Thinking of breeding from your "pet" dog?

The decision to breed a litter should not be undertaken lightly and needs careful thought about ALL the responsibilities and pitfalls involved.

Breeding dogs is not as easy or simple as it might appear, there are a number of responsibilities, costs and other factors to take into consideration before breeding.

Some of the questions you should be asking yourself are:

Can I afford the costs involved and do I have the time to rear a litter successfully?

Breeding a litter & caring for a Mum & her puppies is expensive and extremely time consuming. The cost of rearing a litter correctly comes to MORE money than is recouped from puppy sales. Mum’s and their puppies also need a lot of time & attention.

You need to have sufficient money set aside for:

• Health testing – BVA Eye Test, OptiGen prcd-PRA test, Antagene FN test, BVA hip scoring
• The stud fee
• Vets bills - routine vet visits & puppy "MOT's"
• Emergency vets bills – Caesarean Section, if needed
• Quality food for Mum & babies
• Whelping equipment, toys, puppy equipment & wormers etc.
• Extra electricity/gas bills for heating, lighting and washing machine
• Kennel Club registration fees

You will have all these expenses whether you produce one puppy or an average sized litter! Unless you cut corners (as puppy farmers do) or breed commercially on a large scale, it is almost guaranteed that you will make a loss on your litter. Breeding puppies is not an easy way to make money when done correctly.

If you can afford to rear a litter - do you have the time available?

Having a litter involves ‘round the clock’ care and attention to the Mum & her pups. Meals are missed, you become sleep deprived, social activities are put on hold and general family life goes to pieces!

Once puppies are weaned, the hard work really begins for a breeder. Puppies require countless hours spent in caring for them, feeding them, clearing up poop, washing pups that have rolled in poop, weighing, trimming toenails etc. and the washing machine is on ‘overdrive’!

The breeder must also make the effort to socialise puppies by introducing them to common household noises & letting them meet all different kinds of people, including children & mature people.

Considerable time also needs to be spent on vetting potential owners by taking phone calls & emails from interested buyers including chatting to would-be owners about their lifestyle & commitments and advising them about puppies, puppy care & dog ownership. All potential owners should visit a breeder and their litter in person; therefore, there are visits to arrange.

Visits are beneficial for both the breeder & the would-be owner. However, they do take up a large part of the day (often several days!). Visits are tiring for a breeder as well as time consuming. The work of looking after Mum & her babies and running your home doesn’t end just because hours are spent accommodating visitors!

Breeders have to juggle puppy care, the care of their adult dogs and tackle a mountain of neglected housework in order to have puppy visitors!

Breeders can expect to be asked many questions when would-be owners visit and they should be able to answer these questions confidently & knowledgeably.

Unfortunately, there are often other stresses and strains involved in having puppy visitors.

• Most people arrive late and all the careful plans for feeding & cleaning pups up in-between visitors go awry,
• Some people arrive early & impinge on the previous visitors time,
• Some visitors lifestyles & other commitments may not be suitable for puppy ownership,
• Some visitors have wild & out of control children,
• Some people are downright rude, pushy and lacking in manners!

All of these scenarios need to be managed calmly, carefully and tactfully – often a challenge for a breeder who is already sleep deprived & over worked through looking after their litter!

Making sure that your precious puppies only go the most suitable homes is probably the most difficult part of breeding a litter, as enquirers are not always what they seem when they first make contact with a breeder. Sadly, not all enquirers can offer a good home for a puppy no matter how much they’d love to own one.

Could I cope if things go wrong?

Thankfully, most pregnancies, labour, deliveries and the care of a litter are trouble free; however the potential for some disaster or another is often only a ‘hairs breadth’ away. There can be health issues for the Mum, troublesome deliveries, possible Caesarean section births and in extreme cases the death of the mother and/or her puppies.

Other problems that may arise are a failure of the Mum to produce milk (requiring a breeder to hand-rear/bottle feed the litter), Mum’s who reject pups and won’t care for them (again the breeder HAS to step in), Mum’s who are careless and clumsy and trample/kill their pups and rarely Mum’s who actively seek to kill their offspring.

Can I provide lifelong help & support to any puppy owners who might need it?

A responsible breeder will always be happy to answer questions & provide advice and support to new puppy owners should they need it.

This means having good knowledge on subjects like puppy training & common health issues, having sold pups/dogs back for holidays, offering advise on grooming and any multitude of other aspects of dog care/ownership.

A responsible breeder also has a lifetime commitment to the puppies they produce. This means being prepared to take back one of their puppies (however old he/she might be at the time) for re-homing should the need arise (unfortunately people's circumstances can change), even if the timing is not convenient for the breeder.

A breeder must also bear the moral responsibility and sometimes the legal responsibility if any of their puppies develops a hereditary defect in the future. Buyers are often very aware of their ‘consumer rights’ & under current legislation, puppies and dogs are treated as "goods", it not unheard of for owners to sue breeders through the courts for compensation for expenses incurred in caring for and treating dogs with hereditary conditions. There may also be compensation awarded to owners for distress and loss of enjoyment from their dog.

If after contemplating the above information, you decide that you are ready for the responsibility and commitment of breeding a litter, then you should consult your bitch's breeder for advice as to suitable stud dogs, assuming of course that they are reputable and experienced.

The best stud dog for your bitch does not necessarily live locally to you so you must be prepared to travel to a health tested and suitable stud dog.

You must also be prepared to have your bitch screened for known hereditary problems where testing schemes are available, including eye-testing by a specialist ophthalmologist, DNA testing for prcd-PRA and FN and hip scoring.

Average Costs To Breed A Litter:

*This is a basic post-whelping check.  If a Caesarean Section is required the price varies but you can expect to pay around £800.00, this price is an average charge for a day time procedure without complications. Out of hours the price can be considerably more (upwards of approx. £500 more!).

For an average sized litter (four puppies) the cost to rear a litter generally costs more money than is recouped through puppy sales (assuming there are no dramas, dramas = extra expenses!).  Clearly if there are fewer pups or extra expenses then a greater loss can be expected...

Finally...

Before going ahead with a litter do as much research as you can into breeding, labour/delivery and puppy care/rearing. Remember the saying "forewarned is forearmed.” Your girl and her babies welfare is the most important part of breeding, take the time to learn how to breed successfully to minimise the risks involved.