breeding question?

Question

hi i am wanting to breed my golden retriver and i want to start breeding them in mid january nad i need to know the basics to dog breeding i will have the mom and dad and when they have puppies they will have papers and all and how much will it cost for all of the puppies shots cost for all the puppies and please dont leave any nasty comments

Answer 1

Here is a diagram that will help you with determining if you should even CONSIDER the idea of breeding your dog:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c219/skatekitten2288/Petneuter.jpg

Also, a few more questions (there are many many more, this is just the tip of the iceberg!):
- Is she AKC registered? (Not Contenential Kennel Club, APRI, or any other of those non-legit/non-reputable/scam registries)
- What is her pedigree like?
- Are you planning on showing her in confirmation to prove that she is a breeding quality specimen?
- Have you had any breeding experience or have you found someone that is a reputable breeder to be your mentor with this?
- Are you willing to keep all the puppies if suitable homes cannot be found? If you find homes and the new owners at some point cannot care for the dog, are you willing to take it back?
- Do you realize how much it will cost? If you do things right, even if you sell the puppies for $1000 each, you will likely still be "in the hole".

Remember, breeding is not all fun & games. You put your dog's life in danger every time she has a litter. For one example, read the story of Bliss the boxer: http://www.geocities.com/learntobreed/bliss.html

More information on breeding and how it's not just as simple as putting a male & female dog together and getting puppies: http://www.learntobreed.com/ (Note: Some of the links on this page are broken, but the information that is there is very good.)

Answer 2

You can't predict costs this far in advance.. When it comes to shots and other puppy care.. It would be quite different depending on how many puppies you had. Obviously 2 puppies will be far cheaper to raise and care for than 16 would..

If your dog is really registered, and you are breeding to a dog that is registered.. And I am talking AKC not those pretend registries.. And you have your health testing done... And everything else.. You would be wise now to start taking deposits. If you can't get enough deposits for at very least 1/2 an average sized Golden litter, then you should wait til the next heat..

You can't really teach someone the basics of breeding in a few short paragraphs.. This is something you need to read ALOT about and learn as much as you can. Then you find another breeder, Hopefully a Golden breeder and you see if they would be interested in teaching you what they know, helping you out, teaching you the ropes etc.

The more you learn, the better off you will be later.. The more knowledge you gain, You will be able to apply that to your litter and produce the best litter possible.. It makes no sense at all to me, to breed your beloved pet, just to produce a litter of pet puppies that you can only sell for $50. Given the costs of food, and vet care, and vaccinations and health testing and registration and everything else.. You can not possibly ever break anywhere close to even.. I can't imagine why someone would risk the life of their pet, just to produce another unwanted litter.. Do you know how many females DIE or need to be spayed after they have a litter? I don't.. but listening to the stories on here, it's ALOT.. I have a female myself who had to be spayed after she had an emergency c-section. She nearly died. If we didn't have her daughter, who we brought in to donate blood to her mother.. She would have died.. We were lucky, many people aren't..

Given that you don't know the basics and you don't have a mentor, or a breeder friend you can go to for information.. I think you should reconsider producing a litter of pet puppies. Do you know how heartbreaking it is when someone calls you and tells you that the puppy you sold them, that is only 6 months of age, was hit by a car??? Those little puppies that you fed and kissed and cared for all that time.. kept their little faces clean, smiled when they learned to walk, were so proud when they learned to tell you they had to go outside, watching them sleep looking like little peaceful angels... And someone didn't care enough to make sure that the little guy wasn't on the road... and allowed him to die...

Answer 3

First off, why do you want to breed your dog? It really sounds like you're just wanting puppies or think they're good pets. There are far too many dogs in shelters, and there's really no need for more. Do you show your dogs? Are they at least 2 years old? Have they proven themselves in the show ring? Have you gotten any health and genetic tests for them? Are they a perfect example of the breed? Do they have excellent bloodlines? Do you plan on guaranteeing all the puppies for genetic problems for at least 2 years? Do your dogs have good qualities to contribute to the breed? Do you already have homes lined up for the puppies? Do you plan on rushing your female in for an emergency c-section if needed? Do you plan on how much money it's going to cost for everything? You really don't understand that breeding is much more than slapping two dogs together and letting them do their thing. YOU are responsible for the lives of the puppies AND the adults. Have you done TONS of research before breeding? PLEASE do not breed unless all of those things above apply to you and your dogs. There are thousands upon thousands of dogs and puppies sitting in shelters everywhere. Every home you find for your puppies is a home you rob away from a dog in a shelter that's been sitting there waiting for a new home and someone to love them. I've seen puppies grow up in foster homes and shelters in my area. Some have been there for up to a year! That's not the kind of life they should live and it's irresponsible backyard breeders and puppy mills that contribute to this. This is not a "nasty comment". It's to show you that you really don't have a clue when it comes to breeding. I've NEVER bred dogs before and I know way more than it seems you do because I take the time to learn and understand. I understand that putting two pet quality dogs together just because you want puppies is very irresponsible. Do you understand that? Please get your dog spayed and neutered.

Answer 4

I won't leave a nasty comment if you won't leave another 8 puppies to be taken care of when there are thousands being put down today. But about your questions...

#1-there are no "basics" you need to know about breeding. The dogs mate, the female gets pregnant, has puppies, and that's that. If there was anything difficult about it do you think there would be so many strays?

#2-it doesn't matter if the puppies have papers or not. If you had actually done research about this, you would have seen that forged dog papers are fairly common now, so a lot of people don't care about them.

#3-You should have an idea what it's going to cost for their shots if you've ever taken your own dogs to the vet. Since you seemingly have no idea, maybe it's not such a great idea for you to be breeding dogs that may or may not be sick already.

I personally don't think you should be breeding anything at anytime since your entire question consisted of one of the longest run on sentences I've seen. Learn punctuation. Then move on to the hard stuff.

Answer 5

This is not the place to be researching breeding if you want to do it right. Yes there are some great breeders here, but for some reason their stellar advice usually gets over looked because the BYB's and those who know nothing seem to give the "friendliest" answers.

You need to find yourself a mentor who has bred Golden's for several years. Someone who is actually willing to be there for you right on hand to answer your questions, give the right advice and be right there in the room with you during the birth.

I am hoping by papers you mean AKC papers and proof that both dogs have been genetically tested and dome well in the confirmation ring.

To do it right costs several thousand before putting 2 dogs together. Whatever the first shots cost, (it will vary by area) should be included with the cost of the pups.

Be prepared to be torn apart because you obviously are not going about this the right way. Maybe my advice will put you on the right track at least so as your puppies won;t end up on death row in a shelter.

Best advice I can give... don;t do it! To be worried about the cost of shots means you won;t be able to affird such things as a C-section which could cost $1,000 or more if needed.

Answer 6

I am not trying to be nasty here, but I want have my say, too. Golden Retrievers have been very overbred, and poorly bred. If your dogs are not IMPECCABLE, please do not breed them. Many people are aware of the "problems" in the Golden Retreiver breed, and will not consider one of your puppies if you can't provide them a QUALITY pup. Things like nice and cute are not qualifications. Your dogs need to be PROVEN to be free of golden retreiver "issues" like allergies, hip dysplasia, eye problems, heart problems, and VonWillebrand's disease. You should have OFA and CERF certifications before considering breeding.

If I were to purchase one of your pups, an AKC paper would be the LAST thing I asked you for...I'd want to talk to your vet about the parents' histories, and I'd want to see your parents actually working before I'd take one. If your dogs don't possess the best qualities, I am afraid that you will probably LOSE money breeding them...there is almost ALWAYS someone in my area trying to give away FREE golden retrievers...no one is willing to pay for a dog that isn't top quality, and many people know that a poorly bred dog will cost a lot more money than a $1200 dog of quality.

If you're not showing your dogs or taking them to field trials, that is the best way to start breeding goldens...prove the value of your dogs, and make friends with people who know what they are doing...you'll learn much more from them than you will from any internet site or book. Breeding really is a full time job, if you're willing to invest the time and money in proving your parents, I'd support your desire to breed. If you're not, then you really should spay your current female, and wait until you have the proper credentials for your dogs to breed.

Answer 7

Hit the library hard - read everything on dog breeding you can find. Take your dogs to the vet and get their hips, eyes, and everything checked.

Find a Golden breeder to be a mentor. Your initial breeding date may change, but you will be so much better off. Start by helping your mentor with a few litters.

Read everything you can find on Golden Retrievers. Get a sense of what's good about this breed and what isn't.

Get them involved in conformation.

If, at any point, you decide it's not for you, get them fixed.

Answer 8

Just the fact that you think you will get nasty comments means that you already know the correct answer. You just don't want to admit it. Don't breed your dogs. Get them fixed.

Do you realize that most shelters have more difficulty adopting out large breed dogs? That means more large breed dogs are put to death in this country than small breeds. If you care for your animals at all, think about what would happen if ONE of your puppies ended up in the wrong hands. You will have murdered a puppy.

Answer 9

the basics could fill a 200 page book! My advice is to join a breed club and you will find lots of people to tell you tales of their experiences, and hopefully you will find a mentor for close personal advice/help. This mentor is so important I would advise delaying any breeding plans till you have one. The important papers are the health clearances- OFA hips elbows, CERF eyes, thyroid ect. In some states the puppy lemon laws can require YOU, the puppys breeder to payvet bills and buyer keeps the dog. If the pups turn out dysplastic that coluld be thousands and a litter of dysplastic pups can put you into bankrupcy.

PS so how are you gonna breed in mid Jan if the female comes in heat in April?

Answer 10

No dog should be bred until 2 years old. After they have been properly health screened. This includes OFA hip certifications on both male and female. Elbows cleared, eyes cleared, heart, and thyroid cleared.
Then there is the Brucellosis testing to be done.
This is very expensive and a must for the Golden's to have done.
If your not willing to do these test before you breed than have your Golden spayed and Neutered.
There are way to many ill bred Golden out there already.
AKC papers mean nothing if the dogs are not fit to breed in the first place.
Breeding is expensive and should not be done by people who have no clue in the first place.