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Dog breeding advice, information & pictures.

Everything you need to know about dog breeding, including links to the best dog breeding information and advice.

Are you thinking about breeding your dog?

Well, this is not so much an A-Z of Dog Breeding, but a series of steps and questions you should consider in order to come to the decision to breed your dog. This is designed to increase your awareness in order to make an more informed decision regarding breeding of your dog.

The key responsibility for breeders is to ensure that the puppies they produce are from genetic health defects and that they go to an appropriate home.

There are three basic steps to ensure this:

1. Simply, make sure the canine parent are healthy. This will require certain tests to be performed. These tests are important, as some health problems are not apparent until the dog is mature. First identify the genetic health risks that are prevalent for the breed, this will provide a focus for the types of tests that will be required. These tests are expensive and add to the overall cost of breeds which is ultimately passed onto the buyer. However, these tests are critical as they indicate genetic diseases and acute diseases such as brucellosis.
2. So how do you check the health of the parents? Obtain the health records for as much of the canine family tree as possible - particularly the parents, grandparent and siblings of each.
3. Research information on the breed of your dog to ensure that there is not an oversupply of the breed already on the market. A good starting point for the information is the respective breed 'rescue organizations'.

Here's a summary Checklist for the decision to Breed your Dog

In summary, the following considerations will also need to be addressed before making a breeding decision:

1. You have satisfactorily passed the 3 steps above in relation to your dog.
2. You have designated homes for the pups, prior to the mating process occurring.
3. You offer a lifetime guarantee - this can be a startling concept to some that have considered breeding. However, a responsible breeder will always accept the return of any of the dogs they produce, and give them homes until a new appropriate home can be found.
4. You will accept the responsibility to cull any of your puppies that turn out to be unreasonably aggressive.
5. You will sell all non-show quality pups with a neuter agreement.
6. You will satisfactorily screen prospective buyers to ensure that the puppies are going to an appropriate home.
7. You are available to offer support and advice to the buyers for the life of the pup.

These issues are not an all inclusive list, but are meant as an indicator for starting criteria. The main issue is that you perform the appropriate research to ensure that you are making an informed decision in light of many of the issues discussed above.

Research will require reading and networking with people in the breeding industry.

Related: a-z of dog breeds, small dog breeds, toy dog breeds