Are You Considering Dog Breeding?

If you browse through the free dog sales advertising websites you will notice that there are hundreds of puppies for sale every day. Many of these offers are made by professional breeders who have a reputation for being extremely passionate about what it is they do. On the other hand, most of these puppies for sale are being offered by people that decided to breed their dogs, but lack the experience needed to make dog breeding a lifelong endeavor.

If you are one of these people who do not take a great interest in dog breeding for a living, yet are considering breeding your dogs in order to make a few extra dollars and maybe even keep a puppy or two, it would pay you to read the following when it comes to dog breeding:

1. Professional dog breeders know the importance of sacrificing their time so that the puppies are born as healthy and strong as possible. This can take hours and hours of devotion each and every day. You may want to reconsider dog breeding if you are not prepared to give up a large chunk of your freedom.

The largest part of your time will be spent on advertising and handling phone calls and inquiries from interested buyers. Men and women who are interested in the types of puppies you have available will have all sorts of questions and you must be ready to answer these questions at any given time. 95% of those who contact you with interest in your puppies will just ask questions or come by and look at the dogs, but will not end up buying one. Some new dog breeders do not have the patience for dealing with people like this.

2. Dog breeding also requires a great interest and knowledge about genetics, as well as knowing what steps to take to prevent genetic diseases. The process of dog pregnancy and how to assist with the whelping phase is one that you must be prepared for.

Dog breeding is a lot more than just putting a male and female together and hope that they mate. You must be aware of the different ways to prevent health problems and educate yourself on the proper nutritional needs of the new puppies, as well as the pregnant mother’s food throughout the pregnancy.

Dog Breeding Is Not For Amateurs

Are you tempted to start breeding dogs in the hope of adding a couple of new puppies to the family and/or making a few extra dollars by selling the other pups? I think everyone who owns a dog has thought about it at some time or another. Unfortunately, there are some downsides to breeding dogs that you may not feel comfortable with.

Dog breeding is considered to be a “way of life” for those professionals that are passionate about their animals. These people live, eat and breathe dog breeding. However, the same is not true for 99% of the other people out there that just decided to have puppies for the fun of it, or for the possibility of smalltime profits.

Here are a few reasons why you might want to reconsider dog breeding, unless you are 100% committed to the process and to the health of the new puppies:

1. Breeding can be expensive. For starters, the costs that you will have to absorb can get a little pricey with veterinarian checkups and care for all of the puppies, which include prevention of heartworm, fleas and regular worms. In addition, you need to budget enough money to advertise the new puppies once they are born. For most people that are not professional breeders, you may barely make enough money back to cover your investment.

2. Breeding puppies yourself can also be emotionally heartbreaking. This is one downside of breeding that most people do not expect. For example, it is not unusual for the mother to die due to whelping complications. What is even more depressing is that many times one or more puppies from the litter will pass away as well. These circumstances are not something that every family can handle, so please keep these possibilities in mind should you begin to breed dogs.

3. A third downside to breeding dogs is that the entire process is a huge responsibility. This should be quite obvious with just the above examples given in terms of your investment and emotional participation. Once you decide to breed your dogs and bring new life into this world, you are now entirely responsible to ensure that those puppies are given the utmost in high quality attention and health care. Breeding new puppies is not a hobby and therefore you must understand that your time and energy must be devoted to the process 100%.

How To Get The Most From Your Dog Breeder

One of the aspects of being a reputable dog breeder is to know what type of dog behavior to expect from puppies as they grow into adulthood.

Although it is easy to predict the future temperament of a litter by observing their parents, the right breeder has the knowledge and understanding of the breed that goes way back to it’s history. This knowledge and understanding gives the breeder a better insight of his/her dogs’ behavior and temperament. Breeders should be able to tell you why a dog behaves a certain way, its personality and what drives the dog to do certain things and act the way it does.

A good dog breeder can also tell you the puppy’s strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and what changes to expect as it gets older (physically and mentally). Does it enjoy being around children? Does it get along with strangers and other animals? Is it needy or independent? What are its grooming and exercise needs? Is it a good watchdog? The right breeder should be able to answer these questions and more.

It is important for him/her to make sure that you, the potential buyer, are well equipped with the necessary tools and information to create the best home for the puppy. Furthermore, a responsible breeder will want to make sure that the puppy will be happy living in your home and that you all are the ideal family for it.

Arm Yourself With Breed Conformation Information

A breed conformation is defined as a specific way of describing a certain breed; the shape, size and structure that are common with the standard type of dog breed.

Before visiting a dog breeder, you should check the official breed standard of the breed you’re looking for. The official breed standard is posted on the AKC.org website. By checking the site, you will have the knowledge of what the puppy is supposed to look like, before you make the purchase. In addition, you won’t be fooled by a dishonest breeder into giving him more money for something that is allegedly a “rare” size, color, or look, but is actually a disqualifying fault.

An honest breeder conforms to the standard of the breed and will only sell puppies with disqualifying or severe faults for a lesser price (up to 50% off). He/she should let you know that these puppies are less expensive because they are considered as pet-quality dogs and not show-quality dogs.