Hoping to get some help from Bedlington breeders on here, please--a friend of mine has a dog coming up for 2 years old, no papers (his sire was KC registered but not the dam), and told me today she would like to use him to sire a litter :( -- apparently another owner who has a bitch has swapped telephone numbers with her with a view to doing this when her bitch comes into season next year!!!!

I'm no expert, but he doesn't stand out as a shining example of the breed. I spent over an hour going through scores of reasons why not to do it and already have emailed her the posts on this site under Breeding (should I be breeding from my dog/bitch), information on health testing for the breed, etc. Does anyone know about the costs of health testing for CT and TRD? Is there more I can be saying to put her off? Thanks in advance for all your help.

CT testing via Animal Health Trust, current pricing is on their website, both dog and bitch must be tested Eye testing is done by a specialist vet, costs vary. 

Info here http://www.bedlingtonterrierhealthgroup.org.uk/

One thing your friend may not understand is that dogs can change quite a bit after mating a bitch.  They can be more likely to challenge or respond to a perceived challenge with other dogs as they see them as competition for bitches.  They can also start marking in the house and other places and they can become quite obsessed if they smell that there is a bitch in season somewhere in the locality - in reality this can mean anywhere in a half-mile radius or further!. 

thanks Dill, good points and I will pass them on--the dog is already very sensitive to challenge and goes for other males, so I can see that this could be a real issue.

In that case I would avoid breeding from him ;)   they should not go looking for a fight, but would be willing to defend themselves.   If the dog is already agressive to males, he won't improve after being mated.

> they can become quite obsessed if they smell that there is a bitch in season somewhere in the locality

This is so very true, and worth emphasising to your friend.

I recently had a visiting bitch to be covered by one of my boys.  As it wasn't too far to travel, the bitch was brought a little early, and had the opportunity to "get to know" her boyfriend.

It was on the 3rd visit that it became obvious that my lad was interested, and we had a tie.  The other boys had been crated 2 rooms away, to ensure no accidents.  The noise was horrific.  They all howled for the bitch, and it was obvious that they knew she was ready.  How the hell can they smell behind closed doors?  But they can, and went wild.  You can tell her that it can be a real nuisance. 

Tell her the neighbours will complain!  :-)

Remind them that as the stud owners that they are just as responsible for the litter as the bitch owners so if the puppies dont sell they will have to lend a helping hand by taking some in.

Also people are getting much more health test savey so if a puppy had bad health problems passed on from the parents they can be taken to court.