Desexing Females

[jesomil]

I look to the world-wide experts of performance breeding to learn, not to a small group of dog breeders of one breed in Australia. There are certainly many performance breeders who do follow Black Bronsons principals, but those people that breed for quantity are causing the problems for some breeds rather than being the ones to improve them.

The consequences for poor breeding practices in performance animals can be a tragic excess of animals that nobody wants. As much learning as possible should be done before performance breeding, and not all pet owners want to be bothered with that.

I would hope everyone would look to the world wide experts!! Always good to expand ones knowledge base outside ones own experience.

The consequences of some breeding practises in greyhounds is a huge and tragic excess of a breed. I think that poor breeding practises in working and show dogs in general would be on par as to what excess they produce.

I guess the problem with this sort of a discussion is everyone becomes so passionate about working or showing. I wish there could be more understanding between the two not just insulting remarks and misunderstanding.

ETA no, changed my mind.

Edited May 30, 2010 by jesomil

[Greytmate]

You explain that really well mjk05.

[jesomil]

What your saying mjk05 is obvious good breeding practises. No one is saying use winners cause they are winners. You need to work the dog and know how all the relatives worked as well. I think you stated the obvious.

[mjk05]

You dont know when they are baby puppies. If its a top litter then they would only go to breed enthusiasts who would see how they turned out before desexing. I am not just talking sheepdogs here. I certainly know this would be the case with Sch dogs. My breeder would have not sold me my dog if I was going to desex and I got her at 8 weeks.

Maybe that's the situation for Schutzhund, or for your working sheepdog breeder, but most working sheepdog breeders I know sell pups to people who need working sheepdogs. We don't tend to have contracts for breeders' terms, so when you sell a pup, it belongs to someone else and they can do what they like with it.

Of course, we believe that most pups we produce are going to contribute positively to the breed, so we're not telling people to desex, but if they want to, no problem. The most important thing is that they're worked.

Having said that, there are situations where a working sheepdog breeder may "stash" pups, sell them with the agreement that they can use them for breeding later. But that's the exception rather than the rule. We did it recently when we bred an old stud dog, perhaps for the last time, to a bitch we hadn't used before. We had high hopes for the litter and thought they might be very important in our breeding program- but also had some people waiting for a bitch pup from that dog. There was only one bitch in the litter. After some debate, we sold the bitch to them, asked them to keep her entire with the possibility of getting a pup from her one day. Of course it is a home where she will get worked, and they are in a situation to manage an entire bitch. We also kept all 4 male pups, so we know we will be able to choose the best of them. It was an exceptional situation.

QUOTE

they'd kept it entire because they were told they should, and then it got mated by the shearer's dog and produced a very mediocre litter, and died of eclampsia shortly afterwards. And it would also be a big pity if it never even worked or bred, since it was knocked on the head as a pup because there weren't enough homes for sheepdog pups (the market being saturated with random pups bred by people without much of a clue) and the breeder didn't want to keep the whole litter themselves.

I dont understand this either. You are talking about a scenario of an irresponsible owner letting their dog get knocked up, then talking about irresponsible breeding where pups are being knocked on the head.

I am not basing any of this discussion on mediochre dogs or puppies being produced. I am talking about breed enthusiasts breeding the best they can to better the breed. There will always be a high demand for these pups.

No, I'm talking about the reality of someone who wants a working sheepdog for a farm, and doesn't necessarily want to breed. What are they supposed to do? It's shearing time, they need their dog, and she's in season, they're busy and distracted, accidents happen. I think it's fairly responsible if they decide ahead of time to sterilise her so that situation doesn't arise.

Seriously, do you think every pup from every one of the top breeders of working sheepdogs in Australia goes to a "breed enthusiast"? What happens to all those pups? Does the top breeder have a hand in all the breedings of all those pups? We have neighbours who buy all their dogs from a top kelpie breeder, they've paid up to $5000 for them, and they aren't going to breed from them. Shock, horror! Are they great working dogs? Yes, they generally are. Are they worth $5000? Yep, to their owner the work they do is well worth it. They'll keep going back to that breeder, who still has those lines and is intelligently breeding to keep producing top working ability in their lines.

Working dogs aren't (and shouldn't be) just for "breed enthusiasts". They should be for people who need/want a dog to do the work. If they want to sterilise them, bully for them. There are other ways for clever breeders to keep producing top dogs than by keeping every single puppy entire. Dogs have more than one litter, there's more than one pup in a litter, it isn't that hard. The most important thing is that as many pups as possible are worked enough to be assessed.

[mjk05]

What your saying mjk05 is obvious good breeding practises. No one is saying use winners cause they are winners. You need to work the dog and know how all the relatives worked as well. I think you stated the obvious.

So do I. So what does it matter if some of those siblings are desexed?

Desexing a dog which turns out to be a good working dog is some loss of breeding potential. But working that desexed dog, showing what inherited traits it carries, still gives a significant amount of useful information to breeders. So it's still worth doing. BB said she didn't understand why anyone would bother working a desexed dog (and that in fact her sport doesn't allow it). I think it's fairly obvious why- but I've tried to explain it anyway.

[jesomil]

Maybe that's the situation for Schutzhund, or for your working sheepdog breeder, but most working sheepdog breeders I know sell pups to people who need working sheepdogs. We don't tend to have contracts for breeders' terms, so when you sell a pup, it belongs to someone else and they can do what they like with it.

I think this is going in circles a little and I think we are talking about different things.

With sheepdogs, all breeders sell to people who need dogs for working stock (otherwise, why breed them?) and I have never seen one with breeders terms. You buy it, its yours.

I dont care if people desex their dogs but merely that I understand BB's opinion how you wouldnt desex a Sch dog. Alot of my comments have been referring to Sch dogs, not just sheepdogs

It would be interesting to find out how desexing affects working ability and drive but not just from anecdotal evidence. Maybe it doesnt affect them if done after full maturity?

If a dog is desexed before maturity, it will affect its growth and development but I assume that desexing before this time would also affect drives especially drives required for Schutzhund.

I have never seen a desexed dog at a sheepdog trial or a schutzhund trial so there must be reasons.

[Red Fox]

I don't think there is an argument about show v working here. There are show breeders, performance breeders, byb breeders, all with shonky practices keeping pounds busy. This thread isn't about that.

No it's not. The reason I started the thread was so that people could discuss their oppinion regarding desexing of female dogs - Do they agree with it, at what age do they think is appropriate (if at all) and does it differ for performance dogs involved in certain sports?

To a degree I think that has been achieved. There have been oppinions from working line enthusiasts (Schutzhund, working sheep dogs, racing enthusiasts (greyhounds) and also oppinions from those involved in ANKC obedience, agility, fly ball and other sports.

Can I say that I have been surprised by the difference in oppinion between these people? Nope! Not at all. Did anyone really expect them to be the same?

Different needs for different owners. And that is what this thread is about

But wasn't that the argument? That there were not enough females of proven working ability to breed from and therefore it would make sense to keep a female entire if she is a good worker?

That might be the situation in BB's case- but she's saying that she doesn't think anyone should work or trial a desexed dog at all, not just in her situation where there are so few good quality bitches... And I wonder if there might be more good quality bitches if people were encouraged to participate with desexed dogs, so even people who don't intend to breed can get involved, the market for pups increases, and those people might change their minds later and keep their next dog entire. Keeping a working test/sport exclusive to breeders doesn't help to improve the working population of a breed.

The other problem with her argument is that she seems to think the best way to breed good trialling dogs is from good trialling dogs, which it isn't. It's from producers of good dogs. So yes, you need to work your dogs to know about their working traits first, but then you need to assess not just their ability, but that of as many of their relatives as possible, and how those dogs reproduce and with which other lines do they best reproduce, before you decide to breed.

I got the impression that BB was referring to working dogs within their breed and sport only. And as someone who is interested in one day participating in that sport I have found this discussion to be very interesting. I do think it is worthwhile to hear why BB feels that desexing is inappropriate in schutzhund/working line dogs as it is a valid argument in the case of that particular sport.

I also think it is worthwhile hearing why others disagree with this argument when it comes to their own sport.

[Red Fox]

I think this is going in circles a little and I think we are talking about different things.

Agreed

It would be interesting to find out how desexing affects working ability and drive but not just from anecdotal evidence. Maybe it doesnt affect them if done after full maturity?

If a dog is desexed before maturity, it will affect its growth and development but I assume that desexing before this time would also affect drives especially drives required for Schutzhund.

I have never seen a desexed dog at a sheepdog trial or a schutzhund trial so there must be reasons.

I'd be very interested in learning more about this too.

[mjk05]

I think this is going in circles a little and I think we are talking about different things.

With sheepdogs, all breeders sell to people who need dogs for working stock (otherwise, why breed them?) and I have never seen one with breeders terms. You buy it, its yours.

I dont care if people desex their dogs but merely that I understand BB's opinion how you wouldnt desex a Sch dog. Alot of my comments have been referring to Sch dogs, not just sheepdogs

She didn't say Schutzhund, though, she said "Personally, I don't understand why anyone would use a desexed female for performance/sport in the first place. A sporting female IMHO should be trained in work/sport as a proofing foundation that the line is work/sport capable and then used for the breeding of a proven and titled bitch. "

And then you questioned why I'd bother to trial desexed dogs.

I'd hate for people to think that they shouldn't bother approaching a top working dog breeder about a pup, or even getting involved in sheepdog trialling, just because they don't want to breed or would prefer to have desexed animals. That's the impression that you (and BB, even if she's talking about Schutzhund) have given in this thread so far.

I have never seen a desexed dog at a sheepdog trial or a schutzhund trial so there must be reasons.

Are you sure? I know quite a few desexed dogs trialling, but I don't think anyone would pick it. I know a few infertile ones too, and dogs that aren't going to be bred from for other reasons. One of the most recent Australian 3sheep rep dogs is desexed.

ETA:

It would be interesting to find out how desexing affects working ability and drive but not just from anecdotal evidence. Maybe it doesnt affect them if done after full maturity?

I don't think you'll get anything other than anecdotal evidence as far as sheepdogs go. Personally I prefer to have entire males, mainly for physical reasons, so I'd desex after physical maturity and not at all unless there was a reason for it. But I find desexed bitches more stable- you don't have problems with bitches getting moody or going off their work around seasons.

Edited May 30, 2010 by mjk05

[jesomil]

She didn't say Schutzhund, though, she said "Personally, I don't understand why anyone would use a desexed female for performance/sport in the first place. A sporting female IMHO should be trained in work/sport as a proofing foundation that the line is work/sport capable and then used for the breeding of a proven and titled bitch. "

She is stating her opinions purely on her experience in her chosen sport as are you. I think this is where there is confusion.

And then you questioned why I'd bother to trial desexed dogs.

I'd hate for people to think that they shouldn't bother approaching a top working dog breeder about a pup, or even getting involved in sheepdog trialling, just because they don't want to breed or would prefer to have desexed animals. That's the impression that you (and BB, even if she's talking about Schutzhund) have given in this thread so far.

I have never questioned why someone would trial desexed dogs. It doesnt bother me what other people do. I simply stated I would never desex mine. I am not sure I have given any impressions other than understanding where BB is coming from with her opinions.

I dont think someone would avoid a working dog breeder just because they thought they would have to keep their dogs entire. I am sure they would do their own research into the who's and why's and what is best first.

There are many working dogs and breeds out there and I have been talking about them in general not sheepdogs alone.

ETA maybe as an answer to the thread topic, we could say it all depends on many factors with desexing females. Maybe the answer depends purely on what you want the dog for. The answer is yes in some situations and no in others.

Edited May 30, 2010 by jesomil

[mjk05]

I have never questioned why someone would trial desexed dogs.

You said:

QUOTE

4 of my current 5 trialling dogs are desexed, and the other one is probably going to be soon.

I dont really understand this. I thought your trialling dogs would be your best dogs.

I dont think someone would avoid a working dog breeder just because they thought they would have to keep their dogs entire. I am sure they would do their own research into the who's and why's and what is best first.

If I were a newcomer, just thinking about it, I'd be finding your comments about desexed dogs in sheepdog trialling (as well as top working dog breeders) fairly discouraging so far.

ETA maybe as an answer to the thread topic, we could say it all depends on many factors with desexing females. Maybe the answer depends purely on what you want the dog for. The answer is yes in some situations and no in others.

Absolutely, and that's why we're having a discussion about it.

[Black Bronson]

I don't think there is an argument about show v working here. There are show breeders, performance breeders, byb breeders, all with shonky practices keeping pounds busy. This thread isn't about that.

No it's not. The reason I started the thread was so that people could discuss their oppinion regarding desexing of female dogs - Do they agree with it, at what age do they think is appropriate (if at all) and does it differ for performance dogs involved in certain sports?

To a degree I think that has been achieved. There have been oppinions from working line enthusiasts (Schutzhund, working sheep dogs, racing enthusiasts (greyhounds) and also oppinions from those involved in ANKC obedience, agility, fly ball and other sports.

Can I say that I have been surprised by the difference in oppinion between these people? Nope! Not at all. Did anyone really expect them to be the same?

Different needs for different owners. And that is what this thread is about

But wasn't that the argument? That there were not enough females of proven working ability to breed from and therefore it would make sense to keep a female entire if she is a good worker?

That might be the situation in BB's case- but she's saying that she doesn't think anyone should work or trial a desexed dog at all, not just in her situation where there are so few good quality bitches... And I wonder if there might be more good quality bitches if people were encouraged to participate with desexed dogs, so even people who don't intend to breed can get involved, the market for pups increases, and those people might change their minds later and keep their next dog entire. Keeping a working test/sport exclusive to breeders doesn't help to improve the working population of a breed.

The other problem with her argument is that she seems to think the best way to breed good trialling dogs is from good trialling dogs, which it isn't. It's from producers of good dogs. So yes, you need to work your dogs to know about their working traits first, but then you need to assess not just their ability, but that of as many of their relatives as possible, and how those dogs reproduce and with which other lines do they best reproduce, before you decide to breed.

I got the impression that BB was referring to working dogs within their breed and sport only. And as someone who is interested in one day participating in that sport I have found this discussion to be very interesting. I do think it is worthwhile to hear why BB feels that desexing is inappropriate in schutzhund/working line dogs as it is a valid argument in the case of that particular sport.

I also think it is worthwhile hearing why others disagree with this argument when it comes to their own sport.

Schutzhund, military, police and security K9's are the same line of dogs, and the individual puppy may end up in either home or working discipline. Schutzhund is the prooving ground for breed worthiness, working ability and character. There are some slight variations that work better in some disciplines or lends it's self to some discliplines better than others depending on the individual dog. A dog with a low threshold to aggression is difficult to handle as a Schutzhund or police dog and is not a desirable trait, but as a security dog it can be of an advantage for example. Desexing can take the courage and stablility away from the dog which in this line of work and sport, courage and stability is an essential part of the dogs make up to able to handle pressure and in some cases is life threatening. It's said to take clear headedness away from the dog under pressure and alter the aggression threshhold. I can't say from experience working a desexed dog for comparison but that is the general rule of thumb.

Females are not generally used in these disciplines in any large quantity as a male has a scoring advantage in Schutzhund and other working activities are larger and more powerful and the sex of choice for serious work related training along with the downtime of seasons being a female disadvantage also. However many breeding bitches are never worked or assessed at all and are often bred on a relationship basis to a good proven dog in the ancestory and then mated to good proven male in hope for the male's success to carry the litter through. Not every puppy from a working litter will necessarily have the desired traits and if the bitch has never been worked or evaluated, it can be more guess work in the breeding than a calculated potential. Very few great dogs are jagged from untested bitch lines but many poor quality bitch lines have produced only average puppies. Most great dogs have been produced by good parents down the bloodlines that can all work well. Some bitch lines haven't been worked for 5 generations resulting in a situation where just a bitch is mated to a good male in hope to improve the lines. A good proven bitch being 50% of the offspring genetics has more potential to improve the breed than taking a wild guess which IMO happens too often. More females need to be worked and evaluated to determine more conclusively where particular working lines are heading.

[jesomil]

Mjk05, I obviously dont explain myself very well. I think you are taking all my posts directly stating to sheepdogs because I have a Kelpie in my Avatar.

I will show an example as to where my thinking is at.

Just say a top trialler over here managed to purchase a top working GSD bitch from Europe. It is highly unlikely that bitch would be desexed or even sold to someone who would desex her. They would purchase her and work her over here to prove her and then breed from her if she were showing desired characteristics that would add greatly to lines here. It would be an enormous waste if she was bought out, trialled very well and then desexed. Why even bother getting a dog of her calibre in the first place. It would have to be a breed enthusiast in the first place to be interested at all.

Anyway, there are a few different angles being discussed her and I think it is causing confusion. Or maybe I am just really crap at explaining myself .

Edited May 30, 2010 by jesomil

[Black Bronson]

I think this is going in circles a little and I think we are talking about different things.

With sheepdogs, all breeders sell to people who need dogs for working stock (otherwise, why breed them?) and I have never seen one with breeders terms. You buy it, its yours.

I dont care if people desex their dogs but merely that I understand BB's opinion how you wouldnt desex a Sch dog. Alot of my comments have been referring to Sch dogs, not just sheepdogs

She didn't say Schutzhund, though, she said "Personally, I don't understand why anyone would use a desexed female for performance/sport in the first place. A sporting female IMHO should be trained in work/sport as a proofing foundation that the line is work/sport capable and then used for the breeding of a proven and titled bitch. "

And then you questioned why I'd bother to trial desexed dogs.

I'd hate for people to think that they shouldn't bother approaching a top working dog breeder about a pup, or even getting involved in sheepdog trialling, just because they don't want to breed or would prefer to have desexed animals. That's the impression that you (and BB, even if she's talking about Schutzhund) have given in this thread so far.

I have never seen a desexed dog at a sheepdog trial or a schutzhund trial so there must be reasons.

Are you sure? I know quite a few desexed dogs trialling, but I don't think anyone would pick it. I know a few infertile ones too, and dogs that aren't going to be bred from for other reasons. One of the most recent Australian 3sheep rep dogs is desexed.

ETA:

It would be interesting to find out how desexing affects working ability and drive but not just from anecdotal evidence. Maybe it doesnt affect them if done after full maturity?

I don't think you'll get anything other than anecdotal evidence as far as sheepdogs go. Personally I prefer to have entire males, mainly for physical reasons, so I'd desex after physical maturity and not at all unless there was a reason for it. But I find desexed bitches more stable- you don't have problems with bitches getting moody or going off their work around seasons.

mjk05, I totally agree with the preference of working entire males and most serious working people in many disciplines have the same idea which leaves many females out of the system to evaluate their working ability. I am more looking at the situation if someone is prepared to work a female in a dedicated way, work an entire female because if she turns out well, opens up a breeding possibility. I think to work a desexed female for the breeds future and improvement potential is a waste of time.

I understand and agree that seeing the working potential of desexed dogs from a particular line provides guidence for where the line is heading, but you can't use the super dogs themselves that possibly should be used in the breeding programs for better potential again. Using a sister of a great desexed female doesn't always mean that the sisters genetics are equal, especially if the sister has never been worked, I would prefer to use the actual dog that has the proven workability.

[Black Bronson]

Mjk05, I obviously dont explain myself very well. I think you are taking all my posts directly stating to sheepdogs because I have a Kelpie in my Avatar.

I will show an example as to where my thinking is at.

Just say a top trialler over here managed to purchase a top working GSD bitch from Europe. It is highly unlikely that bitch would be desexed or even sold to someone who would desex her. They would purchase her and work her over here to prove her and then breed from her if she were showing desired characteristics that would add greatly to lines here. It would be an enormous waste if she was bought out, trialled very well and then desexed. Why even bother getting a dog of her calibre in the first place. It would have to be a breed enthusiast in the first place to be interested at all.

Anyway, there are a few different angles being discussed her and I think it is causing confusion. Or maybe I am just really crap at explaining myself .

Correct Jesomil............from my original perception of working desexed females in your example of the GSD, is a complete and total wasted exercise IMHO I can't understand why so many import males..........personally if I was to import a good dog, it would be a female without question :rolleyes:

Edited May 30, 2010 by Black Bronson

[Red Fox]

Thank you for the info BB. That does make a lot of sense

So if you did decide to use a female for this line of work, but the dog turned out to be unsuitable for breeding for whatever reason (but was still a good worker) would you keep the dog entire (as to preserve her character, drives, stability, etc) or would you then desex her to avoid the hassles associated with seasons?

Also, what would happen for instance if the bitch developed pyo and had to be desexed for health reasons? Could you continue to compete with her or use for security work or would she then become unsuitable?

[Black Bronson]

Thank you for the info BB. That does make a lot of sense

So if you did decide to use a female for this line of work, but the dog turned out to be unsuitable for breeding for whatever reason (but was still a good worker) would you keep the dog entire (as to preserve her character, drives, stability, etc) or would you then desex her to avoid the hassles associated with seasons?

Also, what would happen for instance if the bitch developed pyo and had to be desexed for health reasons? Could you continue to compete with her or use for security work or would she then become unsuitable?

Personally if she was a good worker, I would keep her entire, but would depend on what work you were doing with her. In Schutzhund competition if she couldn't beat the boys I would desex and retire her as a pet and work her for fun or a training dog for people new to the sport. I wouldn't work a female as a security dog by choice, but she would be worth trying her out desexed. Thinking about what we have discussed in this thread, I would probably desex her and see what difference it makes to her working ability to see first hand how the theories stack up.

[Nekhbet]

In Schutzhund competition if she couldn't beat the boys I would desex and retire her as a pet and work her for fun or a training dog for people new to the sport.

No the attitude would be if the DOG cannot come up to standard snip and find another hobby. No matter what the gender. You bias yourself before you even try it out.

Yes in security and schutzhund I think its the macho mentality that keeps bitches out. They're shit, they're hormonal, they're unreliable. Crap.

I wouldn't work a female as a security dog by choice, but she would be worth trying her out desexed

I would and I have. I know a couple of other people that do as well. Entire as well. IF a dog has drive a season will not reduce her to a shivering mess, in fact I have seen maturity of attitude, more ferocity and improvement after every season. My bitch is 6 1/2 now and she keeps my males in line, and she is my fearless protector. I think preconceived notions and sterotypes prevent bitches being trained, not the fact that many many people have actually tried and failed. You know what its like, the males go training and work and the bitches stay at home ot have the puppies. That is a mentality that is THANKFULLY changing. Do you know Max von Stephanitz preferred bitches as working dogs over males? They were more responsive to the handler and bonded more closely. He thought males were a bit too full of themselves at times and I agree, as much as I like working them my Malinios is incredibly responsive. You want to preserve the breed and talk about working dogs make sure you have a read up on history. Bitches can be fearsome fighters and workers AND still produce the pups that go on to perpetuate the breed.

There are injections to stop bitches coming on heat, greyhounds are on them so they can race. I am going to start these now with my girl to see how she goes on them as I simply am running out of the time to deal with another season. She always wants to work and train for most of the time she is on heat as well so I dont see it as a barrier.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Nekhbet

[Red Fox]

Thats interesting Nekbet, I was unaware that you could use an injection to prevent a bitch coming into heat. So really, if you were to look at it that way then the issue of the bitch coming into season and it's hassles would be quite irrelevent! Could you elaborate on this injection please? Or perhaps a link to more info?

Going slightly OT here but I have always been told that females not only mature faster but are easier to train (however I wouldn't have a clue if that's actually true or not). Though if it is I would expect that while males may have the advantage of size, that the girls have the advantage of brains. Though I'm not entirely convinced that size always equates to power? I would have thought that a smaller female Malinois could and would hit just as hard as a large male GSD... Though perhaps in security work the size is more of a deterent and therefore an advantage?

[mjk05]

Mjk05, I obviously dont explain myself very well. I think you are taking all my posts directly stating to sheepdogs because I have a Kelpie in my Avatar.

No, I understand that BB was generalising from schutzhund to everything when she said she thought trialling desexed dogs was a waste of time. But this thread wasn't talking only about schutzhund, most people initially were talking about agility, retrieving etc.

You have been talking directly about sheepdogs, when you questioned why I'd trial my desexed dogs, or when you said you don't see desexed dogs at sheepdog trials, etc etc.

But if you want to change tack and just refer to schutzhund, that's fine. It does sound one sport where, due to low numbers of interested parties and suitable dogs, they need to encourage more entire dogs to participate.

mjk05, I totally agree with the preference of working entire males and most serious working people in many disciplines have the same idea which leaves many females out of the system to evaluate their working ability.

Oops! BB, I didn't mean that I prefer my working sheepdogs to be entire males- actually I prefer training and working bitches, but when I have male dogs, I'd rather leave then entire. My favourite dog to work + train (and I'm talking sheepdogs, agility and obedience) is a desexed bitch, because I like their attitude and you don't have to worry about seasons. In the handful of really consistently top 3sheep trial dogs in my area, most of them are bitches.

If we're talking about schutzhund now, though- if males are better at the sport, as you've said, does it really matter that few bitches are trialled? If the aim is to produce dogs of either sex to do the best job possible, but males are almost always better at it than bitches, then can't you assess the worth of a breeding bitch by the calibre of her sons in competition (if that's the best way to assess them)? Sure, you need to assess the bitch herself for working traits before deciding to keep and breed her, but I'd expect most breeders to be able to train a bitch to a high level themselves, without having to compete, and be able to ensure that she was a quality performer before breeding her. And people trying to decide which bitch lines to go for can still look at all the dogs competing and see which bitch lines are producing the best performing dogs.

Honestly, if I were buying a pup to do any performance/work with, and I had a choice between a pup from a top trialling bitch, or a pup from a bitch with many top trialling offspring, even if she herself had never trialled, I would choose the second pup.

For assessing production values of animals, you don't actually have to test the animal in the same way as its offspring- we can accurately estimate how well our rams and ewes produce high quality fat lambs to eat, without eating those rams and ewes themselves.

Anyway, it seems to me that if you want more people trialling their bitches, it's a matter of:

1) separating the bitches from the dogs in competition, so people are particularly rewarded for working bitches

2) make sure they aren't disadvantaged by trialling entire bitches- ie allow bitches in season to compete

3) increase the popularity of the sport overall- perhaps that may include allowing desexed animals to compete (in separate classes?) to get more people interested in the sport, if that's an issue.

I'm not surprised people spend their money importing males- the main reasons to do this (investing heaps of time and money) would be to succeed at the sport (you've said males do better), and to import new genetics into the breed. Males can produce many more pups than bitches in a lifetime, so their potential value as new blood is higher. It's also less risky to breed a male (few male dogs are injured or die from siring a litter), and no time out from competition. And if schutzhund people use competition results as their main index of breeding potential, then of course a male dog has more chance of attracting interest than a bitch.