Hello, I have a 9 1/2 month old pug. She just started her first bleeding today. I am going to wait to breed her on her 3rd heat and then if the vet gives the okay. Any suggestions on what I need to be doing now to get myself and her prepared? I have about a year to do it. I would like to be sure all goes well for her, the pups, and I. So as much feed back as possible would be great. Please be kind though. I am not experienced and so is why I am asking. Thank you.

You need to have her assessed as to whether she is a good example of the breed by her breeder or someone who knows the breed well. Did you buy her with breeding in mind and did her breeder know this at the time?

All health checks recommended by the KC and breed clubs carried out with good results. Find a stud who also fits all the criteria.

If all is well then buy The Book of the Bitch and read it from cover to cover several times, find a mentor who will help and advise and let you attend one of their whelpings.

I am sure it was that breed who recently refused to toilet the pups and others  commented that happens a lot and the humans have to deal with this for the first few weeks or the pups will become very bunged up and uncomfortable.

It is hard work and worry even after they leave you.

Look at back posts on here especially the highlighted ones for all the problems folk have encountered and the outcomes.

Good Luck

Just a word of caution if you honestly know nothing.  There are a couple of breeds that I consider to be particularly difficult to whelp.  Yours is one of them.

It is not a sensible breed to get your experience with.  I'm guessing that you wouldn't have a clue if you were looking at inertia, and could easily leave your girl too long - risking her life as well as losing her pups.  Are you prepared to take 6 weeks off work (minimum) and rear pups yourself.  Do you know how to poo them and pee them?  As you have a breed notorious for not wanting to do the job for their pups. 

If you need to hand rear, you are talking every 2 hours - day and night.   Can I suggest that you get yourself a mentor.  Usually this will be the breeder of your bitch.  They could allow you to attend a whelping, and maybe assist with your girl.

I am not being unkind, I just feel that you may not realise that this breed is not for the novice.  And, while nobody likes to talk money, you will need a minimum of £1,000 put by, but preferably more, as an out of hours C-section can set you back well in excess of £1,000.  And a few CD'ers have had heartbreak, and lost their girls on the operating table. 

At the end of the day it's your choice, but, if you love your girl, are you prepared to lose her.  The awful reality is - it happens. 

Hi, it's good that you are planning well in advance, but to echo what Jean has said, if this will be your first time having a litter you are really jumping in at the deep end.  I had been breeding for over 10 years when I had my first pug litter and can honestly say if it had been my first ever litter I would never have had another.  A lot of pugs are not naturally maternal, so you have to be prepared to do absolutely everything, form delivery and cleaning the pups through to feeding, toileting - everything Mum would do.  At first this is every 2 hours, round the clock, for at least 10 days, then if everything is OK you can move on to 3 hourly.  So this means you have to be at home 24/7 for at least 3 and possibly more weeks.  That has to be your first consideration - can you do that?  After that, financially you need to have access to at least £1000 in case of emergency vet treatment.

Moving on to what you need to know about your bitch - first why do you want to breed from her, is she an excellent quality bitch who will contribute to the breed by having a litter?  how familiar are you with her lines, are you sure all the dogs behind her are without health problems.  We don't  have any KC health tests, but lots of us X ray spines to check for Hemivertebra,  some breeders test for hips and patellas.

Breeding for any bitch is a big commitment, from Pugs it is a whole different level.  Before you make any decisions it woudl be a good idea to ask your breeder if they might consider letting you sit on a whelping so you get some idea of what is involved. Not everyoen would be happy to let you do this, but it is worth asking.

Sorry if this reply is mainly full of negatives, but hoep it gives you osmething to think about before making any decisions.

Thank you Ladies. I appreciate your honesty. I have welped before, but it was with our female chocolate lab. She did well on her own. I had to do very little. She did stop caring for her pups at 3 1/2 weeks so I then took over. It was a messy job. I however didn't have to feed them from a bottle since they were able to eat watered down puppy food. They all went on to new homes just fine. I know however from reading a bit that pugs are very different. I am a stay at home mom. I have cleaning jobs, but would have someone sit with them if need be while I left for a couple hours. I don't know how to make them pee or poop. I am not wanting to lose my girl at all! I figured with close veterinary supervision all should be okay, but I'm thinking maybe not. I wasn't going to breed her unless our vet gave the okay. If she felt that she'd have trouble then I wouldn't do it. We got her from a retired breeder. He is a friend. He use to breed, but eventually started studding his male pug out. So I can't turn to him to watch a whelping. I don't know anything about her mother. Only that I was told she had no complications during whelping, but did lose one pup. My pug is very healthy. I haven't had any testing done. I will look into the x ray. To be honest I'm very scared. Which is why I want to prepare early and decide for sure latter. Again thank you all very much for your honesty.

I think the first question one needs to ask oneself is........why do I want a litter, and the second question  should be ....  are you  prepared to lose your bitch to obtain said litter.....if the first takes president over the second, the  take the next step and  get prepared.

Its always been a dream of mine to  breed a litter, was hoping to do so with my girl,  she did OK in the ring for a while, but her temperament (as she matured) become iffy,  along with having to have her spayed due to phantoms,  sadly it never  came to pass.

The dream is still there, and maybe with my next bitch, it may happen, but to be honest,  the more stories you hear, the more I would be a nervous wreck, knowing what can happen......... its a long way off yet, and if all the boxes got ticked I may consider it.

BUT  the only reason  I would ever breed, would be to continue my lines and keep a puppy for myself.

Whelping a pug as your first litter would be a bit like taking you driving test in a Ferrari !

Very hands on and very high risk.

Unless your vet friend is retired you cannot guarantee round the clock vet supervision, he has to work I presume. In any case, few vets have actually sat through an entire whelping - they usually bob in and out of the scenario. It is another dog breeder, preferably in your breed, who can give you the support you may need.

Vets rarely unless breeders themselves have much breeding experience especially not breed specific knowledge. 

Read this thread when it was just the first post and held fire from saying that the Pug is not the easiest and should really only be bred by those who had lots of experience. The risk is just too high it is not that uncommon to loose pups and dam although that is just a little less distressing than loosing the dam and then the pups one by one as you try in vain to rear them.

My own bred is reckoned to be an easy whelping breed and indeed it is but I still know a a few who have lost their bitch.

Please make absolutely sure that your need for a puppy in greater than your need for your bitch, if not don't, save up and buy in.

Perhaps I should say make sure your need for this litter is greater than the need for your bitch - surely no one would risk breeding a pug litter just to sell, or would they. Often wonder it the difficulty in whelping most Pugs is why so many are crossed with another breed as there is little risk to the stud.

Perhaps that is when the OP should start finding a stud owner who would be prepared to either whelp the bitch or be on stand by for the whelping and the first few days.

I had my first litter around 5-6 years ago. I can't put in to words the cost, heartbreak and anxiety you go through. And my breed are easy whelpers normally and fantastic mums. It is hard hard work. I got a second bitch from the same breeder and she was on breeding terms. When it came to having all her relevant tests it came apparant she had a slight heart murmur so we decided not to go through with it.
I didnt realise up until that point how anxious i was with this second litter, it was like a huge weight off my mind.
I will never have another litter again, i will stick to the exciting feeling of waiting for a puppy from someone else. Its cheaper and far more exciting and better for my blood pressure. In my mind the con's far outweigh the pro's when it comes to breeding.

After reading all of everyone's comments and do lots of thinking I have decided not to breed my pug. I was wanting to for one of her pups, but it just isn't worth losing her over. I will be saving a buying another pug. I want a fawn. Can anyone put me in touch with a local breeder? I'm in Louisiana. We have a pet store called Pick of the Litter that we frequent often. They sale pugs with papers from time to time. My only concern with that is I have heard that pet stores get their animals from puppy mills. Does this carry any weight and if so what is the difference in breeders with papers and puppy mills with papers? I want to make a good choice when it comes to get another pug.

Another question is the black pug we have is a female. On deciding which sex to get for our second one which would be better in the long run. To have 2 females or a male and a female. Naturally if we get a male we will get our female fixed.

Hi again,  please do not get pup from either a pet store or from a puppy mill, it is a orute to much heartache.  If you contact the PDCA -  http://www.pugs.org/breeders.shtml  - you will be able to find reliable, responsible breeders in your area.

Thank you.

Here's a few good articles which will explain why it is so bad to buy puppies from petshops:
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/buying/articles/petshops-and-pet-stores.html
http://www.maryshouse.us/I-bought-a-cute-puppy-at-the-petstore.htm
http://www.shilohshepherds.com/puppyBreeders/breederMatrixv4.htm

Please don't buy a puppy from a pet shop. Only uncaring breeders could possibly consider selling their puppies to these places. Us caring breeders want to know where our puppies end up. We want to choose the homes they go to, and to stay in touch for the entirety of their lives.