Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:58 pm Post subject: Future breeding
Hello =D
I am thinking long and hard about my future. And in my future I would like to breed Labs. Preferably Chocolate and Yellow. Since I have the experience with them and well Labs are just the best dogs ever!
So this will not be happening any time soon obviously. I will need to research a whole lot and get a lot of help and tips. Which is why I am posting this. For help and tips =)
Things I know..
-Both dogs being bred will have to be the best dogs possible.
-Both dogs have to be tested for hips, elbows, eyes..Please tell me what else they need to be tested for?
-The bitch has to be looked after very well and fed certain foods ( puppy food etc ) at certain times..
-There will need to be a whelping box and whelping equipment
-A vet will need to be on call for emergencies
-You have to be there for the birth in case anything goes wrong
-Make sure all puppies are breathing when born. If the mother cannot get the sac off quick enough help her.
-If she cannot 'cut' the cord you cut it right.
-Make sure all pups get first milk.
-Make sure the room is warm enough for them.
-stay up with them for the first two weeks in case mother sits on them by accident ( Happened to us unfortunately Coco sat on two of them)
-Weigh the pups everyday and make sure they are gaining weight. If some are smaller than others and not getting milk help them
-Have milk replacer in case mother rejects them
-Be prepared to feed puppies every 2 hours or so if mother rejects them
-Be prepared to help them pee and poop if mother rejects them
-When puppies start opening eyes and ears be prepared for a lot of walking around and messing
-At 3-4 weeks start weaning soaked puppy food
-Of course doing all of this for the pups remember to keep the mother healthy and happy too
-Make sure all puppies go to very good homes and if for some reason new owners cannot have them anymore be prepared to take them back
Umm I know I have left a lot out more than likely so that is why I need some more help
I`m not an experienced breeder so can`t say if you`ve covered everything although that list looks pretty comprehensive to me.
One thing I would add is to get yourself a mentor to help you when you first start, it helps to have someone you can call on if anything happens I`m sure.
Depends if you plan to do it for a living or just have the occasional litter from your pet girl maybe once every 18 months or whatever. They are two VERY different prospects. If its the second I have sheets on what to think about and where to start when planning a litter taking you through to weaning the puppies which I am happy to email you, Labrador specific. We have been breeding nearly 20 years.
The only main test not covered there is CNM - which is a DNA test - some breeders test, others don't.
The risks of you selling a pup affected for CNM is unlikely, as it will be noticeable early on, and pups tend to die young.
Last time I checked - there was only one living dog tested affected for CNM.
As I test my own dogs for it (and do far they have all been clear) - this precludes me needing to find a clear stud for my girls as their clear status means we will never produce affected pups.
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Breeding to make a living requires you to keep many bitches - initial outlay will be HIGH if you are doing it properly, you would need a lot of land and space and would have to be licensed.
From the few commercial breeders I know of who do things by the book, records don't suggest they have started out intending to breed for a living - it's something that has happened over time - but you do have to breed a hell of a lot of litters to create an income - and that then means staff to pay as well - requiring even MORE litters
Oh yes it was an accidental breeding..Well I did not plan it my mother did for stupid reasons.
And I would like to breed a specific colour because I feel here those colours are the most popular. Doesn't other people breed only a certain colour sometimes?
I also forgot to say I will not be breeding Coco.
And I will not be breeding for the money =)
Since I will be breeding a different dog I will probably need some tips on picking that dog! How do you know from a litter of pups which is going to be the best?
Last edited by CharlieMarleyCoco on Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:37 am; edited 1 time in total
And I would like to breed a specific colour because I feel here those colours are the most popular. Doesn't other people breed only a certain colour sometimes?
I also forgot to say I will not be breeding Coco.
And I will not be breeding for the money =)
Breeding a colour because it is the 'most popular' is IMO not the done thing.
I might breed to a certain dog for the highest chance of getting a pup of the colour (and hopefully gender) that I want to keep - but nature offers no guarantees I will get what I want.
My last litter was a chocolate to a black dog carrying chocolate and yellow - as it happens, the litter was heavily chocolate, (my bitch didn't carry yellow) - but it could quite easly have gone the other way - I kept a black bitch as I felt she was the best in the litter - if a chocolate had been the best, then that's what I would have kept.
I have chocolates and it would be the easiest thing in the world to mate to a chocolate dog 'because the pups will be easier to sell' - but I prefer to use a dog which best complements my bitch - and for my next chocolate bitch I want to breed - the dogs most likely to be able to correct her faults fall predominantly into black and yellow lines - hence that is the direction I will be going, and therefore no chocolate pups.
I suppose it depends what you are breeding for regarding colour? If you have a demand for certain colour pets then yes, people do breed for colour and many of us have our preferances.
But many will say they are looking to improve the breed, which to me seems a little unrealistic, therfor I am looking to improve on what I have and breed dogs that can go into multi purpose homes. My last litter are in shooting homes, one competing in obedience and some very succesful pets
I think it is good to have something to aim for other than just colour
____________ I am only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand !
I am a bit confused because I see no colours on here as being more popular than the others and I wouldn't buy a pup from a breeder who was only breeding because they thought people wanted dogs of a certain colour.....!
Be aware that good breeders take responsibility for all those pups they produce, offering lifetime support and more for the dogs and even being the first port of call should rehoming unfortunately be needed. It is a big responsibility to take on financially and emotionally and isn't one I would ever take on!!!! Be sure before you breed and have a good mentor on hand to help you!!
I am a bit confused because I see no colours on here as being more popular than the others and I wouldn't buy a pup from a breeder who was only breeding because they thought people wanted dogs of a certain colour.....!
You definitely do get preferences - and these preferences do change - I was told recently that chocolate pups were becoming some of the hardest to sell - now I have people looking for chocolate pups and I am struggling to find litters for them, particularly where people specify a travel limit.
Around here - black dogs have, for me, taken longest to sell without a doubt - but I could have sold chocolate litters a thousand times over and sporadically get gluts of enquiries for yellow.
With any mixed colour litter, you will always have people disappointed if they have their heart set on a colour and gender - part of the fun of breeding
I've had it on my website for some time now that my next litter will be black / yellow - but still get enquiries for chocolates from it
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