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Originally Posted by blitz  I've had litters where I wound up with healthy happy beautiful puppies and the bitch reveled in motherhood and I thoroughly enjoyed watching these whelps develop into bouncing playing puppies. I got so much satisfaction, pride and joy from them.
Then there are the unknown possibilities that I have personally experienced, such as eclampsia, c-section, sick or fading puppies. Then it's a nightmare. I've had a bitch that needed a c-section and all the puppies died. I had a bitch that lost more than half her puppies in 3 breedings. I had a bitch that conceived 1 large puppy that was born dead. I've had litters where 1 of 3 puppies died. I had a litter where the mother got to the umbilical cord before I could and she ripped it too roughly and exposed the puppies intestines. That puppy screamed in agony until I got him to the vet who euthanized him. I've had puppies that hung on for 3 weeks being cared for in an incubator and then died. The one thing that never happened to me is that I never lost a bitch, thank God. I had a puppy that had a liver shunt and it cost me a fortune to get it fixed. I had a puppy that had a PDA and that cost me another small fortune. However, seeing those puppies go on and live happy lives as pets, did give me satisfaction because I could never give up on a puppy as long as it had a chance. I had a puppy that lived for a little over a year with hydrocephalus and that was a challenge.
I'm sorry the bad was longer than the good and the truth is, there is a lot more of the first, good scenarios than the bad secenarios, but those things all happened to me. When I went into this I somehow felt that none of the bad things that people talked about would happen to me because I was going to take superior care of my dogs but my very first bitch got eclampsia and one of the puppies had an unrepairable heart condition and she had to be euthanized! But, I went on to breed plenty of litters after that and had plenty of successful, happy healthy litters.
So after all that is it worth it? I would say, yes although I never got used to losing puppies. It is painful to watch that little life ebb away despite everything you do and the tears and heartache make you wonder how you can ever do tis again but somehow, a breeder, brushes herself off and in time gets excited again about planning her next breeding. Some people just ARE breeders, I believe and it's a natural thing for them to do.
If you don't feel you really are a breeder, than it might NOT be a good idea for you to do because there are no guarantees and that's what you need to know. If you can go into it knowing that and still be hell bent on doing it, maybe you are a breeder. |
Thank you very much for your reply. I appreciate the thought and time you put into posting.
You've certainly given me some food for thought. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you have had with some of the pups and litters. But, I'm happy to hear that you have experienced the satisfaction, pride and joy from breeding. I guess with everything we've got to take the good with the bad, it's just, as you said, if I can go into this knowing what can potentially happen and still be hell bent on doing it, then it is for me. I just need to know as much as possible so I can make an informed decision.
I am only 24 (but if I decide to do this then I will have help, including my Mum who showed Malts and bred a litter herself with no problems - although this was done purely by accident due to a pair of Houdinis who got through all the barriers etc). If I decide to breed, I may not end up breeding with Suzy as she's my first pup - I may end up breeding when I'm 30 with a completely different Bitch but I'd just like to know as much as possible about it before I decide. It is a big thing to consider, especially in regards to potentially losing the pups and the bitch, but also the X factors that just tend to happen that you can't be prepared for.