Hi, im new to this site.
I was asked today if i would be interested in studding my dalmatian to another. Both are registered, and i would be getting mine hearing tested before any breeding was to be done.
I would also tyr to get him hip-scored.
Do you readers think that i would be quite a responsible dog breeder to do this before breeding as there are so many that aren't tested and i wouldn't want to be classed as irresponsible and not producing healthy litters.

To be honest I think you and the owner of the bitch need to to far more than just health test if you want to be responsible breeders although that should be the starting point.

Why is the bitch being bred.
Have they both been shown or otherwise assessed.
What age are they.
Do they have endorsements (most registered dogs from responsible breeder do)
Can the bitch owner afford to have a litter.

Could go on but just trying to point out that hip scoring and deaf checking are not all that is required before breeding and a good knowledge of the pedigree of both dogs is needed to make sure they are a good match and will produce the improvements the bitch owner is looking for.

Responsible breeding is a lot of different things that all have to come together. Using registered and health tested (with good results, of course) dogs and bitches is just one part of it. The responsible breeder always has a real reason for producing a litter; usually to improve a breed in both looks and temperament and health and often also/or working ability. Parents will have done well in the show ring or in any form of work, depending on breed. Litters are bred only to bring something good to the breed, not just to sell puppies. The breeder will normally only breed a litter when they want to keep a pup for themselves, for showing or working. Pedigrees will be studied carefully to see the parents are a good match, NOT just as far as heavy inbreeding goes but knowing what health, temperament and looks etc were behind both, so you need to have knowledge of the dogs in both the dog's and bitch's pedigree. The responsible breeder AND stud dog owner will also undertake to help the puppy buyers with any queries they may have (feeding, training, health, the breed in general etc), for the life of their puppy, and if anything should go wrong, agree to take any puppy back at any point during its life. Should puppies not get sold, then both the stud owner and bitch owner would normally have to keep several each -it isn't always easy to find good homes for puppies, so this has to be borne in mind. With my last large breed litter I ended up having to keep two pups and the stud owner took two as well when really we'd have preferred to just keep one each, but we had no choice as several buyers pulled out.

My first question to this bitch owner would be why they are keen to use your dog as opposed to any other dog -what is it that has impressed them? The answer will tell you a lot about whether it is a responsible breeder or not. Responsible breeders will always want to use the very best dog possible for their particular bitch, even if it is hundreds of miles away.