@Andrew:
I have been growing increasingly fascinated with breeding… I always thought you just found a boy & a girl that were pretty & made puppies. I didn't realize you had to worry about all of these other things... genetics (obviously you don't want inbreeding, but I didn't know about conformation & temperment, etc). I have always thought it would be a "fun" "business" someday, but now I realize I'm totally naive & stupid & would want to research for atleast a few years before I even attempted to become a breeder (I also realize its not a money making business for those who truly care about the breed & the dog). What are some really good resources to learn about breeding, basenjis in particular? What is a good place to start learning? (Again this is nothing I'm contemplating doing anytime in the next few years!) I just want to learn everything I can about this breed.
Good for you Andrew… you can go to BCOA site (Basenji Club of America) and then to "Is a Basenji for me", there is a link for "how to find a responsible breeder"... read through that list and you will get answer to many questions, also you will have most likely even more questions. On the BCOA site become familar with health concerns in our breed... what we have tests for and what we don't... Find yourself a mentor, a responsible breeder that will teach you... go to shows, go to performance. Before you think about breeding you need to learn about conformation and one question a responsible breeder needs to ask themselves before breeding is "what does the dog/bitch have to offer the breed?"... you have to be honest ... about your dogs. Many breeders while they have finished champions, did not get the right answer to that question and so those dogs were not bred...
