Breeding.

Mark Lee Howard

Hey thanks for all the advice everyone. But I just want to say, I absolutely LOVE my little pap, and I would never want to harm her or do anything bad for her. It's not like I'm entering into this lightly, and I'm not only fixated on breeding her. I was only asking out of curiosity how early paps could be bred. I am planning on sitting down with a breeder I know and discussing with her about the issue. I don't however think that I will lose money, or if I'm lucky- break even. If she has health problems during the pregnancy and so on.. That may come up. I will expect it to happen, but I'm not so sre that every litter ever born has not made money for the breeder. But, just so everyoe knows- this will be a plan that I will take time to consider. Lord willing, It will work out. Thanks again!

If money is the deciding factor either way, I would encourage you to reconsider.  Remember it's not just about the cost.  If the dog is not proven, then she should not be bred. 

 Also, make sure the breeder you're sitting down with is a REALY GOOD breeder.

Rascal, my little papillon, was from a decent breeder, but not a great one. There was no health testing done, the closest champion in his pedigree is something like 6 generations back or something equally ridiculous, and his parents were not shown/competed in any way, as far as I know. Now Rascal, to me, is a lovely dog. He closely resembles the breed standard, has lovely ear fringes and markings and such, and is very definitely a good pet-quality papillon. But his toes stick out funny, his nose isn't quite the right proportion, and, mostly importantly, he has a TERRIBLE temperament.

We have been working incredibly hard to get him to be more accepting of strangers, but no matter how much gentle training we do, Rascal is and always has been a very very nervous, "high strung" dog. Loud noises frighten him, people wearing strange clothes frighten him, and in his mind he is basically just living in a terrifying world. As a result, he's fear aggressive, has a bite history, and is generally just VERY difficult to deal with.

Looking at him and looking at his equally attractive family members you would think, "Hey, that must be a good breeder!" Not so. The sire was also high-strung, and one of the criteria for getting a puppy from this breeder was having the sire "accept you." Sorry, that just does not lead to offspring with a great temperament.

So, forgive me, but just because you know "a breeder" doesn't necessarily mean you know a GOOD breeder, so make sure to do some background checking!

IMO, the basic criteria you should look for in a breeder mentor:

1) actively involved with competing the breeding dogs (at least some conformation, agility, obedience, etc. are also great)

2) health testing done on ALL dogs before breeding them (luxating patellas, for example, can be common in the breed and very painful for the dogs)

3) very rigorous screening process for potential puppy buyers

4) "lifetime guarantee" that any dog they breed can be returned at any time, for any reason (in other words: none of their dogs ever end up at the shelters)

5) breeds only a few litters per year (no "puppy milling" - 1 litter a year, or every few years, is not at all uncommon)