Chevelle you have to understand from some of the posters positions. Some work at vet clinics or shelters. They have been in their particular breed for years. They have knowledge that honestly you shouldn't discount because your feeling got hurt. When I first joined this forum I wrote a post about my 4 month old puppy barking and lunging at strangers. Somebody actually said she was unstable. HAHAHA. As much as that pissed me off, I hung around and have come to really appreciate the info they give. The beautiful thing about knowledge is even though it may seem flawed, it's still important to soak up incase you have to tell an idiot what another
idiot said.
My observation is that Chevelle didn't even get an opportunity to discount anyone's knowledge, since -- for the first several posts --no one offered any,and made a number of comments I believe most people would construe as rude. I would hope we would give all new posters the benefit of the doubt until they are proven to be 'trolls'. Admittedly, we had some, but we have not been inundated by them.
Chevelle, here is my advice fwiw:
Re: Breeding your dog. I am sure you love her and sincerely want to share her with the world. The problem is that, as Rachie said, EMs are being threatened by BYB's who are breeding substandard dogs that fail to the meet the standard and/or have temperament issues, as well as a number of crosses -- some really scary. Not all BYB's are horrible people in it only for the money. Some want their children to 'witness the miracle of birth', others, like you, believe they have wonderful dogs and want to share them. Still others want a 'replacement' for their dog when he or she passes. The problem with this is that one puppy is kept, but what happens with the other 5 or 10?
Although BSL is generally on the wane, it is still a potential threat to all of our mastiff breeds. If a medium sized dog attacks or mauls someone, it is initially identified as a 'pit-bull type'; if it is big and powerful, it is a 'mastiff'. Hence, maintaining our breed's temperament, and placing all puppies in responsible homes is a vital priority. Rescues and shelters are stuffed with Mastiffs that owners couldn't cope with or sell on Craigslist so they were surrendered. At this point, really, the only legitimate and responsible reason for breeding is to improve the breed. Hence, the main answer is you shouldn't breed your dog unless and until:
> She is evaluated by a knowledge person (e.g. EM judge) or through showing, and found to be an excellent example of the breed.
> She is temperament tested
> She is fully health tested
Re: The friend's male: Seizures are a common long term sequelae of Valley Fever, and at this point in time, a genetic basis for idiopathic (of unknown origin)epilepsy has not been determined in EMs. However, it has been linked to genes in several other breeds. Now that the canine genome has been completed, many researchers have identified good 'candidates' for closer scrutiny.
Hence, my opinion is that your friend shouldn't be breeding her dog, and you shouldn't consider breeding unless the criteria I listed are met.