Originally Posted by carmen in nj  hello, this is what i did, i was not able to find a breed specific mentor, i breed silky terriers, but i found a great lady that breeds havanese, so i asked her to teach me the principles of breeding, for the first year i follow her like her shadow, she is a fabulous lady,she hand me a notebook and a pen and told me to write down everything, that i thought it would be important for me to know, i also attended shows that she showed her havanese, my daughter took an interest in showing and we took it from there, she was gracious enogh to introduce us to silky terrier breeders and show exhibitors, and we gain a lot of experience, i finally got my first silky breeding girl when she was 8 months old, she was shown by my daughter in the jr. Handler rink, when it came time to show her in the real rinks,the breeder that we got her from did it for us, we keep a close phone relationship, because she lives about 4 hours from us. So when i have breed specific questions i call her, and i see my mentor once a week since i am still learning.
I bred her and last november we got our litter of 5, with one girl that we are keeping with hopes of showing her. So do research with your club and see if is any toy breed exhibitor breeder in your area, the principles of whelping are basically the same, newborn care is very basic too,
and is no way you can get this experience without a mentor. I learn so much from her. We still very close friends, i help deliver a litter of havanese too because mentor was available.
Just something a bit to consider.
Hugs, and welcome.
Carmen in nj |