@pedro:
you don't know and i dont know for sure till the test is done!!. and if it comes back clear there is still a possibility that after a few litters there still might be one that has it . and when that time comes i'll have to deal with it !, not anyone else!!. why are you so bent set on telling me i shouldnt breed him!???
Unless you're keeping all the puppies you breed, you are not the only one dealing with it. The person who will deal with it the most is going to be the owner of the puppy with "it". I've had a dog with hip dysplasia and I've had a dog fall over dead at 5 years old. The breeder of either dog did not deal with the heart ache or anything else for that matter. (For those of you who know my basenjis, neither of those dogs were basenjis.)
Why are people telling you you should not breed? Because they've been in the breed for so long and seen so much. Because they are involved in rescue. Because they love the breed more than they love one individual.
Why do conformation shows? Because it trains your eye, it forces you to look at other basenjis. I've been to shows where competitors just grumble because they didn't win, but a better use of that time is to look at what the judge does. Find good points with every dog in the ring. Find what you'd like to improve in every dog. If you just stay home and only look at your own dog, you're not getting a very good/broad picture of the breed. A Ch infront of a dog's name says someone other than his owner thought him a worthy, quality basenji. (Everyone thinks they have quality basenji.) THAT'S why I show even when I'd rather be doing performance venues.
Why do performance? Because I enjoy it. Because the dogs enjoy it. Because I enjoy the process of training my basenjis. But it also proves that my dogs can do something other than look pretty. I think lure coursing is very valuable in a breeding program (especially for someone new at breeding) because it shows a breeder is preserving the drives that should be in this breed.
