"Its really funny you all telling me NOT to breed her but yet so many of you spend hundreds, if not thousands to purchase a pure bred dog from breeders."
Who? The vast majority of the people in this forum have rescue dogs from shelters, myself included. I would never, ever, in a million years spend 'hundreds, if not thousands' of dollars to get a dog that was most likely produced from a puppy mill, or an inexperienced breeder who didn't care enough about their dog to breed the pups for quality or health, and were just looking to make a quick buck. What we were trying to tell you is that you're putting your dog in unnecessary danger, which brings me to my next point:
"By the way, pregnancy, labor, AND delivery are very natural things and most animals can handle it.. "
Yes, animals can handle it, but it's a very difficult process that is made MUCH MORE DIFFICULT when we've been breeding certain dogs for decades to have the SMALLEST POSSIBLE SIZE without taking into consideration how hard pregnancy will be on them. Boston Terriers, for example, can hardly ever have natural child birth, they almost always need a c-section, and many bitches die during the process. We have bred dogs foolishly for a very long time, breeding them with bad genetics and traits, making it harder and harder to produce healthy litters later on. Your dog is no exception.
My point in particular was that there is no REASON for you to breed your dog, other than selfish reasons. (Money, 'just because', or 'I want cute puppies!') The fact of the matter is that your dog does not want puppies, she just wants to be happy and healthy, and this a decision that is going to affect HER, not you. (And please don't say, "How do YOU know what my dog wants??" Humans are the only animal in nature that breeds for material reasons, opposed to advancing and maintaining their species. They don't WANT to breed, they HAVE to. It isn't a choice.) If you care about her, you'll get her spayed, and do more research on the current homeless animal epidemic in this country before thinking about bringing more puppies into the world.
And lastly:
"I'll do what I want with my dog."
She's not a pair of shoes. This is a living, breathing animal, and none of us here were trying to irritate you, or be pushy. We love our animals, like a mother loves her children, and we wanted to make sure we were giving you all the information you needed to understand why spaying her was the best thing for her. That being said, the above line worried me a bit. Of all the people in this thread, YOU should be the one most concerned about the welfare of your sweet little dog. It isn't about what YOU want. It's about what she needs. And she certainly doesn't need to get pregnant, and risk her health just because you want her to.
In conclusion, we were only trying to help you and your baby out. I've worked at pet stores for nearly a decade, (only pet stores that work with rescues, NOT puppy mills,) and it just pains me to see all of the people breeding their dogs so they can 'sell the puppies', or because they 'wanted her to have AT LEAST one litter'. These are not breeding machines, they're living beings, and they have no choice in the matter, so it's up to us to make the best, healthiest decisions for them. :3
(Sorry for posting twice, by the way. I only read the first post before posting before, but later I had time to read all the responses.)