dog breeding

[weldingscotty803]

i've got a 4 year old black lab which is in season at the minute. ive wanted to breed her for a while now but finding a dog is a bit harder than i thought. plus i am in two minds wheter or not to breed her. will it ruin her as a working dog?
she was checked over at her last visit to the vets for her jabs and i asked him the same question about breeding her. to which he replied " if my dog wasnt already done i'd quite hapily put them together" she's got good hip scores and eyes. very clever dog, works very well. she's very lean and muscular.
whats other peoples thoughts. i havent bred dogs before which is a bit of a problem. but ive been reading quite abit on the basics etc just to get a rough idea of whats involved.
i dont want replies like "dont bother if you've never bred a dog before as you'll be like all the other ####ty owners who are just in it for a few quid. "
its going to be a one off, i'm not in it for the money, i want a dog that will be a working dog. but i still want it to be good round the family like Tiz is. plus i am hoping it might learn easier watching its mum.

would i just be better off getting her speyed and getting a pup from somebody i dont know and hoping i get a good dog? or getting a (hopefully) good dog from my bitch?

any breeders or owners in the area feel free to contact me with details etc.

thanks again
scott

 

[scarecrow]

don't be an idiot of course you should breed her it's your best chance of finding her characteristics again but no two dogs are the same I lost my border collie breeding line this year with the death of old jenny who never went in pup and her mother only had one litter a breeding line that I have had for over 25 years with some great dog's some not so good but all were characters
a sad day wish you luck with your search

 

[weldingscotty803]

thanks scarecrow, need all the luck i can get i think

 

[Debs.]

Breeding from a beloved bitch is one of life`s true delights......she`ll show you what devotion and self-knowledge is all about when her little charges arrive.

I`m a sheepdog/Border Collie person myself; but there`s a famous Lab. breeder (and Crufts judge) local to me, whom has some handsome and well regarded Sires standing at stud.

Oakhouse Kennels (dogs at stud):
http://www.oakhouselabradors.co.uk/Dogs%20at%20Stud.htm

 

[mr mac]

we used to breed rough collies and to see the bitch care for the pups was a true delight.... we still have 2 of her last litter and wot great dogs they are. i would defo recommend breeding her but there is a fair bit involved with kennel club and registering them to be proper pedigrees

ian

 

[Bobtail4x4]

I bred from my spaniel 14 months ago,

she had 5 lost one ended up with 4, I decided to keep 2,

one of them is the incarnation of her mother,
I would say find a stud dog you like and go for it.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

If you have not investigated the pro's and cons do so . Breeding your own replacements is fairly sound practice as you know the traits of at least one side of the family.

If you are from a shooting community you don't really need to bother with all the pedigree crap as a heck of a lot is poor quality line bred and falsified records to make up a good sale price for unwise punters. Pure bred dogs bred to pure bred dogs tend to be highly strung even more so if too closely related and you get lots of unwanted traits as well ,the mongrel vitality gets bred out .

If you are known as a good dog owner and quality breeder of working dogs people will seek you out once you let it be known the bitch is mated and give an approximate due date. Look for a stud dog from your shooting mates, for again you can get real feed back as to the quality of the stud not some KC winner stuff.


I was banned from several so called pedigree working dog trials for our bitch golden retriever was wiping the floor with all comers but was never ever registered with the KC . She was pure working gundog strain and had a very7 varied lineage .
We paid £800 for our bitch back in 1995 and she was worth every single penny which at the time was well above the KC prices .