Responsible Breeding
You’ve probably heard it before, but responsible breeding is not just about producing adorable litters of puppies. A responsible breeder needs to work through a lengthly, costly process long before any puppies are born and then also commit to the time it takes to care for, train, and socialize young puppies. In this article we want to highlight some of the key components to breeding responsibly.
Loving your breeding dogs as family
A good breeding program begins with a love for raising dogs in general. If you don’t love all of what comes with dog ownership, then breeding dogs isn’t a great fit for you. As a dog owner, you should be committed to giving your dogs regular exercise, training, a healthy diet, regular vet exams and vaccinations, healthy living conditions with a clean living environment. Breeding dogs need the same level of love and care as any dog PLUS health testing (read our post about that here!) specific tests depending on the breed, genetic testing to avoid hereditary diseases and extra vet appointments such as ultrasounds and pre-breeding exams to the regular part of dog ownership.
Well-educated breeding
A responsible breeder will also be well-educated before attempting to whelp and raise a litter of puppies. Learn as much as possible before jumping in! Find someone who you trust to mentor you through the process and help you learn what you don’t even know to expect. We have sat with many first-time breeders to offer advice and knowledge. You’ll want to educate yourself in these areas:
Knowledge of your dog’s breed, characteristics, common problems
Heat cycles/fertile days for females and when they are sexually mature and able to birth a healthy litter and the ethical/healthy way to use your male as a stud - the AKC has rules for these as well
Costs prior to mating (health and genetic testing, vet exam, AKC full breeding rights), during pregnancy (ultrasound and/or x-ray, increased food and vitamins), and the cost to raise puppies (it’s expensive…this could warrant it’s own post!)
Time commitment - helping when complications arise, supplementing, cleaning, grooming, training, and socializing - you must be home and able to devote significant time to the puppies and your recovering dam
Choosing a suitable bitch/stud is very important. A responsible breeder is dedicated to improving the breed with excellent temperament, physical health, clear (unaffected) genetics and avoiding hereditary diseases
Care, Socialization, and Training
Puppies often need help beginning to breath as they enter the world and need to be watched carefully (around the clock at first!) for the first few weeks of life. A responsible breeder is committed to doing everything within their power to help these little puppies survive and thrive by giving them the care they need, providing many opportunities for socialization, and giving them foundational training to start them off on the best course possible. We would suggest that a responsible breeder would do these things for their puppies:
Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) - a critical practice in early development to enhance a puppy's neurological and physical development. It’s an investment that lasts a lifetime!
Early Scent Training (ESI) - introduction to scenting work early on can enhance a dog’s interest in smells for their lifetime and potentially provide a scent service such as search & rescue, diabetic alerting, and therapy work
Daily weights for 2 weeks and supplementing with formula if necessary
Socialization: Dogs that are appropriately socialized as puppies are less likely to exhibit behavioral problems as adults, including aggression and fearfulness and are more likely to engage in positive social behaviors with humans. Your goal should be to introduce them to as many types of people, environments, and experiences as possible while they are in your care. See our post about socialization here
Training: You are training the puppies from day one with gentle touch, nail trimming (every week), holding them, touching their feet, looking in their mouths - all of this matters and reaps benefits in the long run! A responsible breeder will also work on potty training, manding training, outside training, walking on different surfaces to build confidence, kennel training, and car training
Commitment to the puppies AND your breeding dogs
Finally, a responsible breeder will provide a health guarantee for 2 years for all puppies produced and placed in families. By providing this guarantee, they are confident that their puppies will be free from hereditary or genetic diseases. To go beyond the health guarantee, a great breeder will ask to be contacted if you can no longer care for the puppy/dog and will always help re-home a dog, no matter the circumstances. A responsible breeder should care that no puppy of theirs will EVER end up in a rescue or shelter situation.
We’ve all seen photos, heard stories, maybe even seen firsthand how some breeding dogs are treated so poorly and kept in a kennel or even worse. A responsible breeder cares for their breeding dogs and should be committed to them for LIFE - not only while they are useful for breeding. No rehoming once you are done needing them for breeding! They need love, attention, medical care, and a beautiful life with their people. Our family decided to add our amazing golden retriever “Pax” to our family with the hopes to use him as our stud but after completing his health testing we determined his hips were not healthy enough to product litters of puppies. Pax will forever be our sweet boy and we’ll love him to pieces and care for him all of his days. Read about Pax’s story here.
This may seem like a daunting undertaking and the goal is not to scare potential breeders away! But just like with anything in life, we should enter into something new well-educated and ready for the task ahead. We wish you the best if you are considering this fun, full, wonderful world of breeding dogs. Cheers!
