The Risks and Responsibilities of Breeding Your Dog: Why It's Not Always a Good Idea

There are definitely more reasons to not breed your dog than there are reasons to do it. Luckily, most people in today's world are well aware of this. But for the few who are not, and the many who are wondering, here are the top reasons to not breed your dog.

Your dog isn't a working or show dog. All breeds have to fit a conformation standard to show well. People telling you "that dog is a beautiful dog" isn't a testament to a dog's breed worthiness. A dog without a show title or rating that is adequate should not be bred.

If your dog is a working breed (like the German Shepherd Dog is), a working title or certification is also necessary. If a working dog can't pass these standards, they should not be bred.

Health testing is paramount in breeding dogs. A show-rated working champion with bad hips or elbows isn't a good candidate for breeding. So passing OFA/PennHIP scores are a necessary forethought before any dog should be bred, it's even better when you have 3+ generations of dysplasia free hips and elbows on both sides of a dog's pedigree. With other breeds, eyes, hearts, and other organs and structures may need testing as well. Any dog that hasn't had, or failed dysplasia testing, should not be bred.

Another good point of conversation is the obvious health risks posed to the dam (mother) during pregnancy and labor. Dogs sometimes require expensive treatment, surgery, and sometimes, they don't survive a pregnancy. You have to be okay with that risk and be prepared to pay for emergency c-sections, illness, procedures that are the result of complications, and the like.

You may also need a veterinarian to assist with the whelping process and to treat any puppies who may need it. But even if everything goes smoothly, whelping a litter, the vet visits and puppy vaccinations are probably more expensive than you think. You have to not only be prepared for what you expect to pay and the treatment you know you'll need. You also have to be prepared for things that you don't expect. And if you breed dogs long enough, you'll see and experience things and complications that will surprise you and break your heart.

Let’s say you've done all of the aforementioned things and now you have a beautiful, healthy litter of health tested German Shepherd puppies, whose parents are titled and shown with good results. You feed mom the best of foods, make sure mom and pups get the best medical care, and keep the whelping box spotless, all of which are things you should do. Now what? You find buyers. But who is looking for a puppy from you? Friends and family often say they want one, until they realize how much you have to ask for after the amount of money you've spent on training, titling, health testing, and showing the parents. At the very best, 1 or 2 comes through and actually commit. The average German Shepherd has 6 pups a litter. Who do you sell the other 4 to?

Do you put an ad in the paper? Go to Facebook (where selling animals is against their policy)? Or maybe some other website? Have you ever shipped a puppy by plane before, or hired a delivery-by-car service? Or will you limit the number of potential buyers by only selling face-to-face to someone local? Either way, you'll get dozens of calls, and a small fraction will actually be serious, and a quarter of the serious ones who put down deposits will change their mind and argue about getting their deposit back. But most importantly, when people who do their research and want a well-bred, healthy pup look into German Shepherd breeders, as a novice, your name won't pop up on online searches or in conversation.

Selling puppies is hard. Because most people buying dogs don't have a true need for a dog. It's what they want. It isn't like selling cattle where you can go to any auction and get a fair price because people need food. Most people don't compete in any sport with their dog. Most people don't herd sheep, do security or police work with their dogs either. For the vast majority of people who own a dog, including German Shepherds, their dog is simply a companion. A luxury item that makes their daily life more fulfilled. And that's fine. The point is that since most people don't need a dog, especially an expensive, large dog, that sheds a lot and needs a lot of exercise, training, and attention ... selling pups isn't as easy as you think. And there are a lot of people who would rather pay half as much for a poorly bred pup from a puppy mill than pay the prices that health-tested puppies from titled parents sell for.

And that brings up the final point. When puppies just don't sell, you still have an obligation and responsibility for those puppies. And trust me, it happens. I've seen it happen to several people. Some of whom actually bred great pups. They end up with 6-month-old puppies in the lanky, awkward teenage phase. Which makes them even harder to sell because they're not tiny, adorable puppies anymore. And you are legally responsible for them. To feed them, get them seen by a vet, groom them properly, house them properly, etc. People who can't sell puppies by this stage have lost way more money than they could've ever made. Their only hope is to start training them so prospective buyers will be attracted to the "well started in obedience, house broken" line.

In the end, breeding dogs is an emotional rollercoaster full of headaches and heartbreaks. And even if everything goes to plan, you still have puppies you created out there in the world and you will rarely get feedback on them and how they're doing. You won't know if they get resold, abandoned at a shelter, mistreated, etc. If you get a call from someone who purchased one of your puppies, it'll probably be them returning the puppy/dog to you for some excuse, or complaining about the most asinine things, or even worse, they may have a legitimate issue with the puppy's/dog's health. Two tested dogs can still produce puppies with bad hips or elbows, or a heart condition, etc. You'll be expected to refund them the price of the puppy. If you don't, good luck ever selling another after everyone finds out that you don't have or honor your health guarantees.

It really just isn't worth it unless you're seriously into the breed and really into working dogs in sport or showing them. You won't make much money if you're lucky, you might break even or lose money if there are complications. So if it isn't about money, because there won't be much, it only makes sense to breed if it's for the love of the breed and working the dogs regularly and/or showing dogs regularly and trying to better the breed.

We hope this helps out anyone thinking about breeding. We also hope this helps people thinking about buying a cheaper puppy from parents who don't meet the minimum requirements to be bred. Please leave a like and a share, friends! Thank you..

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