The litter where I flew to Finland cost me £3000, which I just about covered as there were no untoward Vet expenses.

A litter with health tests for the dam and all expenses other than extra utility bills and my time will cost around the £1600 - £1800 mark (I can break that down for you but would be boring).

I had already reared that bitch for 4 years and shown her, and I have no idea how much that cost me (I don't list each ones expenses separately, other than for the litter). My contribution to her sires upkeep and purchase has cost me £2000 in 6 years.

I make a note of the outgoings on the dogs and also puppy sales when I have a litter.

On average, my dogs cost me another £500 over what pups sold for.

I average just under 6 pups in a litter (most often 4 or 7 for some reason) which are now about £550, as is the stud fee.

This is keeping four or five bitches and showing 2 or more at a time. I do not show excessively usually between 12 and 20 shows a year and I share petrol expenses.

I would like to be able to do more shows but cannot afford to, and cannot justify more than I already spend on the dogs.

If I don't have a litter then I have to cut my show expenses down further.

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.

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Rooney Rumpus DNA Tested L2/HC Clear

Ellies Babe Genetically L2/HC Clear

ruardeanstaffords

You can sugar coat it all you like but when you run it like a buisness it is a buisness !in my eyes ! A lot of people buy dogs as pets and not to show ! my grandad had bull terriers my dad had bull terriers wich all had lovely pups that was eather sold or went to family they all made cracking dogs and without being shown !

So what point are you trying to make then Garry?? That you want to breed from your pet and sell the pups on to make money???

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i need to breed my bitchs any way as my rolex needs an upgrade this year and an extra holiday wont go a miss

Hmmmm yeah ok

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Why bother asking advice then?

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Rooney Rumpus DNA Tested L2/HC Clear

Ellies Babe Genetically L2/HC Clear

ruardeanstaffords

This may sound abit thick but, Are u serious? Being sarcastic maybe?

I think He's a wind up merchant

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Rooney Rumpus DNA Tested L2/HC Clear

Ellies Babe Genetically L2/HC Clear

ruardeanstaffords