Hi hopefully someone can let me know their opinion and advice about this situation, our bitch came in to season and we took her to the stud where she stayed for 4 days and the stud showed half hearted interest in her on day 2 of her been there there was a mating which ended in a slip, then the days after there was no more mating so we decided to do a blood test and she had already ovulated so the stud dog owner thought it was best we collect her and gave us the money we had paid back..
    So we are now waiting till she next comes in to season to try again but in the mean time my boyfriend is really wanting to buy our own stud dog to use with her in a about a year, my concerns are that if the new dog doesn't get on, you don't know what it's going to be like til it's grown up, he may not be interested in our bitch, and you can approximate hip/elbow scores but you couldn't have a scoring till a year old?

  Ultimately we are both gutted it's not happened this time but sometimes things happen like this, I'm just a bit unsure of buying another dog the plan intially was to keep one of her puppies as she has an amazing temperament but know we are unsure?

My girl is a rare breed but even I would struggle with this one, I still have a good choice across the country of studs to choose from. Some even travel abroad to get the right stud. Chances of you buying the perfect mate for your girl is unlikely I would have thought.

I paid half the price of a pup as a stud fee, she might have three litters. Doesn't add up financially plus all the health testing and feeding. Cunning plan you might want to recoup your funds via studding him out, dangerous if you don't show and if its a popular breed even with health tests he might not be in demand.

I think some breeds shouldn't be used at stud until two years old.

What happens if you want to breed their daughter, do you buy another stud ?

Hi thanks for your reply, there is a few studs around none that local to us we travelled 4 hours to the stud dog..
    And the fee is the same as the cost of a puppy so £1200 ish seem to be the going rate of the standard we are happy with, much appreciate reply

Another problem with having your own stud is keeping them apart on the seasons when you don't want to breed. How big is your house ?

Keeping them separate for weeks on end would be a nightmare and my girl would be seriously cheesed if he got a walk and she wasn't allowed one. She hates not going out, even extra fetch and ragger sessions are poor compensation without a good run.

I suppose it all depends on why you are hoping to breed.
You will be very lucky to get a boy that is a best match for your girl. Those rarely sleep on our own sofa. After having a litter by your boy, what next? Why does your boyfriend think it is a good idea to own your own stud?

I always say why would I get a male, feed, insure,pay for health testing, go through hassle of separating  etc when I have the all males in the world to choose from at much less cost. I can choose the very best for my girls each time.

I would try again next season and keep a puppy from that like you originally planned. Would you keep a puppy too as well as buying in a male puppy?
If not, why breed a litter?

By the way, slip mating can and often do result in litter :-). Did the blood testing reveal she was over before the slip mating?

For starters, as said, buying in just adds another number to your 'pack'.   Once used what then for him and being around bitches in season later on, and not being used (he can't be mated to a daughter for eg.) wouldn't be fair on any of you!    If you are asking about slip ties - I had one of mine who never achieved the hoped-for tie with his bitches BUT his strike rate was excellent to the point he only missed to one, she came back to my other dog on the next season, and missed again.   She was then taken to another stud dog in another kennel, and missed again!    Clearly it was her and not either of my two, or the other dog's fault!

You may yet get a litter, in other words.    Breeders prefer to see a tie, but it's not vital.

And I'd not buy in a stud dog - you would be adding to your numbers..... and getting hold of the right dog for your bitch would be difficult.

We would like to breed from our dog as she has a really good temperament, and quite a few of our friends would really like one of her litter. I agree it takes a while to discover what you have bought and then it couldn't be ideal, and moneywise it's more expensive. I think he would have really just liked 2 dogs.
   If we had a litter from her and had our own stud as well we would not be keeping a puppy don't think I could cope with 3 dogs yet!

   The blood test revealed she was over after the slip mating? I have read online that slip mating a do end in a litter of puppies, but the probability is slim I think so trying to think about her not been pregnant!
     Thanks for your help

Hold your horses as she may well still be pregnant. Are you having this litter because other people want a pup from her, is that the only reason?

Thanks I will be watching for any symptoms..

We would like to keep one of the puppies and possibly show it (if we don't get a stud dog) and she has good health test results and a brilliant temperament, and also our friends want a pup..