What to know about becoming a breeder?

[EmmieAnne]

Hello all, I am relatively new to the forum and am looking for tips and advice. Since I was a kid I have been absolutely in love with German Shepherds. I have rescued several and now I think i might want to try being a breeder. We are a military family ( marine corps ) and this has always been a strong passion of mine and i'm finally in a position to be able to start. What should I know? What are the little expenditures that are not always obvious? I'm considering a few German Shepherd females right now, what should I look for in their papers? Thank you for your time

[onyx'girl]

Thank you for your families service in the military!
You've been involved in rescue, and you want to be a breeder??? Where are the ones you have rescued? Did you re-home them or were you involved in fostering?

If you are for real, then spend time in the breeder section, there are many, many threads on the subject.
Do you know anything about lines/genetics? I would be reading those forums too.
Then I would try to find a breeder who has the lines you are interested in and have
them mentor you for a year or two, maybe you could train a pup for them and help with their kennel duties.

[doggiedad]

don't buy a dog or dogs and start breeding because it's a passion.
learn about the different lines and types. learn about the GSD's. work
and study with breeders. learn what kind of dogs you want to produce.
what do want to breed, SL, WL, imports? study long and hard.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Wasn't someone writing a paper and Chris Wild gave a list of expenses?

[TaraM1285]

Jean, I think you are referring to this thread?

Question for breeders ( Sister in laws school project)

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by EmmieAnne

Hello all, I am relatively new to the forum and am looking for tips and advice. Since I was a kid I have been absolutely in love with German Shepherds. I have rescued several and now I think i might want to try being a breeder. We are a military family ( marine corps ) and this has always been a strong passion of mine and i'm finally in a position to be able to start. What should I know? What are the little expenditures that are not always obvious? I'm considering a few German Shepherd females right now, what should I look for in their papers? Thank you for your time

Make sure you have a chance to really study all the links in this thread...
Things to look for in a 'Responsible' Breeder there's WAY more to becoming a breeder than I would be able to do....

[selzer]

If you are getting this down to the little expenditures, you may want to rethink.

Breeding ALWAYS costs more than you think it will, no matter what. There are ways to cut corners, but it is a costly endeavor and will run you into the ground if you are on the bubble.

I think your best bet is to start by getting into areas related to breeding. Start with training and showing/trialing your dog.

Are the females adults or puppies?

Do not worry about a dog, you can pay for a stud fee, best match an excellent dog to your bitch, and come up on top at the end of the year by not paying for food, vet care, training, trialing, etc. for him.

If you are going for a puppy, know that they are a crap shoot. Best pedigrees, promising in the litter, may not have good hips or elbows, or may grow to large, or may not have good temperament, and you then have a bitch, and need to start another.

For an adult bitch, you will want to evaluate her, her temperament and conformation, any training done, is she a kennel raised dog, hip and elbow ratings, titles, etc., as well as pedigree.

And even then, once you have a started bitch, if that is the way you go, the best bet would be to get her into training of some sort and build a bond with her, while gaining the knowledge, of some dog venue, obedience, schutzhund, tracking, herding, agility... Something that gets you around the people who are very into dogs.

Join some breed clubs or training clubs and get to know real live people.

Another thought at this point, as you have rescued dogs before, consider rescuing a pregnant bitch. That will give you awesome experience, and working with the rescue to place the puppies will give you good experience screening people as well.

Good luck.

[HeidiW]

Great Idea Selzer!

[EmmieAnne]

Thank you everyone for your great tips thus far. To answer some of the general questions asked. No i'm not planning on jumping into this anytime soon, it's just a thought I have. I know I have a lot of studying and learning to do and would NEVER consider just winging it lol. I was involved in both resuce and fostering. I rescued a female who was pregnant from a relatives boyfriend that basically just chained the dog to a fence in the middle of Arizona summer ( it reached 118 that summer). The mom was to sick to nurse the puppies so I had to. 2 pups got parvo ( talk about an expensive vet bill) in the end I found all good loving homes with military people on our base so I knew they would be taken care of. One good thing about living on base is animal control is constantly breathing down everyone's neck. <~~ Sorry for my rant. Anyways, eventually this is something I would like to do in the next few years, but i'm considering buying a bitch in the next 6 months, their are a few options i'm throwing around. We will see what happens, I was mainly just hoping to get tips from people who do it, to see if it's something I want to do. Is their anyone on here that does it as a business, as far as opening an LLC etc.? If so can you give me your tips, how you started out.

[selzer]

First find the lines that are right for you. Then find the dogs in that line that you like.

Find what you want to train for first, what you want to do with sheps.

Then put your money into your bitch. Whether you buy a pup or an adult, buy it with the intention of breeding. Buy it from a line of animals who are health-screened and from people who train and work with their dogs. Buy it for its temperament and conformation, even if it is working and working lines that you want.

Good luck.