There's been a lot of talk about breeders and breeding lately. I'm curious about a couple things...
1) If you have not bred, but plan to, what's in your "code of ethics?" Such as, what is the necessary health testing, necessary titles, whatever else that you WILL NOT compromise on for your dog, and/or the stud dog?
I think for my breed the BSCA COE is a good starting point:
http://www.bsca.info/codeofethics.html
At minimum for health testing, xrayed hips and CERF'd eyes. I do elbows too and so do most people in the US. I guess if the male was what I was looking for in other ways, I'd consider a dog without elbow clearance. There's not really any other clearances required for the breed and the biggest health concern is not HD, ED or eye disorders but epilepsy which is impossible at this time to screen for. So a dog's family history as far as epilepsy goes is going to be a big factor to consider.
I don't have title requirements for breeding. Titles are great but don't tell the whole story. My ideal is always for the parents to be a CH with other titles, preferably advanced titles. I wouldn't discount the right dog for lack of titles on either end though but I'm not sure I'd use two untitled dogs either, as serious puppy buyers often do want to see the parents have some accomplishments. It can be hard to sell puppies from two totally unknown, untitled parents for sure unless you are already well known enough that people will want your puppies regardless (and most of those breeders are breeding titled dogs...).
2) If you have bred a litter, did you end up compromising on anything? And for what reason?
My first litter out of Loki was not planned...so I compromised in that I didn't get to pick at all LOL This was Loki and Jagger.
Second litter was out of Belle. An untitled bitch that I co-owned and owed litters on. I really wanted to use an older, known male with good accomplishments on both himself and his offspring and a solid temperament, known for producing solid temperaments. I did just that and the resulting litter was my most successful to date. If there was a compromise beyond the bitch not being titled, I suppose it was on type as both tend to be a bit more "course", heavy boned and didn't have "elegant" heads. I got some puppies who were more course and some who were more refined. Not really a big deal at all and something that isn't hard to fix in future generations if it ended up bothering me.
Third litter was also out of Belle bred to Loki's brother. In this litter, I was looking for a more intense, drivey dog who was also extremely sound. Belle's first litter produced nice puppies but not all were as drivey as I would have preferred. This times, the compromise was that the sire only produced one other litter and had no performance or working titles. However I knew him, his dam, his sire and a couple littermates really well. His structure was probably not quite as nice as Belle's but definitely not bad, his type was better except for having light eyes. I got crazy, wild, intense puppies from that litter with looks all over the place. Love their temperaments overall but some were a bit sharper than I'd have preferred. Now that both are grown up, I think Belle's first litter was overall better but the second litter had better intensity and more consistent drive.
Fourth and so far last litter was Loki's second litter. Bred to Jagger's half brother. Again, compromised in that the sire had no working or performance titles, although I know him very well and have seen at least 3 of his littermates in person. He's a nice, moderate dog - moderate looks/type/drive. Loki is a crazy, intense dog of similar type. Only got two puppies, so it's hard to get a feel for what a litter would have been like. Puppies are pretty, nice moderate type, one is very outgoing and very sound, the other is more reserved but not to a "no touch" point and probably a bit more environmentally sensitive. One is in a serious obedience home and the other is in a pet home but both seemed to have good drive from an early age. I really wish there were more of them and that I could see the pet puppy more often to get a better feel for her (she's the more reserved one).
The reasons for compromising? No matter what your priorities and goals are for breeding, there is always compromise. There is no one perfect male for every bitch, they all have good points and bad points (as does everyone's bitch). Breeding is about trying to balance the things you need, want, would like and have to avoid. I have had to rule out quite a few dogs I really like because pedigree wise, they weren't what I wanted. Usually due to seizure risk, especially with Loki who's sire has produced epilepsy in several litters. As much as I really want to use very titled dogs, they aren't always the right choice for my bitches. You also have to deal with the stud dog owners and some of them have strong feelings about certain linebreedings or lines or dogs too. There definitely is no breeding without compromise.