Originally, no - when I first starting looking for a puppy six or seven years ago I wasn't even planning on showing or doing any performance sports outside 4H. But then I met Cricket's breeder, we started talking, and I eventually agreed to take Cricket on a show/breeding contract. I fell in love with the breed and the breed community, and found that I really enjoy showing and performance. Breeding is a pretty major commitment, but I find it really rewarding and something I want to continue doing (on a small scale, with a litter every few years or so). Granted, my whole family is involved so there are four people to help with puppy care - I don't know if I'd want to raise a litter by myself!
To everyone saying that they'd get too attached to the puppies, I was worried about that with our first litter too...it turned out to be not too big of a problem, lol. When you have eight 8-week-old puppies, not-quite-housetrained and discovering that they can indeed climb out of the ex-pen and rampage through the house...it's not too hard to let them go.
It is definitely bittersweet, but my puppy buyers so far have been amazing, which helps.
Cricket and Journey are both breed-quality. Cricket has had two litters and is now spayed - 15 puppies is enough for one dog in my opinion, and we definitely got what we wanted out of each litter. Journey is nicer than her mom in several areas (sorry Cricket!) and we're planning on breeding her in the spring. Newton is young and still maturing, so no solid plans yet, but he's promising so far. I'd want to put some conformation and performance titles on him before breeding.
