Hi Guys

I am looking to breed my gorgeous [breed removed] next year as she's only 8 months old and wondered if anyone would have any helpful advise on finding a stud to breed with, i want to do this right for her and for future puppies.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank you
Helen

Is she working type or show type?

If she's show type, you may see dogs which you think will compliment her at your shows.
If she's working type, you may look for a dog with similar working traits (assuming you are breeding from her as she is so good).

Either way, before you get your heart set on breeding her, you will need to get all of her health tests done. Start with the eye exam and DNA tests, then you have not wasted money on Hip and Elbow scoring if she fails the cheaper tests. Her hips and elbows cannot be done until she is over 12 months.

It may be a bit early for you to know if she is going to be good enough to breed from, so again, don't get your hopes up too much.

Ok, well done for planning ahead but as previously mentioned she may not even be good enough.  [breed removed] are one of the popular breeds and has she excelled in either show or work?
If she was born sept 2017, I would hope you would be waiting until she was 2.

Helsy, the first thing to do is to get your bitch health-tested.

That means hips scored, elbow scored, BVA eye tested, and then for [breed removed] a range of genetic tests - the minimum being CNM, PRA, EIC and SD2.  If she passes that lot with acceptable results (clear on all the tests and then hip and elbow scores below average), THEN you start to think about which stud you might pair her with.  You can't do hips and elbows until she is over 1 year old, so you really shouldn't be thinking about which stud dog to pair her with at this stage - you might find she has outrageously high hip or elbow results and shouldn't be bred from.

You need to be breeding for a purpose - as a good breeder always is.  That means, either breeding to better performance in a dog sport, or breeding to better conformation.  Which of those goals you have will depend on whether she is show-bred or working-bred.  It is impossible for us to tell you how to find a good stud because it will always depend on what your goals are.  If you want to breed outstanding agility dogs, you would be looking at dogs of your breed that are successful in agility.  And so on for every dog sport there is.  If she is show-bred, then you need to first make sure she has been independently assessed by a third party so you know what her strengths and weaknesses are (ideally you would be showing her yourselves so you would know that from your results in the ring).  Then you would be looking at studs who complement her conformation and can compensate for any weak areas she has. 

Then there are issues like:  Avoiding using stud dogs who have been used a million times before (no matter how qualified they are), because it's not going to do the breed any good if you lose genetic variety in it.  Putting any stud you find into Mate Select to verify health tests and to make sure the COI is below average for the breed, on the mating you are proposing.  Choosing an experienced stud, if she is a maiden - because it's not advisable to put two first-timers together if you want things to go well...

At 8 months though, you should be focussing on her career in a dog sport or in the ring if you want to prove her to potential puppy buyers.

Onetwothreefour

I wish it were possible to give several upvotes to your post .

Obviously she'll need all the testing available for her breed.   Secondly if you bought her from a reputable breeder, she should have a non-breeding endorsement which will have to be lifted for you to be able to register any puppies she might have.   And that means taking her back to her breeder for her assessment before lifting the endorsement, if she feels she's good enough to be bred from.   In any case, provided you did buy from a good breeder, that's where you should be looking for help in finding a suitable stud dog for her.   It's not just putting Dog A to Bitch B.   By a long way.

Still if she's currently only 8 months, you have until she's at least 2 years, to do your homework, and the testing needed.   And meanwhile, focus on whatever discipline you'd like to get into with her.

Welcome to the forum

You may also find this article of some interest:

Should I breed from my pet bitch?

I would add to all the good advice already given, have a purpose in mind for breeding, your bitch doesn't have to have puppies for her to be happy or having experienced motherhood to fulfil her life, I do have people come to me for those reasons. Do bear in mind that depending on breed it can be difficult to find the sort of homes you will want for your puppies, pregnancy and whelping although normally straightforward is not always trouble free and you do need to plan for every eventuality.  The good thing is you have plenty of time to make sure your bitch is health tested and for you to make contact with stud dog owners, I would visit shows to see a variety of males, chat to owners and get an idea of what suits your bitch and hopefully find a helpful mentor if you haven't already got one.