Dog Breeding For Love or For Money or Both!
Dog breeding is a little more complicated than just placing a female dog that is in heat alone in a room with a male dog. Albeit this may certainly result in a pregnant dog, however, the overall standard of quality of the pups that result from the pregnancy may be that as referred to as a mongrel.
Anyone can call themselves a dog breeder if they happen to throw Two Dogs in the same pen and one turns up pregnant and ends up delivering healthy pups. However, a good qualified dog breeder will have a thorough knowledge of the breeds of dogs that he/she intends on breeding.
To get involved with dog breeding it is always the best practice to work with only one specific breed of dog. If you intend on dog breeding as part of or as a business in whole you should really start off on a small basis. Many people these days think breeding dogs is a simple process for bringing in a decent amount of money. If you intend on breeding dogs as a business you should first take your time to research all that is involved with the breeding process.
If you happen to have a good amount of experience with one particular breed of dog then that would be a good starting point. My wife and I have been breeding Pomeranian’s for over 15 years but we did not just one day decide that we were going to jump into the dog breeding business and go out and purchase a female and male pup for the sole purpose of breeding. I grew up having had a Pomeranian as a pet for a good 15 years and I have a real passion for that specific breed of dog.
Our first year of marriage my wife had surprised me one day with a new little Pomeranian puppy. After a few months of getting our first pup we decided to purchase another Pomeranian to keep Britany company. At the time we were in the beginning stages of building a mobile dog grooming business and this allowed for my wife to gain a significant amount of knowledge of the many different breeds of dogs. She had learned all about their temperaments, what was involved with their upkeep and what medical issues that they were prone to.
On the job my wife had many clients that owned Pomeranians so not only were we learning about the breed by having two of our own we were also learning about them on a much larger scale as my wife had the opportunity to see the breeds behavior as they were raised in a variety of situations. We were also fortunate in that my wife was able to learn the behavior patterns of the majority of dog breeds in which to choose from.
A few years into the business we had added another mobile grooming van and I had build a small 12 run boarding kennel due to the fact that many of my wife’s clients consistently talked her into watching their pet while they left for vacation. As a condition of my wife’s job she had seen a need for Pomeranians in the area and we researched and found that there were very few dog breeders that handled Pomeranians so this was when we decided to add dog breeding as part of our business.
We did not just start breeding our dogs, having puppies and calling ourselves dog breeders. There is quite a bit to consider if you are going to start a dog breeding business. A good dog breeder will only breed one type of dog because if you are going to handle the business in the proper manner you cannot breed more than one type of dog and still meet all their needs. One of the most saddest sights you could ever see is a dog breeding puppy mill. A puppy mill is where someone is breeding all sorts of dog for one purpose only and that is to make money. Breeding more that one breed of dog limits the time you can spend with your dogs and what you end up with are withdrawn, improperly socialized dogs that are starved for human attention. So, I ask you if you are looking to purchase a puppy please take the time to investigate the dog breeder so you may learn what type of atmosphere the dogs are being raised in. The only way to combat this type of dog breeding is to educate pet owners as to the conditions these dogs are raised in and that if they purchase a puppy from such a breeder they are supporting the continuance of the inhumane factors these dogs are subjected to everyday of their lives.
If you are considering dog breeding as a business I hope you can see the importance of just breeding one type of dog. People thing you need to breed multiple breeds of dogs to make it a sustainable business but this is not true. My wife and I have been breeding Pomeranians for nearly 15 years and we easily gross 35 to $40,000 per year. Now we know we are not going to get rich just from our dog breeding business but we make a nice second income and we know that our dogs get the love and attention they deserve.
If your thinking about becoming dog breeders a few things that you really need to research and learn all you can would be the behavior traits of the breed you are considering, you should get as much information from the American Kennel Club as possible. You should only breeds dogs that are registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), this means that the dog should have registered papers from the AKC. As a responsible dog breeder you should have a good relationship with all the local vets and choose one as your primary veterinarian. You should familiarize yourself with the breeding process of the type of dog you will be breeding. Most importantly you need to know the heritage of the dogs you will be breeding to avoid any inbreeding which means breeding two dogs from the same blood line.
There you have it a good reference to follow before you jump into the business of dog breeding. Some of the best advice I can give you is to go into the business not only for the money you can earn, if your considering dog breeding don’t do it for the business end do it for the love of the dogs.
