First let me tell you that it is very expensive and a lot of work.
If you don't have a male:
Breeding, and doing it right, is an expensive undertaking. By the time you've picked out a good bitch, waited for her to grow old enough (minimum age: two years before breeding), picked out the best dog to mate her with, gone through all the health checks she needs, ensured that the dog you want to use also passes the same health checks, you've invested a lot of time and effort. You still have to pay a stud fee (or give a puppy back), you have potential extra expenses during pregnancy, you have the time and expense of whelping (either you take time off from work or something goes wrong and you have to take her in to the vets).
You need to keep the puppies for a minimum of 8 weeks before sending them to their homes; you need to advertise and find good homes for the puppies, you need to make sure they have had their shots before going.
You may have possible vet bills if the puppies require extra attention. If some of the puppies die, or you have a smaller than usual litter, you may not get as much money from the sale of the puppies as you had though. There are even potential problems later on with dissatisfied customers! If you think your going to make a lot of money think again.
Breeders frequently count themselves lucky if they break even.
I want another dog just like Shep:
If you want to breed your dog so as to get another dog like yours, think about this for a moment. No matter how special your dog is to you, a puppy out of it is not guaranteed to be just like or even similar to your dog -- half its genes will be from another dog!
You will have to find another dog that also has the characteristics you want in your puppy; that dog will have to be unneutered; and the owner of that dog will have to be willing to breed her/his dog to yours. It is much easier, often less expensive, and certainly less time consuming to pick out an existing dog that you like from the shelter or another breeder. Best yet, go back to the same breeder of your dog, if possible, and pick another puppy out of similar lines.
But my dog is a purebred:
Well, yes, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. A registered dog, be it AKC, UKC, CKC, etc., simply means that it's parents (and their parents) are also registered with the same registry. This confers no merit in of itself, it simply means that the dog's parentage is known.
Most registries do not make any assertions of quality in the dogs they register (except for some limited breed-only registrations, but these are uncommon). They do not restrict the breeding of their dogs and hence there is no guarantee that a registered dog is a good specimen of its breed.
The AKC has just started a "limited registration" program whereby puppies out of such dogs are ineligible for registration. It remains to be seen what the overall impact on AKC dog breeds will be. Other registries have used similar programs with good results.
You should only breed when...?
The only reason you should be breeding is that you honestly feel that you are improving or saving the look of your breed by doing so. There are far too many dogs in the country to breed without good reason.
A dog in a breeding program must be one whose genetic history you or its breeder is intimately familiar with. Such a dog must represent the best efforts of its breeder at that point. Such a dog must have good points to contribute, whether that is in good conformation, good performance or whatever.
Such a dog must be tested as it matures for any problems that tend to appear in its breed, whether that is hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, von Willebrand's, cataracts, PRA, fanconi syndrome, subaortic stenosis, etc.
Potential Hereditary Problems:
Every breed has a different set of potential problems for it. I have listed common ones below, but this is not to say that all dogs must be checked for everything listed. You need to do research in your breed to find out what the common problems are. You will also need to research the particular bloodlines you are using to see if they are prone to any additional problems you want to know about and screen for as well.
There are a variety of joint problems found in most breeds. Toy breeds can have joint problems too; just because your breed is smaller doesn't mean you can figure you are free of hip dysplasia and be done with it. There are several problems that specifically affect smaller dogs!
* Hip dysplasia is probably the best known problem. This is a malformation or deterioration of the hip joint, so that the socket it sits in is too shallow to secure the head of the femur.
As the condition progresses, arthritic changes begin to destroy the protective cartilage and the dog may experience severe pain if the condition is bad enough. Some dogs are asymptomatic, but still should not be bred.
This condition primarily affects the medium-to-large breeds, but smaller breeds have been known to be affected, for example Cocker Spaniels and Shetland Sheepdogs can have this problem.
To make sure your dog is free of hip dysplasia, you need to have the hips radiographed and then obtain an expert analysis of the xrays. Your vet isn't necessarily the one to do this! In the US, you would mail the xrays to the Orthopedic Foundation of Animals and wait several weeks for their evaluation.
In Canada, Europe and Britain, there are equivalent programs, but all differ in the type of certification and age at which they will certify; some organizations certify after one year of age, others certify after two years of age.
* Osteochondrosis Dessicans (OCD) is an elbow joint problem. A bone spur or a flake wears away at the joint which becomes stiff and painful. Xray evaluations of these joints are also needed. Many breeds that are prone to hip dysplasia may also have OCD.
* Patellar Luxation is a problem affecting the kneecaps. Smaller dogs are more prone to this problem than larger ones are. The kneecap will slide out of place and lock the leg straight. Diagnosis is fairly straightforward and surgery can correct the problem, but no dog with patellar luxation should be bred as this is also an hereditary condition.
There are a few other types of problems, affecting other joints like the hocks, or affecting the spine, that you should be aware of in some breeds. This is only an overview to give you an idea of what kinds of problems are out there. Remember that joint problems, even if not hereditary, may make it problematic for a bitch to be bred.
Pregnancy is hard on the joints and on the body in general and if she isn't in the best of physical health, it is much kinder not to breed her.
Other things to check for:
* In some breeds, deafness is a potential problem. Puppies at risk should be BAER tested and any that fail should be neutered.
* Heart conditions in many breeds must be checked for. Subaortic stenosis (SAS), other malformations of the heart or valves.
* Hemophilia type of problems, e.g., von Willebrand's disease and others.
* Malabsorptive syndromes, digestive problems.
* Epilepsy.
* Allergies.
* Incorrect temperament for breed.
Brucellosis:
Finally, remember that not only the potential dam but also the sire must be checked for all the things appropriate for their breed and particular bloodlines.
You must make sure the bitch and the stud both are free from brucellosis before breeding them. Brucellosis causes eventual sterility in both sexes (sometimes non-obviously) and can cause a litter of puppies to be aborted or die shortly after birth.
In addition, brucellosis is on occasion transmissible to humans via the urine or feces of an affected dog. Between dogs, it is most commonly passed in sexual intercourse, although an entire kennel can be infected through contact with secretions.
The sire should be in excellent general health. The dam must be in good health, to withstand the stresses and rigors of a pregnancy. They must both be up to date on their vaccinations.
Temperament:
Never breed any animal that has temperament problems. In particular, this has been the cause of the degeneration of many breeds general temperament: Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers, and so on. If your animal is untrustworthy around people, overly aggressive to people, excitable, or is a fear-biter, do not breed it. If it is shy or submissive, don't breed it. Look for happy, confident and obedient animals, and consider carefully the particular temperament requirements for your dog's breed.
There are a variety of tests to indicate a dog's temperament. Many of the working breeds have a temperament test (for example, the Doberman's WAC test) for their breed. AKC has a Canine Good Citizen test (open to all dogs) that gives some indication of the dog's temperament (and, yes, training).
Therapy Dogs International and other Therapy Dog clubs have temperament testing that does try to separate out actual temperament from training. Obedience titles can be (but are not necessarily) an indication of good temperament.
Compatibility:
You must carefully consider each dog's pedigree for compatibility. Try to select strengths to offset weaknesses. Do not allow your bitch to be bred to an unsuitable dog, and conversely, be picky about the bitches you allow your dog to breed.
This phase alone requires considerable research to find a suitable candidate, and you should definitely work closely with a knowledgeable person, ideally the breeder of your dog. Simply because two dogs "look good" or even *are* good does not mean that they necessarily complement each other: suppose they are both carriers for the same disease? Suppose they both have a tendency to overbites or other disqualifying faults?
Be honest with yourself. If your dog is not a good representation of its breed, do not let it reproduce. It is much easier to improve a few faults than to try and get excellent pups with a mediocre dog.
When & How Often To Breed:
A bitch should only be bred every other year and she should not be bred much before two years of age. The season closest to the second birthday is a good one to start with; certainly no earlier than this. In some breeds, you may need to wait one more season before beginning. By this time, she is better prepared mentally for having puppies than she would have been with her first few seasons. Her physical growth is complete and pregnancy at this point won't endanger her health, provided that she is healthy to begin with.
In breeds with Hip Dysplasia, many people wait until after two years of age so that the parents can be certified; however if you have sent in xrays to OFA for preliminary evaluation and they came back as fine, many breeders consider it safe enough to then breed on the season closest to the second year, which can wind up being before the bitch is actually old enough to be certified. (And when the bitch is old enough, she is, of course, duly certified.) But the preliminary xrays must be examined by OFA, not by a local veterinarian. There are many dysplastic dogs out there that had vets look at their xrays and pronounce them "wonderful."
It's important, however, to keep the frequency of breeding low. Even at maximum, you want to allow at least one unbred season between breeding's. This allows your bitch to rest and regain her strength. A bitch that whelps too often will produce weaker puppies more likely to die, and the repeated pregnancies are pretty rough on her, too.
For dogs, they should definitely have all their certifications necessary.
For many breeds this means that they should be over two years old. Since a dog can be bred at any time, unlike bitches, waiting for two years is not a problem, whereas a bitch often has a season just before two years of age and then has to wait until 2.5 or three which sometimes presents problems in trying to time her litters.
But this does not apply to a stud dog, so he should definitely have all of his checks and certifications before being bred. Frequency is not generally a problem although some dogs have problems with sperm production if they breed once a day for several days. They need top-quality feeding and care if they are going to be bred often.
Care of the Pregnant Bitch:
You should make sure the bitch is up-to-date on all her vaccinations, medications, and shots before she is bred. She will require supplementary food during the last three weeks or so of pregnancy. In general, puppy food is formulated both for puppies and pregnant or nursing bitches.
She should be under the care of a vet for any related problems. Dogs can have miscarriages. Illnesses, diseases, or infestations that the bitch picks up during her pregnancy can affect the puppies. Difficulties during whelping are entirely possible, and the rule for some breeds. You must be prepared to get her to the vet quickly in an emergency.
There are instances of "mummy puppies" where you have a puppy whose development went awry, but it was not aborted. Instead, it dries and shrivels up, and when born, looks like a mummified puppy, blackened and ready to rot. Overbreeding and inadequate care are usually the causes.
It is quite likely that the dam will come down with an infected uterus after such a puppy. "Water puppies" are another type of problem in which the dead puppy appears to have never properly developed a skeleton and appears to be full of gelatin. This seems to be linked to a viral exposure.
Other congenital (but not genetic) defects can include: no anus, cleft palates and hare lips. These conditions require corrective surgery or the puppy will die.
While the bitch is nursing the puppies, she will require about three times the amount of food she normally eats! It is also common for nursing mothers to go out of coat at this time.
Prewhelping preparations:
You should have a sturdy, clean, proper sized whelping box for the litter. It MUST include a "pig rail" around the edge to prevent the bitch from laying on or smashing her pups. It should be big enough to allow the bitch to turn around but small enough to prevent the pups from being "lost" in the unused portions. About six inches longer than she is, fore and aft, when laying prone (as in suckling her puppies) and about a foot on either side length wise.
To get the whelping box ready for your bitch, get a sheet of plastic, such as you would use for painting a ceiling to protect the floor. Cut it up into several pieces the size of the whelping box. Put one piece of plastic down, several layers of newspaper, another piece of plastic, more layers of newspaper and so on for four or five layers. Then when your bitch is whelping puppies, you can roll off a layer when it gets messy -- and it will! -- and throw it away to instantly clean the whelping box.
Postwhelping:
After the puppies are born, there are many strategies for lining the whelping box. Some people continue to use newspapers, but puppies get pretty dirty from both newspaper print and feces. Other people have had success with synthetic materials on top of absorbent materials: the synthetic material provides secure footing, but the urine and other liquids pass through it to leave it dry. Other people use pine shavings (about six inches deep). You will do a lot of laundering to keep things clean no matter what you use. You will also have to clean the feces out of the whelping box after your bitch decides that's no longer her job.
Newborn puppies MUST be kept warm. The temperature in the whelping box at birth should be 90 F. The temperature can then be decreased 2 degrees every other day. NEVER FEED A CHILLED PUPPY!!! If a puppy becomes chilled it will cry continually and it will tuck its tail between its little legs.
A healthy, happy, litter will "purr" like a swarm of bees and when feeding their tails will be straight out from their bodies. Warm any chilled puppy by putting the puppy under your shirt and under your armpit. The best method of warming a puppy is to use a special whelping box heating pad with a towel over it to prevent soiling the pad.
Make sure the temperature does not go too high. Heating lamps are OK but puppies can become dehydrated. If the litter clumps together and cries, they are too cold; if they separate and try to hide under shade, they are too hot.
Large litters will require supplemental feedings if you want all the puppies to survive. Your bitch may not be able to care for a very large litter. You will need to get the pups rotating on shifts.
For the first two weeks you may have to supplement as much as every four hours. Use a good prepared milk-supplement especially formulated for puppies. If you get in a bind you can use a goat-milk recipe available in most books about breeding and whelping pups. You may have to tube feed those pups that will not suckle from a bottle!
Finding A Good Home For Pups:
Are you going to remove the dewclaws or dock a tail? This must be done by 3 days old at the latest! Any later will not heal as nicely or quickly!
If you have a purebred litter, you must record the date of birth and all of the pups (including the dead ones) in your record book. Then you will need to fill out and send in your litter registration form. You want to do this as soon as possible, This can now be done over the Internet and take 2 weeks to return the forms for individual registration to you (which you will want to give to your puppy buyers later).
You will have to keep the whelping box clean. For the first two weeks the bitch will keep the pups pretty clean, but the bedding should be changed twice a day at minimum. Starting week three, the pups start to eliminate some on their own.. then you will need to clean much more often!
At four weeks, the pups usually become very active and it this time may require a larger area then the whelping box...you will need a large ex-pen or some way of confining them safely. You do have a place to keep them that they are safe in and can't destroy? Puppies at this stage can devastate a room or garage in hours.
At week five you will probably want to introduce the pups to weaning food. Usually you will have to mush up the dry dog food for the pups to be able to eat it. Use warm water and let the food stand in a bowl for about 2 hours.
At week six you should vaccination and worm the pups, and have them checked for heartmurmmers, hernias, males for testicles (yes you should be able to feel them at 6 weeks!), deafness, and eye problems.
You should be socializing now too... And are you going to do any puppy testing for temperaments? At seven weeks you should be calling up those people with deposits on your pups and getting your paper work all sorted out. Are your spay/neuter contracts ready? How about pictures of the pups for your clients?
And this is just if everything goes perfectly! What happens if one of the pups has a heart mummer, or a hernia? What about a deaf puppy? What if your whole litter gets parvo or distemper?
What happens if one of the pups is affected with "swimmer-puppy" syndrome? What about fading-puppy syndrome? What happens if your bitch gets an infection or mastitis? What if she dies?
Here Are Some Terms and Definitions You Should Know:
Inbreeding: is where the sire and the dam are closely related: mother to son, father to daughter, sister to brother, half sister to half brother, cousin to cousin. People disagree about the exact point at which inbreeding becomes linebreeding.
Inbreeding is the quickest way to find out what poor genes are in the line and what dominant characteristics are in the line.
Although many people are disgusted with the idea of this family incest, it is an extremely useful tool for diagnosing what genes are present. If the genes for bad eyes are present, but hidden or recessive, this will bring them out to their full extent.
If there isn't any bad genes, then the puppies will be of very close uniformity and very able to reproduce themselves (theoretically). This is a homozygous breeding. The resulting puppies will have a lot of genetic material that is the same as their parents and grandparents and will be close genetically to each other.
Inbreeding doesn't introduce new genes and does not eliminate bad genes that the line already has. It only shifts them around like a Rubik cube. This often results in litters with high show potential, if the quality was high to begin with. It shows you what recessives you have lurking in the dogs' backgrounds -- both good and bad.
But there are drawbacks. Besides the possibility of bad recessives, inbreeding exclusively will eventually lead to infertility. It's like a Xerox machine. After so many copies, you have to renew the ink. The same with dogs, you have to introduce new genes. No reputable breeder will use inbreeding exclusively, and many breeders simply never use it. Usually, you will only find: very experienced breeders, ignorant breeders, and puppy mills making use of this technique.
Inbreeding increases the chance that a gene obtained from the sire will match one obtained from the dam, both stemming from the common ancestor(s) on which the individual was inbred. Thus, inbreeding tends to make animals homozygous rather than heterozygous. The inbreeding coefficient measures the resulting increase in homozygousity.
All breeds have a given degree of homozygosity the mating of two dogs from the same breed would not produce a recognizable specimen of the breed!
Inbreeding increases homozygosity and decrease heterozygosity.
So it can duplicate both desirable and harmful alleles, both of which can be unsuspected in the line, and may appear. Inbreeding does NOT create anomalies, it brings present anomalies to the surface. Even when the anomalies are present, inbreeding might not reveal them. However, once revealed, then the breeder can do something about them in the next generations of breeding.
An increase in harmful recessives is undesirable but it is not a major drawback if they are identified early. The effect of inbreeding on major polygenic traits is greater. Generally, traits that are highly inherited (ie largely additively controlled) are not adversely affected by inbreeding but, traits under non-additive control, especially those tied to dominance and thus not of high heritability, are often markedly harmed by inbreeding.
Line breeding: is when the sire and the dam are distantly related: e.g., grandsire to granddaughter, granddam to grandson, second cousins, half cousins, uncle to niece, aunt to nephew..... The general strategy is that there is a common ancestor that is being doubled up on both sides. So the desired dog appears several times in the pedigree.
This is probably the most common strategy in breeding purebred dogs (and in developing new breeds, for that matter). Though this method, new genes are slowly introduced and unwanted genes are slowly replaced. The actual rate varies by how strongly you line breed. It sacrifices little overall quality in terms of show quality. Usually the puppies are rather close in general conformation.
The only problem with this method is that it often takes several generations to get poor genes out, (or adding desired genes in) resulting in many puppies that have the same genetic problems (or virtues) that their parents have. And then because some breeders are more interested in winning, they do not place the affected puppies on spay/neuter contracts.
This is both a blessing and a curse for the breed. If the breeder is very careful, affected pups can be used wisely to prevent loss of quality, but still remove the affected genes by only breeding the affected pups to known non-carrier relatives. This way the breeder can again try to "edit out" the bad genes. It takes longer this way but less show quality is lost in the process. This process results in dogs that will often reproduce their same level of quality. This is referred to as reaching homozygous litters (more genes of the same kind apparent in the puppies).
Inbreeding and linebreeding really differ only in degree. Linebreeding is less likely to cause harm than inbreeding. Inbreeding is not for novices. Knowledge of genetics and the breed is required for success. For good results it must be well-planned and breeders must be ready for whatever problems it presents.
Outcrossing is where the sire and dam are totally unrelated, preferably for three or four generations. The true form of an outcross is between two entirely different breeds because in reality the members of most registered breeds come from a common ancestor (although it may be many, many generations back).
It is very rare for outcrossed puppies to be uniform in appearance. Usually there are a very large ranges of sizes, coats, colors, markings, and other distinctive characteristics. Outcrossed litters are generally heterozygous, and do not reliably reproduce themselves, so even the nicest puppy in the litter may not later produce the best puppies.
Outcrossing: is generally used to introduce something new to a line -- a better head, better colors, better front, etc. Usually the puppies retained from these breeding's are bred back into the breeder's original line to standardize them back into the line's general characteristics and reproducibility -- with the one desired characteristic. The tricky part is that other characteristics may come along for the ride!
If you are dedicated enough, you can eventually continue breeding by outcrossing alone (but don't expect instant or quick results). You should pick dogs that complement eachother well and are similar in general appearance. This is a long hard road to eventually developing a line. Through outcrossing, many health problems can quickly be eliminated (or just as quickly added into your breeding), but usually you do sacrifice some show quality and producibility.
You have to remember that dogs that appear totally healthy may be carriers of genetic problems. To find this out, test mating is done to a dog that is affected with the genetic problem (resulting usually in puppies that are both affected and non-affected carriers) or by inbreeding to a related dog that also doesn't show the signs of being affected (usually littermates are used) this will usually result in some puppies free of the problem, some puppies as carriers, and some puppies affected if both dogs carry the problem gene (this is not as accurate as breeding to an affected dog, but you are less likely to have to put all the puppies down).
There are variations on outcrossing. A "true" outcross could be a dog that has totally unrelated dogs bred together throughout the pedigree. This is very rare. On the other hand, "linecrossing" is a form of outcrossing where dogs from unrelated lines are bred to produce a new line. The sire and dam are usually very linebred from their prospective lines and the resulting puppies are varied in appreance, some looking like the sire's line and some looking like the dam's line and some looking like mixtures of both lines.
The bottom line is unless your very wealthy or very dedicated person with plenty of time on your hands leave the breeding to the breeders who are already breeding. Educate yourself so that you can pick a great pup for you and your family and enjoy.
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Lane's House Of Shepherds
Large German Shepherds Intelligent, Noble,
Dignified, Sensitive, Loyal. Sound in mind and body.
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