I am new to all this and read posts on a regular basis just to give me more of a "real" outlook on breeding! My question to you all is what has been your highest and lowest point. Just to give people like myself a levelling outlook on the whole breeding process.
Thanks
Sian

Very good questions for a thread I think!

My very lowest point was mating a bitch of my second breed for the first time (i.e. my first time with the breed), and she gave birth two just two puppies, both of which were dead -and she was so depressed afterwards it was absolutely heartbreaking. Mated her a second time, both scans said two pups, and she gave birth to two pups -both dead again. At that moment I felt so low it was indescribable. When suddenly a third pup appeared, ALIVE, it was one of the high points for sure.

Otherwise, in my main breed, lowest point was having 9 pups born but almost all the buyers dropped out so I only got homes for 4. The stud dog owner and I own 5 of those pups between us and having more than one pup to train is a nightmare. Highest point is seeing my pups all grown up taking major awards at shows and in obedience and agility -nothing beats it.

The highs - raising a beautiful litter of well balanced puppies. Having one of my first puppies work Ticket :-D

Lows - almost losing my bitch a week after her first litter (emergency and pioneering life saving surgery saved her). Losing 2 puppies out of my last litter - the final litter for another bitch ... I've never had any loses before, no amount of reading about others loses prepares you for the utter heartache of trying to keep pups alive, only to lose them hours/days later :(

The worst, which I hope never to experience is loosing your bitch.

Next to that comes loosing puppies, stillbirths are sad, but not quite so bad.

Homes occasionally not working out, and the losses of the dogs as they age come next.

Many highs include your pups doing well, making a contribution to the breed for you or others, and new owners becoming part of your extended family.

Marianne - is one of the dogs you bred competing in agility at Olympia this year? I am sure I saw your affix amongst the qualifying dogs :-)

I've only bred twice, but so far the high points have been one of the dogs I bred becoming an American champion, and the bitch I kept becoming a rally obedience champion. Low point is the other boy whose owners after 6 years of delight suddenly proclaiming that he has major problems, though they couldn't remember what the vet thought it was, they haven't been to a specialist and I don't think they ever did in spite of me telling them to, they say he has a weak heart which they never told me about in the 6 years, then they got very shirty with me, and now I have lost all contact with them without any idea of whether the dog is doing ok or whether he might even be dead, whether they ever got a proper diagnosis, and whether anything he might have is relevant to me as a breeder or just bad luck. :-(

Marianne - is one of the dogs you bred competing in agility at Olympia this year?

No I don't think so, but one was at the ABC semi finals at Discover Dogs (and she was the highest qualifier for the semis), could that be what you were thinking of? Unfortunately she failed to qualify for the finals at Crufts as in the jumping she slipped on the astro turf and didn't have a good round, did better in agility where she came 4th.

I've bred two that currently compete in grade 6.

Lows that 5th puppy dying after you trying everything possible.

Happy owners healthy puppies and low hipscores from your own breeding

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">No I don't think so, but one was at the ABC semi finals at Discover Dogs (and she was the highest qualifier for the semis),

That  must have been what I was thinking of - brilliant achievement :-)

My biggest heart ache just about destroyed me.  I have a toy breed that normally doesn't leave home until at least 12 weeks of age.  So a lot of socialising goes on, and my pups are used to playing ragger with a Beardies tail quite early on.  I'm proud of the fact that all the vets at my practice just love to see any and all of my dogs.  The reason being temperament.

It is perfectly natural that, keeping pups for so long, you already have a strong emotional bond with them.  With my last litter I had a 10 week old puppy PTS after she had been in hospital for a week, with the vets unable to help her.  There was no official diagnosis, and she had loads of tests carried out.  I brought her home to love her before I had my favourite vet give her peace.  Just about crucified me making the decision.  I will never breed again as long as I live.  And I am not a newbie to the dog world.