cant decide if we should use a stud dog or buy our own boy? what works best for other breeders? we did want to keep a female pup if we do manage to breed from stud dog but wont be able to do this if we have both mom and dad.
many thanks for advice.

Definitely use an outside stud dog - that way you have the pick of every one in the country. The chances of you being able to buy the dog that suits your bitch best are minimal; he'd have to be adult so that you could assess him to complement your bitch - if you buy a puppy there are so many things that could go wrong before he reached adulthood (developmentally and all the health tests to pass) and you wouldn't be able to use him at all, let alone on your bitch.

I thought (from your posts yesterday) you'd already mated your bitch?

we did try to mate our girl without much luck a 20 second mate (no tie) the stud dog owner wasnt at all helpful, and we thought if we owned both dogs we would have more control on the mating.
thanks for reply.

I think it is wise to find an experienced dog whose owner is both knowledgeable and helpful.  Going out to buy a stud dog is a very difficult process, and without any guarantees of success.  Finding an excellent example of your breed, with all health tests and high quality successful progeny who is also compatible both physically, mentally and pedgree wise with your bitch is hard enough  when you only want to pay a stud fee, to find such a dog and expect it to be for sale would be very unlikely.  So the usual route for buying a potential stud dog is buy a promising puppy and do all the hard work training and showing/working him yourself to see he reaches the desired level (no way is this guaranteed).  Then, do you have the knowledge to get him started as a stud dog?  With some breeds it is far from automatic, especially with inexperienced handlers/owners.

How did you select the stud dog? As your bitch is (presumably) a maiden, did you choose a proven, successful dog whose owner is experienced in handling matings?

the stud dog was proven but i dont think the owner was! we took along time in selecting the stud and he was a beutiful looking boy with a great pedigree and had good results in hip score ect, he had 1 previous litter but the handler just said leave to it and they will do it natural, which we did say we wasnt happy about so we stayed and watched and nothing much happened and when we said she might not be ready and we should try again in 48 hours he treated it like it was to much hassle, i think he thought it was a easy way of making £700 but didnt want the hassle, so  we took our girl home and left it.
Im trying to get more prepared for next time but cany find a suitable stud!!

The usual way to find good stud dogs is to attend a lot of shows with your bitch, and whilst you are there, make sure to watch the dog judging, check the breeding in the catalogue, get to know what lines you like etc. It's not a quick process. :) Also by being a breed club member you will normally get club magazines and/or year books which will feature adverts, show results, pedigrees etc, also all very valuable when searching for a suitable stud dog.

good god was £700 the stud fee alone payable up front. how many matings was included for £700 or was the stud fee payable from pick of the litter and this is the price you would charge for a pup ?

> cant decide if we should use a stud dog or buy our own boy?

Even if you bought a boy, with the intention that he be mated to your girl - you have no guarantees that they will be suited.  Although I have my own stud boy, he isn't automatically mated to one of my bitches. 

I usually take advice from my mentor on which stud to use.  He has far more experience than me with the breed, and his advice has always been welcomed.  However, having taken his advice, I have always had experienced stud dog owners. 

When a bitch visits my boy, it is my responsibility to ensure a successful outcome.  And I expect that of stud dog owners that I visit.  It is definitely not acceptable to "let them get on with it".

no its not acceptable to let them get on with it.
yes the £700 was the stud fee, cant say what breed

thanks alot for all advice.

Ali are you trying to find a dog of good pedigree to match your bitch?
There are many people on here with your breed who if you need it should be able to help you and go through who if any of the dogs out in the ring right now would be a good match, depending on the faults of your bitch(not saying she has major faults but no dog is faultless).
I'm sure they will pop up or you will find them posting on other subjects and just PM them.

My breeds more than that Loucon!

If its the breed i think £700 is below the average rate.

wow, suppose different breeds etc, suppose never really thought of a stud price other than what it would be for my breed etc and my breed wouldn't be any way near £700 so was surprised really

how do you know what breed, just being nosey really, is it just a case of reading the posts and putting two and two together and finding out etc because i know people arent allowed to say breeds and stuff

In general yes putting two and two together can lead you towards the breed as can looking at previous posts made by a poster and then some people do actually know each other. ;-)

ok thanks for that i'll be putting two and two together then and taking more notice

why cant you name the breed you are talking about?

> why cant you name the breed you are talking about?

Because naming your breed and talking about a planned/due litter could be interpreted as advertising on this board (it's fine on other boards as long as you're not talking about your litters)

If you do not get a litter from this attempt at mating, do you not get another attempt free of charge - I believe this is normal practice with most stud dog owners.  I also think that if a proper mating didn't take place, then they should perhaps just have charged a handling fee and then more should you get puppies.

> wow, suppose different breeds etc, suppose never really thought of a stud price other than what it would be for my breed etc and my breed wouldn't be any way near £700 so was surprised really

In my breed the stud fee is the price of a puppy as it is in many breeds, especially in those breeds where there are not a lot of litters and most stud dogs don't sire many litters in a lifetime.

In my breed you would not expect to pay such a fee unless pups resulted.

yes we can go back next time, but i dont really want to go back there.

Then dont go back its completly up to you if I wasnt 100% happy id be running a mile in the opposite direction becasue as others have pointed out you have the rest of the country to choose from.

It's a lot of money to pay out and not have the stud dog owner do their part.

Surely a brief slip mating would not warrant a fee, especially one of this size???