Thinking about breeding my dog?

[yecats]

Brief background - I just had to put one of my dogs to sleep Sunday morning. She was a good dog and a rescued dog as well that I had for several years. My family has always taken in stray animals. We find mutts are the best (no pun intended to the full breeds but many of our best dogs were street mutts). As such, we always have had the dogs spade or neutured(?sp) if we had both males and females. My dog Baby was a female that I had fixed when I brought her in my house. Now that she is gone, it makes me sad to think that I could have bred her with scruffy at least once and would've had one or two of her offspring around (they would've had beautiful dogs).

So now I am thinking about my male dog scruffy who is aging (13yrs old). I did not have him fixed as I have kept male dogs in the past. I have never thought about attempting to mate my dogs, much less having to deal with puppies. I have always been the type of person who always thought that there would always be another stray dog to adopt to save them from the gas chamber. Now my thinking is going in an opposite direction and I am thinking about the possibility of breeding him once and then having the mom fixed. Am I nuts or just going through the strangeness of loosing my dog. Anyone else done this or thought about it?

 

[piglet too]

I really think that your heart is hurting from the loss of your beloved pet, and that you are not thinking straight on this one. Breeding animals is not meant to be done, just to do it. Breeders, good ones anyways, know the complete background of both the female and the male. They know if there is any health issues that might arise if two lines are crossed. They pay attention to a lot of different aspects to ensure that the wellfare of the possible pups is first and foremost. Please do not breed your dogs!

 

[Crankyshank]

I'm sorry you lost your pup

Personally, I wouldn't breed him. People breed dogs to preserve the quality of the breed. You have to screen them for genetic defects and there's a lot involved. You don't just breed because you like one dog's personality
Would you keep the entire litter? Because you'll have a hard time selling a litter of mixed breed dogs. There's a lot of stress and expense involved in breeding dogs as well.

 

[CookieGVB]

Sorry for the loss of your pet.

Isn't 13 a bit old to breed, especially for the first time?

Go to your local shelter, or check out www.petfinder.org

I'm sure you'll find a dog just as grateful to be rescued as Baby.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

PLease don't breed him. I know you are hurting over the loss of your other dog, but there are so many innocent , good dogs who die each day in pounds and shelters because there are too many of them.

Please consider rescuing a dog instead.

 

[MinnieMe2]

None of this makes sense. Breeding dogs is not for the faint of heart. Things go very wrong, even under the best of circumstances. At Scruffy's age, he may not even be capable of fathering a litter. Are you ready, willing and able to find homes for all the puppies? Or to keep all those you can't adopt out? Can you afford this?

I'm very sorry for your loss, but please rethink this whole thing -- there are more than enough homeless/unwanted pups being euthanized every day!

 

[airhead]

....but RETHINK this idea,please.

 

[Jynohn]

Aside from the very valid points that OP's have made about their being enough homeless mixed breed dogs out there, I think you really need to consider just how much work raising a litter of puppies can be.

I used to breed Great Danes and I can't even begin to describe to you all the heartache, sleepless nights and seemingly endless amounts of money we have been through. Are you prepared to deal with a dead puppy stuck in the birth canal like we had in our last litter? How about taking the mom in for an emergency c-section when she's too tired to push out the rest of the puppies waiting to be born?

Then once all the puppies have arrived you need to make sure mom is keeping them fed and dry. How will you deal with feeding them if she rejects them or doesn't have enough milk? How will you prevent her from rolling over onto them and suffocating them?

And all that is the easy part! Wait until their eyes are open and they start walking around! They very quickly learn how to get out of their pen. Just try wrangling up 8 puppies at once when they're all running in different directions. Not to mention the endless, and I do mean ENDLESS amount of cleaning up you will have to do.

By the end of 8 weeks you will be very grateful that they have gone off to loving homes. That is, if you're lucky enough to find homes for them all. Are you prepared to keep any of them that do not find homes, and to take back all of them at any point in their lives if their new owners can't keep them anymore? Remember, if you bring them into this world, you should be responsible for them for their entire lives.

I hope this has given you something to think about. I know you're grieving right now and the prospect of new puppies sounds like a lot of fun, just be aware of what you're really considering getting into. Believe me, it's much more work than fun!

 

[Kallison]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX
PLease don't breed him. I know you are hurting over the loss of your other dog, but there are so many innocent , good dogs who die each day in pounds and shelters because there are too many of them.

Please consider rescuing a dog instead.

What if your beloved mixed breed has 6 puppies and you can't get rid of them, then what will you do? I agree with Esme, and I think you should try and rescue another deserving dog and give him/her a good home. Thanks for all the dogs you have saved in the past. Sorry about the loss of your pet.

BTW a teacher at school just had a litter of purebred labrador hunting dogs and had problems getting rid of the last of 4 in the litter.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by Jynohn
Aside from the very valid points that OP's have made about their being enough homeless mixed breed dogs out there, I think you really need to consider just how much work raising a litter of puppies can be.

I used to breed Great Danes and I can't even begin to describe to you all the heartache, sleepless nights and seemingly endless amounts of money we have been through. Are you prepared to deal with a dead puppy stuck in the birth canal like we had in our last litter? How about taking the mom in for an emergency c-section when she's too tired to push out the rest of the puppies waiting to be born?

Then once all the puppies have arrived you need to make sure mom is keeping them fed and dry. How will you deal with feeding them if she rejects them or doesn't have enough milk? How will you prevent her from rolling over onto them and suffocating them?

And all that is the easy part! Wait until their eyes are open and they start walking around! They very quickly learn how to get out of their pen. Just try wrangling up 8 puppies at once when they're all running in different directions. Not to mention the endless, and I do mean ENDLESS amount of cleaning up you will have to do.

By the end of 8 weeks you will be very grateful that they have gone off to loving homes. That is, if you're lucky enough to find homes for them all. Are you prepared to keep any of them that do not find homes, and to take back all of them at any point in their lives if their new owners can't keep them anymore? Remember, if you bring them into this world, you should be responsible for them for their entire lives.

I hope this has given you something to think about. I know you're grieving right now and the prospect of new puppies sounds like a lot of fun, just be aware of what you're really considering getting into. Believe me, it's much more work than fun!

I couldn't agree with this post more. Been there, done that, not again....

I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. Please consider adopting another dog, I'm sure you will find one that has a great personality just like your current guy...good luck..

 

[Hygiene99]

the anwser is no..

Rescue another pup would be A better Idea....

Peter

The picture at the Bottom is the 1 year old cocker We got
and a puppy we got at 8 weeks old Now 20

 

[DisneyJules]

I agree with the others, don't breed them. There are SO many dogs already in this world who do not have loving homes. I don't think it's a good idea to bring more dogs into a world which is overly populated with these wonderful creatures.

 

[phillybeth]

I understand you are hurting, and you wish there was a little bit of your furry friend left in the world to comfort you. But as any breeder can tell you, temperment is a fickle thing- there is no guarantee that a dog's characteristics, personality, etc will be duplicated in their offspring.
Please follow your head and not your hurting heart. Adopt a shelter or rescue dog- give another dog the chance to show you how wonderful and special a friend it will be. Save a life in memory of your dog.