A Dog is a Man's Best Friend

When starting a new breeding program, sometimes the thought of a new breeder is to just acquire two fertile felines, put them together at the right time and then wait the appropriate 63 days until a succesful litter has been born. Unfortunately, this has happened over and over again causing wonderful breed lines to be diluted down with traits that are undesirable according to the breed standard. Like most other endeavors, education is of the utmost importance for a new breeder. If you are starting a new breeding program or are considering becoming a breeder, one of the best things that you can do to succesfully produce exceptional kittens is to learn the breed standard for the breed that you are working with. This information is easily obtained off of the internet and from a host of printed resources. When starting out, look up the breed standard and prove to yourself that the felines you are going to place together for a future breeding are representative of the breed standard for that particular breed. In reality, not every feline in your breeding program will fit the breed standard without deviation. That is just a fact of life as the breed standard is exactly what it says it is - a standard. It is a representation of what the perfect example of a particular breed is. Keeping the breed standard in mind, a simple approach to breeding is to pair animals together that have complimentary traits. For instance, if the breed standard for the breed you are working with calls for short, rounded ears, it would not be advisable to pair together animals that both have tall, pointed ears. This is part of the process of producing felines with consistant, reproducable traits. Well, what happens if you have a feline that meets the breed standard with the exception of, let's say, the ears? If the breed standard calls for short, rounded ears and you are working with a feline that meets the standard except that your feline has medium to tall ears, you then have the responsibility of breeding this feline to another that exhibits the trait that you are trying to attain. This means that you should only pair this animal with a feline that has short, rounded ears according to the example that we are working with. When you follow these simple rules of breeding, you are beginning to work toward a succesful breeding program that produces quality animals that are representative of the breed that you are working with. This type of breeding, done in a very simple way, helps to advance the breed that you are working with by producing kittens that exhibit particular desired traits while eliminating traits that are not desired. For the novice and advanced alike, education is the key for laying a solid foundation for building a succesful breeding program. Read, learn and know the breed standard for the breed that you are working with. Strive to produce kittens that meet the breed standard. As you have kittens that are not representative of the breed standard (with the exception of minor deviation) , make the decision to have those kittens neutered/spayed so that they will not dilute the breed with unwanted traits when they become fertile. This is being an ethical breeder that keeps "advancing the breed" as a mantra when breeding. Now, go have fun and make some wonderful kittens! Enjoy the fruits of your succesful breeding program as others come to know you as a reputable breeder of quality felines. Greg Abel DiCaprio Cattery http://www.DiCaprioBengals.com