To Breed or Not To Breed By Kathleen Holland - Kennelkappadane
Over 25 years experience
in breeding quality conformation,
performance, temperament, and style 
TO breed or not to breed... that is the question. So you want to have puppies/breed your dog. There are many questions that you must first answer before moving forward on this. I know that it takes two to tango and I will address the female first. The first thing that I will assume is that the dog is AKC registered. No exceptions. And not AKC papers with unlimited registration. NO BREEDING. Period. Have to have full registration. End of conversation. (Am I being too vague on this issue?) Health Checks! All health checks must be done on BOTH potential parents before any breeding can be considered. A trip to the Vet at least 2 months before a potential breeding should include at least the following: OFA hip x-rays. Specific x-rays of the hips should be taken by a qualified vet who will send them into OFA for certification. They evaluate the x-rays for potential hip dysplasia and certify the hips compared to others of the breed. Only dogs with good hips should be bred. There are 5 ratings that OFA gives, with only the top 3 (fair, good, excellent) receiving an OFA number. Breeders vary on the opinion of which rating should be bred but most will breed an animal with good or better hips. There are some that will not breed any animal that does not have excellent hips. Parasites. Yick! A stool sample needs to be checked for internal parasites and be rectified prior to breeding. And any external parasite problem must also be rectified prior to breeding. Tick and flea infestations are risky to treat during a pregnancy as the pesticides that are used can cause a mom to lose puppies. Sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Yes..they are in the dog world also. The stud dog in particular needs to be checked for brucellosis. This will cause sterility in both sexes and can be passed between both sexes. General Health. A good weight, shiny coat, eyes and nose clear of discharge, and all vaccinations current are a must. In both sexes the genital area should be checked for any sign of infection. Any long-term health problems need to be addressed. A dog with seizures, heart, thyroid or eye problems should never be considered for breeding. (Good breeders check for these and will certify their dogs clear of them.) Things like obesity, problem eaters that will not maintain a healthy weight, allergies, skin problems, or chronic conditions must be closely looked at. Some of these things may be passed on to the puppies genetically and the dog should be eliminated for breeding. Breed Standard! Time to pull out the breed standard and read it. Don't make excuses for your dog. He or she should meet at least minimum breed standard or you should not consider breeding. One of the reasons that people attend dog shows is to have the opportunity to compare their dog against both the standard and other dogs. One of the most difficult jobs of a breeder is to honestly evaluate their own dog. It is hard to put your heart aside and look at your own dog with a strictly "technical" eye. Attending shows and having the opportunity to see other dogs’ conformations helps keep things in balance. Most breeders/show people will be willing to critique your dog for you. This is a good idea......even for the most experienced breeder. Often another person will see things that you do not.  We all adore our dogs and sometimes fall in love with a body part. I just love Bart's head...but I realize that a beautiful head alone is no reason to breed him. The total dog has to be evaluated....including those body parts that are less than perfect. There is no perfect dog and not everything about an individual animal will conform to standard perfectly. Assessing your dog honestly will let you make informed decisions as to what traits you may be passing on to the puppies. A litter of puppies with lovely heads and a top line that looks like the letter U does the breed no service. Know your pedigree! Each line has things that will be passed on from generation to generation. Many of these things are wonderful....some are bad things. Knowing what is behind your dog genetically is important information. If your dog is from a line that is known for having puppies that are on the small side you would certainly not want to breed to a line that has the same tendencies. If this “small” gene {really there is no such thing...just a term I'm making up for the sake of argument} is on both the potential mother’s and the father’s side of the pedigree, the chances of the resulting puppies being small are greatly increased. Without extensive research about your pedigree you will not know what is genetically behind your dog. Just having a copy of the pedigree is not enough. Look through old breed magazines. Talk the ears off breeders who have been around since dirt was young. Even talking to professional handlers who may have seen or handled some of the dogs will help to educate you as to what many of the dogs behind yours looked like.....and in my book an important factor..behaved like. Timing! I'm not referring to the timing that you must be aware of when planning the actual breeding. I mean the timing for you as the soon to be full time puppy care taker. Seems like every time I see anything on TV or in a magazine that refers to a litter of puppies they show something silly like these cute puppies sweetly playing in a huge grassy yard with a couple of Leave it to Beaver kids. SOOOO CUTE. SOOOOO UNREALISTIC. Aside from about 10 minutes a day when the puppies are capable of being picture perfect cute, having a litter of puppies is hard work and takes a ton of money. Here's what the ads don't tell you. If you don't have a safe and secure place for the female to whelp her puppies, you are risking losing puppies. If you don't have a safe and secure place for the puppies to grow in, you are risking having the inside of your house demolished. If, when the puppies are old enough to venture outside....even with constant supervision, your yard is at risk. Ditto your patio. Ditto your house siding, fences, sheds, lawn furniture and kid toys. Kiss your lawn Good-bye. If you have a credit card with a lot of available balance left just go to your vet and have them charge it all up at once. That way it will save you and them time at each vet visit. And this is assuming that you will only have to go in for the routine litter visits. This does not include C-sections, whelping problems, sick puppies/mom or emergencies. We won’t even get into advertising, puppy food, registration fees or cleaning products. If you do not have at least 15 hours a day to devote to dog related stuff you are risking all sanity that you may have ever had. The timing I'm talking about is your life and your checkbook. If you don't plan to have plenty of available time, create a safe environment and have the money to provide for the mom and litter properly, everyone will lose. Sadly, the ones to suffer the most are the puppies. 
Breeder responsibility! When you have a litter of puppies you are a breeder. You hopefully will be a responsible one. This means you have done your homework and have produced a genetically sound litter. It means that you have produced a healthy litter that you are willing to guarantee. It means providing exemplary care of the female and the puppies. It means placing each puppy in a home that understands the care, training and socialization that the puppy requires. It means that you are willing to keep every puppy until an acceptable home can be found....no matter how long that may take. It means that you will take any puppy back into your home for any reason at any time...be it 2 weeks or 5 years....no questions asked. It means you are FOREVER responsible for each and every puppy that you produce. Let me repeat that. It means that you are FOREVER responsible for each and every puppy that you produce. By the grace of God....and you.....they live. To the stud dog owner! No I hadn't forgotten that it takes two to tango. Before you consider breeding your male dog, ask yourself if you are willing to do all of the above. If you are not, then you have no business using your dog for breeding. You must be just as responsible as the female dog owner. These are your puppies too! Say you get a phone call that the owners of the female that you just bred your male to have all come down with Bora Bora disease and will be in quarantine for the next 6 months. Are you willing to go and pick up the female, whelp the litter, place the puppies and stand behind all the health guarantees and puppy return potentials? If not.....don't breed. Does that put a whole different spin on owning a stud dog for you? It shouldn't. You are a breeder too. Be a responsible one! Kathleen Holland
KennelKappadane
Phoenix, AZ | 
