Hi, this is my first posting on this board. My girl is 6.5 weeks pregnant and doing really well.
This was a planned mating although my and her first, she is two years old. I have read and asked so many questions and hope i am doing my very best for her. Coming from a very doggy background, a qualified groomer and petshop owner this has been years in its preperation.
Having read lots of posts on here and other forums my question relates to selling the puppies. They have a fantastic bloodline but i dont know the responsible place to advertise them so i get teh right people. There are so many boards on line but i hear comments from breeders saying they wouldnt advertise on the likes of EPupz or other online boards. So where do you advertise when you dont have the reputation as yet. I am also aware i have an expensive breed and we are in a recession!!!
think back for me all you experienced people to your first litter, how did it all begin???

This is terrifying, exciting and worrying all at once but if i have to keep the whole litter i absolutely will!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for your help x

I think it matters less where you advertise than the criteria you set yourself and the diligence and skill to apply to your vetting.
The KC website is as good as any, particularly if you have comformed and applied for their Accredited Breeder scheme.

Thanks Isobel, That was my thinking, interviewing and grilling of prospective owners and of course ensuring any pups that need rehoming later come straight back to me. As soon as the pups are born I will put them on the Kennel Club website and whilst i do meet criteria for the accredited breeder scheme i havent applied as this will be my one and only litter.......for a few years at least, i am finding this more stressful then having my own child!

I agree totally with Isabel, Where you advertise does not really matter, it is the way in which you vet potential new owners and also the support and advice that you give to any new owner. I believe that as the breeder you have a lifelong responsibility to ensure that a happy and safe home awaits. They never asked to be born did they. Im sure that all will be fine, but dont be afraid to say no if you have any doubt about a potential owner. Good Luck!!

Personally I keep a waiting list of interested potential owners. This way I rarely have problems placing puppies. Obviously all 'potentials' have to be vetted, questions asked, finding out the background of the familes etc.

Are you breeding to keep back a pup?

Yes i will be keeping a puppy. i have begun tentatively advertising and had a few emails but so far have only one couple that i see as the "perfect" home for one of her babies. I have asked lots of questions and they are now waiting for D-Day. I guess the reason for this posting was i need quantity of responses as so far i seem to be rejecting everyone as i know this breed isnt what the general public percieve it to be so after educating them i am putting them off!!!!

A good starting point would be the owner of the stud dog - they may well have enquiries for offspring of their boy if he is a well bred, well known dog.

The stud owner is a breeder too and the breeder of my girl and has other puppies to him. She is fabulous and he is a fab dog but i am conscious that i dont want to take good homes from her but i am sure she will put anyone she cant help accross as she is very much my daily mentor!

You are all so helpful, glad i came by!!!

Please keep the advice coming......

I'd say that it's in her interests to make sure your pups are well placed too as she is also responsible for the welfare of your pups ;)  If you are involved in the breed and a member of the breed club, then surely they will also have a puppy list or puppy co-ordinator who will pass along prospective new owners?

hi Dill, i did try to join the breed club but you needed 2 people who were members of the club to recommend you and then had to be a member for 3 years till you could add your pups to their lists.......this pregnancy won't wait that long!!!! :)

OK, so my starting points after that would be the KC listing, and  an ad. on this (you have to pay an annual subscription).  As said before in the thread, it is not where you advertise that is so important as how you deal with the enquiries when they come.

> whilst i do meet criteria for the accredited breeder scheme i havent applied as this will be my one and only litter.......

For £15 you will be supporting the scheme in its ethos of encouraging all breeding to be conducted in an ethical and responsible way as well as providing all purchasers of an assurance of your own standing.  Even for this one litter I would say it would be well worth it.  I would also set about joining the club for the same reasons.  As dog breeders we have a responsibility to set an example to others as well as just looking after our interest.  Your stud dog owner should be able to find you another sponsor to put you forward for membership.

isabel, i hadnt thought of it like that, and if any of you were concerned people on here dont take advice, its not true! i am printing off the aplication form for accredited KC breeder as we speak. As i already conform it seems only right to show my support for the scheme and as you say £15 is a small price to pay....

There are 5 breed clubs, so plenty of choice, surely you could join one of them - if not more?   Are they really that exclusive?

Some breed clubs are happy to accept a vet's letter saying you are known to them to care well for your animals if you don't know 2 club members to propose you. However I've always found that if you want to join a breed club, the obvious person to ask for a proposal is the breeder of the dog you've got -and he or she is often happy to find a seconder.

Hi Dill, they all have very strict rules unless you know otherwise but i am going with their websites.

Going back to the KC accreditted breeder, does anyone know if i will be accepted as this is my first litter? I have the forms but am putting down zero experience when it comes to breeding - i am not going to lie!

Breed club membership and supporting all they do for welfare and health research and benefiting from information regarding this is also an essential ingredient in responsible breeding in my opinion.

>they all have very strict rules unless you know otherwise but i am going with their websites.

Have your tried your stud dog owner or your bitch's breeder or anyone you have got to know showing etc.?

> I have the forms but am putting down zero experience when it comes to breeding - i am not going to lie!

They are asking your experience within the breed.  Ie how long you have owned them, how long showing etc.  It does not matter that this is your first litter.

pugnut....i have always done the same re waiting lists and like to think that as an established breeder of show champions and very successful trials winners, that my list was solid....my current litter is from the very top winning lines in UK and europe and had nearly 20 people all vetted and waiting for my current litter yet with the recession etc....now I find only 4 of them are in a position to have a pup. I would not want to be in the OPs position!!!

Hi Isabel, Amiss of me not to have joined the breed clubs earlier but please believe me i am a responsible breeder and i will look into membership further. My dog experience is varied but my breeding is a new thing for me. I have the full support of my girls breeder who knew my intentions to breed from the beginning and has kept in close contact to ensure her suitability - after all she is trusting me with her lines.

Proposers and seconders would be your bitch's breeder and/or your Stud dog's owner or someone in the breed you already know.  Seconders aren't always necessary ;) if you are known through showing your dogs, by the people running the club or club members that is often enough ;)

How about petplan puppy list i put my first litter on there & they were good & it was free.
The kc & your breed club are the way to go but petplan are good peppapug good luck

I think, although not certain, that only the Pug Dog Club (the "parent" club) has a puppy list.  Fairly sure that neither Scottish Pug nor Northern pug or West Penine have one at the moment.  Not sure about the others, but have never heard of puppy lists from them.  If you contact the secretary's for membership forms, for whichever your choice of club would be, and explain, they will be able to help about nominating and seconding.

Are there any health tests that pugs should have before they are bred from?  I always think that it's a good idea to put details of health tests passed by the parents on a puppy ad.

My view is that it matters not where you advertise, but how well you vet the people that these adverts reach.

Depending on the places you advertise you may get a very different kind of potential owner.  So somewhere like Epupz may net very few good enquiries, where the breed club are likely to get you better ones, but there really is not firm rule. 

I have had excellent homes for a last pup from local free ads advertising (a horsey family who didn't know where else to look) and have had awful unsuitable people come via breed club.

My argument is that if good breeders do not advertise in the easily accessible media then potential owners who don't know where to look will only have puppy farmed and Back yard breeders stock to choose from.

Wording your advert well can really show the difference between a well bred litter and the average commercially bred ones.

As for reputation, you should already be partway there with the quality of your bitch and the sire as demonstrated by their success in the showring, the fact your working with more experienced reputable breeders in your fledgling breeding efforts.

I have found having your own website where you can show the health results, achievements and pedigrees of your dogs showing what your longterm aims in the breed are is also a good way of reaching the kind of people for whom these things matter.

> > so far i seem to be rejecting everyone as i know this breed isnt what the general public percieve it to be so after educating them i am putting them off!!!!

This is perfectly normal, expect to reject far more enquiries than you accept.  It is in your own and the pups long term interest to reject any home your not 100% happy with, this is far better than having to deal with having a badly reared/trained pup back, or trying desperately to get one out of an unsuitable situation.

Also the commercial appeal of your breed will necessitate some very shrewd vetting as many people will try to pull the wool over your eyes re their plans for the pups.

Oh and point out that fact the pups will be endorsed (progeny not eligible for registration), this won't stop someone breeding, but may discourage some that want maximum price for pups with KC reg.

Thanks for all your help, it is real food for thought and i have taken some action. I hadnt thought about petplan although am with them so will use them. I have put an ad on a few commercial boards and will see the response. When they are born i will use KC also. Because i knew i would need lots of support with this adventure i did use my breeder for the stud so have only her views and experience so talking to other breeders in invaluable.
The KC dont have any recommendations for health checks for my breed, i did check this and i have applied to be an accredited breeder now. So, i guess i am in the best position i can be in considering! It is a tough time for new breeders no matter how responsible and i guess in hindsight now wasnt a good time but years in the preperation and the season happpened and i was off!!! Perhaps others like me should read this thread and see the challenges i face in homing these babies. Fortunately i live in a large house and can if required keep the whole litter (fortunately my breed have small litters!!!!).

thank you again and keep further advice coming x

>The KC dont have any recommendations for health checks for my breed,

The KC may not but the breed clubs may have recommended test ;)   The main DNA test recommended by my breed clubs aren't even mentioned by the KC ;)

> The KC dont have any recommendations for health checks for my breed

Yes, it would be nice if the KC followed the breed clubs lead and recommended testing for hemivertibrae, at least!

Its generally recommended that both parents have been xrayed HV clear. More can be found about this on the PDC website... http://www.pugdogclub.org.uk/start.html find it under 'About the Breed' then 'Health Matters'. Obviously its past that stage now for the OP, but it maybe an idea for future matings, should the OP decide to have another litter.
Luxating patellas (slipping kneecaps) can sometimes be an issue and pugs suffering from this condition shouldnt be bred from.

With regard to membership to the club, Im sure your mentor would propose for you and they will find you a seconder. If they arnt a member then try a fellow exhibitor.

Best of luck :-)

Useful reading on the subject of helath tests/hv in the breed notes from a week or 2 ago - sorry, can't remember if it was DW or OD, but a very comprehensive reply from Dr Andreas Schemel to a recent discussion on the research into HV and what happened to the submitted Xrays for the project.

Sorry if I have missed it somewhere, but the obvious place to me is here on Champdogs. I helped my girls breeder set up a site as she doesn't have the internet, and she had 42 enquiries for her last litter. She is very fussy where her pups go and was delighted with the homes that came via Champdogs.

I think the OP already has her litter listed :-)

i do thank you! I havent had any responses but i am hopeful that will happen when pictures of actual pups and their sexes are listed. I was recommended this site so fingers crossed i get the same response :)