So you want to be a breeder?

• Do you have good stock?

Is your dog good enough to breed from in the first place? Have you checked his or her lines properly? What is their hip score? What was the result of their eye test? Does your dog have any faults, genetic or otherwise?

• Do you know your lines?

• Have you got the time?

For the first 3 weeks of life puppies cannot regulate their own temperature, and therefore will die if they get too hot or too cold. During this time they generally need checking once every 1-2 hours.
Thier bedding needs changing every 3-4 hours, I generally do 4 washes of bedding a day when I have puppies & have no time to wash clothes.
Once the puppies get between 3 & 4 weeks old, they need to adventure out of their playpen - this is when you need to have eyes in the back of your head. You will spend all your time counting puppies and checking they are not eating wiring and wooden furniture.

• Can you afford it?

Set up costs for a litter are very high, the stud fees are generally up front and the price of a puppy, you also need:-
Whelping box (with pig rails)
towels
bedding
newspaper
heat lamp
artery clamps
thermometer
silver nitrate
hot water bottles
puppy shampoo
puppy play pen
Whelpi
Wormer
Lots of washing powder
a great deal of patience

Pups must start to be weened at between 2 and 3 weeks of age,
and they eat a great deal.

A vet check needs to be done at 3 days old and removal of any hind dew claws happens at this time. A further vet check needs to be performed at 8 weeks old, with a letter from your vet confirming the health of each pup.
Vaccinations are around £40 per pup, and micro-chipping is around £20 per pup.

Of course if there are any complications during labour, a C-Section can cost up to around £900.

• Are you prepared for all the cleaning?

Puppies urinate and defecate everywhere, puppies don't know that that nice soft place is your prize persian rug, they are more likely to think it's a nice place to go. Sofas are also nice and soft, and carpets are the best.
The only way to get the smell out so that the puppies can't smell it and don't know to go there again is by using biological washing powder.
Most breeders have to resort to taking the carpet up and replacing it with tile.

• Can you play the "guess what you used to own" game?

Normally played between 2 & 5am. When paperwork, books, fabrics, ceramics, wood and leather get shreded and you are left with a very expensive jigsaw puzzle, sometimes followed by a large vets bill.
This game is often played in association with the "guess what you've only just cleaned" game.

• Can you take your puppies back?

Your litter might be 10 puppies, if anything happens to the new owners, are you able to take the dog back into your home?

• What about the puppy money?

Although at the end of the day you do end up with a lump sum from selling the pups, this is generally needed to be put back into the dogs. In general breeding properly, i.e.:-

Unless you breed a lot of girls very often, you will never make money from breeding.