When I started researching breeders years ago, my goal was to find a breeder with no more than one or two litters a year, kept and raised inside a house with a family. When I narrowed the search as the time to get a new dog got closer, the small breeders I found didn't have any available puppies. If they had a litter, they were presold. One breeder said her dogs were promised two years in advance.
So I expanded my range and found some very well respected breeders have as many as 200 puppies a year. I would have called that a puppy mill, except other than quantity, they did everything else right, even down to whelping and keeping litters indoors.
I also noticed that people who say in theory that small breeders are best, tend to also write them off as "hobby breeders" or BYBs.
I found one breeder whose dogs I liked but based on watching the website for a few years, and seeing as many as 5 litters listed at one time every two months, that would be 30 litters a year. Then I noticed the breeder started hiding litters. There would be a notice of an upcoming litter but as soon as puppies were born or just before, the pictures disappeared.
Then I visited a breeder who people said had too many puppies, and after questioning closely, found that this breeder has maybe 10 litters a year at the most, but that not all planned breedings take and not all litters are huge. This breeder also keeps most dogs after they are retired by age 5, which is why visitors see a lot of adult female dogs. If a dog is very good at dog sports, IPO, or similar and should go to a working home, then the breeder lets the dog go, but is very picky about where they end up.
This is getting long. My question is, how many litters a year can a breeder comfortably handle and how important should that be when selecting a kennel? I'm not in the market for a new dog, but I am still researching for the next one.
So I expanded my range and found some very well respected breeders have as many as 200 puppies a year. I would have called that a puppy mill, except other than quantity, they did everything else right, even down to whelping and keeping litters indoors.
I also noticed that people who say in theory that small breeders are best, tend to also write them off as "hobby breeders" or BYBs.
I found one breeder whose dogs I liked but based on watching the website for a few years, and seeing as many as 5 litters listed at one time every two months, that would be 30 litters a year. Then I noticed the breeder started hiding litters. There would be a notice of an upcoming litter but as soon as puppies were born or just before, the pictures disappeared.
Then I visited a breeder who people said had too many puppies, and after questioning closely, found that this breeder has maybe 10 litters a year at the most, but that not all planned breedings take and not all litters are huge. This breeder also keeps most dogs after they are retired by age 5, which is why visitors see a lot of adult female dogs. If a dog is very good at dog sports, IPO, or similar and should go to a working home, then the breeder lets the dog go, but is very picky about where they end up.
This is getting long. My question is, how many litters a year can a breeder comfortably handle and how important should that be when selecting a kennel? I'm not in the market for a new dog, but I am still researching for the next one.