Breeding for the money, what are the cons?

[Lavenderteal271]

A friend of mine is going to breed from her cockapoo. She's just had her second season and they're planning on mating her during her next. Tell me why it's a bad idea please.

*she's just had her first season

Because of all the unwanted dogs euthanised every year

have they got both dogs properly checked out.....hip scores..etc etc??

Because the shelters are already full of unwanted dogs.
Because they almost certainly won’t have health tested them meaning more dogs with potentially severe health issues.
Because it does nothing for the benefit of their pet, and can put her at harm and even risk her life.
Because backyard breeders using their pets for profit, while knowing nothing about it, is in my opinion, morally disgusting.

We have never done this with any of our dogs as we keep them as pets and wouldn't want to risk the dogs life, but I do understand some people want the money some just want to breed them. You do have to consider what do you do if any are left, ill etc. I dont feel its as easy as it sounds but really I would discuss with a couple of existing breeders as good advice is what your friend really needs

A breeder once said to me that breeding, when done right, should not result in profit but in enhancement of the breed.

Hoping this is a goady troll thread.
But in case.
Health tests?
Knowledge to choose best sire and see mum safely through pregnancy and birth.
Commitment to raising properly rounded puppies. (It’s a big job). And taking puppies back if things don’t work out.
So many reasons.

Why would it be a goady troll thread? I want to be well informed for when I next see her. Shes currently not listening to me but I'm not very well educated on the subject.

Thanks for all the informative replies.

In fairness to your friend, people who are wanting to buy a cockapoo puppy probably wouldn't be in the market for the sorts of dogs that get euthanized anyway. Some people just want a straightforward family pet with no issues, and that's ok.

However, although I do think there's a place for people who breed cockapoos etc, it should be done properly. That means having the appropriate health tests done for mum and dad; selecting a male dog whose traits complement the female's; ensuring that mum gets the necessary vet care throughout pregnancy, especially around the time of delivery; and that the pups are carefully looked after and socialised during their first couple of months before they go to their new homes. All of these things require a lot of time and/or money. Done properly, breeding dogs doesn't actually turn over much of a profit. It's more something that is done for love rather than money.

If it is done purely for money, as cheaply as possible, she's likely to produce unhealthy pups that make poor pets (and may be given up to rescue or euthanized at a young age) and she might even lose the mother dog if things go really wrong.

Because the outlay of breeding is a long way before the profit. Theres no guarantees of the number of pups thus what the income will be

I work in a rescue and we often get people asking to hand over pregnant dogs as they havent got the funds to support through pregnancy as are relying on pup money. Other than things like helping boxes etc Mum will need checks, possible medical care, pups will need microchips, vaccines and health checks well before you see any money from their sale.

Theres no guarantee your dog wont need things like an emergency c section out of hours etc or the pups wont need their own vet care. Just like humans theres no way of knowing if your dog will have a care free delivery and the costs add into the thousands quickly for emergency surgeries

Our latest mumma was handed in after she had a c-section, she then got an infection and needed post op care, she had 4 puppies, 1 died, 1 needed vet care. After all the vet Bill's, cost of micorchipping etc the owner was left in a significant amount of debt.

They told us that she was lucky she had 3, because if it had been 2 then they would have put number 3 to sleep as they wouldnt of had the money to pay the puppies vet Bill's.

There are a lot of cons which other people have mentioned. But the other thing to consider is have they budgeted for something going wrong? Someone I know thought they’d have a go at breeding for money. Their dog needed an emergency c-section out of hours, which cost around £1500, and only one puppy survived. They didn’t even break even.

Most pet policies do not cover pregnancy and whelping.

Does she have the money readily available to pay for the required health tests before selecting a stud dog (who should also be fully screened)? Is her vet even carrying out the healthbscreens (there is still disruption to non-acute procedures)? Would she be able to pay for a c-section?

She will be out of pocket if the litter is small, sickly or stillborn. Her dog might have health complications and temperament might change.

Has she read up on care of newborn litters, and the requirements for sale (microchipping, contract of sale, jabs)? What are her plans for early socialisation? How will she find buyers and how will she assess their suitability? Good breeders offer lifetime support - what would she do if a puppy was returned?

Make sure that vet fees, jab fees, equipment, mums health costs and health tests, micro chipping, food costs etc are accounted for it's not cheap.

Costs for stud for example often can request a puppy which could be a 1/4 of your income regardless of if you break even!

It's much harder work than people anticipate

And if their bitch dies?
One breeder I know was experienced but still lucky not to lose the bitch. No live puppies. Just a bloody great vet bill.
TBH I couldn’t be friends who saw their pet as a way of making money like that.

horrendous hard work. could have emergency c section and massive vet bill. we had 7 live springer spaniel puppies (1 died at birth) and caring for them for 8 weeks was incredibly hard work. finding homes that were suitable was heart wrenching. feeding, cleaning, worming the puppies was expensive and time consuming. kennel club registration.

To me, besides the health tests and other obvious reasons your friend should be able to provide the following:

•A clean & quiet area for giving birth and keeping puppies.

• Having someone to mentor her through pregnancy, birth and beyond
• respect feeding and rest time for mum and puppies.

• puppies need exercise as well as targeted stimulation from around 3-4 weeks onwards.

• understanding that puppies are not just cute, but they poo & wee everywhere - it's a lot of cleaning (and puppy poo stinks!)
• Mum needs a 5* diet throughout pregnancy and beyond.
• puppies are "land sharks" a litter of puppies is a bunch of bity predators, they still need all the care and handling, it's just times 5/6/7.
• raising a litter is time-consuming and expensive (food, toys, bedding, cleaning products, washing...)
• don't forget that mum still needs to be the apple of your eye!

One person I know lost the dog on the table and all eight puppies died. Another has the puppies fine. But had lots of medical complications after. The vet bills on both were enormous.

I hope they are prepared to the fact they could loose the dog the puppies and a ton of money.

I did a litter a few years ago
My Dog needed a c section
She wouldn’t then feed the puppies
So my husband had to bottle feed 8 puppies every few hours - I have seen bettter looking corpse than what my husband looked like over those few weeks
We kept the runt of the litter as we didn’t feel he would get a good home as he was tiny compared to the other puppies he is an absolutely lovely dog and a credit to his mum and dad - we have both 😂and to my husband for keeping him alive .
They all went to excellent homes and we have a Facebook page where we stay in touch with the owners.
One owner named the dog after my husband 😂

Overall we made money but we would never ever do it again and would advise any one else not to either
It’s hard work both emotionally and physically and you can end up with a huge vet bill
Ours was close to £2000 for xrays Csection and aftercare

It’s not good for a dog to keep on having puppies it will take it’s toll on her. It’s very irresponsible to keep breeding more dogs when all the rescue centres are full up of dogs needing homes. I wish the government would ban all breeding till the rescue centres were empty ! And breeding for money is sick

The biggest con IMO is the risk that your pet could die or have her personality changed. You could have huge vet bills if things go wrong.
If you have any decency you will feel responsible for the puppies for life, which includes taking one back at any time.

Your friend will make money though, and have no problem selling the pups. For most people that's good enough.

She's a fool.

I've nothing to add beyond what other posters have said in terms of all the good reasons not to do this.

It's utterly irresponsible on so many levels and if she was my friend she wouldn't be for long if she went ahead with this.

The ethics for starters..

Because many people are getting dogs on a whim. Before long probably March people will have to go back to work and the refuges will be full of unwanted dogs.

As well as the other very good reasons above - she would need to tell HMRC and fill out a self assessment tax return for the sale of any puppies. Because she’ll probably charge 1k plus per pup. If she’s on any benefits this could effect them.

Also, her dog could die and she would have no pups, no dog, maybe just a vets bill.

I imagine that like the housing market, the puppy market will have collapsed by the time hers are ready to be sold. If anyone was even thinking of getting one, they'll have got it by now.

As others have said, vet bills can wipe out all your profit, and you can lose the bitch and the puppies.

And this is without going into the ethics of it...

Oh another point - apparently lots of breeders are struggling to socialise their puppies properly. Normally you'd try to introduce them to different people - men, women, kids etc - you might not be able to do that in lockdown.