You may be wondering whether or not you should
breed your dog. Here is some information. The summary is that if you want to do it right,
and get healthy and happy puppies, it is very expensive and a lot of work.
Breeding and doing it right , is an expensive undertaking . picked out the best dog to
mate her with, gone through all the health checks she needs, ensured that the dog you want
to use also passes the same health checks, you've invested a lot of time and effort. You
still have to pay a stud fee (or give a puppy back), you have potential extra expenses
during pregnancy, you have the time and expense of whelping.
You need to keep the puppies for a minimum of 8 weeks before sending them to their homes;
you need to advertise and find good homes for the puppies, you need to make sure they have
had their shots before going. You may have possible vet bills if the puppies require extra
attention.
Frequency of Breeding
Ideally, a bitch should only be bred every other year and she should not be bred
much before two years of age. The season closest to the second birthday is a good one to
start with; certainly no earlier than this. In some breeds, you may need to wait one more
season before beginning. By this time, she is better prepared mentally for having puppies
than she would have been with her first few seasons. Her physical growth is complete and
pregnancy at this point won't endanger her health, provided that she is healthy to begin
with.
It's important, however, to keep the frequency of breeding low. Even at maximum, you want
to allow at least one unbred season between breedings. This allows your bitch to rest and
regain her strength. A bitch that whelps too often will produce weaker puppies more likely
to die, and the repeated pregnancies are pretty rough on her, too.
Since a dog can be bred at any time, unlike bitches, waiting for two years is not a
problem, whereas a bitch often has a season just before two years of age and then has to
wait until 2.5 or three which sometimes presents problems in trying to time her litters.
But this does not apply to a stud dog. For many breeds this means that they should be over
two years old.
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