What every good owner should know upfront
Breeding your dog can be exciting, yet confusing. I will share the basics with you on how to breed your dog. I will assume your are at step one and want to know what is involved with breeding your dog, before you make that big decision.
Right now we have English Bulldogs who we have bred. I hate to call myself a breeder, because to me it sounds like I consider this a job and have dogs to make money. If you knew me you would understand nothing is further from the truth. My 4 dogs are our family. They are treated like my kids. We love each of them unconditionally and to breed them is just a bonus. I have been told many times that people decided to buy our puppies because of the way I treat our dogs, how clean I keep the puppies and the home and how picky I am about where the puppies go. If you are wanting to breed your dog just for the money, you should stop reading. I plan on putting my normal job on hold when the puppies come and being available to our dogs and puppies 24/7 and I do mean that. If I am going to breed my dog I am going to give it 110% of my time and not do it half ass. Sometimes you get lucky and your female may have a litter of 4 and all puppies are gaining weight. You usually do not need to step in too much for the first couple weeks. But other things come up when you do need to step in. Our Jordin had a litter of 9 recently and I slept in the bed next to her and her puppies for the first 4 weeks. I woke up every 2 hours. There were so many puppies she could not feed them all at once. I had to make what I call baa baa groups, aka feeding groups and I had to keep rotating the puppies. I had to weigh them twice a day so I could see who needed more attention that day. It was a big job from birth until they left here, but I am happy to say because of my efforts we did not lose one puppy. They are all in wonderful homes.
I am not to go into how you should only breed dogs that will better the dog breed, you have probably already read that and to me it is common sense.
How to Breed your Dog
I will save the details for another posting, but I will write all of the basics you need to know.
First you will need to establish the first day of her heat. That is the first day she starts bleeding. When my females get close, I grab a toilet paper and wipe to check for blood everyday, so I do not miss day one. If you want to successfully breed your dog it is important to catch the first day of bleeding.
Now, just like women, every dog is different. You may want to breed your dog on day 9, 11 and day 13 or you may breed your dog on day 10, 12 and 14. It just depends on your dog and when she is ready. We can tell by the color of the blood. It usually starts getting a bit pink and we know they are ready. If you have a male dog he will be a good indicator.
If you are one of the lucky ones, you have the male and female and they will breed on their own. We actually have our male, but being that they are English Bulldogs, we need to artificially inseminate.
Let's assume you do not have the male to breed with, you can call local vets and see if they have a list of male studs for your breed. Nowadays with the internet you can even do your own search. Stud owners sometimes advertise in newspapers or even on Ebay. You can even post your own ad that you are looking for a stud. Post the flier in your local newspaper, on Ebay and even at grocery stores on bulletins. You are looking to breed with a proven stud, a dog that has breed before.
Let me save you some money, in the beginning we let the vet run extra tests to tell us the best days to breed, waste of money. We now know our Madison needs to breed on day 13, 15 and day 17 and Jordin breeds on day 10, 12 and 14. It is a guessing game at first.
If you will be going to the veterinarian to have your dog artificially inseminated, breath easy knowing you are in and out in ten minutes. Your female is awake. They just get the semen from the male (from almost like masturbating him) and use a long tube to insert the semen into the female. The cost depends on the vet. We had paid about $100 per visit. We now do the artificial inseminating ourselves with a kit. We have had more luck with our girls getting pregnant this way.
How to breed your dog..... when is her due date?
Now you will count 63 days after the first breeding. If the dogs bred today, you would count 63 days from now. She could go as early as 58 days from now.
How to breed your dog....Is she pregnant?
Be patient. You should be able to tell in about 3 weeks. At that point you will notice a larger tummy.
How to breed your dog...... Is she in labor?
Starting day 58 you will need to take her temperature morning and night. You will notice her temperature range from 99.2 to 101.2. This is normal. Once her temperature drops to 98 you will know she will have her first puppy within 12 to 24 hours. Although this method is not 100% accurate, it has been 100% accurate for my females and our shih tzu females we bred in the past.
When taking your females temperature have your spouse hold her still from under so she can not sit on the thermometer. Use a digital thermometer and dip it in Vaseline, then slowly insert it into her rectum. It should slide in easy, if not, stop and try again.
How to breed your dog......delivery
How to deliver puppies is a whole separate article I will write soon. Make sure you have help and have the vet on call for any emergencies.
How to breed your dog, weighing the pups
We had to learn everything we now know by trial and error. It seemed like breeders did not want to give out and help or advice. We lost a couple puppies way back in the day, I am sure we could have saved, looking back. You need to make sure all puppies are eating. To do so, you need to weigh them twice a day. I got a food scale at Walmart, I still use today for the puppies. If you notice a puppy is not gaining weight, you need to step in by putting him on the nipple more often, make sure he is sucking and if need be, stepping in with formula. I have an article here on how to make puppy formula for a puppy struggling.
How to breed your dog, extra advice
The first day and night puppies are born is the time you are most likely to lose one or two. Your female is very tired from being up in labor and the delivery. Even dogs with C-sections need to be watched closely. They can easily lay on one and kill it. We have had that happen, trust me. Especially on large litters. Not to mention, with big litters Mom is less likely to keep track of all the puppies. One can squirm behind her and she may not notice.
Now, we plan on sleeping opposite hours, especially the first few days. Someone is always up with our female and the puppies. As I mentioned above, Madisons last litter did great, there were 4 and everyone gained weight like crazy. Jordin had 9 and I did nothing but help her from the day they were born.
How to breed your dog, parting words
I hope this article was helpful. I am planning on building this site to be of help to responsible owners who want all the information they can gather to breed their dog the best they can, with love heart and all the knowledge in the world. Anyone can tell you the hardest part for me is selling the puppies. I have tears in my eyes as each one leaves. I have learned that you as a breeder must be very picky as to who you sell your puppies to. Money should be secondary. Making sure the puppies go to a great home should be your utmost concern.
Is breeding your dog for everyone? Absolutely not. To do it right, you need to make sure this is your job. Everything else must be on hold when you have puppies. Plan on spending every second of the day dedicated to taking care of the puppies and their Mom. It is alot of work. But if you have a huge heart and a ton of love and patience and are ready to give 100% effort, it can be exciting and rewarding.
