Should Your Dog Become A Mom??

How many times have we heard "I just want her to have one litter before she is spayed", or "I want my kids to see the miracle of birth", or "All my friends say she is such a beautiful girl and they would all like to have one of her puppies", or "My friend next door has a male dog and we thought we could make a little extra cash by breeding a litter". Yes all these comments are common place and probably one of the biggest contributors to unwanted dogs in shelters. The reality is breeding dogs is not for the inexperienced or the faint of heart. Your children could also end of seeing the reality of death as well as the "miracle of birth"

Breeding dogs should not be seen as a right but a privilege. Humans are the guardians of their pets and breeding must ensure that the best is being done for the dogs as well as the new puppy owners.

A Checklist to Breeding Your Dog
by Jane Johnson.
Visit her website at: http://www.geocities.com/learntobreed

These are the points that you should be able to check off with a tick. This is a quick guide for what you should look for before you breed, and is not all inclusive.

Is your bitch:
1. show quality
2. a champion
3. have both parents and grand parents that are champions
4. free from hereditary disease
5. parents and grand parents tested and free from hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia,
6. mature enough to breed
7. tested today as free from brucellosis

Is your dog:
1. show quality
2. a champion
3. have both parents and grand parents that are champions
4. free from hereditary disease
5. parents and grand parents tested and free from hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia
6. mature enough to breed
7. tested today as free from brucellosis

And you need to meet ALL of the following criteria:
1. you are have homes already for all pups - before the mating
2. you have found a dog that meets all the points in the section above relating to the requirements of the bitch
3. you are prepared to offer a lifetime guarantee (or at least two years) for the health of the pups
4. if, during the lifetime of the pups, any need to be returned for whatever reason, you take that pup (now adult dog) back and find a home for him/her.
5. all non-show quality pups are sold with a spay/neuter agreement
6. all prospective buyers have been fully screened by you
7. you are going to offer support and advice to your puppy buyers for the life of the pup
8. you have the money to cover a stud fee, possible c-section and complications, vaccinations, and still get no income from the sale of any pups.
9. have you consented with the breeder of your bitch/dog and sought their advice?

Now that's just a starting point. If you can't or won't meet these criteria, perhaps breeding at this time is not the best thing for you or your dog.

If you can't answer yes to all of these questions what will you need to do to breed?

Learning

- you need to have an open mind and be open to the never ending process of learning

Mentoring

-you will need to find an experienced mentor (or two or three)

-you will need to absorb every bit of knowledge they can give you and critically evaluate this knowledge, they might not tell you what you want to hear. Let them help you when showing your dog in the conformation ring and assist them in whelping litters. Learn how to bottle feed puppies, tube feed puppies, check for mastitis etc. etc. Help them raise the pups.

Watch Dogs Grow

-develop an eye for your breed

-know the breed standard

-look for what's good and look for and understand faults

-be prepared to change your mind

Learn Pedigrees

-as you learn more about your breed it is important to know who the sire and dam were, also litter mates so you can see family traits

Join a Breed Group

-get on breed e-mail lists

Read Books

Then go back and do the checklist again.

Costs When Breeding a Bitch

stud fee
vet checks

whelping box
heat lamps
scissors
baby scales
tweezers
heating pads
thermometer
towels
hemostats
baby suction bulb

milk replacement formula/or goats milk
tubes for feeding
nail clippers
baby bottles
sterilizing solution

puppy wormer
puppy diarrhea medicine

extra food, a pregnant bitch can eat four times as much as normal
puppies need a lot of food to grow

vet check for bitch and health test to make sure she is okay to be bred and can whelp
puppy vet checks

ultrasound and/or x-rays
emergency c-section

lots of extra washing and cleaning
emergency trips to the vet to save a dying puppy

time off work to whelp and raise litter
vet visit for antibiotics

many phone calls to interested puppy buyers
puppy's first shots and vet check

In the end if you break even you should consider yourself lucky.

Many people think that breeding dogs is easy. However, the reality is quite different.

Breeding without the proper skills and knowledge is at best careless. If your bitch is in season, and you are asking questions now, then do NOT breed her. Wait until you are properly trained and mentored.

If you are not competent or have the facilities to breed your bitch, raise puppies, and properly place them in good homes under a non breeding contract, it is irresponsible and unethical to breed.

Again from Jane Johnson's website another checklist to make sure you are on the right track

Setting yourself up right

What does dog conformation refer to?
How can I test to see if my dog has the right conformation?
What important points should be considered on a dog's pedigree?
How many championships should be listed in a pedigree prior to breeding?

The beginning of the season
When will a bitch first come into season?
Should a bitch be bred on her first season?
How old should a bitch be before breeding commences?
On what grounds should a bitch not be bred from?
On what days is a bitch fertile?
How long is a bitch's season?

Breeding the dogs
On what day's should a bitch be bred?
What is a studmaster and when should they be used?
On what attributes is a stud dog selected?
What health testing should both the dam and dog have prior to breeding?
How old should a dog be before he is used at stud?
What are the responsibilities of a stud dog owner?
What are the important contract items to have in a breeding contract?
On what grounds should a dog be neutered?
What diseases can a dog get while being bred?
When should a dog be allowed near an in season bitch?
How does the breeding actually take place?
Does there need to be a tie for a breeding to have taken place?
What is AI and when should it be conducted?
Who should conduct the AI and what specific precautions should be taken?
Why is the stud dog turned during a breeding?
How many times should a bitch be bred?
Can a litter have more than one father?
Where must a bitch be kept while she is in season?

Gestation
How long is a bitch's gestation?
What special diet should the bitch be fed while in season, and while pregnant?
Under what special circumstances should additional calcium be fed to a pregnant bitch?

Whelping

What are the signs that a bitch is going into labour?
What is the best type of whelping box arrangements?
Where should the bitch be when she whelps?
What are the signs that the whelping is going well?
What are the signs that there are problems developing?
When should a c-section be performed?
What is primary inertia and the implications?
What is secondary inertia and the implications?
What is oxytocin?
When should the vet be called for help?
Should calcium be administered during whelping?
What does green fluid indicate?
How long should it take for a bitch to whelp?
What is the incidence of puppy deaths in each litter?
What is a breach birth, how often does it happen, and what are the problems that can result?
What are the implications for a pup born out of the sac?
How do you ensure that each placenta is accounted for, and what do you do if they are not?
What should be done with the placenta?
How do you resuscitate a dead puppy?
How do you clear fluid from a puppy's lungs?
How many extra set of hands should you have at a c-section?
When should oxygen be administered to puppies?
When should puppies first fed from the dam?
How do you check for cleft palate?
How are puppies who are deformed managed?

Caring for the mother

What should the dam be fed while she is looking after puppies?
What are the signs of infection in the bitch?

Caring for puppies
What are the signs that the puppies are progressing well?
What are the signs that the puppies are in trouble?
What is mastisis and how is it treated?
What do you do if the dam's milk does not come in?
How do you bottle feed a puppy, and what do you use?
How do you tube feed a puppy?
How can you tell if a puppy is feeding well?
How can you tell if a pup has received enough milk?
How can you check to see if a pup is dehydrated?
What is fading puppy syndrome and how do you rescue a puppy from it?
What are the common problems to be aware of when raising the puppies?
When do you introduce "real food" to puppies?
Why should puppies never be given "baby food"?
Why should puppies not be given grains to eat?
Should puppies be vaccinated?
Should puppies be wormed?
Under what conditions should a puppy be culled and how?
Under what conditions should a puppy be wormed and/or vaccinated?

Placing puppies

How do you choose puppy buyers?
What responsibilities do you have as a breeder for those pups?
What sort of guarantees are you going to offer the buyers?
How do you ensure your puppy buyers are going to look after the puppies?
When and how do you temperament test puppies?
How do you match the right puppy with the right person?
When do you remove the dam from the puppies?
When should the puppies be totally weaned?
How are puppies house trained?
When are puppies first socialism and how?
What sort of puppy pack information are you going to provide to the buyers?
When do you start training the puppies?
What breeder support are you offering once the puppies have gone?

Spay and neuter all pets so we can make sure that all puppies born are wanted and loved.!!

Article provided by Pets First