There are several types of dog breeders. The first type is a person who shows dogs and works hard to maintain the breed standard. The puppies this breeder produces will often be more expensive than other puppies, but there are several advantages to buying one. These breeders test their dogs for common genetic diseases and they only breed their best dogs, because they are breeding dogs to acquire a new generation of champions. This means that the resulting puppies that are not show quality are usually still quite nice.

The second type of dog breeder is usually called a backyard breeder. These breeders rarely show dogs and often have a litter of puppies just because they want other people to have a dog just like theirs. Unfortunately, few backyard breeders test for diseases or know how to look for traits that match the breed standard.

The final type of dog breeder is often called a puppy mill breeder. These breeders have many different breeds of dogs and often breed their females until the dogs become run down and die. Puppies are frequently very poor examples of the breed and may have genetic health problems as well as diseases such as Kennel Cough.

Obviously, you want to find a good dog breeder. However, knowing the importance of finding a good dog breeder doesn’t always make it easy to locate one. Fortunately, if you look for signs of a good breeder and ask the breeder the right questions, you should be able to tell if you’ve found a good breeder.

First, take a look at how the breeder is advertising. Breeders who advertise in newspapers are not necessarily unethical. Some of them love their dog breed, but do not care for the show world. However, be wary of an advertisement that lists puppies from five different dog breeds and a few poodle mixes thrown in for good measure.

Next, ask the breeder to allow you to stop in and look at the puppies. If the breeder refuses and offers to deliver the puppy or meets you outside with a portable pen full of puppies, it may very well be because of safety concerns. However, it could also mean that the breeder’s kennel is dirty and the dogs are not cared for properly.

Once you’ve seen those adorable puppies, do not pull out your check book. Instead, ask the breeder whether they’ve been to a vet and ask about a health guarantee. Some breeders vaccinate the puppies themselves, but there is a chance they did not give the vaccinations correctly and that the puppies are still vulnerable to disease. Also, the puppies could have serious hereditary defects, such as a severe heart murmur, that a preliminary health exam would have uncovered.

Finally, ask for references from previous owners and get the name and phone number of the breeder’s veterinarian. Then, go home and call the references and ask them about their experience with the breeder and ask how their puppies turned out. If you are satisfied with the response of the references, call the veterinarian to verify that the breeder really did bring the puppies in.

Now, you can finally buy your new puppy. Of course, first you will have to decide which of those little balls of fluff is the right dog for you!

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Breeding dogs starts with selection of high-quality parents. There are already many unwanted dogs of unknown parentage. Though some find homes, they almost always wind up in a shelter where they are shortly euthanized. For those unfamiliar with that term, it means killed. Humanely, but nevertheless, terminated. Selecting good parents to breed will help maximize the odds of the offspring finding good homes.

Part of selecting good parents involves knowing their medical histories. Both dam and sire, as well as their parents, should be free of hereditary diseases and have been tested for hip dysplasia. They should be tested shortly before breeding for any infectious diseases.

Even with good parents, breeding is risky – for both mother and pups. Escherichia coli (E. coli), streptococci and other bacteria are a common problem, especially for breeding in the country or on a farm. Such factors are not inevitable, but they should be taken into account. Extra effort and expense will be needed to ensure a healthy mother and pups.

Puppies sometimes do die during whelping or shortly afterward. This can be emotionally difficult for both adults and children. While not an overwhelming reason to forgo breeding, the effects – which can require considerable time to recover from – are real and should be considered.

Breeding and whelping take time, effort and expense. Either a whelping box, or at minimum several large, clean cardboard boxes will be needed, along with heat lamps, thermometers, hemostats, and a long list of other items. The materials themselves are not expensive, but you will need a place to house mother and pups and practice using the tools.

After the puppies are born, mother takes care of most of their needs for about three weeks. If the puppies are healthy, the mother will feed them, bathe them and keep them out of trouble. You will need to help by providing access to the outdoors for her at all times, day and night. Her regular bathroom habits may be disrupted during this period. She’ll need time away from the pups.

A literal ton of newspapers will be required to keep the area clean, unless the pups are whelped in a barn or other outside-the-house enclosure. Even then, you’ll find that straw or blankets will need to be frequently replaced or cleaned. Prepare to do a lot of laundry if you use blankets.

Puppies will need to be kept warm. Apart from infection, hypothermia is one of the leading causes of puppy mortality. Heat lamps with an automatic thermostat are essential anywhere or any season where the temperature dips below 70F (21C). Mothers will become uncomfortable at higher temperatures, but 75F-80F (24C- 27C) is quite good for pups.

Expect many sleepless nights. Most breeds, even when continually attended by the mother, will bark and whine. They sleep an hour, then awake, eliminate and then get active. They’ll settle down shortly, and then you will be busy cleaning up the waste while they sleep for another hour.

This goes on from about the second or third week to the eighth or nineth week. If you ignore them until morning, you will have an extraordinary mess along with puppies at high risk of infection. This continues until you sell them or give them away.

You’ll need to have the puppies checked by a vet and inoculated. Then you’ll need to find the puppies good homes. Be prepared for the emotional loss that comes from having the puppies leave the home. Though it’s rewarding to see new owners acquire a companion, the time is bittersweet.

On the positive side, if you are prepared for high vet bills, health risks, sleepless nights and seeing them leave you can also expect several irreplaceable rewards.

Seeing them find a good home, with people whose faces display the joy of having that perfect pup, sometimes creates lifelong friendships. And you do get those seven or eight weeks. Puppies aren’t merely cute – they are the embodiment of joy and eagerness for life. That’s often worth the effort!

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To be a dog breeder, all you need to do is own an un-neutered female dog or two. In most states, you do not need to even register your kennel if you only have two or three adult dogs. However, being a good dog breeder is more complicated.

First, a good dog breeder will not want to use dogs with major flaws. The breeder may show the dogs to try to obtain a championship before breeding them. This raises the value of the dog’s future puppies, but it also enables the breeder to network with the people who know the most about the breed. Even if your dog does not get a championship, a few wins will make dog exhibitors take you more seriously. This is important because if one of these exhibitors has a dog that has traits that would balance out any of your dogs flaws, you have a good chance of breeding the two dogs to make show quality puppies.

If you are going to breed dogs for many years to come, you may want to choose a kennel name. You should register your kennel name with the American Kennel Club. Most breeders with a kennel name require any of the puppies they produce to carry this kennel name, since this is an excellent form of promotion and advertising for that kennel.

Even if your state does not require it for one or two dogs, you may also want to get a kennel permit. After all, you will want to keep a few puppies to continue your bloodline and will eventually need a permit. It is better to get the permit before you become attached to your puppies than to try to get one after you have more dogs, since neighbor’s objections can cause the state to refuse to give you the permit.

When you breed your dog for the first time, you should look for a male dog that belongs to an experienced dog breeder. Not all dogs fall in love at first sight, and you only have a few days to successfully breed a dog before it goes out of heat. An experienced breeder knows how to introduce the dogs to each other and how to help them breed successfully.

Once your dog has been bred, you will need to take her to the veterinarian for at least one pre-natal visit. Your vet will let you know if you need to come more often. If you want to know how many puppies to expect, the vet can make a guess by feeling your dog’s belly or you can find out exactly how many puppies there are with an x-ray. Be sure to ask your vet ahead of time about the birthing process and how you should prepare. Some dog breeds must deliver by C-section, while others rarely have problems. Don’t forget to ask for pre-natal vitamins to keep your dog healthy.

As the delivery day grows near, prepare a quiet spot for your dog to deliver. You will want to have a whelping box, clean rags, a heating pad and the vet’s emergency number on hand. You can buy a whelping box, but it is easy to make one of your own. The important thing is to be sure you put a small ledge in the box a few inches from the bottom to avoid having your dog accidentally crushing the babies between her body and the box sides.

Once you see those adorable puppies crawling around, you will realize that the hard part is still to come. After all, soon you are going to have to send some of those little fuzz balls off to new homes.
 

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