Further, as someone who's bred his own family, if I only had "one" dog left of my line, I would rather watch it die-off than be put in the position of spending $40,000 to make another one every 10 years or so.

The simple fact is, it's not practical (or even fulfilling).

Breeding decisions create excitement for what the next litter might hold. You get 6-8 new pups, each with its own personality, each with a different "genetic deck" that's been shuffled via the breeding decision.

I can't imagine being SO afraid of losing some dog that I would abandon breeding dogs to "keep cloning the same thing."

Maybe I should have done that with Stormbringer, but I've enjoyed plenty of other dogs since him (although none has been at his level).
In truth, what I REALLY should have done was fed him better. (He was born when I didn't know anything about nutrition, etc., and lived most of his life being fed corn-based kibble.)
He went sterile very early in life, right when I was about to breed everything on God's earth to him.

I think the very element of chance + luck + acquired skill is what creates the INTEREST in breeding dogs.
I think the very fact that you CAN lose everything is what gives dogs their VALUE.

Even if I were able to genetically re-create Stormbringer, over and over again, that it would quickly grow old and boring.
And what "value" would any particular dog have, as an individual, if you could clone duplicates of it all the time?

Jack