AKC Gazette
March 2011
AMELIA AVERIL
“HARDLY A LITTER”
These
were the key words on the phone that greeted me when I returned home from a
Thanksgiving vacation involving too much to eat and too much shopping on Black
Friday. It was this conversation that prompted me to write this column.
The
woman called me to complain about a stud dog owner who refused to reimburse the
stud fee when her female had a litter of only two puppies. “That is hardly a
litter,” she said, “and I should get my money back.” I explained to the caller
that she was on entitled to her stud fee.
The
owner of a stud dog often has a lot to deal with. A breeding often takes
precedent over any personal plans. Sometimes the owner has to adjust his
schedule to accommodate the timing of a particular bitch coming to stay, and he
is responsible for the well being of the bitch while she is in his care.
The
bitch owner, on the other hand, pays several hundred dollars for a stud fee,
plus vet bills, and might only get two puppies. What if the litter is not good,
and all that money was spent, and there is the stud owner laughing all the way
to the bank? This was the point of view that the caller gave me.
I
think it is important that each party involved in a breeding should take responsibility.
The bitch owner should contact the owner of the stud as soon as the bitch comes
into heat. The bitch should be in healthy condition at the time of the
breeding, and the stud fee should be paid at that time. When a breeding is
performed, the stud has fulfilled his responsibility. He cannot guarantee the
size of the resulting litter or the quality of the puppies. Two puppies or even
one pup constitute a litter, and no refund of stud fee is necessary for litters
of this size.
Of
course, an individual stud owner may want to make an exception in a particular
situation. Rational people can agree on terms.
The
stud owner is responsible to make sure that the bitch is properly bred --- and
that does not mean a dozen breedings, in one heat cycle. It used to be that two
breedings were the usual, and that was sufficient.
In
closing, I want to mention that one may request providing the stud owner with a
puppy back instead of paying a stud fee. If the stud owner feels that the bitch
is worthy and he is interested in a puppy back as payment, then fine. However,
if this were to be a routine practice by a bitch owner so that she can have
puppies to sell with no financial outlay, because of not wanting to spend
anything, then I say this is not a practice that should be encouraged. Ideally
the stud owner is interested in his stud being bred, but not in allowing the
market to be flooded by breeders who seem to have financial motivations foremost.
Amelia Averil, 8 Willow Brook Rd.,