To breed or not to breed?

[Dawn125]

We have a 5.9 lb female. Brandy is 17 months old. We have been thinking about breeding her someday but want to be sure we are well informed before we make a decision. If we do decide to breed her it would not be for another year or more. I've been reading all the posts about breeding in the hopes of learning more. She's obviously not a tiny but not huge either. What do you experienced breeders think? Based on her size I was thinking it would be pretty reasonable to breed her with a smaller male. My vet thinks she is very fit and healthy but warned me that breeding her is a big deal and make sure I know what I am doing so any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks,

Dawn

[livingdustmops]

May I ask why you would like to breed her?

[txshopper73]

here are some threads you can look at...

I want to become a Breeder, Advice Needed

Hard ?'s for breeders..

I'm thinking of breeding Cricket, have questions.

[wnalegria]

Read all you can. Breeding is not a lark nor is it for those who are afraid oh hard work. You can kiss a night's sleep goodbye, you might even have to say adios to your job if you work out of the home- hope you got lots of money saved up just in case. Sounds very attractive doesn't it.

Your investment for a nice male to breed your female to can be quite substantial. I am looking at $1,200.00 for a male at east that I want to breed on of my gals to. Does not include the shipping you may be looking at $500.00 for a male in your area. You still have to know what to look for in a male that will compliment your gal.

Sometimes babies need some help being born. They seem to have a knack for coming in the middle of the night or on a weekend outside of the vet's normal office hours. A trip to the emergency animal clinic can rack up a bill real quick. I had a puppy get sick this summer in three days time I spent close to $2000.00 for her care at a specialist. Guess what I gave the puppy away cause I could not be sure that her round with ingestible pneumonia did not damage her heart. Beautiful show puppy.

Hope that you know how to supplement those little ones if they are not getting enough milk or just need a little help. Every two hours night and day. Makes it hard to go to a job.

Breeding a litter of puppies can be a very hard job- very rewarding emotionally and very draining emotionally.

[waistfull]

I've been thinking about the same thing. I posted here and got so much information. Thanks so much YT!! I think I will not breed Cricket. I'll let her stay my baby girl forever. I've also got lupus and don't have the energy for it.

[Laura]

We had one litter of puppies last may. It is quite a lot of work. I was scared to death that last week before she had the babies. She had FIVE babies. We had one tiny pup who did not gain weight, (you need to weigh the pups every day). After trying all feeding methods to no avail, I finally held him and mom and sort of hand nursed him every three or four hours for a few days. He was always sickly and at age 4 months, he died after 7 hours of emergency care costing more than $1000. If he had made it long enough for surgery, that figure would have tripled. I was heartbroken, as were my husband and children.

We fell so in love with the puppies, I could not bear to sell or give them to anyone. So now we have six lovely puppies, mom, dad (neutered), two girls and two boys (almost neutered). We love them all so much.

I do not work a job outside the home. Oh, and the food and vet bills have tripled going from two to six. Heartworm pills and flea spray alone $$$

I won't say I wouldn't recommend it, they are our world, but that is just my experience.

[red98vett]

That's quite an experience Laura - and sad at the same time - I had several conversations with my own vet regarding Chanel and after he told me she would be a great mom due to her size and body style - he asked me this question : "Can you cope with losing her if something happens ?"

My answer was a flat out NO.

[Laura]

True Villette!

I guess I never considered it before Zowie got pregnant. I was just too lazy to take Bronx in. I am at the same place with the pups. They are 6 months old and I need to move on fixing them up. Even if their sisters are still too little, their mom is not!

I sure do love all my gang, I don't know what I would do without them. Maybe I would have more time for YT!