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Comment by Stephanie Russcher on December 22, 2009 at 1:38am

Thanks a bunch Joanna.

Comment by Joanna Kimball on December 22, 2009 at 1:09am

Here are the two books you MUST read:
http://www.amazon.com/Breeders-Successful-Breeding-Health-Managemen...

and

http://www.amazon.com/Canine-Reproduction-Whelping-Breeders-Guide/d...

Those will answer your questions about how to breed and whelp a litter.

The short-answer instructions are these:

Your bitch will be receptive to a male in about seven to ten days. You will know she is ready because she will stand still and "flag" (move her tail over) when he mounts her.

You need two people for this. You will need to have her front held securely by someone and you will need to be behind her. When he mounts, you need to guide him in so he can penetrate. She will likely scream and try to jump forward. If the person holding her lets go, when she jumps she can rip the base of his penis and he will dump two or three cups of blood on your floor. Yes, this is from personal experience.

During the tie, which is 20-30 minutes, she may keep on screaming the whole time. Many do, especially when you haven't had the vet check them for strictures before breeding. The male CANNOT move during this time, so you will have to hold them both very firmly.

He will finally let go, and they will both dump leftover semen on your floor.

Put her in a crate and then make sure his penis goes back to normal. If it does not withdraw into the sheath it can lose blood supply, die, and rot off. You may need to rub saline solution and k-y all over him to make sure it goes back in.

If he cannot penetrate and make a tie on his own, you will have to masturbate him into a plastic baggie and then use a syringe and a pipette to deposit the semen into her. The pipette should be ten inches long and you know you're in deep enough when you've hit the half-way mark. It's going to feel like you're in her kidneys. Be careful, because if you push too hard you can perforate her vaginal wall and she'll die of infection.

OK, now we're up to day 1. Sixty-three to go. Still sound fun? If you're running away and shuddering, trust me that today was the easy day. You've got pregnancy, possible miscarriage, resorbed puppies that mummify inside the uterus (and are born as gluey husks that are still recognizable as puppies), the danger of a uterine infection that will kill all the puppies and the mom, whelping, which usually takes 12 hours and involves the bitch dripping a dark green fluid that permanently stains everything it touches, stillborn puppies, no sleep for two weeks, weighing twice daily, tube feeding, the danger of herpes, maintaining a constant temperature, obtaining a tank of oxygen in case the babies go south, $1000 set aside for an emergency c-section to get dead puppies out of a mom who is going into shock, raising them INSIDE until they are eight to ten weeks old, and then finding them homes.

Inevitably, at least one person will return a puppy when it is about nine months old because it's biting everything that moves. You will then have to either keep the biting puppy for the rest of its life or have it euthanized. You will also be on the hook when your puppy buyers end up with hip dysplasia, epilepsy, degenerative myelopathy, allergies, dirty ears, strange yodeling noises, long nails, digging problems, or the puppy poops on the bed every day. Every time the phone rings your stomach will drop because you know it could be someone calling because Poopsie has cancer and what should they do now.

I'm not trying to make this more scary than it is and I'm not trying to exaggerate. Every single one of those things has happened to me, PERSONALLY, to puppies I have held in my hands. Breeding is an amazing experience and a wonderful, life-changing commitment, but it is HARD and it is DIRTY and it is heartbreaking and it is extremely gross and you DO NOT end up with a puppy who is just like mom, any more than you'd end up having a child identical to you. You are just as likely to end up with puppies who are giant disastrous aggression problems as you are to end up with perfect puppies, and then what do you do? Tell the owners to just have them put down?

Once you've answered HOW to breed, you have to answer WHETHER to breed. And that comes down to your commitment to your dog and your commitment to her puppies and your commitment to your puppy buyers.

Your commitment to your dog: You need to have her hips x-rayed because it would be very painful for her to carry a pregnancy on bad hips, and the weight of a pregnancy would accelerate degenerative bone changes in unhealthy joints. Even if you don't believe that hip dysplasia is inherited, you have to know if your own bitch has it so you don't put her in pain.

You need to make sure her pregnancy and whelping are safe. That means food, vet care, c-section if necessary, etc.

Your commitment to her puppies: You need to make sure they will live long and healthy lives. That means you need to understand enough about structure to know whether they have shoulders that can carry them up on the couch when they're twelve or rear legs that can still do agility at ten. If you don't keep this in mind, someday you're going to get a letter from someone that says "We love Roscoe so much, but unfortunately he really can't walk with us anymore; the vet says his knees are a real mess." That, my friend, would be YOUR FAULT. There are going to be some tragic stories no matter how careful you are, but you'll have some comfort if you know that you knew what you were doing and did your absolute best to keep those terrible things from happening. You aren't allowed to lie to yourself and say that it's not your responsibility.

Your commitment to her puppy buyers: You're going to be the person they come to whenever they have a problem or a crisis. Do you know enough about dogs, about behavior, about training, about conformation, to answer their questions? If one calls and says "I'd like Minnie to start agility this month; can she?" are you going to be able to talk about how to make that decision? Is Minnie even sound enough, structurally, to do agility? Or will she tear the cartilage in her elbows when she lands off the pause table because her elbows stand off her body instead of supporting it? How about when one calls and says "Moe is growling every time my cousin comes over. Should I smack his mouth when he does that?" You may know enough to say no, but do you know how to help them distinguish between a dog who is afraid and a dog who is protective? if you choose wrong and treat the one, you're going to make the other worse.

Breeding is a great thing. We need more people who breed well. We honestly do. But we are GLUTTED with people who breed badly, whose dogs and puppies survive in spite of them instead of because of them, and the shelters are full of their dogs or their dogs' puppies or grandpuppies.

If you're going to do it, you have to do it right, and if you can answer ALL of the above questions and are prepared to do ALL of the stuff above, then you're ready to start. But you can't skip any of them, and you need to be ready for many, many more. If you are, welcome to the club. It's a great place to be.

Comment by Beth on December 21, 2009 at 10:40pm

Let me relay a quick story.

Growing up, I had gerbils from the time I was about 4 or 5. When I was around 12 or so, I decided I wanted to breed a litter or two of gerbils. My parents, long since used to my animal craziness, agreed. I read everything I could and it all seemed pretty straight forward.

I went to a petstore and explained I wanted two unrelated gerbils to breed. I brought them home, and the male and female hated each other and wouldn't stop fighting. I tried the usual tricks to get them used to each other, but no go. So I took back the male and got another one, explaining it was a breeding replacement for the first. These two liked each other and nature took its course. A few weeks later I had a litter of gerbils in a cage. So cute!

One of them was born with three legs and a stump, and a short time later the stump shriveled and fell off and she only had one front limb. I separated her out and named her Trixie and kept her, figuring it was a birth defect. Mom and dad did a good job raising the litter, I placed the babies, nature took its course again....

And a few weeks later I had an entire litter of about 8 gerbils, this time virtually all of them with only 3 legs. To this day I have no idea what kind of crazy genetic mutation they suffered from. Needless to say they could not be placed.

I lacked the facilities to keep them all properly. I separated out the males from the females (Trixie had her own cage since she was too old to reintroduce to the others). I had a single gerbil in a small cage, and a tank full of males and tank full of females. More males than females.

One night, the kids got a little restless as happens with over-crowding and they ate Dad Gerbil.

*sigh* That was my one and only foray into animal husbandry. Anyway, its a totally true story and just a small example of how badly things can turn out. So do your research well and choose wisely. Good luck!

Comment by Jane Christensen on December 21, 2009 at 10:20pm

Stephanie,

Bella was 2.

Comment by Stephanie Russcher on December 21, 2009 at 10:01pm

I also emailed Lucky's breeder. I asked her questions.

Comment by Beth on December 21, 2009 at 9:58pm

A google search on "dog breeding" yields over 2 million hits. One on "dog whelping" yields 1.5 million hits.

If I were to ever consider breeding at some later date, I would first read some thorough vet-type books on dog reproduction and health, and I would then partner up with an experienced breeder who could handle my panicked late-night phone calls and help me choose a breeding-quality pup to raise and help me assess her once she was an adult to verify she had matured into a breeding-quality adult.

Usually before people breed themselves they have spent a fair amount of time around people who are already breeding and know the ins and outs. I'm not trying to be harsh, but that's the reality of people who are successful. The whole thing can be heart-breaking. The breeder we used has been working with Corgis for 30 years. She has lost a whole litter to disease early on. A litter she had around the same time Jack's litter was born had to be hand-nursed because that was the mom who required the spay and she could not nurse them. Hand-nursing involves getting up every 3 hours or so to feed and tend to puppies. It can be expensive and exhausting and if you lack experience you can miss early signs of conditions that are fatal to mom, pups, or both.

Comment by Kelly & Laura on December 21, 2009 at 9:56pm

Please DO NOT forget the risks breeding two dogs that may lead to serious health concerns and temperament problems. Medical histories through both bloodlines is extremely important. Degenerative myelopathy score for either? Von Willebrand's disease in the blood line? One of the MANY eye problems corgis have? Hip dysplasia?

I recently lost my Pembroke at 3 years old due to a breeder that knew nothing about the proper procedures. PLEASE don't make the same mistake and put someone in that situation. I would hope you got your corgi from a reputable breeder, but I am thinking no because you did not have to sign a limited registration/ spay-neuter agreement. I am very passionate about this because I still remember the pain of losing a dog to early in his life.

Comment by Stephanie Russcher on December 21, 2009 at 9:48pm

Thanks Jane. I think it would be a great commitment. How old was your dog when she had pups?

Comment by Jane Christensen on December 21, 2009 at 9:43pm

I have to agree with Beth and DaBear.It took me 4 years before I started breeding. There is plenty of information out there in books.

How old is you female? Do you have a stud lined up? Have you thought of what you will do and where you will have her when she has pups?What if she needs a c section? Are you willing to stay up with her all night when she goes into labor (I slept on the bathroom floor) Having a litter of pups is like another full time job if you are serious,as after the birth you will be raising several pups for over 2 months. Are you ready to socialize them,clean up after them(wash the floor 2 x's a day) laundry 1-2 x's a day, vet visits,shots just to name a few. Are you willing to make a commitment to these pups? Forever? My 1st female I got I spayed as she did not have the traits that I wanted to pass on.

I do not believe you are abusing your dog in any way but I do want you to realize that the commitment is great!

Comment by Stephanie Russcher on December 21, 2009 at 9:42pm

I posted this blog here to get information first. I would not breed without getting information and studying about a possibility of breeding. Thank you for giving me some information so far. I would appreciate if any one knows of any more information that I can have.

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