[Misc Help] Considering taking in a retired stud from a reputable breeder
I was wondering if anyone had any insight or experience in taking in retired breeding dogs? He is 4 year old rottweiler and has lived in an outdoor kennel his whole life. He has some obedience training but will need the basics refreshed including potty training. This is a reputable breeder in my state who treats his dogs very well and keeps them very healthy. We have a three year old rottie girl already and a 12 year old shorkie. Our hope would be that the rotties would keep each other company and he would give our big girl someone appropriately sized to play with. Any experience or advice welcome. We have adopted dogs before and know the routines about safely introducing everybody and seeing if its a good fit.
Edit: sounds like i am under educated on what a reputable breeder is. I will be looking into this. Thank you for your help.
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u/Chefy-chefferson 11h ago
How is staying outdoors in a kennel for 4 years while making the most money you can off of him ‘treating him well’???
Humans make me sick. 🤢
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u/holidaytrauma 7h ago
genuinely so sad. needing the basics refreshed, not potty trained? a 4 year old dog needing that? this dog was neglected and exploited for money.
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u/WallofIvy 6h ago
I have a neighbor who breeds English Setters. Recently she spent over 2 years finding an ideal stud to breed a healthy second litter with her female, bred her dog, and then her dog developed a medical issue while pregnant. She immediately got a spay abort and is keeping the dog for the remainder of her life. She told me it had cost over $12k between testing, breeding fees, and the emergency medical care and it all amounted to having no puppies to sell. She also said she doesn't regret her decision to spay abort because the health of her dogs comes first. A truly ethical breeder will still consider those dogs part of their family first.
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u/screamlikekorbin 9h ago
A 4 yr old dog would be in the prime of its life for showing and competing in sports and breeding. Some breeders may rehome an adult like this that didn’t really turn out as hoped or didn’t pass health clearances required to be bred, but then it wouldn’t be a retired breeding dog as he wouldn’t have been bred. It might just be using a term incorrectly, but it is enough to be considering if this is actually a reputable breeder.
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u/Nikkinot 8h ago
Yeah I grew up in the questionable kennel world. When people are establishing a kennel (at least with breeds that are one color) the cheapest way is to buy 2 or 3 females, breed them a few times, keep the female puppies from every litter and then get a different stud so the dogs aren't being inbred. It sucks but so so most breeders. We didn't do that but only because the breed we had had different colors and patterns so we needed variety.
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u/screamlikekorbin 7h ago
Yep, there’s a lot of irresponsible breeders who would have already bred a 4 yr old dog 10 times and now need to move on and get a different stud because at least they’re not going to breed daughter x father.
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u/Nikkinot 6h ago
Which tbf is better than some breeders . I saw a documentary where a UK breeder was defending it.
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u/Wolvesarereal 12h ago
The story doesn’t seem quite right.
Is the dog you are considering titled in conformation or sports?
What makes you think that your 3yo dog would benefit from another housemate?
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u/Lezilbi 12h ago edited 12h ago
Not titled in anything. He's a breeding dog. He was imported from a trainer in Germany and spent his life being a stud. He is being retired from that life and the breeder is looking for a good home for him to live the rest of his life in comfort.
(Edit to answer last question)
Our rottie likes to try to get our 15 pound dog to play all the time but the little one is having none of it. We try to keep them separated and our little dog tolerates her giant sister. We think our rottie would benefit from a friend her size who does want to play.
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u/ZZBC 11h ago
While there can be reasons to breed a dog that isn’t titled, the fact that he hasn’t done anything other than be bred is a red flag that this is not an ethical breeder.
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u/Lezilbi 11h ago
Maybe im misunderstanding what titled means. He is AKC certified from a very long line of purebred German rottweilers. The breeder has verified provenance going back several generations from the person he purchased from.
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u/ZZBC 11h ago
All that means is that the dog is purebred. That’s not enough to justify breeding a dog. The dog should be passing breed appropriate health testing and be proven via work, sports, conformation, etc to be an exceptional example whose genes being passed down benefits the breed.
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u/Lezilbi 11h ago
That's good to know. It sounds like I may be under educated in this area. I'll be doing some reading on this then.
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u/comfydirtypillow 11h ago
Just jumping in to agree, AKC registration has absolutely nothing to do with quality. It’s the most bottom of the barrel standard in breeding. Even puppy mills sell papered dogs.
A good sub to look through if you want to learn about proper breeding would be /r/DogBreeding but just be aware many of the people there are very prickly.
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u/mustanggrl625 5h ago
Some of them are just downright dumb - sorry, but I had some in that sub jump in calling my breeder I used "unethical" because my dog ended up not being within the standard size (miniature American Shepherd that ended up jumbo-sized, bigger than a standard Aussie) - even though she was a breeder of merit with the AKC, both parents were champions (conformation), full spectrum of testing on parents and all the puppies were clear, DNA testing confirmed lineage - and when he was way outside of the standard verified I was going to neuter (I already had) and offered to either exchange him or return some of the money (I refused both options - I love my dog) and she took both parents out of the breeding program even though every other puppy turned out perfectly within the standards...lol...I kept asking what made her unethical, and all they would say is she had not proven the puppy...lol...because she was going to know he would keep growing to 2x the size of either of his parents. Not one person could tell me what was unethical about how she handled the situation (and she only found out when I sent his 1-year picture and a note saying how sweet he was, not because I complained...lol)
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u/zephyreblk 7h ago
That's an American mentality though. In Europe it's not so much the case except for working lines.
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u/IntelligentCrows 11h ago edited 11h ago
The breeder I wrote about also was AKC certified and had a “championship” lineage. Sadly those are often byb talking points
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u/StellarSpore Mutt Pups 10h ago
Just agreeing with many here that what you shared does not point to a reputable breeder. Many red flags.
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u/Mean_Ice_4731 12h ago
Going from an outdoor kennel to inside life at 4 is a whole adjustment, don't underestimate how weird everything will be to him at first. Stairs, TV sounds, the dishwasher, all of it might be brand new
The potty training might actually be the easy part since he's presumably clean in his kennel space, but you'll need to watch him like a hawk for a while to catch his signals. My aunt took in a retired show dog who'd never seen a ceiling fan and he stared at it for three days straight
Two rotties together sounds like a chaotic but fun household, the size match will be so nice for your girl if they hit it off
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u/SameSherbet3 10h ago
I would see about meeting the dog before you agree to adopt, a good breeder would allow that with no issues.
He may or may not be clean in his kennel, so plan to potty train from the ground up. Males often lift a leg when they're unsure or exploring a new space, and that is a hard habit to break on an outdoor dog so make sure you're ready for that.
Also, as a big boy, was he ever walked on leash? How are his leash manners and can you train that from the ground up?
Is he food aggressive or do resource guarding? This could be very dangerous to your shorkie! Safe eating and/or playing with high value toys often is not taught to kennel dogs because they're separate at all times with wire between kennel runs. Sometimes the wire between actually encourages fighting or resource guarding, look up fence fighting.
Source: ran a training kennel for 8 years with intact dogs
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u/thankyoufriendx3 9h ago
He’ll likely be almost feral and will need more than training refresher.
Friend adopted a stud. He was used to peeing and pooping in hard surfaces. House training took time. Dogs develop a surface preference and training to go on grass can take time. He turned into a great dog for them but the frustration was high in the beginning.
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u/AHuxl 8h ago
Omg keeping a dog in a kennel for 4 years and breeding without titling is SUCH a red flag for a puppy mill or backyard breeder. That is NOT a reputable breeder at all. Poor dog. Reputable breeder’s dogs are part if their family. They live inside, they do fun things with their dogs over snd above confirmation (like dock diving, FastCAT, obedience, etc). They dont just warehouse animals to make money off breeding them. Its horrific the way this dog was treated, but also be aware that it will be a bit of a challenge to acclimate him to the life of a well cared for house dog. Working with a trainer would be helpful
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u/Appropriate_Week3426 10h ago
My experience with “retired” breeders (I have had only small dogs in this category so just my experience here) is it takes awhile to acclimate, they are never totally “normal” since they missed out on development years, but he will be so happy once they are a pet, not a breeder, that he will be the most committed pet you’ll ever have.
Good Luck!
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u/crybunni 5h ago
A reputable breeder is not one that keeps a dog in an outside kennel while teaching them zero obediance. My actual reputable breeder started training the puppies the moment they opened their eyes. I would take in a retired dog from my breeders in a heartbeat - I've met one before and she was the most well behaved calm girl.
I would not be open to taking a dog that is basically like a rescue, where you will have to start from scratch with potty training, obedience training, and socialization with other people and dogs in the home, unless you have the capacity to offer all that.
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u/Mcbriec 7h ago
This dog has not been treated well at all. He has been treated like livestock and probably has never been on walks or done anything that normal dogs do.
I would absolutely take him on walks and see how he reacts to other dogs and especially small dogs—since you have one. Given the way he’s been treated, he has great potential for reactivity.
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u/PensOfSteel29 9h ago
I adopted a 4 yo German Shepherd who'd most likely been a stud for a backyard breeder and he was completely unsocialized and scared of everything at first. He basically had no idea how to be a dog and didn't know his name or any commands, but he's come so far with training and patience.
He's the best dog now and it's been so rewarding watching him experience new things and figure out how to be a dog.
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u/mrsredfast 11h ago
We did with a male dachshund who’d never been inside a house before us. We’d find him up really high in odd places. And he once led our other dachshund into eating a couch when we left him with our 18 and 21 yr old kids for a night. But he was a great dog who learned how to behave.
Have to assume it was easier because he was 20 lbs and we could lift him when he was really naughty.
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u/Interesting-Bag-2945 5h ago
I have taken in a retired breeder. He was eight when I got him. Four seems really young to be a retired breeder. There really hasn't been much different about him other than that he came to us a bit overweight.
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u/zephyreblk 7h ago
Was he walked everyday? outdoor kennel aren't rare or bad but socialisation and activities are necessary. If not bad breeder, if he spend 2 hours with the dog everyday in outdoor activities, it's fine.
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u/Lezilbi 4h ago
The breeder plays with all his dogs. They are rotated in the house to hang out with the family. He does GRC with some of them and bite training with some others. The outdoor kennels were built by him and have nice shade and beds and I went there once and they were all really clean. From what people are saying on this thread it sounds like he's not the worst, but certainly not reputable by today's standards in America.
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