Would a prospective puppy buyer be worried about me if I had 3 females and 1 male breeding dogs?
ByI breed Labrador Retriever dogs and German Shephard dogs for a living. I have 3 female of each breed and 1 male of each breed. This is not because I am a backyard breeding but because I find owning female dogs easier. It’s also because male dogs go crazy over female dogs when in heat.
I have a litter of 4 weeks old Labrador pups and I have a couple coming over my home today to see the pup and to pick one out. They are not leaving my home until 8 weeks old.
Would a propective puppy buyer/owner be conserned about buying a cute pup from me just because I have a lot of female dogs? It’s not like I breed them too often. I stud my dogs out all the time and they have both had a lot of litters. My female dogs don’t get bred past 7 or 8 years old and they are well looked after and I never breed on EVERY heat. I always leave 1 heat cycle in between a breeding and never have more than 6 litters per year.
Other people have decided not to buy from me because I have girl dogs.
12 Comments
March 14th, 2011 at 7:17 am
i don’t know!!!
March 14th, 2011 at 7:36 am
As long as you are confident that you are giving your animals the best care possible. Don’t worry about other people, they will either buy or not. And yes some will think up some sort of weird reason. Don’t stress about it, just keep taking great care of your dogs and pups.
March 14th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Oh no my uncle breeds jackrussles and fiest and people buy them all the time basicly non stop buyers.But he has a kennel and he chooses who goes with who.But the answer is no
March 14th, 2011 at 8:37 am
I don’t think it is as much as having to many females as it is you having different breeds. Sorry to say I am a breeder of Shih Tzu’s and I would be concerned about that too. I am sure you are very good in what you do and how you breed them but people seem to frown on a breeder having different dogs that they breed. You have six females you breed with two males. Only thing you can do is show them your records , on health, how many times you breed them and try to gain their trust in you.
March 14th, 2011 at 9:28 am
To me it makes sense to have more females than males and most of the big show winners have way more dogs than that. If your dogs are keep in a clean kennel or in an indoor under foot setting then thats what matters. You didn’t say how you keep your dogs, if anything that is what turned people away, some people may think 8 dogs are too many they’d rather buy from someone with just two thinking the puppies will be better socialized, that would be a personal reason and two dogs can be tied out back with no socialization so number sould not matter. I have seen most dog breeders have a few males ranging from one to over 6 but have on average 3 or more females.
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March 14th, 2011 at 9:40 am
I personally would be a little worried, but iwould be a little worried because you own the 2 males as well. And owning 8 dogs and breeding them for financial gain, yes you are a backyard breeder, just a slightly more responsible one, only breeding each b*tch once a year, is still fairly often. Are they all registered and are you registered? If you are registered it gives you a bit more credence as a proffessional breeder. If you arent a registered breeder, then yes it looks dodgy.
March 14th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Yep, I wouldn’t buy from you even if you only had one male and one female. You are a BYB, dear. What you have almost borders on puppy mill. The only breeders that should be breeding have champion dogs. Since they (good breeders) usually have only one bloodline and want to continue breeding with champions, they don’t own both parents. Also, good breeders only have one breed of dog.
Have your dogs been health tested? Do they have champions in their lines (obviously not–the seller would not allow you to breed them without showing them if these were quality dogs)? What kind of contract do you have?
Basically you’re pumping out hundreds of dogs a year (studding your males out, too) who are not champions, not a rare breed, probably not health tested…. You do know that at least 1/6 of every litter winds up euthanized, right? At least one puppy out of each of your litters is going to die simply because it cannot find a home. Go to Petfinder. Both of these breeds (yes, even purebred) run RAMPANT in shelters. You are not doing the world any favors.
March 14th, 2011 at 11:21 am
I think it’s probably more a matter that you breed more than one type of dog and have 2 males of different breeds in your home. If you had 6 females of the same breed and 2 males of the same breed as the females I doubt anyone would care. Accidents can happen to even the best breeders though and if you have 2 different breeds some people may wonder if they are actually getting a pure bred dog. Looks can be very deceiving.
The best breeder usually only breed one type of dog. You may want to think of doing this and then no one will have anything to wonder or worry about.
It’s also not good to stud your dogs out either unless you use artificial insemination. Dogs too can get STD’s. Unless you have the females they are to bredd with fully vet checked each time they use you then you are putting ALL of the dogs he breeds with at risk including your own.
March 14th, 2011 at 11:32 am
IF YOU HAVE TO ASK THIS QUESTION…YOU DONT NEED TO BE BREEDING!!!!!
March 14th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Unfortunately you *are* a BYB if you are asking this question. A quality breeder knows what they are doing and that they are credible.
And you say you don’t breed more than 6 litters a year. That’s about 4-5 litters too many! A responsible breeder can often take years to find the right stud for their female and it may take several months or years to find that.
They only breed to better the breed, keep health problems down and continue with a single breed that they can keep providing great tempraments and confirmation in their dogs.
Sorry, you do need to stop breeding. Too many people that are BYB don’t even think they are . . . but sadly you are.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
I don’t think any one should mine if you breed dogs you would have more females
March 14th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
I can’t see where having females would be a problem as long as you do all the required testing for each breed. Tell prospective buyers that you have had their hips tested for diplaysia, as well as whatever is specific to the breeds you have, (and prove it with valid paperwork). That is the difference between a BYB and a professional breeder. You should strive to produce sound puppies of quality, not quantity. A good breeder gives lifetime support to buyers, and will take back any puppy they produce and rehome it. You screen buyers and make sure it is a good match, and do your best to make sure it is a permanent, loving, and responsible home. My only concern is you say you don’t breed past 7 or 8. IMO 7 is too old, never mind 8. You don’t mention how many litters each btch has. I don’t think they should ever have more than 2 in their lifetime. Breeding is hard work for them, and it should not be their purpose in life to produce more than 2 litters each. I commend you for not breeding every cycle, but still say a btch should not have to bear more than 2 litters in her lifetime, and should only be bred if she/he has the proper qualities for the breed, and can prove he/she is free from the genetic defects that plague their breed.