I'm curious to know. Mostly because of a scary experience with my dog recently. In order to breed AKC puppies and register them what all does that entail? Are you required to get certain certs?

There is SO MUCH INVOLVED it is not even possible to list in one post. Yes you need to get ALL the breed appropriate health clearances from OFA, CERF, PennHip and other orginazitions! You need to breed ONLY healthy adult dogs (over 2 years old), you should ONLY breed to BETTER THE BREED, meaning your dogs conform the their breed standard in type and temperament... the only way to show this is by competing in dog show and performance events. ONLY titled dogs should be bred!! you also must take into consideration COSTS, space requirements, TIME, COST, permits, COST, local laws, TIME, COST, did I mention TIME... I took 2 weeks off work to care for my last litter and was up most of the night for that amount of time. You also need to consider your ability to care for your dogs, puppies, how to screen adopters, how to deal with puppies coming back, adult dogs being returned, the possibility of your bitch (female dog) dying wile delivering the puppies and SO MUCH MORE!! Hope this gives you an idea.

with this being such a huge deal i wish it was regulated better. especially with the growing amts of animals showing up in the pound these days.

and who regulates these cert companies?

my vet was very proactive today and informed me of some pretty discouraging news. however i was happy to know that they took note in the fact that i was looking to breed and advised me not to due to my dogs condition. they also faxed over all the info to akc and cerf.

surely someone has come up with a way to regulate breeders by now.

Originally Posted by orangedog

There is SO MUCH INVOLVED it is not even possible to list in one post. Yes you need to get ALL the breed appropriate health clearances from OFA, CERF, PennHip and other orginazitions! You need to breed ONLY healthy adult dogs (over 2 years old), you should ONLY breed to BETTER THE BREED, meaning your dogs conform the their breed standard in type and temperament... the only way to show this is by competing in dog show and performance events. ONLY titled dogs should be bred!! you also must take into consideration COSTS, space requirements, TIME, COST, permits, COST, local laws, TIME, COST, did I mention TIME... I took 2 weeks off work to care for my last litter and was up most of the night for that amount of time. You also need to consider your ability to care for your dogs, puppies, how to screen adopters, how to deal with puppies coming back, adult dogs being returned, the possibility of your bitch (female dog) dying wile delivering the puppies and SO MUCH MORE!! Hope this gives you an idea.

I agree with most of what you said. The one exception is breeding only titled dogs. I know of too many great brood bitches that never set foot in a show ring or competed in any type of trials, yet they produced great puppies.

One in particular was a Bull Terrier bitch that was born with a deformed foot. The vet was of the opinion that it was the results of having the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her foot during a part of her prenatal development. She produced several litters of outstanding representatives of the breed, including one litter where every puppy earned their championships by the time they were 18 months old.

My own Bully bitch had earned 12 points, including 3 majors, as well as earning a high in trial in her first obedience trial, when an unfortunate incident at a show traumatized her, and after that she just didn't perform up to standards. You couldn't have bought a point on her, and I retired her. Now tell me, if she were your bitch, would you have decided not to breed her because she didn't earn any titles?

Not everyone is up to taking on the rigors of the show circuit. Not everyone wants to show. Not every dog is "showy" enough to make it as a show dog, but they still can have strong qualities that make them an asset to the breed. And there are other ways to evaluate how well a dog measures up to the breed standard besides showing. The important issues are soundness, great type, proper temperament for the breed, and good physical health.

Vetgroomer ... you are very right I stick by my don't breed untitled dogs statement when there is anyposibility that byb's are looking for info and as a way to discorage people to just breed their family dog.