Quote:
Originally Posted by garryd
so what do you call the casual dog owner like me that wants to breed his bitch a couple of times in her life time !?? a puppy farmer ??? a back yard breeder ??? or just sombody that loves there dog and would love to have puppys from her!  |
To me that's not a justified reason to breed from a bitch.
There are many things that can & do go wrong.
Ask yourself these questions and be honest when you answer them,
Why do you want to breed?
Have you got the time & room?
Could you hand rear a litter if your bitch refused to?,this means feeding ALL PUPS EVERY 2 HOURS DAY & NIGHT.
Could you take back a puppy you bred at any time during it's life if the owner couldn't keep it?
Are you prepared to keep any pups you can't sell?
Can you afford a litter. Lots of people think of breeding as a way of making money, this is not usually the case, and if things do go wrong you could incur a lot of expenses along the way. The stud fee for the dog, extra food for the bitch during pregnancy and lactation, weaning the puppies, their food this is all normal. What if your bitch needs a call out from the vet at 2am, or a Caesarian in the middle of the night, this can be very costly.
Are you aware of the work involved, lots of lovely puppies making lots of mess as they get older, all very time consuming to keep them clean and preparing 4 to 5 meals a day, watching over them when they are fed, is every puppy getting enough to eat. Weaning them from Mum at the right time.
Finding suitable homes can be a nightmare, all calls needs to be carefully vetted as they are people out there to whom you wouldn’t want to sell your puppies too. This can be very time consuming. Every one needs to be carefully vetted, is someone at home most if not all of the day, do the children seem frightened of the dogs, is this a commitment the whole family want to make. If you have any doubts about your prospective homes them don’t sell to these people, it is worth hanging one to a puppy until the right family come along.