To breed or not to breed... Why?

You misunderstood a little, I think. I HAVE shelter dogs as pets -- they are GREAT pets. That wasn't what I was saying, exactly. What I was saying is that RESPONSIBLE breeding of two different breeds in order to produce puppies with good health and temperament IS OKAY and isn't the same as the random-gene-swapping of dogs who get pregnant because their owners were irresponsible. And it's silly to say that some dogs aren't more suitable pets than others -- of COURSE some dogs are more loyal, affectionate, healthy, intelligent and less aggressive than others. My point was that if you can acheive this by mixing breeds, it's no different than acheiving this with pure-breeding.

I totally understand your point of view, but if you have a particular breed that was phasing out or I guess I should put it like I've read it, "a dying breed" like my English Mastiffs, you would want to preserve the breed right? I love my babies to death and I think more people should have such a wonderful dog and dogs like them; however, I also feel that if people can spend so much on one single dog, and they consider getting another, they should think about going to the shelter and rescuing a dog. Ever since I was a kid, we always had a Golden Retriever, and a dog that we would rescue from the local shelter. I guess with breeding, I just think that being as prepared as you can possibly be, like knowing who the pups are going and having a back up plan is crucial.

I agree with almost everything Samsonsmom said. I'm not against pure-bred dogs, 2 of mine are pure-bred, and one is not. I was just saying that "BETTERING THE BREED" isn't the only good reason to mate dogs. There is also bettering the species -- producing good pets, whether they are pure- or mixed-breed.