Dog breeding as a hobby

Often dog owners think that there are more good reasons than bad to breed their family pet. They know someone who has a dog that they can mate with and set about it all the wrong way. Planning to breed your family pet is a responsibility not to be taken lightly. What starts out as a good idea can quickly turn into a nightmare if not properly planned.

It is not as simple as having your dog serviced by another dog and walking away.

Time commitment when Breeding your Dog

From the day your dog is in season that few days needed for servicing, the gestation period of around 63 days and the eight weeks that the puppies are still in the litter prior to selling, adds up to approximately 4 to 5 months. During these months you could say that you would be housebound, you can easily do your day to day tasks and live a normal life however packing up and going for a holiday would be out of the question unless you had someone to babysit your dog and her puppies.

Financial Considerations when Breeding your Dog

• VET fees in relation to health checks, vaccinations and if complications set in during whelping.
• You will need to make sure that your dog has optimal health special vitamins or tonics may be required during gestation and afterwards.
• The cost of a whelping box and incidentals needed during the delivery of the litter.

Once you have established that you are prepared to commit your time and resources to breeding your dog you need to choose a suitable mate.

Choosing a suitable mate to Breed your Dog 

 

You need to have arranged in advance the dog you wish to mate her with. If you plan to breed pedigree puppies the mate you choose needs to be papered. You need to verify the owner's paper work is in order and it is advisable though costly to have the dog checked by the vet. Most pedigree is these days have a microchip which the vet can scan to verify that the dog and the papers match.

It would also be advisable to check with the relevant pedigree Association that the papers are genuine. Sadly to say there are some unscrupulous people who will do anything for money therefore it is wise to err on the side of caution and verify the dog and papers before mating. The usual exchange between breeders for mating would be to pay a stud fee in advance, or give the breeder first pick of the litter. Make sure that you arrange this before agreeing to breeding once you have chosen the dog you are going to breed with all you have to do is wait for your bitch to come on heat.

If you are just breeding puppies for the sake of breeding, follow the steps above the only difference is that you do not need to verify the dogs lineage.

Your dogs age. Before breeding, you need to allow your dog to have reached maturity, your dog should be at least two years old and should have come into season at least once before mating.

I have two rules:

1. Never mate on the first season.
2. Always allow a season between matings. 

It is not wise to look at your dog as a cash cow. Just like humans they need time to recover.

It is wise to have your dog undergo a health check with the vet before breeding. Ask your vet for any advice or special needs that your dog may require prior to and during the pregnancy, such as special vitamins or foods that will enhance the strength and well-being of your dog.

You need to have arranged in advance the dog you wish to mate her with. Some breeds are not as regular as others when it comes to their seasons, on average you can expect your dog to come on heat twice a year (every six months) however, having breed the smaller variety of dog, it would seem to me that you can't bank on what the books tell you. So you can only use the calendar as a guide and keep a watchful eye on your dog so that when she comes on heat you can start counting the days before she is ready to mate.

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