Breeding Your Own Female Dog
It is only natural I suppose that if you have been lucky enough to get a Female dog who really excels in the field that you would want to breed her and make the offspring available to those not so fortunate. Your friends and relatives must surely want a dog just like yours!
In addition,”It is common knowledge that having a litter of pups is good for the female dog, it helps to settle them down” So, I am shopping for a male pup, which I will be able to breed to my bitch eventually. All breeders get calls all the time with this type of input. Let us consider this matter.
First off, the idea that having pups is going to change your bitch in some way is mostly false. There is seldom any identifiable change from the experience. It is very unwise to breed for the purpose of changing the demeanor of a dog.
Of course breeding your male dog will make a difference. Now he knows for sure what this reproduction thing entails and he can’t get enough of it!
If you are breeding to get a pup for yourself and “get rid” of the rest of the litter you are on the wrong track, also. Non-professional breeders often have a lot of problems to sell the pups and wind up in a panic attack after 8 weeks when the garage is full of little “poop” machines (We get calls all the time from the so afflicted).
If, in spite of this advice, you are going to breed your dog anyway don’t do it by buying a male pup. When he matures he may be entirely wrong as the best complement for your female. You would be much better off to pay for stud service and work with a good breeder who has a selection of Sires.
Now consider the ramifications of owning a male and a female dog. Do you have facilities to keep them separated, at least when the bitch comes into heat? Do you have time to devote to exercising and training two dogs? Can you do them both justice?
Being a dog breeder is not about producing puppies. We have puppies in order to breed. Breeding is about consideration of the continuance of the breed and the retention and possible improvement of the attributes of the breed. We try to do this by careful selection of breeding pairs, striving always to make the outcome better than the sum of the parents.
The odds of doing this by breeding dogs that are conveniently available are not very good. At the end of the day your urge to get another pup may be best served by buying one from a good breeder. I’m certain it will be much less expensive in the long run.
KHS
November, 2005