I have a 13 month old Type A (Zeus) who is appears to be ready, willing and able to be used for his studding ability!!!  He's a happy and healthy guy who has been raised with 2 other dogs and 2 kids.  One of the other dogs is a female Type A (Dizzy), too young to be bred with.  Zeus has been (VERY) sexually inquisitive since he was about 3 months old, trying to have his way with any stuffed toy he could mount!  We've taken away and/or kept him away from the stuffed toys although when Dizzy came in to her first heat recently, it fired Zeus up all over again.  Is this an indicator that he should be or could be used for studding and would this help relieve him of the constant desire to mount things? 

Dogs, male AND female will mount things such as stuffed animals and anything else for that matter, but that does not mean that they "SHOULD/could" be bred.  Is there a particular reason you are wanting to stud him out?  Is it for the money?  Studding him out is not going to relieve his desire to mount things...if anything it will proabably just make things worse, especially if he is around female dogs.  If you want to remove his desire to mount things, I think it would be best to have him neutered.

Humping toys at 3 months could also just indicate a dominance thing, regardless just because he WANTS to breed doesn't mean that he should.  Have you had all the genetic testing done on him?  Unless you are really sure you want to be a breeder and have researched all you need to know, etc. (are you going to breed the female when older?) you should have him neutered ASAP.  Neutering also lessens his chances of cancer.

just my opinion... but... AGAIN if you need to ask these ???'s don't breed.. sorry! I leave my breeding to the Pro's!If we don't what have we got? look at what happened to the GREAT Chi's and POODLE! look at the bad genes that are out there and for what cause SOMeBODY! thought it would be NICE to have SUMMM PuPPIES!, I want the breed to PROSPER! and Have HEALTHY! dogs that don't get these Genitic BAD things Happen to them! Please FIX HIM! If you want a puppy... find a nice one or rescue one! Like I did! Or Foster one!!! but please don't! sorry.... But I just got off PETFINDER.COM and there are way too many out there And I got 3 already! Look at those pups eyes!!! somebody thought it would be FUN to have some PUPS TOO! ok off the SOAP BOX NOW! sorry....

I don't want him neutered just yet because I do intend to breed Dizzy and Zeus one time when she comes of age - but I am not trying to make money off of them.  I just didn't know if allowing him to mate before then (assuming his is clinically ready to go) would help him (and me) out.  He has a vet appointment next week but thought I would ask here first. 

I would definately rethink breeding him. If he is a house dog, breeding him is going to give him a big ego boost! Some dogs take it so far as to snap at their owners. I know my Benny to start with was one of the sweetest dogs you could ever ask for. He was really lovable, got along well with other dogs, and of course he has great conformation. He is a beautiful example of the teddy roosevelt style terrier. (He is the adult in my avatar.) After him breeding one time at 2.5 years old, he completely changed. He started snapping at me and my husband....he turned extra aggressive toward any men, or boys, which included my 3 year old son. I completely freaked out because he had bit my son on the hand and brought blood, after many times of snapping. I started emailing everyone that I could think of asking them what to do and why he was acting the way he was. All gave me the same answer, it is because he has now been bred and now he is the pack leader. Some told me that it would be best to put him to sleep-which there was no possible way I would EVER do that!! Benny was still my baby even though he was turning psycho on me. Today Benny isn't the least bit aggressive, because of some extensive training and a lot of patience. I am not saying that all male dogs that are bred do this, but why take the risk with your what is no happy go lucky pet? Since Benny's first breeding I have allowed him to breed one other time and he is doing well, but still I am strongly thinking of getting him neutered, just because it is not worth the risk. I was scared to death that he would never be sweet little Benny dog again. I honestly thought that he had completely lost his marbles!! If it would not have been for a lot of friends and a lot of research, he probably would have stayed a rabid monster.  Now he is the best dog you could ask for again.

Thank you!  I truly appreciate your (non-judgemental) response.  This is my first post and nearly every response I got was as though I was trying to start a puppy-mill in considering breeding them.  Truth is, we have a large family and extended family who are not familiar with Rat Terriers and absolutely love our dogs.  They have asked (if not begged) us to breed them so they could have a puppy.  That's where the idea of having a litter came in to play.  Anyway, again, I appreciate your response and will take into consideration Benny's temperment change after breeding.  

I have a 4 month old Rattie male I just had neutered Tuesday. This little guy has great bloodlines,conformation,temperment,coloring,etc.But,IF I would have bred him, it would have not been before the age of two, only after ALL testing was clear, I would still have been breeding for ALL the wrong reasons. I am NOT a breeder nor do I want to be and I am NOT saying there aren't any good breeders, just that this is a lot to think about, it's not just about putting 2 dogs together to "let them have at it".

Breeding is a serious subject not to be taken lightly, so many things can go wrong. You have to sit and ask yourself

1. Can you afford all the testing that needs to be done, not ONLY on the male but the female as well, are you willing to fork out the money to have the testing done.

2.Are you ready for anything that can happen,can you AFFORD it IF something does happen?? emergency vet bills are not cheap.

In all honesty, I don't think the other members are trying to come off as judgemental.  I think that alot of them have rescued ratties and work closely with the rescues like Ratbone Rescue and they realize that there is honestly a very low demand for ratties. Of course we all love our ratties and that is why we are here. The way I look at it, if everyone had their ratties spayed or neutered the breed would very quickly go extinct. I not only breed my dogs for the betterment of the breed, but also to see smiles of the new owners! To get pictures of the pup and its new room. I love to see how badly my puppies are getting spoiled!! When the new owners send me pics I put them up on my myspace page to show them off. I definately don't breed for the money--believe me, I am way in the hole!! It is my love for the breed and my love for rattie lovers. For me I honestly would rather give one of my pups away to a good home than to sell a pup to bad home for a thousand dollars. As for the judgemental posts, as a rescuer myself I understand their side and as a breeder that many times got those same responses, I understand your side. They just want to make sure that you are trying to better the breed and giving ratties a good name so that they will become a more popular breed, so that there are not so many ratties in foster homes, kill shelters, etc. I hope that this helps you to understand. I honestly think that most would agree with me. If not I am very sorry, and know that I am not trying to offend anyone .

If your famil and extended family want a Rat Terrier there is the option to adopt one and save a rats life. Because if you are only going to breed for that reason I would say it is the wrong reason. I would have talk to them about adopting before I breed. I'm not trying to be mean but there are so many rats that need a home . Look into Ratbones Rescue and you will see why I say this.

YA KNOW.. i GUESS THAT IS WHY i DESIDED TO FINALLY cut SHAMUS TOO! HE ONLY COST ME 200$ W papers! AND 5 YRS PEDIGREE!!IT WOULD HAVE COST MORE TO DO THE TESTING!!! and! HE ENDED UP WITH A OVERSHOT BOTTOM TEETH!!! SO I SAVE'D A LOT A TROUBLE! YOU CAN'T EVEN SHOW'M WITH THAT! AND HIS BREEDER IS IN BUS. 30 YRS!!! CAUSE NOW I DON'T FEEL BAD THAT I ONLY SPENT 200$+75 TO FIX HIM AND SHOTS AND I'M DONE!!! AND I GOT A REALLY NICE DOG!! WHAT DOES IT COST NOW FOR LET S SEE..

PUP?=2-3HUNDRED $$$$

SHOTS=SAY75$

TESTING!!!$$$$=  mom DIES...opps! SORRY NO PUPPYS! OH YA PUT MOM DOWN TO!humm

COSTSAVINGS? PAIN AND SUFFERING P R I C E L E S S !!!!!

KODOS! FOR YOU!!! CAN WE BROADCAST THIS!SO DID MINE! THAT IS WHY THEY HAVE BEEN IN BUS. 30 YRS!!!

 As I said before I am way in the hole, I just love ratties!! To me the most important thing is to ensure the well being of all of my babies....Including my 4 brats! My husband and I had a big debate the other day about pet food. We spend anywhere from 50-75 dollars a week in dog food...that is what started the conversation (we spend more money on our dogs food then we do our own ). To give you a little bit of history: I work at a grocery store as a customer service manager. I work in a poor neighborhood and the majority of our stores sales come from foodstamps and WIC. Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that part of the deal, but I also noticed that the majority of our customers buy the cheapest store brand dog food that they can. At our store we have 5 lbs bags for 1.00. I am so suprised at the number of customers that buy that dog food. It makes me want to ask them if they know what is in that stuff. Which I am not rich or anything, but it really bothers me. It is sad I can base my opinions of people from the brands of dog food they buy. Which my husband did have a point, would it be better if the dogs were running the streets with no food or shelter or to have an loving owner that feeds the cheap dog food because it is all that they can afford? Which of course I would rather the dogs have homes, but what I wander is it really that they can't afford it or is it because they are not educated about the differences in dog food? Maybe my dogs are just spoiled .

WELL I  HAVE TO SORT OF AGREE... except that what I have noticed that it doesn't seem to affect the huge SUV! that they put gas in! what  in Ca. is up to 3.36 a gallon again! or that CARTON!!of SMOKES! here 35$ each! So I don't think it's $$$$, its PRIORTY"S!!!so you see I look in the baskets too....I amazes me!But you have to admit FIDO being chain'd to the tree doesn't care... TODAY HE GOT FED!Yea mine are pampered too! Just got back from the butcher where he cut boys some rib bones to have something to do during the storm! But I can't afford to have them sick either! And mine live a LONG!!! life too!