Honestly, the necessity to retire my my older dogs will probably be the thing that retires me from breeding. When I started breeding Bostons, my primary goal was to breed the fawn that could go into a traditional show ring and "compete" with traditional colors. That goal has changed to breeding sound, healthy, easy-to-live with, and preferably free-whelping Bostons. Type is still important to me, but not at the expense of soundness or temperament.
Getting back to the point, I absolutely have to retire some of my dogs at this point, and there is no question about them going to homes that will adore them. They will stay with me until I find the absolute perfect home for them. But I'll miss them terribly and I can't help wondering if they miss me as much as I miss them after I place them.