Has anyone ever breed dogs? How much work was it? Would you do it again.?

Question

I am not talking about a huge production, I am contemplating haveing a litter in 2 years or so. If my dogs prove to be healthy and in good temperment.
Spare me the shelter talks, people who want purebreed dogs are not going to shelters to get them.

Answer 1

I've been owner, breeder, exhibitor of purebred dogs for 20+ years and I can tell you, done right, breeding/whelping/raising a litter is a lot of work. It can be more or less arduous given the breed. Some are easy whelpers, others are not. Here's the important things to know:
1) Small dogs usually have small numbers in their litters so there are usually four or less puppies; medium size dogs usually have medium numbers in their litters so there are usually somewhere between four and eight puppies; large dogs usually have large litters and you can get between eight and fifteen puppies.
2) Find what health issues are common to your breed and then test your dogs to be sure those don't exist in the two. It's not fair to pass genetic problems on to puppies and on to new owners
3) Don't breed the litter until you have sold at least half of the expected number for your size dog
4) Be prepared to do the following: x-ray the female just prior to whelping to see how many puppies there are so you will know when they have all safely arrived, remove dewclaws if that's appropriate for your breed within the first day or so after whelping, worm puppies starting at three weeks old, give first vaccines just prior to puppies leaving at eight weeks old.
5) Have a plan for puppies that don't sell quickly. For instance let's say you have a litter of eight boys and you had four girls spoken for already. What's your game plan for finding homes for eight boys?
6) Have about a $500 nest egg ready in case of pregnancy problems or the necessity of a C-section at the last minute.
7) Be prepared to do follow-ups on your puppies for at least six months so you can be sure there are no problems for the new owners.

Answer 2

"Spare me the shelter talks, people who want purebreed dogs are not going to shelters to get them."

Wanna bet? Both of my dogs are purebred and BOTH of them ended up at shelters before they went to breed rescue...where I found them because I was LOOKING for a purebred dog. And I'm almost certain that my next purebred dog will come from a shelter/rescue organization.

To answer your question, breeding dogs is a huge undertaking. Even if you only ever have one litter. Most of the time, it isn't a bad experience but you have to be prepared for the chance the mother and the puppies could die even if you do everything in your power to do it right (that's a worst-case scenario and quite a long shot, but it does happen). Then you have to be prepared to give the puppies up to their new homes (let's face it, no matter how hard you try you can't help but fall in love with puppies). And you need to be prepared to have the answers when the new owners need help with husbandry, health, and training questions. Finally, you need to be prepared to take responsibility for your decision to breed your dog and take back any puppies whose homes turn out not to be permanent and either keep them for life or find a new home for them. You should talk to a good breeder of your breed (ideally the breeder you got your dog from is a good breeder and will be willing to answer your questions) and ask them questions you have about specific concerns. Most good breeders didn't get there on their own, they worked closely with a mentor...a more experienced breeder.

Answer 3

Reputable breeders spend hours and hours raising a litter. They spend years before that making sure that their dogs are healthy, genetically and physically, because the puppies will inherit genetically everything that the parents are historically ie you need to know what is behind your dogs because some health issues are carried recessively. Also, does your breed have known problems ie hip dysplasie, PRA, etc? Anything like that should be tested for before breeding.

It is a source of great joy and pride when the litter turns out well and the birthing went easily. However, it is also can be a horrendous event when things go wrong - and they can. Puppies die in utero turning the entire litter toxic (just happened this week to a friend of mine), puppies are born with unknown internal problems and you work and work to keep them alive and they die at 4-7 days of age (happened to an acquaintance 2 weeks ago) and the list goes on and on. It pays to be prepared with knowledge of the good and the bad that your breed is known for having.

Good luck in making your decision.

Answer 4

I used to breed labs. Its a gamble. But quite worth the effort. I used a beautiful male lab that was quite stocky like a boxer but full blooded lab. I live in Tenn and was sending my labs via airplane to the north east like crazy. The only problem, I found is that the mother I had would try to over protect the pups and sometimes smother one of them. Of course there is always the first shots that you have to give. If you can do this yourself, you can safe a few buck by not having the vet give the shots. You also have to send in to the AKC with each litter letting them know how many pups and of what sex they are. I always kept all of that info for a potential buyer to see all of my previous litters if they asked. The only reason I got out of it is because we lived on a major highway and my female was starting to dig under the fence to get out and wonder. I was afraid she would get ran over.

Advice: keep a clean and well maintained place for your dogs and breed with the most beautiful dog you can find.

Good luck

Answer 5

It's a huge amount of work if done right. First, both the prospective sire and dam need all of the health checks done which are pertinent for the breed. They need to be shown, advertised well, and they obviously need to be winning or you're not going to find the right homes for them.

Before all that, you need to spend years in the breed so you have a real in-depth knowledge of not only the breed, but the lines behind your dogs. You need to know their faults and the faults in the line, including recessives. You need the knowledge to be able to put together the 2 dogs who will best complement each other - and to do that you need a good working knowledge of genetics.

Then after years of learning your breed and showing your dogs, you supervise the mating, have to know how to look after a pregnant dam, build a whelping box, and be prepared to assist her in whelping. You also need to have taken her to the vet for check-ups and have the vet on stand-by in case of problems during delivery.

Then you have to look after the puppies, including socializing them and getting their 1st shots, until they're a minimum of 8 weeks old. You have to have questionnaires for prospective puppy buyers, advertise the litter, interview people, etc.

It's a ton of work, but yes, I'd definitely do it again, circumstances permitting.

Answer 6

Yeah, I have had a litter or 2... I had a female who delivered 1 pup, and then even tho obviously still very full, and plenty left to deliver, she strained and produced nothing. Called the vet at 3AM, and he had to meet us at the office, no one was there but the vet and us. When he showed up, he said he hadn't called (Even tho he knew in advance when she was due...) anyone in cause he figured, that the puppies would be dead by the time we got there.

Well, after an emergency c-section, a vet error, because he had no one in to help with the surgery etc.. He had to go back in and fix his error, and we had to drive home, and bring back another dog so that he could do an emergency blood transfusion (took 25% of the 2nd dog's blood to save her own mom's life )...and after 16 hours at the vet... We returned home with 1 female who was now spayed due to vet error, 5 our of 7 puppies alive, and still had to hand him $4200.00

And that's not even the work part of the whole deal ! Still have 10 weeks of raising puppies, cleaning, feeding, caring, cleaning, socializing, handling, teaching, cleaning, and everything else.. Ears cropped, tails docked, dewclaws removed, Vaccinations, worming, dogfood, registration, microchipping, etc...

Sound fun yet ?? :)

Answer 7

i have bred dogs, on a few occassion
I dont plan on doing it again, its an incredible amount of work
it takes 12 weeks out of my life to raise and train puppies

my last attempt at a litter almost killed my *****, who had a miscarriage at 60 ish days, she was in the hospital for 2 weeks

i also would like to say, that lots of purebred dogs are adopted from shelters,

but i also think that you have the right to breed your dog if you want to, just be smart about it, you own your dog, If you think you can make great puppies and you will back them up for thier lives, go for it and have fun

its alot of fun, if you can take the 12 weeks off to raise them you will not ever have another experience like it

Answer 8

I would start showing your dogs in either AKC conformation, obedience, ect... Get your dogs titled. Make sure that you have the health clearances done for that breed as well. Find a good mentor in your breed to help you. Think about the costs of having 1 single litter. Vet bills, vaccines, wormers, advertisement costs, registration costs. Also make sure that you have money put back in case you need a c-section done on your *****.

Answer 9

I will cost you much more than you will ever make selling puppies. Responsible breeders breed to preserve and improve a particular breed to which they are dedicated, and it costs them a lot of money to do so.


HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE DECIDING TO BREED YOUR DOG:

Have they completed their AKC championships in the ring, thereby proving their quality as breeding stock?

Have you studied their pedigrees to determine possible genetic defects going back decades?

Have you evaluated male and female against the written breed standard to determine why their particular offspring would make a viable contribution to the breed?

Have you done the requisite health tests?

Are you willing to have their eyes and hips certified?

Do you understand the risk to the female in breeding her?

Are you willing to pay for a Caesaran, (quite common about $1,000.00 + postnatal care)

Are you willing to supplement and tube feed puppies for 24 hours a day?

Are you willing to spend 12 weeks hand raising puppies in your home?

Are you willing to go to the expense of 12 weeks of shots and wormings for however many puppies you bring into the world?

Are you willing to interview dozens of potential pet buyers to determine exactly which ones will be the absolute Best homes for your puppies?

Will you have a spay/neuter clause in your pet buyer contract requiring proof of spaying/neutering before each pup is 6 months old?

Will you GUARANTEE that for if ANY reason during the life of the puppies you've bred, their owners can no longer keep them, they must be returned to you?


K

Answer 10

It is a lot of hard work.
We bred our GSDs and it was a great experience and we had no problem finding homes for the pups - we still see them quite often.
Ther is no money to be made. Do it for the fun of doing it and in the end after you have paid out for vets,wormers, quality feed,vaccinations, registrations etc you may just about break even.
Think carefully before you do it, it is very time consuming.
Good luck