I wanted to introduce myself as I'm new to this site. My names Michelle and I fulfilled a dream 4 months ago when I got my siberian husky bitch - Star. She is pure white and absolutely gorgeous and sitting at my feet as I type. She's lovely and absolutely no trouble at all, I'm in the process of training her which she has taken to with no trouble at all.

A question I wanted to ask was that eventually when she is over 2 (she's 7 months now) I'd like to breed her and would like another dog to be her companion and am wondering whether to buy the dog/pup now. I can separate and my friend will have the dog when she is in season so that's not a problem at all. What do you all think? Am I being a bit silly? I'm in love with my dog and would love her (and me) to have another one too.

Hi Michelle,

Until your bitch is over one year old and has had a satisfactory hip score done and a clear eye test, and has proven herself to be of excellent quality in the show ring, you won't know whether you will be able to breed her anyway. You would have to be VERY knowledgable on lines/pedigrees etc. to get a dog to complement her lines, and of course he would also have to pass the relevent tests as detailed above. You would also have to be very experienced in dogs to consider keeping a dog and bitch together, it's not easy! I would however , as Sibes thrive on doggy company, see if you can get another bitch a few months down the line, you will also then have a team for working!

If you want to PM me with details of your bitch, I can help point you in the right direction of people who may be able to help you eventually. Good luck with her, I bet she's gorgeous!

Hi Michelle I have 2 Husky bitched mother(keatah)and daughter(STAR), snap. Oh welcome to the site pm me if you wish.

I would agree with Michelle
also if you buy a male even with compatible lines etc what happens if he is not good enough to breed due to poor confirmation,health tests etc
When breeding you must also breed to improve upon your bitches faults...how can you guarantee buying a male pup that will do this...you can't I'm afraid.
You would be much better(after getting her assessed by a reputable sibe person if you can't show)using someone elses stud and getting another bitch...or maybe wait and keep one of her babies.
I am assuming that since you knew early on that you wanted to breed you purchased your bitch from good health tested stock and that she is ,of course,KC registered.In which case the other thing to do if she came from a reputable source is to contact her breeder.
Archer

I agree with Husky. It is very early for you to be thinking about breeding. Take some time to really get to know the breed. Visit shows and rallies, meet other people who are experienced in the breed and get some serious experience under your belt before you think about breeding. Does your bitch have breeding endorsements, and if so, will the breeder lift them?Apart from pre-mating issues like hip and eye tests and a realistic assessment of whether bitch and dog are actually of breeding quality and will not dilute quality within the breed, and the purely physical aspects of whelping a litter (which can be a very scary experience if you've never done it before), you also have to take into consideration other important issues. For example, the average Siberian litter is 5 pups. If you keep one, you have to find homes for four. How do you go about finding the right homes for your pups? What kind of puppy contracts do you ask your purchasers to sign? Will you take responsibility for those pups for their whole lives - eg if someone turns up with an 8 yr old you haven't seen since it was 8 weeks, are you prepared to take it in and care for it?
We aren't trying to scare you unnecessarily, just to let you know just what a huge commitment breeding is. Of course, you could ignore all this and just breed anyway and sell the pups to whoever wants them at the pub, but if you were that kind of person you probably wouldn't be asking for advice here.
Your girl is still a baby. Enjoy her and, if you feel she needs canine company, try to buy another bitch puppy as Husky suggests. You probably did  a fair amount of research before you got your girl, but now is when you really start to learn about the breed. We have had Siberians for 11 years now, and we are still learning something new every day!

Hi Husky

Thanks so much for your reply. I would love for you to point me in the right direction. How do I pm you with Stars details? Just over this or is there some other way?

I would agree, but would myself advicse that if the bitch is good enough to be breeding material that the poster wait until she breds her litter to keep a second dog.  It does take around 2 years in my experience to have these Spitz breeds half way where you want them training wise before introducing a new pup.  This way the pup has a good example to follow, and the owner can concentrate their efforts on teh enw pup wiothout totally undoing the training they ahve put in with the first.

I would never advise someone who wants to keep their sanity to have two pups of such a clever breed together. :D

This course will also keep the poster getting overdogged too soon.

I have five now and had only ever intended to have a maximum of 4, but fortunately they are long lived.  My five generations are 18 months, 5, 7 1/2, 10, and 13 years of age.  I could well still have the oldest when I plan to keep my next pup at the start of 2007 (as her Mum, Grandmother and Great Granmother all lived well past their 15th birthdays).

Hi Michelle,

and welcome to CD :)  Your new puppy sounds adorable - I don't have your breed (although I do find them very attractive) and you've already been given some excellent advice by the posters before me so just wanted to say I hope you enjoy your puppy and enjoy sharing news of how things are going with her.

Kind regards,
Teri :)

Hello

Thankyou so much for the replies. I've thought over what you've all said and I agree. There is so much that I need to find out that I'm not going to make any rash decisions without thoroughly researching what I'm doing. My bitch is KC registered and has all the relevant papers so I'm ok with that side of things but as for breeding I need to find out more before I go into it if I decide to do that. I do want a companion for her so I think I'll go for a bitch at some point in the future. Thankyou for all those who said I could pm them (did I say that right) please feel free if anyone wants to pm me too, I'd love all the advice and support I can get.

When I bought my foundation bitch and decided I would start showing her (at nearly two years as my son was still a toddler wehn she came) I joined the National breed club.  I had kept in regular touch with her breeder and had also asked the stud owner for a phjotos and got corresponding.  I bought initially the Annual publications poroduced by the club for the previous 10 years (now I have yearbooks goiiung bavk to the 50's with odd gaps).  These were very useful in order to put flesh on the bones that were her pedigree.  I could see what her ancestors looked like, even trace some of her characteristics that had skipped generations.

When I first starteed going to Championship shows I thought all the dogs looked the saem and were gorgeous, but over time I got an eye for what I liked, and for what was correct (not always the same thing :D).

when I came to breed my first litter it was with my bitches parents owners both holding my hand over the phone, and local breeders of another breeed on hadn with the practical experience.

In hindsight I kept the wrong pup from my first litter, but did better 3 years later when choosing her daughter, but as is often the case I had gone two steps forward and one back, as this second home bred generation was lovley, but I ahd lost a bit of substance.  This bitch was my first to do reliably well, and has her Stud Book number, RCC and nearly won out of Limit (has had an awful lot more 2nd and 3rds than first :D)

Her daughter was the pick of her litter, but trying to be sensible I didn't keep her, as I was trying to get a good age gap.  Fate decreed otherwise and seh came back to me when she was too much for her Novice owners who had a young family.  she really hit the heifhts for me and is now a Champion 3 times over, but has been the most challenging to won, as didn't get the training she needed whilst a baby.

This is the down side of breeding.  You can end up on average with every 10th puppy coming unstuck in it's new home (have to admit it has happened lees in last few years, as maybve I am learning to suss out potential new owners better, or just dumb luck).

The up side for me has been that at least one pup per litter has owners that have become freinds.  They come and visit, some have also taken to showing and done well, and my canine family gets larger.  I now have several owners that have had more than one pup from me over the last 10 years.

You have loads of time, easily 3 years to learn the basics, and if you want you wil find yourself learning more over the next decades.

hi michelle...from michelle!!! ;)

Husky coveter, or should it be covetess???

Hi Michelle.  Welcome to CD!  :)

I have a toy poodle called Roxy - just a little smaller than what you're used to :D - and I know what you mean, the minute you get them, you're in love for life!