First time breeder

[heckler]

I have a well bred ess which I am considering having a litter from.
Bearing in mind that both myself and my wife work full time how practical is is it?

How much time would I need to spend with the pups/mum?

We both work about 15 minutes from home and we could take some holidays and I could work flexi time and/or from home occasionally.
Mum & pups could be in the boot room or kennels outside.

Not sure if its a non starter or not.

Thanks

[Contender]

I'm fortunate as I work from home (gundog trainer/instructor) so whenever I breed a litter of puppies, I pretty much fit everything around the litter for 8-9 weeks. Not everyone can do this so I'd recommend that you try and get some time off when the puppies are 5/6-8 weeks old as this is where they'll be keeping you very busy! You will also need to feed them 4 times/day once weaned off (around 3-4 weeks) so you'd need to pop home at lunch to do that. You really would need to spend some time with them for the last couple of weeks as they would need to be able to be outside and explore plus just follow you around and see the little world at home.

Also note that you may have to be around when she's getting near her due date and also the first couple of days after whelping as you're never quite sure about how some bitches are going be like with the newborn puppies - would be a real shame to loose them.

Natasha

[Tungulria]

Agree with Natasha in terms of what sort of time you'll need to spend with pups.
I work full time and worked about the same 15 mins from home last year when we had our last litter. Despite having a partner at the time; he was the non starter so i had sole responsibility for mum and pups. Suited me. That aside.
i have a fairly flexible boss so around due date I warned that I would be taking a couple of days off once labour started.
Luckily for me she had them friday morning so I was back at work on the Tuesday post the docking appt on the Monday knowing that all was well (this was her second litter) .
I then from 3 weeks started weaning. I popped back at lunch to feed every day and also enlisted the help of a neighbour / friend who was on maternity leave to pop in mid afternoon for the 3rd feed. This cost me her petrol money and some babysitting as a thank you but so worth it. I also took the opportunity when ever possible to work from home.
At 5 weeks I took a week to work from home. this was also good as meant people who were buying had plenty of opportunity to visit their pups.
I then took off adhoc days for a few weeks - mostly long weekends. My friend would usually spend a good 2-3 hours solid with them every afternoon and then we had the light evenings to really play with them and get all the neighbours kids round to socialise the pups. It is doable. It is hard work. It can be so worth it if all goes to plan and there are no complications.

[Sgurr]

Hi Heckler,
I see that you are located in North Scotland so I suggest that the first thing you give thought to is the docking issue. You will either have to abide by the law and pups are not docked or you will have to transport the bitch to England to whelp and get docked pups. I remember Rothievale saying (I think it was on here) that she had to wait until until her litter was eight weeks old to transport pups back to Scotland - but check with her on that point. I breed in Scotland so my pups are not docked.

Next you need to think about how many pups the bitch is likely to have - friend of mine in Holland had a litter this year from a maiden bitch and there were 14 healthy puppies and they were on a supplementary feeding schedule from birth. While it is good to have a litter to keep a pup or two, the others need good homes and most shooting/trialling people want docked dogs, no matter how good the breeding of the bitch.

And because it's me, I'll also throw in you should consider health testing your bitch - outlay for hips, elbows, BVA Eyetest and Gonioscopy plus 3 DNA tests will come in the region of £600 plus time and transport costs. Also, a good stud, preferably health tested, £250 - £400 in stud fees. I'd also recommend vaccination against Canine Herpes to reduce the risk of Fading Puppy Syndrome - about £100.

If things go wrong, then you may be looking at an emergency C section and I try to make sure I've always got £2000 secure for veterinary emergencies even though I have breeding insurance on my two girls. Worst case scenario of course it that you might lose your bitch and the litter.

I am not saying do not breed, I am saying think long and hard before you come to a decision whether you will breed or not. Wishing you all the best,

Sgurr

[Penwithian]

Hi. Good points made by Sgurr. If everything goes well and the bitch is doing most of the work in the early stages your'e home and dry, but when something goes wrong it can be a different story!
A few years ago my Springer bitch had a litter of 15...long labour and an emergency c section, resulting in 12 live pups and a very tired and shell shocked mum! I used supplementary feed to help her out for the first week or so, which took up loads of my time. I also had a little pup that I spent a lot of time on, making sure she had good feeds. Also had to rotate the pups and make sure they all had a fair share, as the big ones would hog the best teats..not enough teats to go around!
Luckily for me, I was able to be at home most of the time, and managed to work from home in between looking after the pups, they really were a full time job! Thankfully they all thrived (even the runt), but I will say it was a bit stressful to start with - wondering if they would all survive, and then there was the clearing up after them...boy 12 pups all messing at the same time was hard work!
Think carefully before making your decision! While it can be a fabulous experience, it can end up swallowing a whole load more of the your time than you had planned for!

[Sgurr]

Could not resit it! You have to scroll down a bit to get to the video.
http://justmansbestfriendforlife.com/th ... prising/2/

[Sgurr]

Is there any point posting when the OP does not respond after a few days?

[Bogtrotter]

Bearing in mind that both myself and my wife work full time how practical is is it?

In my opinion .. It is not practical (or responsible.) Even if you work close to home you cannot know what is going on while you are away. As said by others, depending on circumstances it can be literally a full-time job rearing a litter, you cannot depend upon "everything being fine".

Fiona

[Cass]

Is there any point posting when the OP does not respond after a few days?

Well seeing as they work full time and probably have a life, perhaps checking an online forum daily isn't at the top of their priority list....

[Springfield Pointers]

Some valid points made. May I ask why you want to breed the dog?