I have never breed dogs before even though I have had them all my life, so am looking for good info ...I have japanese akitas and want to know how to go about it...e.g they are both kc reg...do I have to be  registered  as a breeder, and do I do this threw the kennal club, is it better to have the male and bitch hip scored...Stevie from carnmoney N.ireland

Hi Stevie, First thing you need to do is ask yourself some questions: Why do you want to breed? Can you be sure of finding suitable homes for a large litter? Akitas are a wonderful breed but definitely not for everyone. Do you have the facilities to care for a large litter of large puppies? Do you have the time/space/money to take back any puppies that owners find they can't or don't want to keep any longer (often when they've turned into stroppy teenage males). Are you prepared for a change (for the worse!) in your dog's temperament if you use him at stud? Are you willing to risk losing your bitch and/or able to pay a large vet's bill if things aren't straightforward. Do you know enough about your own dogs' pedigrees to know if they are closely related or doubling up on undesirable traits or diseases? Have you checked your dogs' registrations to make sure there are no breeding restrictions on them? Are your dogs within the age range for breeding? Do you have experienced help available when it comes to mating? Both dogs & people can get hurt during this time if no-one knows what they are doing & you can't risk just leaving them to get on with it.
Once you've asked those questions, get both dogs eye tested and hip scored (I think the breed average is around 14). Can you not ask the breeders of your 2 for advice? If not, get yourself to a few shows (I'm assuming you don't show or you would be asking these questions to other owners) and check whether your dogs are good enough to bred from. Are they good examples of the breed &, most importantly, do they have exemplary temperaments?
That's just a start to breeding :D ! why don't you register, then you can ask all the questions you want?