Almost everyone who owns a dog thinks about
breeding it at least once. Raising a litter sounds easy and fun but
having puppies isn't all it's cracked up to be. Breeding dogs
involves much more work and responsibility than most people are
prepared to undertake. Before you breed your dog, there are some
important things to consider:
Will all your puppies find good,
permanent homes?
According to the Humane Society of the United States
and the government Census Bureau 2,000 puppies and 450 humans are
born every hour in our country. Right from the start, only 1 out of 4
puppies has a chance at a home. Finding a permanent home is even more
unlikely - only 1 out of 10 dogs will stay with its original buyer
for its whole life. Five out of 10 will change owners before they're
a year old. The remainder of these dogs will end up in animal
shelters, abandoned and unwanted. Even if your dog is an expensive
purebred, your puppies are subject to the same statistics. In most
areas of the country poodles constitute up to 25% of the purebred
dogs that appear in animal shelters. At least 3 MILLION purebred dogs
will be killed in animal shelters this year alone because there just
aren't enough homes for all of them. There are so many unwanted pets
that cities and counties all over the country are considering passing
laws that will ban all breeding!
Your responsibilities as a
breeder:
As a breeder, you're personally responsible for each
and every puppy for the rest of its life. Your responsibility doesn't
end with selling the puppy - it only starts there! It will be up to
you to know where those puppies are six months, a year, five years
from now and whether or not they're being taken care of. It will be
up to you to keep any unsold puppies or to take back puppies you've
sold after they're grown if their owners can't keep them anymore.
Since only 1 out of 10 puppies stays with its original buyer for
life, you can expect to have to take back most of your litter sooner
or later! The time to prepare for this is now - before you bring
puppies into the world, not after. If you're offering your dog for
stud service, you have as much responsibility for the welfare of his
puppies as do the owners of the bitches bred to him.
As a breeder, you have the responsibility of controlling the
reproductive future of the puppies you sell. It might seem like
having just one litter doesn't add much to pet overpopulation but, if
your dog or bitch produces just one litter of four pups who in turn
each produce just one litter themselves and so forth, in only 7 years
your dog will have 4,000 descendants! "Just one litter" has serious
consequences! You'll need to learn how to write and enforce a
contract requiring the new owners to spay or neuter their
puppies.
You have a responsibility to your puppies and their buyers to produce
the healthiest and most mentally sound dogs possible. All breeds have
genetic health and temperament problems that can be passed on to
their puppies. It takes experience and knowledge to learn how to
recognize these problems. Many inherited defects are"hidden" -
although your dog may not seem to have a problem, it could be
genetically programmed to pass trouble along to its pups. Without
expensive medical testing and a thorough understanding of genetics
and pedigrees, you could easily produce puppies that will be a
heartache to their owners and a financial burden to you. Reputable
breeders check their adult stock for evidence of hip and elbow
dysplasia, eye diseases, thyroid and hormone trouble, skin problems
and allergies, bleeding disorders and other problems before even
thinking of breeding.
As a breeder, you must be prepared to guarantee your puppies against
inherited health problems that may not appear until adulthood. This
can mean refunding money or replacing a dog years later. Many states
are now passing "puppy lemon laws" that would require a breeder to
refund up to three times the purchase price of a defective puppy.
Temperament is also subject to guarantees. You could be sued if a dog
you produce bites someone! You need to be there to give advice on
training, behavioral and medical problems. You're the "on-line"
support for your puppies' buyers for the next 10-15 years!
Having a litter is expensive
Raising a litter involves a considerable investment
in time and money - money that you aren't likely to get back in
profit. By the time your bitch is old enough to have puppies, you'll
have more than $1000 invested in her purchase price, food and up
keep, vaccinations and the medical tests and certification to prove
her suitability for breeding. In order to produce quality puppies,
you'll need to use a stud dog that's as good or better than she is.
Good stud dogs require a hefty fee. Most professional breeders won't
be interested in taking a puppy in exchange nor are they interested
in breeding to just any bitch.
There'll be pre-whelping exams and x-rays, post-whelping exams and
shots, dewclaw removal and/or tail docking, puppy shots (two sets for
each pup before they're sold), worming medication, extra food for dam
and pups, equipment like whelping boxes, heating pads, puppy
playpens, crates, etc. Problem pregnancies are common. A Cesarian
section can cost over $250.
You'll be taking time off work to help whelp the litter and make sure
all is well the first few days, especially if this is your bitch's
first litter. Dogs don't always know what to do and can accidentally
kill their puppies. A problem during whelping can cost your bitch her
life if you're not there to tend her. You can depend on a 25%
mortality rate for newborn puppies no matter how well you care for
them. Birth defects like cleft palettes are also common. Then there
will be advertising costs to help sell your puppies. Depending on
your breed and part of the country, it can take up to six months to
find proper homes for your entire litter. Even breeders of top
quality show dogs rarely break even on their expenses.
AKC registration
requirements
If you plan to register your litter with the AKC, you
need to become familiar with their rules and record keeping
requirements. You should be aware that they have the right to inspect
your premises and breeding records at any time. If your record
keeping doesn't meet their standards, they can refuse to register
your puppies, impose a large fine and suspend you from registration
privileges for life.
Before going any further, think hard about your reasons for wanting
to breed a litter. Here are some of the most common ones:
"Nature intended for dogs to have
puppies."
Nature doesn't control our pets' reproductive careers
any more - we do. Nature's way is very different than ours. Nature
never intends for all animals to reproduce. In the wild, nature sees
to it that only the strongest, fittest and smartest animals survive
long enough to have babies. Nature only allows females to conceive
when the food supply and environment is suitable to assure a good
future. We humans allow our animals to reproduce anytime, no matter
if there is a future for them or not.
"We're doing it for the
kids."
Seeing the miracle of birth isn't all it's cracked up
to be. It's messy, bloody and usually happens in the middle of the
night. It's painful for the bitch and her screaming may be more than
you or the kids can stand. There are videos and books available to
show children what birth is like without the responsibility and
expense of raising puppies. Seeing the birth of a mummified fetus, or
a grotesquely malformed puppy and even possibly the death of their
beloved pet bitch is not a positive experience for children.
"We want another dog just like
this one."
Your puppies have at least a 50-50 chance of taking
after the other parent instead! Your dog is unique, special. The laws
of heredity make it impossible for any two to be exactly alike. Many
of the qualities of personality that make your dog so adorable to you
are developed, not inherited.
"We want to keep a
puppy."
It's far cheaper and easier to buy a new puppy than
to breed one yourself!
"All our friends want
one."
Almost everyone who saw your dog as a pup will tell
you they want one "someday". That someday is seldom when your puppies
are ready for their new homes! You'll be amazed at how many people
suddenly don't have time for a pup right now or aren't willing to pay
your price. Don't count on vague promises!
Placing puppies in good homes is easier said than done. Not everyone
should own a dog and bad owners aren't always easy to sort from the
good ones. You have to be a good judge of character and willing to
spend time getting to know people before you sell them a puppy. Do
they have the experience to raise and train your puppy and if not,
are you willing to teach them? Is this the BEST possible home for
this particular puppy? Do you know how to evaluate puppy potential to
match the right dog with the right person? Will you be willing to
hang on to each pup until just the right home comes along?
"She needs to experience
sex"...or..."it'll settle him down."
No - on both counts. Sex in animals is governed by
hormones. There is no love, emotion or thinking involved. A bitch
only "thinks" about sex when she's in season. The experience is
forgotten once her season is over. Males only think about sex when
they're near a bitch in season. Breeding won't settle your dog down
at all - it will make your male dog worse! He'll become more
territorial and aggressive toward other dogs, may lose his house
manners, and will become uncontrollable if there is a breedable bitch
in the neighborhood. If they've never had it, they don't miss it!
"Settling" a dog down, male or female, is a matter of maturity and
training, not sex!
There is no truth to the old wives' tale that bitches need to have a
litter before spaying. Veterinarians who still give that advice are
behind the times! Research shows that even baby puppies may be spayed
or neutered with no ill effects. Spaying a bitch before her first
heat cycle eliminates the risk of breast cancer and life-threatening
uterine infections. Neutering a male dog won't make him a wimp! In
fact, neutering will make him a better, more trainable pet by
allowing him to channel what used to be sexual energy into other
areas.
"We want to get back our
investment in our dog."
As was pointed out earlier, you are not likely to
make a profit from raising puppies. In fact, raising a litter will
probably cost more than you ever imagined! You probably bought your
dog to provide companionship and pleasure. Even if you paid as much
as $1000 for it, that's only an "investment" of $100 a year if your
dog lives for 10 years - less than $2 a week. Isn't the
companionship, pleasure, love and loyalty your dog gives you worth
that much?
If you sincerely feel that you
have exceptionally good reasons for breeding your dog and can live up
to the great responsibility involved, your work is just beginning!
Your first step is to call the Poodle Club of
America for a referral to the Poodle clubs in your locale. Join the
club to meet and learn from other serious breeders. Subscribe to dog
magazines, especially the POODLE PAPERS (newsletter published by
Poodle Club of America), POODLE VARIETY, POODLE REVIEW , VIP
NEWSLETTER, and the AKC GAZETTE. Read everything you can find
pertaining not only to Poodles, but to all breeds. You'll need an
education in all canine subjects, medical concerns, anatomy and
structure, behavior, training and even some psychology for working
with the owners of your new puppies. Go to dog shows where you can
see and touch other examples of your breed and learn what makes them
better than average.
One of the most important parts of your education is learning what
the "breed standard" means. The Poodle Club of America has a written
and illustrated breed standard of perfection for poodles. It
describes and illustrates what that breed should look, move and act
like. This can be obtained for no charge from the Poodle Club of
America. Serious breeders constantly measure, test and compare
against this standard before deciding whether their chosen dog is
good enough to breed. They show their dogs in order to compare them
with others of high quality. Breed standards aren't easily understood
in one reading. It takes study and exposure to hundreds of dogs
before you can really see why certain characteristics are important
and whether or not your dog has them to such a degree that breeding
it would improve the overall quality of the entire breed. That's the
real goal of serious dog breeding and the ONLY reason to breed any
dog - to produce animals that are exceptional in appearance, health,
temperament and trainability.
It can take years to gain this kind of knowledge and along the way,
you might learn that the dog you have is a fine pet, but not good
breeding stock. If so, you're in good company. Some of today's most
successful breeders began by finding out the same thing. They
discovered that getting a dog of suitable quality meant a serious
financial commitment and a lifetime of dedication to do their very
best even though there would be no real monetary reward for their
effort.
Breeding dogs today is a serious matter. Before going any further,
visit your local pound or animal shelter to see what happens to the
dogs that were raised by people who thought it would be "fun" to have
a litter. Better yet, volunteer to work at the shelter a day a week
for a month. "The miracle of death" by euthanasia is just as
educational as the "miracle of birth"! If you intend to breed your
dog, then you should be fully aware of what the consequences may
be.
Will it be worth it? Most of the time, the answer is no. The decision
NOT to breed your pet is one of the most intelligent, educated
decisions you can make.
For more information on your breed, registration requirements,
responsible ownership or to find the dog clubs closest to you,
call:
The American Kennel Club
51 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
(212) 696-8200 8:30 a.m.- 4:15 pm
Eastern time, Monday thru Friday
Poodle Club of America
Mr. Charles Thomasson
503 Martineau Drive
Chester, VA 23832
(804) 530-1605
Related Reading (General)
My Puppy is Born.............................Barbara Miller
(excellent color pictorial for children)
The Art of Raising a Puppy...................Monks of New Skete
Canine Reproduction - A Breeder's Guide......Phyllis Holst DVM
Purebred Dogs - American Kennel Gazette......AKC (address
above-monthly magazine for serious dog breeders....$28 year)
AKC Book of Dog Care & Training.........AKC
AKC Breed Standard Videos............AKC
The New Art of Breeding Better Dogs..........Kyle Onstott
Breeding Better Dogs.........................Dr Carmelo Battaglia
Medical & Genetic Aspects of Purebred Dogs...Clark/Stainer
The Dog Crisis..study of pet overpopulation..Iris Nowell
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
