Know The Facts BEFORE Breeding Your Dog

Know The Facts BEFORE Breeding Your Dog

We think it is extremely important to learn the facts and possible consequences in advance if you are contemplating breeding your dog.  In today’s overcrowded world, we, the wardens of our domestic pets, must make responsible decisions for them and for us.  The following points should be reviewed carefully…

QUALITY:  AKC registration is NOT an indication of quality.  Most dogs, even purebred, should NOT be bred.  Man dogs, though wonderful pets, have defects of structure, personality or health that should not be perpetuated.  Breeding animals should be proved free of these defects BEFORE starting on a reproductive career.  Breeding should only be done with the goal of improvement - an honest attempt to create puppies that are better than their parents.  Ignorance is no excuse!  Once you have created a life you cannot take it back, even if blind, crippled or a canine psychopath!

COST:  Dog breeding is NOT a money-making proposition.  Health care and shots, diagnoses of problems and proof of quality, extra food, facilities, stud fees, advertising, etc. are all costly and must be paid BEFORE the pups can be sold.  An unexpected Caesarean or emergency intensive care for a sick pup will make a break-even litter become a big liability.  And this is only IF you can sell the pups.

SALES:  First-time breeders have no reputation and no referrals to help them find buyers.  Previous promises of “I want a dog just like yours” quickly evaporate when a price is attached.  Consider the time and expense of caring for pups that may not sell until they are four months, eight months old or more!  What would you do if you pups do not sell?  Send them to a shelter?  Dump them in the country?  Sell them cheap to a dog broker who may resell them to laboratories or as dog fighting bait?  Veteran breeders with good reputations often don’t consider breeding unless they have cash deposits in advance for an average sized litter.

JOY OF BIRTH:  If you are doing it for your children’s education, remember the whelping may be at 3 a.m. or at the vet’s on the surgery table.  Even if the kids are present, they may get a chance to see the birth of a monster or a mummy, or watch the bitch scream and bite as you attempt to deliver a pup that is half out and too large.   Some bitches are not natural mothers and either ignore or savage (eat) their whelps.  Bitches can have severe delivery problems or even die delivering pups.  Pups can be born dead or with gross deformities that require euthanasia.  Of course, there can be a joyful outcome, but if you can’t deal with the very real possibility of tragedy, don’t breed your dog.

TIME:  Veteran breeders of quality dogs state they spend well over 130 hours of labor in raising an average litter.  That is over two hours per day, every day.  The bitch CANNOT be left alone while whelping and only for short periods for the first few days after.  Be prepared for days off of work and sleepless nights.  Even after delivery mom needs care and feeding, pups need daily checking, weighing and socialization.  Later, grooming and training, and the whelping box needs constant cleaning.  More hours are spent doing paperwork, pedigrees and interviewing buyers.  If you can’t provide the time you will either have dead pups or poor ones that are bad tempered, antisocial, dirty and/or sickly - hardly a buyer’s delight.

HUMANE RESPONSIBILITIES:  It’s midnight - do you know where your puppies are?  There are THREE AND A HALF MILLION unwanted dogs put to death in shelters in this country each year, with millions more dying homeless and unwanted through starvation, disease, automobiles, abuse, etc.  Nearly a quarter of the victims of this unspeakable tragedy are purebred dogs “with papers”.  The breeder who creates a life is responsible for that life.  Will you carefully screen potential buyers?  Or will you just take the money and not care if the puppy is chained as dog fighting bait or runs into the street and is killed?  Will you turn down a sale to irresponsible owners?  Or would you rather just take the money and wash your hands of the puppy you brought into this world?  What about if that puppy you bred is then put into a puppy mill to create more unwanted puppies?  Do you feel responsible for those “grand-puppies”?  What about if the buyer decides they can’t take care of it anymore - are you going to take that grown dog back into your home?  Or would you let it be taken to the shelter to be euthanized?  

Although these questions seem harsh, they are all very real possibilities that you need to consider BEFORE you breed your dog.

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