’t hurting anyone by purchasing a puppy adopted instead, imagine how many dogs could be saved!

If you know someone that’s shopping instead of adopting, do everything you can to steer them in the right direction. You could save a dog’s life.

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