hi all , happy light hearted note question!!
What made you decide to breed? how did you get into it?
Where did you start?
Im not a breeder , nor do intend ever to breed , but i love reading all about it on here , i think its the most wonderfull thing that you lot do...and im curious ! ( plus want plenty of "pup" stories from you all!)
Zoe x

Hope this starts the ball rolling......

I wanted to breed because I was very lucky to start off with buying a very handsome male Munster, followed by a bitch a few years later and I wanted Addison's lines to continue plus I wanted to have my affix, as a prefix, on something in the showring. Asti, very nicely, had 14 puppies (12 live) on Addison's 7th birthday, I kept a bitch from that litter and a friend bought another to do agility with (She's now a Show Champion....the agility got pushed to one side once the CC's & RCC's came in!!!!!). These girls will be 8 y.o. on Sunday!

Miranda (Addison x Asti) is a lovely tempered (Like her dad) bitch and after I got rid of the awful guy I lived with, decided I wanted a litter from her to continue the line. She duly had 14 pups too (9 live) of which I kept Mia.....who I'm sure was swapped with a lovely laid back puppy I had in the litter because Mia is very "in your face"!!!! Then because I was so pleased with the quality of puppies, Flight & Miranda produced for me, I bred again this year (14 again!!!!!!!! - 9 live!) and I now have a lovely natured boy, Curtis, who thinks his big sis is terrific!
:(

which breed lily?
And out of curiosity , where the other pup's born dead? i see quite often "15 pups , 10 live" etc..just wondered if it was still born's or if they die soon after birth.

Well, as a child - and I do mean about 50 years ago - we had a black labrador who had what is now a very unPCname,so I won't mention it on this board ;-) N***ger was an absolute sweetie. would let us do anything with him - dressing him up, taking him for walks in a doll's pram etc - but at the same time he was a good working dog. At some stage or another, he was used at stud with the local gamekeeper's labrador bitch, and, as was the way those days, my Mum and Dad had the pick of the litter. Cindy had the same temperament. My brother had a litter from Cindy, and my sister and I each had one of the puppies - and anyway, we kept that line going for about 35 years, we think. God know what it was - but they all had wonderful temperaments and lived well into their teens.

After Simba, then Jet, we bought in a labrador bitch (hoping to breed her to Willie, the last of the line owned by my sister. Sadly, by the time we considered Purdey to be old enough, Willie was too old! Anyway, we found a lovely stud, and Purdey had her litter 12 (11 live, one stillborn) but unfortunately she had one retained pup, and 4 days later, was rushed into the vet and had an emergency hysterectomy which ended our labrador breeding - and of course, we kept a puppy (Gypsy). Eventually, we discovered Aussies, and were encouraged to start showing, and now, we've got our Affix, and now our first litter - the rest is history ..... or is it the future???

Margot
Love Margot

Large Munsterlanders.....from the first litter I had 2 bitches born dead. 2nd litter, I had 3 dogs & 2 bitches born dead. 3rd litter, I actually had 10 live but one little girl went downhill after a week and had to be put to sleep, the others were born dead. It's sad but better than having to hand rear or having to cull, Mother Nature does it for you. :(

I am fairly new to breeding having only bred 1 litter so far, the pups from that litter will be 3 on boxing day and I'm still in contact with them all. It started with my rescue crossbreed (no I didn't breed from her) who I was told was a German Shorthaired Pointer cross. I'd never heard of them before that so I started researching the breed. Then in 1997 I saw a litter advertised locally and hubby and I decided we would go and 'have a look'. That 'look' turned into bringing Rosie home 2 weeks later as a 7 week old GSP puppy. We got her just as a pet and a friend for our crossbreed but so many people commented on her being a nice GSP and asked if we showed her that we decided to have a go with her. She did OK at shows but didn't really enjoy it so we stopped with her but had met lots of other nice people in the breed. One of whom had a lovely stud dog who had over 150 best of breeds and a few Irish Green stars and we were offered him at stud for Rosie. That's where the litter came from. She sailed thorugh her pregnancy and in under 2 hours produced 4 healthy pups, 1 boy and 3 girls. We kept one of the girls, Willow, who has done well in the show ring and like her parents has the sweetest nature. In January this year I saw a litter advertised which had some black and white pups in it and we got a little black and white boy puppy who we called Neo. He has done really well at showing and he is as sweet in nature as the girls. I hope to breed both my bitches in the next year and hope the experience of it to be as wonderful as the last litter.

The first half of your story sounds just like me:) Bought GSD as a pet- turned out I got the 2nd pick after the breeder- and had lots of comments regarding showing her:rolleyes: This is as far as I've got so far- but I'm not expecting anything out of her- she's my *trial and error* dog:) For instance next time- I'd be pushing the teeth command and putting it in the stand position as soon as I get it home:) But I wasn't to know that when I first bought my bitch as a pet- like I say *trial and error* and provided you learn from the mistakes then I think you've achieved something:) I already have my first show dog puppy reserved off a litter next year:)

Stacey x x x

thank's all.
Another silly question , whats a Prefix? is that your kennel name ?

My affix is Jagerreh, but to use it at the beginning of a dog's KC name I would say is a prefix, behind a suffix! But affix/prefix/suffix....all the same thing!

PS) I hate my affix but it took 9 attempts to get the KC to agree to something!

Well as I am fairly new to this board I thought I'd post here and it would make kind of an introduction ....

I bought my first Pug as a pet in '95, he was the smallest of the litter and had one not completely descended testicle. He had an amazing pedigree though, of which I couldn't have cared less at the time. Well eventually his testicle came down, so we decided to present him for the "confirmation" (exam by a judge to grant the dog with his papers - if too far from the standard he is denied them). He was 1st in a class of one - and I was so happy I cried ! Imagine that. Anyway, the judge told me that in spite of his "scrawnyness" he had an excellent conformation and should do well once he matures. It was then decided we would keep on showing him.
We had reserved a puppy bitch (Noemie) from another breeder, half sister to our male, and in the meantime we had "inherited" a 1.5 y/o bitch from our male's breeder (Louna), on a co-owning contract, because she didn't fit in their pack. But I had no plan to breed her for myself, after our "duties" as coowner were fullfilled. We decided not to cancel the puppy purchase though, we had gotten so excited about this puppy, so here we are with two girls and a boy.
At that time my main interest was in showing them - which we did, and with good success, to the point that Noemie for her first show in open class at 15 months got the CC and reserve IB (= reserve best bitch) at the european championship in Italy. She then was BISS in France with a great entry for the time. We then had a good talk with her breeder who made us understand that it would be a shame not to breed her and that with such a bitch the choice was not ours ! Our male was doing better, had won a specialty CC (although with limited competition), and even Louna did better than with her previous owners (she was feeling better in a house with no big dogs).
Anyway, it was not really my decision but we bred Noemie and Mirliton (my male), which gave us 6 (4 live) puppies, of which we decided that we'd keep a girl (Olympia), as it appeared that in addition to showing, breeding was something we loved to do, and getting our kennel name in the ring was what we wanted.

Since then things rolled on, Noemie finished her Intl Championship after her first litter, Mirliton finally reached the heights with a french championship, and BISS, BOG, 3rdBIS wins, Olympia was french Champion and Top Pug in France in 2001, we have kept 3 more bitches and imported a black one (our first black) from the USA. For the record, after a first litter that was a disaster (no live puppies) Louna never produced for us or the coowner, which was not a problem anyway, as getting more aware of what I wanted it appears that she's not the type I want in my breeding.

So it appears that like many I got into breeding without really intending to ... it was showing that got me there. Also, I need to add that when some people struggle to find a good foundation bitch to start with, I was SOOOO lucky to get an outstanding one without even asking ... I will be forever grateful to my mentor, Mrs Mortal (Del Sol Lleban Pugs, Noemie's breeder) for allowing me to start on such solid ground. And I hope not to do any harm to her line I'm using, hopefully I will be able to make some improvements as time passes.

Hi Sylvie. Welcome to the asylum :). I must be one of the few who didn't get into dogs by accident. Its a genetic fault in my family, so for me it was just a case of learning about my breed and waiting until I had the time and set-up.

Just about sums it up for me to Sharon, except my family weren't v.doggy. I had 2 dogs as a child (separately) and got my first IW in the mid 80's and became devoted, learned about the breed, started showing and now finally have time and facilities to breed. :D And dream of breeding a Show Ch. (Well I can dream can't I? ;) )
Nicky

Hi,

As a teenager I had a pet rabbit. Being the sort of person I am, I had to learn everything about the speies. I read books, and discovered that there were lots of Rabbit breeds. I then found the govewrning body for Rabbit showing in the UK.

I went to the nearest show, which was held in a Scfout hall on a monthly basis.

As luck would have it they were hosting a breed club show of one of the English Rabbit regional clubs ( a spotted and patterned breed).

I fell for this breed. I then arranged to buy some foundation stock. Had 12 tiered hutches built for and set up in my Dads back garden.

I found the genetcics fascinating, and how once you had gone a few generations resuls became more predictable. The excitment of looking in the nest for a possible flyer, I was hooked. I travelled by train, with my carrying boxes on a luggage trolley, all over the country on a student rail card.

Unfortunately a few years later I got married, and as we were moving to a flat, had to disband my Rabbitry.

When we moved to Bristol, and a house, I had already booked my new puppy (BSD Groenendael) which I hoped to show. Sadly my marrigae broke down, and my bitch died young a couple of years later.

It was then I discovered my breed, had a bitch pup, who I wasn't able to show until she was nearly two (when youngest child old enough to be left with Grandparents), and the rest is history. I hope I may with others help to keep going the efforts of those who have gone before, to keep the breed the healthy happy breed it is.

i love this thread! i find it so interesting how people came to own/show and breed the dogs they do!
Do oyu have to have bred a certain amount of litters before you get your own Affix? or can you start with it? is it up to the kennel club? or the breeder of your bitch ( ie if they will allow you to use your own affix or continue with the dams??)
Sorry! so many questions!

Hi Zoe, No honey, no one gives it to you, nor do you have to earn it in anyway. Its something you can get a form for, from the KC and apply and pay for it. hth

Hi Zoe: Well I am so new at this that I don't have any stories yet. I have always been a sucker for a cute face with four paws. Cat or dog. I have rescued dogs from the pound and neighbours a like. I at this time have 3 labs, 2 black females, sisters, 2 and 3 years of age, 1 chocolate male 1 year, and a newfie/boarder collie mix 5 years and she is spayed, we also have 3 cats that reside with us when the mood is right.

We have our first litter of puppies right now. Our oldest female presented us with 6 puppies (by c section) on Wednesday. 3 blks/3 yellows. 4 males/2females. We had a scare with her the first day, as on the drugs they used to put her to sleep she was unaware she had given birth, and she was not about to allow these 6 strangers to nurse on her body. We thought we were in for a long haul, but by the next evening she was showing signs of being a proper mom. But she is not about to be put outside, she will keep her babies in the bedroom thank you very much. So we have put her whelping box in the corner of the bedroom and her brood is there. Don't know what will be the plan as the puppies begin getting out and about, but I am sure there will be some praying done that sanity doesn't elude us.

The lab breed is a very popular breed in Canada. We have sport field dogs with gun training. We hope to keep the cost of puppies down with good homes being the real purpose of placing puppies.

You were going to put new mum and pups outside?:(

oh my lord no. But we have a wonderfully large laundry room and or a heated shop that would of suited better is size. Having a brood of 4 dogs one with 6 pups takes up an awful lot of my bedroom. But we are not there to party anyway.

Yes, accomodating pups once mobile entirely indoors can be next to impossible. I find my in/out method works fine. Outdoors they can run about, and get fresh air, inside they can chill out with us!

i would love to see a picture of your Newfie cross ! i get my baby newf in 15 days ...and counting!!
Zoe x

fasinating topic Zoe i wonder why or how people chose their affix??
Ann

As baby pups cannot regulate their own body temperature properly for up to 4 weeks, they need additional source of heat.

Mine stay the first two weeks in the bedroom, but as the bitches start to get torn between maternal duties, and their love of being in the heart of the family, I bring them down to the kitchen at tw9o weeks old. Mum wil then usually be more settled, as she can be with both us and her babies.

At around 4 weeks the pups have outgrown their indoor accomodation, and will soend time outside it a Kennel and Run, being brought in for feeding and socialisation, cleaning their run and kennel, and as individuals or together to play.

T^hey'll usually eat their breakfast, while i am cleaning up the kennel and run, then they will have a nap, and when they wake they will go out for a bit again. they may be fed Lunch outside, while I clean up again. And round and round it goes, cleaning feeding, playing etc.

the breeder of my pup has them all inside in a huge metal pen.They come out for play and socialisation , but rest in the pen.This way they are still part of an everyday household and hear all the every day noises ( hoover etc)
i think this is a great idea.The pen's fantastic !