Part 3: What are your thoughts on a reputable "service dog" org breeding their females 5 consecutive heat?

I'm not sure what you are trying to describe is happening. Can you provide more details. From what I am gathering, there is a service dog breeder who breeds their females on every heat cycle for 5 cycles?

Are they producing 5 consecutive litters? In my opinion, this is excessive and a lot of stress on the female dogs.

This is one of those cases where there might be a difference between "reputable' and 'responsible'.

ETA: I disagree that service dogs should not be bred, they should be pulled from shelters as one person said. Genetic traits such as health and temperament ARE passed down to the pups. Not all pups bred will be candidates for service, BUT they are all then found responsible new homes. Shelters are great places, but the sheer number of dogs that they would have to go through to find ONE that was suitable for a service dog is immense. It just isn't feasible.

After reading your Additional Details, I stand by what I said...this may be a reputable breeding operation, but not a responsible one. I would make sure that more people know about this. Having that many litters back to back is not healthy for a female and NO responsible breeder would be doing that to the females in the program. My opinion is one litter a year per female max.

See my answer to your part 1 question. That given breeder could still just have 4 litters MAX within a reasonable age period. They CAN'T be reputable if they haven't done genetic health tests such as hips and elbows. That WOULD be very important for a service dog, unless it was the dog that was crippled and the humane was providing the service. I don't know what organization you are talking about, but if it was me..........well, I'd be opening up my BIG MOUTH and be screaming at them.

This is not right, I would report them. And to the person who said that service dogs shouldn't be bred, why should a disabled person like myself take chances with a shelter dog? Why should I risk taking in a dog with genetic health problems and an unstable temperament? Service dog organizations make SURE that their dogs are 100% genetically healthy and temperamentally sound. Shelters dogs are always poorly bred, and almost never make good candidates for working dogs. Temperament IS genetic.

Absolutely not right. They need to be talked sense to, or reported to the ASPCA. That is definitely over-breeding.

Besides, service dogs shouldn't be bred. They should be obtained from shelters and trained. Dogs do NOT inherit service-dog capabilities. Each one's an individual, and there are so many promising ones being killed every day in crowded shelters. There are plenty of organizations that evaluate and choose service dogs from shelters, and they have remarkable success.

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EDIT: Since the question changed... dogs still shouldn't be bred, period. There are too many waiting for homes, many purebred anyway.

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And to the person below who said something about shelter dogs being "always poorly bred" or "unstable"... You are very misinformed and need to do some research. Also, I meant after each one is evaluated for health and temperament. There are a LOT of programs who get their service dogs from shelters, and they ALL have had success consistently. If anything, shelter dogs are more eager to please you than a dog who's always had everything.

Breed does NOT dictate temperament. My parents bred the nicest, sweetest, friendliest dogs ever to each other once, and some of their pups were savage and dominant no matter how well we trained them. While their other littermates were sweet and obedient, or shy and reserved, or outgoing and confident yet gentle. If you knew dogs, you'd know they're individuals. You can NOT judge them by bloodline.

Purebred dogs usually are the ones who have medical problems, because of all the inbreeding further up their lines. For example, the often used Golden Retrievers often have hip dysplasia. By getting a mixed-breed dog, they're less likely to have genetics that line up and cause health problems. Mixed-breeds are statistically FAR more healthy and robust than pure-breds.

And besides, there are a LOT of service dogs who were specifically bred and trained from puppyhood to help people... but then they'd be found to be incompatible with the job for various reasons, either health-wise or behavior-wise when their real personalities emerged at adulthood.

By getting an already adult dog and just training them, you already know their personality, and can find one that is already suitable and just needs training.

Sorry if you hate me for delivering pure, real facts, but that's just the way it is.

That is horible. They absolutely need to be reported...puppy mills are so mean .

Breeding a female more than once a year is bad for her,it would be okay to breed more than once but just not every single heat. Every other heat if you must buy just not mre than once a year.

It is so not right for these people to do this and they need those dogs taken away.

Please show that Information so I can read it for myself, I for one don't believe that to be true. Because my service dog was required tobe spayed prior to becoming a service dog and she was a Grand Champion Show Dog.

any breeder that would do this is NOT reputable. it is wrong that is the way puppy mills work you should report them even though they are breeding these dogs for good you get awful dogs with many health problems and the poor breeder parents well that is no life for them.