I was talking to a man yesterday who had bred a litter of working  Lurcher pups a couple of years ago. He said that he could not find suitable homes for all the pups so rather than let them go to homes he wasn't 100% happy with he had 2 pups put to sleep.

Luckily I have never been in the position of having unsold pups but I am sure it must happen, especially in this day and age. At first I was quite shocked at what he had said but the more I think about it I can see the logic behind it. He will never have to worry that the pups will be unhappy, or badly treated in the wrong home. I hope I never do have to make that decision but wondered what people did in that situation. Do ou contact your breed rescue? Offer the pups at a cheaper price. Or do people put them to sleep? and do the vets actually do it?

>Do ou contact your breed rescue? Offer the pups at a cheaper price. Or do people put them to sleep? and do the vets actually do it?

Breed rescue doesn't come into it; that's not what it's for. Breeders choose that puppies are born so if they can't find proper homes for them they should either keep them themselves or put them to sleep, not pass the buck. If they're not prepared to do that they shouldn't be breeding.

I had a pup from my last litter who nobody wanted to buy - after a few more weeks I had a couple of people ring to ask what the price had gone down to, and if they waited a bit longer how much more would it go to? There's no way I was going to let him go to people with that attitude! I'd definitely have put him to sleep rather than that. He stayed with me and I abandoned my breeding plans because I would have had too many dogs. He's 13½ now - and no, he's not for sale!

If you don't have the room and there is no sure option for a pup I guess that is what a responsible breeder will do, I don't have a problem with it.

Myself....... I won't bring anything into this world that I am not prepared to look after myself if things go wrong or if indeed a home were never found. A litter for me is planned with every scenario possibly thought of. I just would not breed if I did not have the room or the time to give to pups and adult dogs.

I have pups/adults home for holidays, illness or life's problems, so to me there is no difference in keeping a pup if no suitable homes are available, eventually there may well be one ;-) but no.... if something is living, breathing, fit and healthy and enjoying life with me I personally could not have an older pup pts, but I know I have the room and time, unfortunately I guess some people just don't and they do right by the pup if they can't keep them.

Better that than spending a lifetime worrying about what is happening.....

>Or do people put them to sleep? and do the vets actually do it?

Is it actually legal for anyone other than a vet to euthanize an animal.  I thought it was a crime for anyone else to kill an animal.

I think it was meant in the sense "do people have them put to sleep", and whether vets are agreeable to it, not suggesting that people do it themselves.

Thanks for that. 

> Breed rescue doesn't come into it; that's not what it's for. Breeders choose that puppies are born so if they can't find proper homes for them they should either keep them themselves or put them to sleep, not pass the buck. If they're not prepared to do that they shouldn't be breeding.
>

In difficult to properly home breeds, that also routinely have large litters I still believe culling at birth is the better of the unpalatable options, though of course after PDE the Kennel club has written into their Code of ethics that healthy pups are not to be culled..

Quite agree, and if I was forced to do the latter, I probably would never breed again, but the buck should stop with the breeder.

I have 3 from one litter, with the stud dog owner having 2 from that same litter. I know somebody who had to keep 5 pups from the same litter, and it's not an easy breed. It's the risk you take when breeding, having to keep several if buyers drop out. I would never ADVERTISE pups as being cheap and reduced in price as that would be like begging for the wrong people to get in touch,  but I would very happily give them away for free if I was certain the homes were the right ones, which most of the time would mean being people I already know.

I can see the logic in putting pups to sleep in the sense that they will not suffer one way or another (there are always fates worse than death!), but I think that a) it would be virtually impossible these days to find a vet agreeing to do it, and b) should anyone ever be THAT desperate then they should never, ever breed another litter. It's just not ethical. That's quite apart from the fact that I'd never be able to do it. Controversial yes, but I would have had no major ethical problem with culling (at birth or soon after) and when I bred small animals, in particular mice, it was the norm. In the mice we'd cull all the bucks and just keep the does in the litters. But this isn't anything we can even consider in dogs today (and nothing I have done) and therefore we must all do everything we can to be fairly sure we have several homes lined up before the bitch is even mated, and also be prepared to keep several pups should it prove impossible to find the right type of homes.

Why would you breed a litter if you had to put the puppies to sleep, sorry but not ethical. I would give up if i thought this would ever happen.

>Why would you breed a litter if you had to put the puppies to sleep

It's not on the to-do list when you breed the litter, just as nobody plans to have deformed or brain-damaged puppies. Accepting that you might have to do unpleasant things is a requisite for a responsible breeder, surely.

I absolutely agree that pups with major deformaties be PTS and I have had to do so.However putting healthy pups to sleep is a different ball game altogether

I think I agree I would give up too if I thought this was going to be the upshot. Just once I had a puppy unsold until 14 weeks ( they normall go at 8 weeks ) but eventually the most marvellous home came along and I still trim him now at 13 years. We called hime Blue - they named him Harry - and I still call him that when he comes in cos I think its a better name LOL
I do know breeders who have gone through rescue but these have usually been unknown pet breeders. When it happenned to me I was very early days of showing and breeding. Touch wood, I am quite well known now in the breed and in recent years mostly, the pups are sold before they are born and I have had to disappoint people. Luckily I am in a breed that there are not loads of litters available all the time.

I remember my dogfood supplier was in despair that she had seven 14-week old dobermanns still needing homes. She'd had 16 people expressed an interest in a puppy before the bitch was mated; the bitch had 10 dogs and 2 bitches; the people who wanted bitches went elsewhere and some of those wanting dogs changed their minds for whatever reason they chose to tell her. I never did hear what she eventually did.

There is always someone out there wanting a puppy or "an unused one".  I have been looking for 8months and each time they have alerady gone.  The breeders do not do as much as they can in advertising.

The breeders do not do as much as they can in advertising.

Not at all always true. My last litter of my large breed was in 2010. I had 12 homes lined up. 11 pulled out. The bitch had thrown winning pups before (2 RCC winners in her first litter, as well as from her first litter two working security dogs and one doing extremely well in both obedience and agility, so she was well proven both for show and work), the dog was a new import who at the time was on one CC, in a breed where new blood is always sorely needed as our genepool is very small. I advertised absolutely EVERYWHERE, including all the bad websites as well as the good ones, magazines, KC and breed club websites etc etc -you name it, I had an advert there. I only managed to sell 3 pups for actual money, the other 6 were either kept or given away for free to people I knew. Which is why I have not dared to have a litter since and am waiting to next year to leave a 4 year gap. Sadly there are NOT always homes these days no matter what you do.

That is bad news then I can honestly say that in my breed at the moment there are people desperate for a puppy from a good breeder. That would put me off too. Think I might change breed then or give up breeding. We are lucky that there are fewer and fewer breeders but their mid range popularity especially from devotees means people still want them.

I had a litter 9 years ago, and one pup remained unsold.some friends of a friend wanted a dog but could afford the asking price, they could afford to insure the dog. I agreed for them to come and meet the pups and to see what I thought of them. Well it turned out to be a lovely family, I here from them every year and they paid me less than a quarter  of the asking price. My baby has got a wonderful life