Hi Pekemom.

I am glad you joined PT for advice... Giselle, especially, is a freakin' dog training genius. I honestly feel that YOU need to step in more regarding the relationship between your dogs - YOU need to let Bianca know when it's time to back off, not wait around for your male dog to do it. He is obviously a more submissive dog, and not only does the bullying make him fearful of Bianca, he will also lose his trust in you as the benevolent leader and protector.

I would feed them in crates, seperated, at every meal if you cannot be right there supervising. DEFINITELY cut off free-feeding if that's what you do currently, because Bianca will end up pudgy and your boy will end up under-fed. For supervised meals, I would feed each from a bowl several feet from the other, and stand in between them. If Bianca goes for his food, quickly correct her with a "NO", block her from getting there, and direct her to her own bowl.

As far as the humping, my dogs hump, too. They hump when they're playing. It's just a dog behavior... it is for play, demonstrations of dominance, excitement, and even just as a way to expend energy. Let them do their thing, unless your male seems scared or agitated. Has your female ever hurt him? Does she start fights? I would definitely set boundaries with the female (and the male) - not allowing her on furniture, not allowing her to guard toys/food/beds, and practicing NILIF religiously should really help to calm her down.

Quote Originally Posted by Pekemom View Post
I really only signed up for these forums to find ways to better care for my animals and not to debate ideologies. All I'm doing is saying that breeding is not my concern at the moment. IF I were to breed my animals it wouldn't be for another year or more anyways....One person can only do so much and I already have several causes in my life outside of making people knowledgeable about breeding animals. When 20% of our nation's poorest people are children (we currently have a 12.6% poverty rate...higher than most countries), I find I take a stronger stance of the needs of them over any stance on animal breeding. If animal rights (or whatever it falls into) is your stance, that is great (I'm serious...it really is great). I don't see myself as a bad pet owner for simply not making such things my priority in life.
The thing is... breeding practices DO concern "caring for animals". I'm glad you are waiting to breed, and not jumping into it. Dogs certaintly shouldn't be bred before they're 2+ years old and full grown, anyway. Plenty of people breed dogs the instant it's possible, when they're still pupies themselves, and it's great that you know better.

You are not a bad pet owner if you don't research responsible breeding practices. However, that would make you a bad dog breeder. Would you buy ANY kind of product, or service, from some one who had only a basic idea of what they were doing, who weren't dedicated to doing it reputably? To become a breeder is to become invested in breeding; it is your choice whether or not to do it responsibly, but you're invested regardless. Bringing lives into this world, social, intelligent, fairly long-lived (15+ years for Pekes) lives, really shouldn't be taken lightly. Pekingese in particular is a breed that is incredibly prone to health issues and birthing issues, in addition to being a breed that is rampant with BYBs who are breeding away from their original standard. Consider a $1000 c-section, an injured/dead Mother dog, etc, etc... just for the fun of breeding? All I advise you to do is THINK, long and hard, about the seriousness of breeding before you do it; research is a good thing, the more you know, the better. http://www.learntobreed.com is a very informative website.

I strongly encourage you to, when your dogs are 2+ years old and if you still plan on breeding, get their hips, elbows, patellas, and backs x-rayed, their hearts checked, and their eyes CERF'ed. To not do at least this is literally playing russian roulette with the lives of their unborn puppies. It is also important to consider the temperament of both of your dogs - an "aggressive", dominant, pushy female and a shy, flighty male? I don't know your dogs, you know them. Honestly consider, objectively, if they are good examples of their breed.