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SHOULD I BREED MY DOG
JUBA LEE RIDGEBACKS! |
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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 its cracked up to be. Breeding
dogs involves much more work and responsibility than
most people are prepared for. 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 harder - only 1
out of 10 dogs will stay with its original buyer for its
whole life. 5 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. At least 3 million 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 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. Will you
have facilities to house these dogs? Will you have time
to care for them? 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 the dog population 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 4000 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 or pay for its medical bills.
Temperament is also subject to guarantees. You could be
sued if a dog you produce bites someone! You need to be
there to give buyers advice on training, behavioral and
medical problems. You’re the “on-line” support for your
puppies’ owners 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 already have more than $1000
invested in her purchase price, food & upkeep,
vaccinations and the medical tests & 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 & pups, equipment
like whelping boxes, heating pads, puppy playpens,
crates, etc. Problem pregnancies are common. A cesarian
section can cost up to $500.
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 4 months to find
proper homes for your whole 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
recordkeeping requirements. You should be aware that
they have the right to inspect your premises and
breeding records at any time. If your recordkeepng
doesn’t meet their standards, they can refuse to
register your puppies, impose a 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 - people 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 their offspring a good future. We
humans allow our animals to reproduce anytime whether 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 cries
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.
“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 untill 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’s a breedable bitch in the neighhorhood. 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’s 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, more
constructive, areas.
“We want to get back our investment in our dog.”
As I pointed out earlier, you’re 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 you paid as much as $500 for it, that’s
only an “investment” of $50 a year if your dog lives for
10 years - less than $1 a week. Isn’t the companionship.
pleasure love and loyalty your dog gives you worth that
much?
Learning how to breed responsibly
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
beginningl
Your first step is to call the American Kennel Club for
a referral to the national and local clubs for your
breed. Join the club to meet and learn from other
serious breeders. Subscribe to dog magazines, especially
the national magazine for your breed and the AKC
GAZETTE. Read everything you can find pertaining not
only to your breed, but 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. Each
AKC-recognized breed has a written standard of
perfection. It describes what that breed should look,
move and act like. 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. 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. “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 and loving decisions you can make.
For more information on your breed, registration
requirements,
or to find the dog clubs closest to you, call:
The American Kennel Club
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
(212) 696-8200 8:30a.m.- 4:15pm
Eastern time, Monday thru Friday
This article was written by Vicki DeGruy and published
as a service of the Chow Chow Club, Inc. Welfare
Committee. It may be reproduced for non-profit,
non-commercial use provided the content is not changed.
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