I mated a lovely bitch with my mini schnauzer 9 weeks ago & today i phoned the owner to see how the bitch had got on.They wanted to breed her to keep a pup for themselves to possibly show.

I was not prepared for this but the owners nearly lost their lovely girl due to an infection.
Seemingly all was well & the vet was 90% sure she was in pup as she had shown all the signs but somewhere along the line i think she may have miscarried or the pups have died inside her.
The owners were lucky to get her to the vets in time, she has had to be spayed as the infection had become very serious.
I feel very sorry for her owners & i do hope other people who want to breed their bitch are prepared for all that can go wrong.
I am glad she is still alive but it is awful for her owners to nearly lose her as well as the puppies.
I don't need to say this experience has put the owners off breeding ever again & they have decided to buy another puppy to keep her company.

Please anyone thinking of breeding their pet be ready for all the heartache of what breeding entails.

Have had the same thing happen, don't think it is that unusual.

But the point is that most people who are thinking of breeding as a one-off (because they want their bitch to be a mother, their friends and family all want to dog just like theirs, etc., etc.) don't realise the potential dangers involved in breeding.  Many people seem to think the breeding process is bitch gets pregnant, bitch has pups, pups get sold and that's it.  It would be good if some dog charity has an advertising campaign which set out the things that can go wrong with breeding - perhaps it would put people off and cut down the number of dogs in rescue.

Sorry but isnt the owner of the stud dog in as much wrong as the bitch ?
If the people arent ready for the problems associated with breeding i would expect the stud dog owner to take some of the blame....dont stud dog owners vet their potential partnerings?...it takes two to tango!
Donna x

Nobody is "in the wrong" here and there is no blame involved. Yes a stud dog owner has some responsibility to any puppies which result, but they are not the ones who risk losing their dog if, as occasionally happens, things don't go to plan. All this poster is doing is pointing out the things that can go wrong, things which to many "one litter" breeders are unaware of. Hopefully, others will read this and be warned, but sadly, the real problem breeders are the ones who would only be upset at the lack of cash not the possible loss of a bitch.

I do vet all bitches that come to use our stud, but no one can prepare the bitches owners for the heartache & stress which they'll feel when things don't go to plan.
We have been breeding dogs ourselves for alot of years & i am glad to say we have only ever had this happen to us once with a different breed alot of years ago.
Sometimes its hard to go on breeding & you have to sit down & seriously think about why you want to breed, we took 4 years out & didn't breed a single dog after losing our bitch but at the end of the day we have gone back into breeding for a purpose, to try & improve our breed, not to make money or to have a lesson in whelping a bitch but to hopefully breed a dog that fits the standard.
We don't breed many litters maybe 1 or 2 per year in the hope of getting a quality puppy & i can understand why someone would rather have a pup from their own dog rather than buy one because obviously they love their dog & want something of similar temperament-but things don't always work out this way & you must be fully aware of what you are asking of your bitch or stud dog for that matter as stud dogs can often have problems too.

I agree with Anwen no one is wrong here this is just natures way of saying this bitch shouldn't have puppies.

We all live & learn i guess. Some people i'm afraid learn the hard way though.