Quick question, anyone on here that breeds dogs and is also unemployed?

Not sure what you mean by unemployed.  I do a bit of part time work sometimes but when I am not working for a wage I am fully employed being a housewife and not claiming benefits if that is what you mean. 

I have the occassional litter and am unemployed due to disability all I do when I have a litter is send the receipts to the DWP to declare the income as they see it and show the expenses and the same goes with the microchipping I do as neither would be classed as work for such things as disabled tax credit after the first £20 I think it is they allocate per week they deduct so much from my income support.  Have to say they've never taken any yet as they spread it over the whole year and was even offered a loan by them when I had a lot of vets bills with one litter, they now realise there's no money to be made in me breeding dogs.

I am not unemployed, but I know if I was then I would certainly not be breeding a litter, assuming everything goes well the costs are high and I would not be able a rear the litter well. Every puppy deserves the best start and the best homes, they do not ask to be born.

On the otherhand if I didn't care about the dogs and was breeding to make money I would not do health checks, probably breed Cockapoos or some such unregistered breed, ask a lot of money for my "rare" breed, con the public in the process, and laugh all the way to the bank, oh and I'd probably be a puppy farmer to boot!

If you're unemployed it is a big step to take as the costs far outweigh the small gains made. If something goes wrong you could end up losing the litter and / or the bitch and end up with nothing to sell and huge debts at the vets.

No - agree with Polly - unfortunate fact of life that rearing a litter correctly means an outlay of about £1500 or so.    Not a good idea if you're unemployed, methinks!

Jo

Why would an unemployed person not be able to rear a litter well? 

I save to have a litter and feel that despite my disability and my unemployability I should be able to partake in the same things in life as those who are employed, I DNA profile my dogs, do DNA health tests that most in the breed don't bother with and have an excellent relationship with my vet in case of emergencies and paying time if necessary although upto now I've not needed that resource.  My disability money is there to help me enjoy as much freedom and the same quality of life as any non disabled person that I can within the boundaries of my disease and my puppy buyers from my latest litter have all sent glowing replies to the KC Accredited breeder scheme and are more than happy with the quality and confidence of my puppies.

I feel the original post was aimed at finding out if people are unemployed and then 'make a living' breeding dogs...which as we know ,if done properly, is pretty near impossible
Archer

I thought that it might be re. the legal implications for claiming if you do breed ?  I also know people who are unemplyed and have the very occasional litter and they are brilliant to their dogs and look after them well.

My parents are retired and don't get much money coming in, only my dad gets the state pension and they are not allowed the pensioners credit but they very rarely have a litter and ensure that they can afford the bills etc.

I think disability allowance is different Schip, quite rightly it should enable you, with carefull planning, to afford a hobby such as breeding, likewise pensioners but unemployment benefit should be regarded as a temporary measure, in fact isn't it called job seekers allowance?  Breeding can be expensive so I really think it right for those claiming job seekers allowance to wait until they do have their own means to support it.

Job Seekers Allowance is much lower than disability allowance and pensions. It is disgustingly low in my opinion as are single parent benefits. I used to be a chairperson of a national childrens charity, so have seen the hardships endured by families and single people trying to live on so little money. It could be tempting for them to breed for money.

As to breeding for money while on benefit or not detailed records should be kept on expenditure and income as the benefits office or the tax man should be informed of any income extra to that received as benefit or as extra income.

A large litter can often cost much more than Jo has stated, especially if you feed the pups and the dam with top quality foods, not to mention all the other extras such as veterinary care.

Polly & Foxpath Flatcoats

Actually Incapacity Benefit(basic long term rate £76.45 with an additional amount if someone is under 45 when they are first ill)is about £20 a week more than JSA(£56.20 basic single person) & takes into account that people with disablities need extra money to live on.

JSA is only meant as a short term benefit with the aim to get people back into work

Well thats the official view !

As for lone parent benefits they are better than they were I don't know how long ago you were involved with lone parents.

I would imagine that a big majority of the board members dont BUT there are thousands out there who stay at home to breed dogs.

Anyone who breeds a litter of puppies is by definaition a breeder, but within our own ranks we then divide these breeders, into different catergories.

The 'pet breeder' somebody who produces one litter from a pet bitch hopefully with the guidance of their vet and the breeder of their bitch.

The hobby breeder as most of the members here are, we don't breed that often we do all the health checks, ensure the best rearing methods available are employed to rear litters, we do health checks, and other checks such as showing or working our dogs to maintain a certain standard of type and ability.

Then we have the 'puppy farmer'/'back yard' breeder somebody who breeds lots of dogs for money, open any edition of the Breed Record Supplement and time and again you can spot these people who live off their dogs. Yes some do test for health, and then some will carry on and use affected stock anyway, as they know that advertising their stock as tested makes people feel they are safe to buy from this breeder, there are the 'Rare breed' puppy producers who cross two pedigree breeds and call the resulting mongrel a cockerpoo or sprocker or some such similar name.

One last catergory the breeder who produces large guarding crosses and terrier type dogs for illegal purposes such as dog fighting or guarding drug houses.

The first two types of breeder do not make money on a litter of pups the latter? Of course they do, do they own up to the inland revenue or to the benefits agencies....... no of course they don't.

You can scrimp and save and do it on a budget, but you would not be producing a great number of puppies and would go into it knowing that it was going to cost you dearly, not only in money but perhaps in the life of your bitch and /or the puppies. As Schip says her vet bills were horrendous, but on disability allowance she can scrimp and save and breed a litter but I would bet good money Schip does not produce several litters a year and her puppies get the best she can afford.

So the original poster needs to define their question more thoroughly, so that we can give a proper answer not answers which are to a vague question where we have had to try to interpret the question being asked.

Did the OP want to know is it possible to claim benefit and breed a quality litter posibly a one off, or did they mean is it possible to breed lots of dogs and live off the income.

Maybe he/she was thinking of breeding.

Alot of people who bred dogs are not in full time employment, not due to what they can earn but the tiime needed to rear a litter doesnt give enough hours in the day to go to work full time.
I work part time (self employed) and im lucky enought to be able to juggle my hours to allow me to be at home every 2-3 hours to feed puppies ect....
and as most people all the "income" from puppies!! is declared on my end of the financial year along with the list of expenditures!!
last year we where on a minus and this year having inported three dogs  I shall definatley be on a very large minus!!!there is very little profit in dog breedeing ind if you consider the hours put in you would be earing the equivialant of a few pence a hour.try busking it much easier imm sure!! ;)