I want to address something. I had a verbal exchange with another breeder this morning about breeding a larger male to a smaller female. I want every single breeder to understand this when conversing with other breeders: your age does not qualify you as smarter than another breeder. This woman said "I'm 66 years old" — a former dog and horse breeder.
Age does NOT qualify you as smart, or make your opinions more true. Yes, experience is valuable in breeding. But consider this when you talk to another breeder and discuss different opinions:
A 66-year-old breeder who has bred for, say, 35 years — that means absolutely nothing on its own. Here's why. Let's say Breeder A bred Yorkies for 35 years and had an average of 3 dogs throughout her breeding career. Breeder B has been breeding for 10 years and had an average of 20 breeding dogs during her career. Which breeder has more experience? You guessed it — Breeder B is going to have had way more litters and far more valuable experience.
So while old age is definitely something we want to achieve in this life — if a breeder wants to throw years at you as some kind of qualifier, just laugh.
The Danger of Being Set in Your Ways
I have learned a lot from the older generation of breeders. But older breeders can become set in their ways, may resist learning new information, or resist doing things a new way. I know it's difficult getting older. But I will never shut myself off to learning. I could learn something new from an older person — but it is a huge problem in breeding when breeders think their age makes them more experienced or smarter.
I know a lot of older breeders who still believe that a bitch's eggs can be fertilized on different days. That's not true. And if we shut ourselves off from the possibility of learning, we begin to live in ignorance.
We Are a Product of Our Experiences
In a way, we are a victim of our experiences. The experiences we have form our opinions of what causes what to happen in dog breeding. Veterinarians are the same way — and guess what, veterinarians don't always agree with each other, and neither do breeders. Just because one breeder or veterinarian said something does not make it true. I apply that principle to my breeding program every single day.
We should never stop considering the possibility that something we believed to be fact might actually be wrong. Never stop questioning what you know. Reach for more knowledge. Listen to the experiences of other breeders and veterinarians — and you will be better off than 99% of the breeders out there who think what they know is gospel. The learning never stops. Even at 66.
