Please Think Before You Breed

So, you’re thinking about breeding your dog…  In that case, please take the time to read this article and educate yourself.  It’s important to learn the reality and consequences prior to actually breeding your dog.

First, let’s discuss quality.  Registration papers; whether AKC, UKC or any other legitimate registry; are not an indication of quality.  Additionally, there are a host of questionable registries with similar acronyms such as Universal Kennel Club and Continental Kennel Club.  These registries will basically register anything on four legs.

Even a Championship degree isn’t necessarily an indicator of breeding quality. There are dogs which have attained championships that truly don’t merit being bred just as there are many wonderful pets who should not be bred.  Why you ask?  Although these dogs may have wonderful qualities, they also have defects which should not be perpetuated in the breed. Perhaps these defects are structural or perhaps they are defects of temperament or type.  Regardless, there is something with each and every one of these dogs that should exclude them from a breeding program since breeding them does not enhance or promote the betterment of the breed.

Another important aspect of breeding is education.  It is every breeder’s responsibility to learn canine structure and to be able to apply that knowledge to their individual breed Standard.  The Breed Standard is the blueprint for the breed and tells the breeder and the judge alike what the ideal dog for the breed should look like.  As a breeder, you have a responsibility to be able to read, understand and apply your breed Standard to your dogs and breeding program.  You also have a responsibility to understand basic genetics and health issues and how they apply to your breed so you are able to breed HEALTHY dogs.  Testing your dogs and proving they are clear of certain defects, which are prevalent in your breed, is important to do prior to breeding.  There is no excuse for breeding your dog without testing and then claiming ignorance.

Another factor involved in breeding is COST.  Breeding dogs is not lucrative if done properly.  By the time you’ve paid a stud fee, shipping, health care, testing, food, advertising et cetera you are fortunate if you break even.  If you have any type of major medical expense such as a caesarean section your medical costs can skyrocket and you can easily end up losing a great deal of money on the litter.  For that matter, it’s not unheard of to have an emergency c-section and lose your bitch and puppies in the process while incurring a large medical bill.  Then you have the issue of housing and selling the puppies.  Depending on your breed, this can be a major issue.  Some breeds don’t sell as readily as others and have a very short window of marketability.  Once some breeds reach a certain age they become less attractive to puppy buyers and you could potentially end up in a situation where you have unwanted puppies.  This is never a good situation for the puppy, you or the breed.

Which of course brings up the issue of selling.  If you’re a first time breeder you have no reputation or referrals to help you find buyers.  Many breeders, especially those of large sized or less popular breeds, won’t even consider doing a breeding unless they have cash deposits in advance for their expected litter.  How exactly do you plan to sell your puppies?  If your answer is the newspaper then you might be surprised to know that puppies frequently do not sell using this method and the quality of homes generated as well as the price they’re willing to pay is usually poor.  Are you capable of taking care of multiple puppies for an extended period of time?  This could very well happen if you don’t have buyers for your puppies.  How would you house a third of your litter for 4 to 8 months if necessary?  Are you capable of doing this?  If not, how would you resolve this issue?  Would you end up contacting your breed rescue group or taking them to the Humane Society?  Are you willing to take puppies back from buyers who are unable to keep them?  What if this happens 5 years down the road?  How would you handle this situation?  All of these things happen to breeders on a regular basis and reputable breeders take their puppies back at any time for any reason and rehome them. 

Selling puppies is not as easy as it sounds.  As a matter of fact it’s the thing the breeder’s I know dislike dealing with the most.  It’s not that they don’t love meeting new people and establishing relationships with clients who often become friends through the puppies both have loved.  It’s weeding through the applicants for their puppies to find the right home.  It’s dealing with all of the people who contact them wanting to spend $200 on a dog or wanting a dog they can breed to their little Susie and not test, or the host of emails they get on a daily basis from people who have bought pet store puppy mill puppies who are having a host of issues.  It’s not that they don’t want to help or that they don’t care it’s just that after time we all get weary and we only have so many hours in a day.  It’s also honestly frustrating for a reputable breeder to constantly be picking up the pieces for those who are not.

So you still think you want to breed?  Maybe you’re thinking your dog just needs to have a litter or your kids need to raise puppies.  No dog needs to raise a litter and no child needs to see the trauma of birth.  Honestly, leaving your dogs intact vastly increases their chance of developing uterine and testicular cancer.  The very best thing you can do for your dogs is to spay or neuter them before 6 months of age.  With every heat, a female’s chance of mammary cancer increases.  Spay her before she ever has a heat unless she has an absolutely positive contribution to make to her breed’s gene pool.  Additionally, not all bitches are meant to be a mother.  Some never stand for breeding, have serious delivery problems and never accept their puppies.   Puppies can be born dead or malformed and of course they can die hours, days and weeks after birth as well.  So, although there can be a great deal of joy involved in raising a litter, there can also be a great deal of tragedy and there is always a lot of work!!  If you can’t handle potential disaster and the tremendous workload involved in raising a litter then breeding is not for you!

Then there’s the time factor.  Rarely does a bitch have her litter at 11 am – it’s usually 3 am.  When she does go into labor it can be an all night affair, but it doesn’t end there.  Most bitches can’t be left alone the first few days after delivery, which means you’re in for several sleepless nights and you can forget going to work.  If she doesn’t have enough milk, you’ll need to supplement your litter and that means every two hours for several weeks.  Even if she does, you still have to check and weigh the puppies daily as well as check the bitch and feed her twice a day.  At roughly three weeks you’ll need to start weaning your babies and that means making their food three times a day!  Then there’s socialization, grooming and cleaning the puppy pen – every breeder’s favorite job! NOT!  Be prepared for lots of clean-up duty – it never ends!  If all that isn’t enough you have the hours of interviewing buyers, doing paperwork, advertising...  Most breeders say they spend two to three hours a day on each litter they raise at bare minimum.  If you can’t afford to spend that kind of time then you don’t have time to raise puppies.

I’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg here, but I hope I’ve given you a few things to ponder before you breed your dog.  Those of us who are going to breed have an obligation to do so responsibly and that means being educated about our breed and selective about the dogs we use.  It means doing everything we can to breed healthy, beautiful and mentally sound companions.  It means giving them quality medical care, food and a clean loving environment. It means choosing our buyers wisely to ensure our dogs have loving forever homes and never end up unwanted in a pound somewhere.  There’s so much involved in breeding responsibly it really isn’t something for everyone.  It requires a serious dedication to your breed in order for it to be in the best interest of the breed, the individual dogs and the buyers who eventually own the puppies produced.   Please don’t just breed to produce puppies, we already have an overpopulation and dogs who are unwanted and euthanized on an hourly basis. Please think before you breed and if you do breed, please breed wisely.