Honestly, truely guys DON'T READ TOO MUCH INTO THIS QUIZ!!! I could only set it up, after I'd plugged in all the Q's as having to choose a CORRECT and INCORRECT answer. Not quite what I had in mind ;-) So just look at the answers people have given.... it is supposed to be a thought provoking quiz and one to encourage discussion on I suppose 'the definition of a BYB' and nothing more and nothing less ;-)
For example I purposely did not specify a % score which means above or below this you are a BYB ;-) As a VERY rough guide I should imagine the higher you score the less likely it is you are falling into the realms of irresponsible breeding. If I scored 25% or below, and couldn't justify my answers, I would really start to worry about my breeding practices for example. For sure those that have used a dog scored in the USA may score lower if they therefore didn't tick the 'used BVA health scored dog' BUT will know why their score is lower and presumably will happy with that etc etc
On the whole I think it quite positive. An awful lot of people seem to know a lot about their breed/s etc ;-)
Personally - from my perspective it makes little difference to me - I know I've done my best and can sleep at night -
The problem is, this is a public forum and people read it, and take what they read at face value.
How many times have we seen people say "oh - but there's loads of red in the pedigree so it must be OK to breed" without knowing anything about their breed
How many people say I've got a KC registered breed but the pups are not registered - this to me almost verges on heinous - because invariably - if the parents are KC registered and the pups are not, there is usually reasons behind it - and sadly, very few of them are good reasons
I think KC registration for those breeds recognised by the KC is critical and I know there is small but growing interest in the activity register for cross-breeds and unrecognised breeds after some kind member pointed out that actually, their health tests etc are recorded and published in exactly the same way as the BRS (the only difference being, they probably have to be submitted to the KC manually - which I do anyway to remove the delays between the tests being done and the results appearing on the database).
Doing the health-tests in isolation is not enough reason to breed - breeding from a dog with results above the breed average does not automatically make someone a bad breeder and doesn't guarantee the progeny will develop problems
I do believe that showing and working give a breeder an indication of what they are aiming for, even if their dogs are not there yet - but I do also know some pet breeders who are very up on their breeds - are responsible - use proven show and working sires and health-test to the hilt.
So whilst from a personal perspective - it doesn't make much difference to me - I do feel it could give an unbalanced view to beginners and give them the right to feel they could become / are a good breeder when in fact they are not
What does joining a breed club actually mean for example? yes, you have to be approved and seconded - but the benefits someone choses to use can vary from being as simple as lower entry fees at shows and working events.
I agree with comments Rocco has made that in the main repeat matings don't offer many advantages - but sometimes they do, and they are actually not that common in my own breed except where there has been great success with the progeny in ring / field
I generally don't use my own stud dogs, but this time am generally considering it - using outside dogs is right if you are using the dog that best matches your bitch - but if that dog just happens to be sitting in front of your fireplace and you understand your breed enough to make that decision, then that's not wrong either - and rightly or wrongly - a breeder owning both parents is something that I know for a fact is highly valued by puppy buyers - yet so many times, the dog can be used for the wrong reasons - but puppy buyers would see it as good not bad
