First time breeding - yes or no?

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

[quote author=Christoph W link=topic=6270.msg82828#msg82828 date=1401289828]

Yeah i think the stipulations are more or less the same in Austria and Germany. I just read that if you want to breed from a bitch that got "only" "good" score youre only allowed to breed with a male that got scored at least "very good" or "excellent" no matter how good your results at WTs or FT are.
[/quote]

Wow. What a great system! Very forward looking.

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Karen, you've had a hell of a lot of good advice here and I don't feel like I have much to add. In my opinion the positive factors outweigh the negatives a fair bit.

Obviously there is the health risk to the bitch when whelping, and during the pregnancy itself, but you are a responsible and sensible dog owner, who will know when to seek help if there appears to be any problems. And I think things like the bitch dying during birth are quite rare occurrences. If you have a good vet on call, there's not much to worry about.

It sounds like you've got a fair number of interested parties so selling all of the puppies doesn't sound like an issue. You may only end up with a small litter after all.

The main thing I would be concerned with is if you are in a position to take back the puppies, at any stage of their life, if things don't work out. And be aware that this could potentially be several dogs, not just one. No matter how good the homes are there are always genuine reasons it doesn't work out - family circumstances changing eg. Unemployment, illness, death, being just one example.

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

I had the same dilemma with my lovely girl. I did all my homework, and her health test results were excellent. I really wanted to have the enjoyment for her, and me and my children of having a hoard of puppies rampaging round the house. But my biggest concern was about finding great homes for my puppies.

I took the decision to donate all my puppies to the assistance dogs charities. Guide dogs for the blind in the UK breed about half of their own puppies, but like to take outside puppies too. As a major charity here, they have an excellent infrastructure, and came to visit and assess my bitch, and agreed to take some puppies from the litter, and to put me in touch with other charities who would be delighted to receive the rest.

I have had two litters and so far donated 13 puppies to guide dogs for the blind, canine partners and dogs for the disabled. Of course I am lucky enough to have the resources to be able to breed without getting any income from my puppies. I do get constant feedback as they progress through their socialisation and training, which is lovely.

As a first (and second!) time breeder, I found that other breeders and my vet were incredibly generous with their time and help when I needed it. Very best of luck if you decide to go ahead.

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Hi Lablover22 - welcome to the forum!
What a fantastic thing to do.
I imagine you had to fit quite strict criteria.
Good on you! 8)

jac

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

[quote author=LabLover22 link=topic=6270.msg83847#msg83847 date=1401565032]
I had the same dilemma with my lovely girl. I did all my homework, and her health test results were excellent. I really wanted to have the enjoyment for her, and me and my children of having a hoard of puppies rampaging round the house. But my biggest concern was about finding great homes for my puppies.

I took the decision to donate all my puppies to the assistance dogs charities. Guide dogs for the blind in the UK breed about half of their own puppies, but like to take outside puppies too. As a major charity here, they have an excellent infrastructure, and came to visit and assess my bitch, and agreed to take some puppies from the litter, and to put me in touch with other charities who would be delighted to receive the rest.

I have had two litters and so far donated 13 puppies to guide dogs for the blind, canine partners and dogs for the disabled. Of course I am lucky enough to have the resources to be able to breed without getting any income from my puppies. I do get constant feedback as they progress through their socialisation and training, which is lovely.

As a first (and second!) time breeder, I found that other breeders and my vet were incredibly generous with their time and help when I needed it. Very best of luck if you decide to go ahead.
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Welcome from me Helen, Hattie 6 years and Charlie 3 years.

What a wonderful and generous thing to do with your puppies and so rewarding to get the feedback too. Lovely to read xx

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Lablover22 welcome to the forum. Did you keep any of the pups? How many dogs have you?

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Awww. Thanks guys, glad to have found you. My last litter just went two weeks ago, so I'm feeling a bit bereft.

Jac, the requirements of these organisations are really no more than any responsible breeder would be doing. Of course they are looking for a particular kind of temperament (clever and biddable, not too sensitive, chasey or sniffy, not too extra- or introverted....) but as common characteristics in Labradors, they are not too hard to achieve. Apart from that they just wanted excellent health test results, and a careful choice of stud, as well as well socialised puppies. Things I'm sure we all try our best to do anyway.

I use their future career as a great excuse to take my puppies out to the old people's home, to the brownies, to the local visually impaired resource centre, and to persuade friends to bring a wide range of different sorts of people to meet them.

Jane, I only have the one bitch at the moment, but I plan to keep one from our next litter, if we decide that Tollie is fit to have another. She was much more relaxed with her second litter (me too, I guess) and really enjoyed playing with the puppies as they got older, so I'm sure she'll be delighted to do that. I'll be back for advice on socialising a puppy who stays with her mum, as I am sure there are pros and cons...

Thanks all for your warm welcome.

Helen and Tollie x

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Good on you for your amazing generosity that has made many lives so much better

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Sounds a wonderful thing to do. Do you ever hear back regarding the puppies who don't pass the puppy training stage? If it were me, I think I would be very keen to know where those pups end up - and would like to have first choice of whether to take that puppy back into my home.

But maybe that would be wanting to have my cake AND eat it

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Yes, I do. As my puppies are donated they are offered back to me first if I ask for it. All the charities seem to operate very similar systems of re-homing 'failed' puppies.

Actually two of my puppies have been rejected so far.

One was selected by guide dogs for their breeding program, but then had a slightly abnormal elbow x-Ray (over growth of one condyle, so we all agreed it was more likely to be related to an injury than inherited) and he was re-homed back with his puppy walkers, sadly they have never contacted me, so I no longer get updates from him, but I am reassured that they are great owners.

The other one was a super-confident puppy who was just a bit over-sensitive with other dogs, and a bit of a smartass when it came to following instructions, he was left with his socialisers until sixteen months in the hope he'd grow up a bit, but then was rejected as soon as he started training. He also went back to his socialisers, and I in regular contact with them, and get photos on Facebook very often.

They will occasionally also pass on puppies for other assistance dog roles, if they think that they are better suited, or will place them back with the breeder, puppy walker, training boarder, or if they have worked, with the user, they also hold lists of people interested in re homing 'failed' puppies, for which I believe they use the same type of criteria as the dog rescue organisations.

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Super - then I know who to ask for advice, if we do decide to breed!

Actually, after the working test on Saturday I now have three people interested in a puppy…

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

That's great news, Karen. Hope things work out for you.

Helen.x

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Yes absolutely, if no one ever bred for the first time there would be no breeders.

Brea delivered first litter last week and it was my first solo attempt. all went well except for one that was stillborn and couldn't be resuscitated. sad but sometimes these things happen. so long as you do everything you can to make sure the mum and puppies will be healthy and are well prepared it is a great thing to do

Brea is quite a small girl too!

Carol

 

Re: First time breeding - yes or no?

Oh how exciting, many congratulations!! Do you have photos? Any descriptions of how it all went?