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Thinking
about breeding from your dog?
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We all know puppies are cute and fun! Does the
idea of breeding just one litter of pups from your bitch
appeal to you?
Does the idea of your male dog
siring some pups to a friend's dog down
the road appeal to you? Are you flattered
they asked?
Before
you go ahead, please read on...
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This
is what one person thinks, having bred the occasional
litter...
"Okay let's see, I paid roughly £200 for hip scoring, and around £20 for eye
testing [for the dam]. Stud fees? Varies, but
likely to be in the
hundreds if you choose
a good dog. The ione
down the road, or the
other one you own is
highly unlikely to be
suitable.
Food -4
meals a day for mum of puppy food from 6th week of pregnancy until pups were
at least 12 weeks old, and from 2 ½ weeks onwards 5 meals a day for the
pups, I used at the very LEAST 10 kgs of food per week.
Whelping box -even though
we made our own, that still costs a lot, say at least £100. An extra £60 for
vet beds. I cannot cope with less than 3 large ones as one is always in the wash, one clean and one about
to be washed.
Then where do you keep a litter of 8 pups of anything
else but a small breed once they have hit say 4 weeks? Well I did it
once in the house and they ate everything in sight which included floor, skriting boards, shelves, cupboards, you name it, sothat was a fortune, so now we use a kennel -add another £1500!
Then there was no way on earth I could save up enough newspaper to cover
the kennel inside for weeks, so I
had to buy woodshavings which is what we use -not suitable for all dogs,
but shredded paper, whatever, all costs money.
With my last litter my bitch got ill after eating all the
afterbirths; she had to stay at the
vets overnight, and the direct result of that was mastitis, she developed a
mammary abscess that burst into a giant hole -total cost for vet treatment
around £600. Then at 5 weeks the puppies got the runs, they weren't ILL but
it took us a couple of weeks of cooking all food for them -scrambled eggs,
pasta, meat, gave them Kaogel etc, that easily tripled the food costs for
that period of time!
Each puppy I sell goes with 7.5 kg of the food they
are used to to avoid stomach upsets, so that's 8 x whatever the cost of food
a few weeks worth of feeding.
Oh and £30 to put to sleep one pup that was
not doing well -only humane way of
doing it, using the VET.
I always have buyers waiting and don't need to
advertise but for my accidental crossbred litter I certainly had to
advertise so another £100 at least. For that litter, as they were just
crossbreeds, I EASILY lost £500 having the litter -but I was VERY lucky
because I didn't need much from the vet that time! Oh and I had to keep 2
pups as I couldn't find a home for the last one -after all they were
crossbreeds - and that was a huge mistake too, never again will I have
littermates as it is such hard work and caused all sorts of problems, but I
had no CHOICE.
It
definitely costs around £1000 at least to rear a litter in my (albeit
limited) experience."
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What
happens if no-one wants your pups?
Will
you end up having to put them into a
rescue centre? Or just try and give
them away to anyone, however unsuitable?
Might you even end up having to keep
some?
"There is a advert in my local feed merchants for 2 x 8
month old collie pups.
Free to a good home! So someone has fed the bitch, whelped her and fed the
pups for several months only to have to give them away. They will probably
go to unsuitable homes and end up in rescue. Poor things. "
See below
for where a lot of pups end up...the
lucky ones, that is. There are hundreds,
if not thousands of nice dogs, just
like yours, that are put to sleep every
year simply because their owners got tired
of them, couldn't cope with them
or had no support from a good
breeder when they needed help. Imagine that pup you brought into
the world...where will it be in 2, 5
or even 10 years
time?
DogPages
and Shelter
Helper
list rescue kennels and organisations
that spend their time and thousands
of pounds to help rehome and care for
dogs someone has bred. Will your 'babies'
be in a rescue shelter in a couple of years time,
alone in a concrete run, behind wire
fencing? No family, no loving
home?
The
Oldies Club
helps rehome old dogs that have or been
abandoned or whose owners can no longer
keep them. Will your 'pup' end up dumped
on a motorway when she is old and unwanted
in 10 years time? Because that is what
some people do.
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What
happens if your puppy buyer no longer
want to keep 'your' puppy?
Is yours a 'proper' breed?
Well, there are breed rescues that might
take on the dogs you breed (assuming
they haven't developed any health or
behaviour problems), but why
should they? Why should other people
take on responsibility for dogs you
brought into the world?
Dylan
is a pedigree German Spitz who was so badly neglected
when he came into breed rescue with
his brother Winston he nearly
didn't make it. It's possible his breeder
was unaware he was in need of a new
home...or maybe his owner wasn't able
or willing to take him back to the breeder
when he couldn't be kept? We'll never
know.
All we know is the brothers arrived
in rescue terrified, unwilling to
be touched, let alone handled, overweight
and with rotten teeth.
But just
how much trouble could a little German
Spitz be to an owner? If you are considering
breeding from a big, or difficult, dog
then the chances of them giving owners
problems are increased and it will be
your job as the breeder to help
the owners out.
How much effort will you
be willing to make to stay in touch
with all your puppy buyers to save that
happening 6 years down the line, as
in Dylan's case? He was reared and cared
for by someone when he was a
baby...
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So
breeding is likely to cost you a lot of money, your
bitch might
die, as might the pups. Your home will not be your
own for weeks. You might be able to sell
the pups for a reasonable sum, but on the other hand they might
cost you hundreds, if not thousands of pounds in vet bills
and expenses! You will have
to pay for advertising, maybe lose pay or use up
paid holidays so you can stay home to look after
them and be at home for potential buyers. You may end up taking some back a
few years down the line. Still not convinced
its probably a bad idea? Have look here
and here.
Stud
dogs
If you
allow your dog to be used at stud you also
have the responsibility of ensuring your dog is
healthy and also take responsibility, with the owner
of the bitch, for the pups. Are you prepared to
do that? You are equally responsible for bringing
pups into the world. Your dog will need to have
all the various health checks and tests done. That
will be expensive, but necessary.
The bottom line is
there are too many unwanted dogs in this world.
Many live in wretched conditions. The best rescue
kennels are no substitue for a caring, loving home.
Not all of them are 'accidents' allowed to happen
by uncaring, irresponsible idiots who haven't taken
care to stop their bitch being 'got at' by
the local street dog. Many are pedigree dogs bred
by well meaning, nice people who have just not given
enough thought about how, or where, the pups would
end up. Many are bred by commercial puppy 'farmers'
who treat pups as disposable assets with little
or no regard for their health or happiness.
If you own a dog
that sires a litter, whether by accident or design,
then you are just as responsible for those pups
as the owner of the dam is.
Who should be
breeding dogs then?
A good dog breeder...
-
only breeds a litter when they know they can find
good homes for the pups
- is breeding
pups for the type of home they are destined for.
Look at 'my dogs' and meet
Poppy. Bred by a puppy farmer in Wales and sold
through a pet shop, the only
reason she is alive now is that I was in a position
to risk having a biter in my home until her
problems were resolved. She was lucky! But relying
on luck for 'your' pup to reach a contented
old age isn't good enough and many unwanted
dogs are very unlucky and end up dead,
as she so nearly did.
- understands
how genetics work and how behaviour traits (like
nervousness and aggression) and many diseases
(like deafness, epilepsy and hip dysplasia)
can be unherited from parents or
grandparents and other dogs in the both
parents' pedigrees. .
- looks for the
best dog to mate to their bitch. The books may
say you should see the sire of a pup you buy,
but in reality if the breeder is doing their
job properly its unlikely that dog will be the
one down the road or another they own. It may
be a perfectly nice dog, but it may not be the
best to complement the bitch's qualities.
- understands
how to feed and care for a pregnant bitch
- understands
how puppies develop so they can be reared with
the best chance for physical and mental good
health
- only breeds from dogs that are known to be an
excellent temperament
- breeds only
from dogs that are clear of evident health
problems and has their dogs tested by a vet to
be as sure as they can be that is the case
- rears
the pups well by spending time handling, training
and socialising them before they go to their
new homes
- vets potential
puppy buyers and refuses to sell to anyone
who isn't suitable
- helps and offers
advice to all the puppy buyers. The breeder
needs knowledge of dog behaviour and puppy
development to be able to do that.
- will always
take responsibility for them either by taking
them back, or finding a new home for them, if
the new owner cannot keep them
If you can fulfill
all those criteria, then go ahead. Your contribution
to breeding healthy, friendly family pets will be
of great value. But if you can't...then don't! Pups
shouldn't be bred just to entertain or educate your
children. Dogs
aren't a commodity to earn a fast buck. Puppies
aren't toys or the latest hi-tech toy to be traded
in or passed on at later date when they have lost
their novelty value. That is what happens to vast
numbers of dogs.It is cruel and inhumane and doesn't
sit well in a caring society.
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