There are (or should be) NO short cuts when it comes to breeding.

• The Book of the Bitch - around £10 - a darn good read of ALL of Tanya's website - Thinking Of Breeding Your Dog?
  
• A good read of the Labrador Health website of what can go wrong with puppies - Welcome to Labrador Health - and also covers the minimum and recommended health tests before breeding.
  
• Hips and elbows using sedation - around £250 plus £90 BVA Fee - and any travelling costs for the vet (the vet I use is a 4 hour round trip)
  
• Go for hips and elbows under GA and you can add another £100+ to that (plus the extra risks to the bitch)
  
• Annual eye test - now minimum £50 for the first dog unless you can find a clinic whose timing suits (this is an annual cost) - and dogs can fail at 12 months or 12 years.
  
• DNA Testing for PRA - £120 for the test plus blood vet blood drawing costs and costs of sending to the States - so around £150
  
• DNA test for CNM - £48
  
• Pre-mate testing - you usually have to buy the kits as the vets don't keep them as stock items - so around £120 + =- plus your vets fee for each blood drawing - expect up to around 5/6 tests particularly for a maiden. (so around £200)
  
• Stud Fee - arround £350 to £500 - Plus any associated travel and accommodation costs - you will need two visits - my first stud was an 18 round trip - my other two were closer at around 10 hours and 4 hours so did two visits (unless you have a top quality bitch, few stud dogs will take a puppy - and if they do retain the option, and decide not to, they will still want their stud fee - there are a small number of stud dog owners that work on a base fee plus 'x' amount per puppy born - more common on the continent - but it is practiced in the UK - although I am not aware of any Lab breeders that do).
  
• Scanning - if using a vet around £75 - if you are lucky enough to know a sheep scanner you can get it a bit cheaper
  

Total Spent - around £1,400 - that's of course assuming your bitch has passed all the tests - and your bitch isn't in whelp at this point. I've had dogs I've invested all the tests in and they've been unsuitable to breed from - I've had dogs who've disliked the whole experience so much, I wouldn't put her through it again - even though she gave me my best litter yet.

I've spent over £1,400 on health tests in the last 12 months alone and not bred a pup.

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Whelping Box - some clever people can make their own - I paid around £200 for a Link-a-Bord - and it is excellent - and re-usable if looked after

Puppy pens - and possibly, extra crates, if like me, you start house and crate training before they leave (as it eases the passage into their new home).

I probably spend around £150 on new vet bed each time I have a litter planned

Incidentals - Glucose, nursing scissors, gloves, bottles, lactol, towels, weighing scales, heat lamps / pads etc

My bitches go onto a quality puppy food at about 5/6 weeks pregnant - and are on around 7 meals a day.

After whelping - they eat a couple of kilos of puppy food a day. around a litre of Lactol, a whole chicken (daily), oily fish, rice pudding, and anything else I can put into them - have you see what a litter of 7/8 pups takes out of a bitch?

At weaning - my pups go onto a high quality puppy food, supplemented by fish, chicken, beef, rice pudding, and again, anything else I think they will enjoy.

(my food bill for a litter comes to well in excess of £800)

If it is a winter litter - be prepared to have the heating on 24/7 - be prepared to have the washing machine on 95 degree cycles pretty much 24/7 followed by tumble drying - my quarterly bill for my very cold winter litter was £700 more than normal.

If it is a summer litter be prepared for 24x7 cooling - but the washing has to continue

3 lots of worming for the litter - around £40

KC registration per pup (used to be £12 - I have a suspcion it has gone up -as transfers have recently to £15) - possible advertising on the KC website - free for AB - £20 otherwise.

Microchipping - between £20 to £25 per pup - and whatever happens with the welsh laws - I suspect this element WILL become mandatory - and the rest of the UK will follow. (not a problem for me as I chip my pups anyway)

Puppy packs - which can include a whole range of things from contracts to food to toys, to food vouchers

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You need money available to cover veterinary intervention - which could be - as in our last litter - simply an extra scan - oxytocin and calcium blood levels (c£150) or an out of hours C-Section - anything up to about £1200.

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Having a puppy screaming in your arms and then dying after a week of feeding it and nursing it - agonising.

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If you work for yourself - time out of the business - if you work for someone else - holidays and unpaid leave or ensuring that someone is with the puppies 24x7 for 8 weeks plus at least a week before the bitch's due date.

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My last litter - we somehow managed to bring KC in - we were lucky that all pups came through it unscathed - but still had a nice little vets bill of around £400 as I had to treat all my adult dogs at the same time.

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In addition to the financial sacrifices - expect many days with NO sleep, hands drier and more chapped than you ever knew possible - your house stinking of p** and pee for at least 4 weeks (and spending a fortune on smellies and candles) - puppy buyers who turn up an hour later than expected when all the critters were clean and smelt fresh. Litters are also particularly trying on even the strongest relationships when everyone is on board.

A willingness to keep all pups until they sell, and be able to keep and train them separately, get them vaccinated and socialised. Be prepared up to a point to take a pup / dog back or AT LEAST assist with rehoming.

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In all of the above - the only corner that can reaslistically be cut is making a whelping box if you are handy in that way - it needs to be large enough to cater for a labrador litter and mum - this could mean 1 pup or 14 - mum needs to be able to get in and out easily - while puppies don't.

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In four years I've bred three litters - apart from a bit of oxytocin and an extra scan and the loss of a two pups - they've all been pretty much text book and I DO realise how very lucky I have been.

Financially, not including any loss of earnings through time taken out of the business, I lost money on my first and third litters and made enough on my second one to buy myself a new Dyson.

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I don't breed for the money, I breed because I want to enhance my lines and am working towards something specific - it's been expensive, heartbreaking, damned hard work (pretty near marital splitting at times) - and yes, also rewarding - because I've moved a step closer to my goal.

Last year for various reasons, I bought in a pup rather than breed - but yes, I will have pups again in the future - but only when I am ready to add to my lines and want a pup I can keep, hopefully show, and IS an improvement on my existing dogs.

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Not sure if that answers your question - it's not about money (if it was - only commercial breeders would do it)

You lay out a lot of money before you even get sight of a pup - and even then, until those pups are 8 weeks + and go off to their new homes, there is no guarantee that things won't go wrong.

You should have a waiting list for pups before even considering breeding - but don't let that fool you into thinking you have sold your pups - people drop out and mess people around for all sorts of reasons - in a breed as common as Labradors, it is hardly surprising when the majority of people are looking for pets - it can happen to the top breeders - so it's even more likely to those at the 'bottom of the chain' / newbies starting out - and believe me, a lot of them don't tell you.

It also doesn't matter how good a relationship you have developed with prospective owners - all that can change in a second when you meet them - I always insist they meet my older 'crazy gang' before they get sight of the pups - how they react there can tell you a huge amount about how they will be with a dog who will be a tiny puppy for what feels like ten minutes, and a 30kg dog often with the mentality of a puppy for a lot longer.

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ETA - every mating and whelping also runs the risk that the bitch and pups can die - I know recently of someone whose bitch died and had to raise 12 surviving pups single handedly - that is NO mean feat. Another friend had to take her bitch away from the pups very early after she was taken seriously ill - and had to hand rear a litter of 6 pups - and then had to deal with mum wanting to be with them when she returned home.

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What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy

Rep and a "like" for you.
Your posts are always helpful and very informative.

This is not wholly true - for all sorts of reasons, because my bitch didn't work out from a top kennel, I went back and bred from my fully health tested bitch - BUT - I put a huge amount of research into it - I've developed a database of over 40K dogs, colours, health test results, failures, high hips, low hips. Often dogs, also produce offspring of much higher quality than themselves, and the reserve also applies - if you bred only from the very top dogs - then the PF would be having a field day

The aim is to improve on conformation, health, temperament (which should be pretty much faultless to start with - particularly with Labs) and working instinct / biddability.

Anyone who starts off considering things such 'what money you could make out of it' or simply believes being around children are good enough reasons falls far lower in the chain to me than someone setting out with a particular goal in mind (and that may take many generations).

Only my eldest girl was brought up around children - and my daughter is now grow up and left home (and thankfully neither her or my stepson have yet presented me with any grandchildren ) - but Labrador instincts in particular are incredible.

I took my lovely (but still rather bouncy ) boy to a show recently - and a clearly disabled man with downs syndrome / learning difficulties made a beeline for him - my heart was in my mouth for a moment or two, but you wouldn't have recognised my nutty boy - he instinctively knew this was 'different' and he responded accordingly - likewise when my partner, currently awaitng surgery on his knee had to take him in the ring for BOB - his behaviour was entirely different because he 'knew' - he was also totally different with my friends 2 year old daughter - because that's just the type of breed they are if well socialised. (although the same rules apply to Labs as any dog and never leave alone with a small child).

If you do make money out a litter - fantastic - as it would only go back into the insurance / treat / show pot anyway - but it should NEVER be cited as a justifiable reason for breeding.

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What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy

Why on earth would you spend a £1000 on a whelping kit I have bred several litters and common sense is the most important ingredient. I cant believe anyone would spend a £1000 on a few odds and ends. A heat lamp really doesnt cost a great deal. A whelping box is easy and cheap to make. Newspaper is a perfectly acceptable bedding. Some puppy milk is useful to have by you but you can often get it on sale or return and are highly unlikely to need it. Adding phone calls on to the costs is ridiculous. If you enjoy yapping to people (as I do) then it is part of life and as someone else said most people have any time or at least evening and weekend free calls - in fact they come as standard with most phone deals.

I can honestly say that, though I am sure I have not made money on litters I have bred, mainly because I used to breed shelties who have tiny litters (and I did have a lot of bad luck) the costs were really not great at all. And my standard poodle, apart from extra food which is a minimal cost, really didnt have any big outlays.
I am sure that the average pet breeder does not spend much money and does not often have any unexpected costs.

I don't spend £1K on a whelping kit - but I also don't cut corners on anything from health testing to taking chances, chosing the right stud and ensuring that my puppies get the best possible start in life - THAT costs money.

Extra food is minimal cost yes if you stick to basics - I don't - because I have found a significant difference in the consitution of puppies raised solely on puppy food and those who have a varied diet, they have tougher tummies and are less prone to difficulties with food changes and allergies - and until the evidence proves to me otherwise I will continue to do the same - whatever it costs.

I've got no objection to someone breeding if they do it properly - but when they see £££ as the end goal - it's the wrong reason to breed.

I don't spend a penny on phonecalls - free call contracts with BT, Skype and email see to that.

As for using Vetbed for my puppies - yep - I use paper too and a hell of a lot of it - and will continue to do the same.

Whether things do or don't go wrong is irrelevant in the great scheme of things - you have to be prepared for it - and it DOES happen and hand rearing a litter for 8 weeks PLUS is damned hard work.

There are MUCH MUCH MUCH easier ways to make money than breeding a litter - two weeks of my business creates far greater income than an average size litter of Lab puppies for far less investment.

Yes - you can make whelping boxes if you are that way inclined - but why scimp on a living creature which will hopefully give a family 12 + years of happiness and enjoyment as opposed to heartache and vetbills? I know which way I would rather go.

And yes, I am well aware that even when you do everything right things can go wrong - but that's where conscience comes in - and if you are prepared to cut corners and take risks, then as far as I can see - you can't have one (and that's not aimed at anyone - that's just MY view)

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What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy