Should you breed from a dog who has serious fear aggression?

My ex has a Bullmastif bitch, he told me yesterday that he is going to breed from her next year, she will be 3, from champion stock (so he tells me)Its his first dog.

I looked after her for a week this summer and she was absolutely terrified of me/my house etc (she had never been away from home before)

I gave her space, talked softly to her at her level (i sat on the floor), avoiding eye contact etc and she just growled and growled and growled, heckles up and walking around slowly head lowered but eyes on me. She did at one point lunge forward a snap at me. (ex was on his way to airport)

Now I have been doing home boarding for 15 years and have never had one like this. Normally I do a day visit first but didnt as ex went on and on how nice his dog is!

By day 5 she allowed me to stoke her back if she came up to me,(shes head shy, I found out later ) but I could not approach her.

Now I know this is only one situation and she is fine in the exs home, but surely if a dog has this sort of temprement, should she be bred from , thats without going into ALL the other breeding issues?

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I'm not a breeder but I would say definitely don't breed from her

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Thankyou, I am hoping for lots of replys to show him!! If I just tell him, he wont listen as we dont exactly get on!!!

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No, there are a few things any breeder should take into consideration when thinking about the dog in front of them, health, temperament, conformation and ability, not necessarily in that order.

I'm trying to think of a good way to put this without it sounding as though I'm disregarding them, but health, conformation and ability can all be improved on, it needs to be at a level that's acceptable, but a combination of the right dogs will hopefully improve on any weak points. Temperament is a completely different kettle of fish, if a dog is aggressive at all, then I personally don't think it should be bred from.

i dont know a thing about breeding but i would say NO to breeding from her, i know people are probably thinking because this trait may pass on to the pups but im thinking of how she would react to lots of strangers coming into her home, picking up her pups etc, this could all very well end in tears, someone being bitten, and her being pts and none of the puppies sold etc i feel from the sounds of it the whole breeding process would be a nightmare for the poor thing.

Deffinately not, Not only from a genetic point of view, the bitch is also responsible for teaching her puppies too, if you have a bitch who is stressed nervous and uncertain about people and situations then thats likely what the puppies will pick up on too. Thats one of the reasons if not the main reason its said always see a litter with mum, not just to prove its not a dealer, but so you can meet and interact with mum and assess her temperament, usually if something worries you about mums behaviour you will see it too in the pups.

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Sleeping Lions post says it all - good temperament is absolutely vital and is absoloutely the last thing I personally would ever compromise on

We had a GR bitch we were going to breed from with excellent hip and eye scores but she was quite fear aggressive so we decided against it for the sake of her future puppies and she was spayed at 2yrs old

When people come to visit pups they will want to see mum and expect to see a friendly mum not an aggessive mum

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Our Precious Girls.

Why does he want to breed? because he's got a dog with a few champions in her pedigree? has she been shown? is she a good example of her breed? She's obviously not been socialised so will he have time for the bitch and the pups? Has he had any health tests done? Who is he hoping to sell pups to? I agree with others how will the bitch cope with people coming into her home to look at her pups? It's a very stressful time for a well socialised dog never mind one who hasn't been socialised.

Sounds like he wants to make money, hasn't looked after his dog properly, wont spend time (and money) on the bitch and pups. Is he going to spend 3 or 4 weeks at home with her looking after them all? It doesn't sound like he should be breeding any dog, never mind one he's already neglected :-(

Pups do pick up on their mother's nature and if she's stressed, so will they be.

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Penny
Funfastquick Agility Dogs

If the dog has a poor temperament no. Under no circumstances would it be good breeding stock because temperament is inherited. How to behave is also learned from the mother so the puppies would learn to be fearful of people coming to see them. There could be very serious consequences for him and any visitor trying to see the mother with the puppies at a time when she could easily be more volatile than usual.

What would he do if he was reported if she bit a visitor. If the bitch is not a good mother she might be too harsh at disciplining her puppies and seriously damage or kill one. There are other puppies who will be pleased to see visitors and nice bitches which people may go to see, they will probably want one of those and not want to buy a fearful puppy with an aggressive mother. Is he prepared to keep a puppy or all of the puppies that nobody wants to buy. Is he going to pay compensation when mating her if she bit the stud dog owner or damaged the stud dog?

He might also look at the Sale of Goods act before he sells a puppy and be prepared for a puppy with an unsuitable temperament being returned to him.