After much careful thinking, reserarch, talking with the right people , health testing and one or two sleepness nights I have decided to breed my bitch. I am very lucky to have such great contacts such as my bitches breeder,show circuit friends and not to forget my fiance and parents who are all willing to muck in and  are supporting my decision. We have found a beautiful stud dog who likewise has been heart tested clear and we have arranged with his breeders to stay for the weekend when my bitch is in season.(Stud dog breeders are also good friends!) I have saved and budgeted for any emergencies but I am a bit worried when it comes to selling the pups. After putting all the hard work into rearing them I don't know if I want to part with them? Also I am a bit worried when it comes to the payment. I'm told peoply usually give cheques, but imagine if it bounced and they have my puppy? Vetting new puppy owners will be like an interregation when they come to my house? What extra precautions can I take-If there are any????

My litter is six weeks old and i am dreading them going to their new homes. I love all of them! The simple answer when they pick up pups is insist on cash. i paid the balance in cash for both my dogs and would only except a cheque for deposit so it clears before you give up your puppy. However, if you are expecting to make money from breeding forget it! by the time i paid stud fee, petrol to stud, vet fees, whelping bed, puppy pen, whelping equipment, registration, docking, advertising, the extra food for the bitch and the food for pups, (eating me out of house and home) i will have very little money left. A large chunk is also time off work. I spent 24 hours a day with pups for 3 weeks and still only work 3 mornings a week when other people can pup sit so most of my expense is lost wages!
I am also suffering from sleep loss too as pups have me up in the night and are up at 6am too every day. However, i am loving it and my pups all have lovely homes to go to who i hope will keep in touch with me.

The breeder we got our pup from insisted on cash as she'd been stung before by a very well-off business owner who paid for one of her pups by cheque. Needless to say it bounced. He never paid up despite her taking him to small claims court etc. I don't know how he got away with it as his business is very successful and the money would have been peanuts to him. The breeder went to his house to take the pup back but when she saw how settled and happy it was in its new home, she hadn't the heart to take it and told them they could keep it. An expensive lesson, nonetheless.

I get to know my puppy families before I let them go, and quite frankly, if I didn't trust them not to cheat me, then I wouldn't trust them with my puppy!!
If I have ANY worries, bad gut feeling etc, then I say "No".
I have misjudged 2 families (not with money but with their attitude to dogs) in 20+ years.

I paid my breeder in cash and she gave me a receipt out of those receipt books you can get from anywhere just meant that she had cash and I had proof of payment.
Lorna

Best food for tight budget? Breeding is an expensive hobby. Think very carefully before you go down that route.

Well spotted Admin....

That puts a different slant on things, doesn't it?

I agree 100% with Val. If I trust my puppy to someone, I trust them to pay. You sound like you have a good "network" behind you and they (hopefully) will pass enquiries on to you. Start your list now - meet prospective owners BEFORE your girl is pregnant - if they are happy with you as a breeder, they will be willing to wait for a puppy from you. Be honest and say you will not promise a puppy until you have met them and the whole family the pup will live with. Prepare your puppy purchase contract and let them have a copy to digest well in advance of them seeing the pups.

Excuse me! Just because I am on a tight budget doesn't mean I'm on a money making scam business!!!!!
I have had a change of circumstances through no fault of my own and have asked for advice on this forum from some really lovely people. Just because I may be feeding a cheaper food doesn't mean I love or respect my dogs any less!! I have thought long and hard about this and I'm breeding from my girl for the love of the breed, NOT TO MAKE MONEY! I realise that I am a novice but I have the support of my family and doggy friends who are going to help me in the right direction I am a genuine person who has been hurt by this statement and the fact that it is being portrayed that I am on a money making scam!! Because all of my money is tied up in my savings account for the eventuality of anything going wrong I have to be on a TIGHT BUDGET!!!!! That includes me and my fiance too!!!It also doesn't help when people butt their nose in and stirring things up Shaynlola!! I think admin needs to curb people like you!!

Can I suggest that you read this thread http://tinyurl.com/bjf3q and then have a think about how - on 'a tight budget' you will be able to afford a litter, possibly ending up with no puppies and even no bitch.

Daisy

I don't think anyone meant that :) I think it was just a wise warning to someone who perhaps would not appreciate all the costs that are likely to add if they have not done this before.  I think to realistically attempt to breed the litter you would want you need at least £1k to fall back on for all the eventualities that can and do crop up, when things go badly you really cannot recoup the lose and have to be ready and prepared to take the hit.

Maybe the OP has sorted out their finacial dificulty, im sure they wouldnt just go into it with no money, like they have said they have a savings which is the sort of thing that you would use to help your bitch. Thats how i see it anyway.

Thanks isabel for the advice. I have have considered all the costs involved and I have saved nearly 4 times the amount suggested. I'm not breeding for a hobbie or a past-time, i'm doing it because I am passionate about my breed and live-eat-sleep-talk dog!!!! I also have a beautiful bitch who is an ambassador for the breed and is heart tested clear. She is also a MULTIPLE championship winner with 2 CCs NOT TO MENTION BOBs wins. I may be watching every penny I have but that doesn't make me any less of a bad person or potential breeder. 

If you post on a public forum then you have to get used to people cross-referencing what your previous posts state. No one implied that you are planning to breed this litter purely for profit. The fact remains that in two threads you are saying that you need to feed your dogs a cheaper food because money is tight and then in the next breath you are stating that you will breed your bitch. You must admit that you yourself have said all this. The point was that if you need to feed your three remaining dogs a cheaper food because money is tight, can you really afford to finance a litter? If everything goes to plan, then you may make a small profit. If something goes wrong, you could end up with hefty vets bills and may even lose your bitch. It does not matter how many CC's or BOBs your bitch has. When you breed from her you risk her in the same way that joe bloggs risks his heinz 69. Mother nature can be very harsh at times and a "pedigree" is no guarantee that the worst will not strike. I hope you can follow the points raised here. They are offered to help you make an informed choice on the information that YOU have provided :)

Yes money is tight now because I have  saved every penny towards breeding my bitch. To do this I made alot of cut backs around the household and that meant the dogs too!  I still don't understand why you brought a topic I raised into this thread! Surely if we could all find a cheaper why to feed our dogs we would! That is why I used this forum to get feedback and suggestions from other doggy people and to make friends with some lovely people! Its not that I am financially unstable, I am being tight so I can afford any complications.

But feeding quality food is part of getting a potential breeding bitch in suitable condition - not just good hard condition for the showring.  It's unfortunate that you posted about breeding your bitch after looking for cheaper food. :(  It doesn't give a good impression, regardless of your intent.

Val, I was very grateful for your feedback on feeding cheaply and I took your advice. I am now feeding a raw diet like you said and my dogs love it! Its early days but they still look great.  Does this mean that you are not feeding a quality food too?

I feed raw because I believe it is the best for my dogs - nothing to do with the cost, and it wouldn't be cheaper than James Wellbeloved.  I use Chappie when I'm travelling, ie going away for the weekend, when it would be difficult to arrive at my host's house with a bin bag of frozen meat and pureed vegetables!

You beat me to it Val, thats what I was going to say, a bitch who is going to be bred from needs to be as good a condition as possible, food being a major part of getting any dog into breeding condition.

Cutting down on quality of food would be the last thing the poster should be thinking about at this point.

Hi Mr Craic,

I'm sure you can appreciate when feeling a little calmer why people feel concerned - regular contributors on the forum who are also responsible breeders (and the many caring pet only members too for that matter) always put the welfare of the dogs, pups etc before the feelings of an individual.  If and when you raise your litter you will come to understand why we feel so passionately that nothing but the best is good enough for our bitches before during and after whelping and of course the same applies for pups born and raised and our commitment to lifetime support for their new owners.  Quite honestly it is such a physically demanding and emotionally overwhelming experience that it is to my amazement that having experienced it once anyone feels brave enough to do it again - I'm not sure that I do and I had help galore :)

It's worth noting for your own sake when calculating the things you need up front that I spent substantially more than Isabel's estimate on my first litter and that was without any veterinary complications during whelping or after the pups were born.  This was money that, along with a further substantial sum and a "flexible friend" on stand-by was available before we mated our bitch.  I'm not saying this to "get one over on anyone" or anything else - it's a simple fact that we knew that we had to have enough money available to cover any eventuality and even simply buying all the equipment needed first time round quickly adds up - at an alarming rate ;)

I hope you have thought long and hard about what you will do and that you will have the benefit of experienced mentors in your breed to help you throughout so that you feel emotionally and mentally prepared in addition to financially sorted.

You also have to remember that your responsibilities don't stop when the pups leave for their new homes - some may be returned at varying ages throughout their lifetime and you have to be 100% confident that you are able to take a dog back whether it be 6 months, 3 years, 7 years + and know that you can afford to keep it at home if it fits into your resident pack or afford to kennel it until such times as you can hopefully find it an alternative permanent home.

Just some food for thought which is always in the minds of breeders who do things properly but, quite understandably, does not always occur to everyone who embarks on breeding.

HTH give a little insight into just some of the many cons to consider :)   Help is on hand from some excellent advisers on here but you will have to also allow for the fact that the answers you receive are not necessarily going to be in the tone you wished to hear - not because people with to personally slate or undermine you but because they want first time breeders to go into it with their eyes wide open.
Regards, Teri :)

I wasn't trying to imply that you were purely in it to make money. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I was more getting at the point that breeding is notoriously expensive and by your own admission, money is tight. I was questioning the wisdom of possibly putting yourself in further financial difficulty at this time. On your other thread (that Admin highlighted) you stated that money was tight due to a change in your circumstances. Those of us reading it could not know that you were saving in the hope of breeding a litter and we can only go on the information given as I'm sure you'll agree. The experienced breeders on here have often said that they barely break even on a  litter, especially if things go wrong and, god forbid, it ends up at emergency cesaerian and no puppies survive with the huge vet fees (not to mention heartache) etc that would incur. Sorry again if it looked like I was questioning your motives. I hope this clarifies things.

In two threads you mention a "change of circumstances" . In neither thread do you explain that you wish to feed your dogs a cheaper food so that you can finance a litter. As I and others have pointed out to you, we can only go by what you have written. Your past threads ARE relevant to this discussion, even if you would rather it was not included. This is a public forum, you must expect different interpretations on what you have said. I doubt there are many breeders on this forum that would change their dogs over onto a cheaper food soley with the view to financing a litter. Maybe some would and do. The breeders here are trying to help you and if you are wise, then you will heed their thoughts and experience on this matter :)

I have a  night to sleep on it and I want to apoligise if I upset anyone. Maybe this proves that I am not ready or cut out to breed if I can't take some criticism on the chin. I am sorry if I upset anyone, admin, val and shaylola. I have good and honest intentions at heart and don't want to comprimise my other dogs for the sake of breeding my bitch. I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear about cutting back to save for breeding.I'm pleased I have changed onto a raw diet as it has worked out cheaper for me and my dogs love it. Sorry again, Sarah.

Forgetting the finances for a moment, it takes a while to get used to feeding raw, sourcing and trying a variety of meats and fruit and veggies, what they like, what they don't etc.  I don't know how you're doing it but just feeding chicken wings and nothing else (as I know some do) would not be a balanced diet.  There are others on here far more experienced than me to help you with than but do read up on BARF websites and aim to get your dogs on a long term balanced diet before you mate her and risk difficiencies.

Hi Val, I have bought 2 books on natural feeding by ian billinghurst and I have just became a member of the ukbarf club. Thaey have been great with tips on natural feeding, quanities, variety etc. I have also looked at nature menu frozen as they do a complete which would save time on the preparation but I'd rather prepare the dogs food myself. I'm feeding them all a variety at the moment and I am lucky enough that my local butchers is helping me out giving me discount prices. I think i'm his best customer! This is why feeding raw has worked out cheaper for me. The dogs are gettting chk wings, poultry necks, heart, liver, lamb, tripe, wholw carcasses and I am juicing my veg. I also add egg, pasta, rice now and again for a variety.

Excellent. :D