Quote:

Originally posted by Angela Washburn:

4) Then you get the ones you call back and don't even know the diff between american, show and working. Those are fun ( you forgot that one)

No!!! I didn't forget!!! Got a lot of those, didn't really mind--I like educating people and I LOVE talking dogs! Spent hours explaining the difference to the one with a check in mail cause she sounded so promising--a stay-at-home mom, house in the country, a cop for a husband... Spent tons of time trying to talk another one out of buying a 4-mos puppy from a pet shop. The funny thing was that they were asking for the same $$$, less shipping, of course (another $170). She went ahead and bought that puppy anyway and then had the nerve to call me a month later for advice on temperament/health issues. Cause I "was so nice to her on the phone, and the people at the store didn't want to help her <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
"... You know, the last thing I worried about was competing with pet shops

 Quote:

Originally posted by Deanna Thompson:
Lucky (or unlucky) for me there are only two (thus the c-section) so finding homes is not a problem.

LUCKY, as far as I'm concerned <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> So you had a c-section? Here are some more things we haven't even touched on. My own bitch (the mother of my litter) was stuck in the birth canal for hours, had to be rushed to the vet, pulled with forcepts and resuscitated. So I had THAT to worry about. Then 3 weeks into her pregnancy, a club member's bitch died during delivery (and the whole litter, too). Another member's bitch ate the litter. So I was chewing on my knuckes going into this thing. Then to add insult to injury, an experienced friend who was supposed to help me didn't show up, so I had to summon my friend (a human doctor) in the middle of the night, who did a wonderful job tying puppies' umbilical cords. I could've never done that myself--my hands were shaking so hard, I was fit to be tied.

So forgive me if I chuckle when people tell me they want to go into the breeding "business". Some business--labor of love, more like. And expensive, too, if you do it right. This "enterprise" cost me more money than I care to admit even to myself. And with all that I still consider myself lucky--could've been worse... Could've had 12 puppies... Talk about "multiple dog household", LOL.

 Quote:

Originally posted by Robert Cowling:
How do you get the 'deed done' if the dogs aren't into it? I've wondered that about our current male. He has never acted the least bit interested in the opposite sex. I kept wondering what I'd do. It's not like you have alot of choices... Immitation/demonstration probably wouldn't do much (for the dog)...

Oh boy, I don't even want to go there... Ladies? VAN CAMP??? Common, help us, it's the "guy" thing...

Well.. it wasn't a 'planned' c-section... she had three pups but only one could come out on its own. I lost one of the two delivered by c- later that night. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

My lucky comment was more to do with only having the two pups so no looking for homes.

The brats can be viewed there by those requesting parties. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Without coming off sounding like a witch, breeding to give pups to friends is a HORRIBLE idea. Spend some time hanging around rescue groups and animal shelters and you will understand why.

Ummm and about the male with no desire... That alone should tell you something. Granted some dogs are slow learners (my own male pup thinks the ear is an acceptable receptical for his... umm... shall we say emissions) but a good stud dog will know his job well.

So far as the hip x-rays matching the dog... that is why the majority of good breeders will tattoo their pups. The registered name is on the x-ray and will be traceable via the tattoo.

Ummm and about the male with no desire... That alone should tell you something. Granted some dogs are slow learners (my own male pup thinks the ear is an acceptable receptical for his... umm... shall we say emissions) but a good stud dog will know his job well.
I have to agree. I'm lucky enough to have one of those that won't take no for an answer. Only can be bothered when they're ready. He picked up one of my females in a silent heat and we have 7 healthy puppers. Isa is due this weekend with 4 that we could see on xray.

Anybody who gets the "raising puppies for fun and profit" idea in their heads should try bottle feeding a largish litter of pups - that oughta cool their jets! After a few nights of a screaming line-up of hungry puppies ........
My friends bitch died after giving birth to a litter of 6. My bitch was at the tail-end of a false pregnanacy and quite willingly adopted the litter but didn't have a full lactation - so while she did thankfully did the smelly bits, I had to bottle-feed the little rats - frequently!
It gave me new respect for mothers, it was a tiring and sleepless job. All six turned out to be large, healthy and well adjusted dogs and all good dogs in harness, so all turned out well but what a big job!

 Quote:

Originally posted by Robert_Cowling:
Since I have gotten alot of attention, I'll ask some newbie questions...

How do you know that the stud (or bitch) is what the person say they are.

You don't really, you pretty much have to trust the breeder. The only way to know for sure is thru DNA testing. It's not inluded in the price package--you'll have to do it yourself, provided that the breeder will supply you with sire/dam DNA, which most of them don't even have. It's a relatively new thing. Also keep in mind that the same bitch can be impregnated by more than one dog and produce a litter with different sires. And only DNA can tell you who's who.

How do you know the quality of the dog for mating?

Through research, provided you know what qualities you are looking for. Conformation? Working ability? Incidence of HD? Quality of the progeny? All this information is available if you are willing to do the work.

What do you do when things go wrong? I mean you see the dog tied up in the front yard with no water and want to off the bastards that bought it. Or they train it for fighting or something heinous...

You mean the dogs you sold? If you sell out of state, I donno--unless you are willing to fly all over country for a surprise visit. You can steal the dog back--it's been done... Dogs are considered property by law, and once money has been exchanged, it's no longer your property and the new owner can do whatever they want with the dog, within the law, of course. Dog fighting is illegal, so you may call an Animal Control Officer. Then you have to define "heinous", what is heinous to you may be perfectly normal to someone else. If you think that the dog has been abused, you will have to prove it.

A true story: a local GSD rescue has obtained a 6-mos-old puppy through an Animal Control Agency. The puppy was kept in a small cage to fatten him up for slaughter. The family was not from Korea, as you may suspect, but from a European country which I don't want to mention. The weirdest thing was that the family volunteered this information to a neighbor, who called ACA. The pup could not move due to muscle atrophy. Last I heard he was in foster care, recovering very nicely.

Originally our plan was to give pups to friends that are looking. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to any puppy that I brought into the world...

Then you better round up enough friends in case you have a large litter. It's also a good way to lose friends. What if some of them decide that they don't want that puppy anymore? Will you be willing to take it back, place it with someone else or care for it for the rest of its life?

Uhhhh... As usual when there are complicated things in life, we need to re-think this whole breeding thing.

It would be our luck to innocently produce genetically defective dogs or something...

I could see having 12 puppies and not have enough friends to go around... I could also see a friend or 2 either backing out of the deal or being less than desirable foster parents...

We believe that if you are going to do something, you do it right or don't do it at all. Before we move in the breeding direction, we will do alot more thinking and talking to those in the know.

Our gsd seems to be developing a seperation anxiety thing with my wife. A bad sign? She is getting tired of 'her shadow'. I've never seen that in a gsd so far... Maybe it's an appeal to keep his dangly things... (It's another guy thing.) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Emotionally and financially, you would probably be MUCH better off fostering for a GSD rescue and giving your friends $600 to start out life with their new rescue dog.

If you produce a pup with hip problems, bleeding disorders, or something simliar it might sour your friendships really quick. No breeder is perfect, so it will happen sooner or later and have the opposite effect from what you wanted. In America dogs are family members and it might be almost as bad as giving their kid a fatal disease (I've seen upset owners when I worked for a vet and it wasn't pretty). Sorry to be another wet blanket, but I haven't seen anyone mention that angle of it.

Thanks all for the comments...

Who knows what the future holds...