Of Hearts and Hounds: Breeding Process

Christy walks through the dog-breeding process from start to finish, covering how to choose breeding dogs, health testing, timing, natural breeding and AI, pregnancy confirmation, and whelping.

She shares real-life experiences raising mini golden doodles and cavapoos, the hard parts and the joys, and stresses the importance of mentorship, responsible practices, and considering rescue.

Transcript

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Welcome everyone to O Hearts and Hounds. I'm so glad you are here. If you are near, new here, my name is Christy, and I will be talking about dog breeding. This episode is about the dog breeding process from start to finish. I will cover everything from the easy parts to the hard parts, from the exciting parts to the stressful parts. So no matter if you are a beginner breeder or thinking about breeding or even curious, then this is for you. I bred doodles, so that is what I will mainly talk about on this episode. But purebred breeders, this applies to you as well. Okay, so let's get going. If you are now if you are new here, I suggest you go back and listen to the first episode and listen to them in order. That way you will not feel lost in some of the things I discuss here. I bred miniature golden doodles and cava poos. I had twelve cavapoo puppies born from three month from three different mothers and five miniature golden doodles from the one golden doodle miniature golden doodle I had. My last letter went home in December of 2022 and I did this for five or more years. I would not trade doing that for anything. It was the best thing I ever did. Yes, I had some stressful and hard times and a lot of cleaning, but it was well worth it. I loved every single part of it, from the breeding itself to watching these tiny puppies come into the world, watching them grow and develop, getting to hold them and play with them every day, and then getting to see them go to their forever homes and watching the joy on the people's faces. So when I talk about the breeding process today, I'm talking about something I lived, not just something I read about. And I want to give you the full picture, the honest one, not just the pretty parts. As the sound of music song goes, let's start at the very beginning. And also, like the song says, it's a very good place to start. The beginning is picking out your breeding dog or dogs. This depends on your on you on what you want. To have do you want both females, both a female and a male, or do you want just the female? So many breeders so many breeders have picked the wrong dogs and have been highly disappointed. But of course, they still love that puppy. So if you listened to that to the last episode, you know that we talked about picking out your breeding dog or dogs. Well this will be a little bit of a reminder of what we talked about. When picking out your breeding dog or dogs, what does it look like to do to what does it look like to do that? First, breed. So what are the characteristics, traits, size, coloring, and more are you looking for? You also need to know how much maintenance you want in that breed. So as you are considering which breed your doodle your doodle you want to breed, you need to do some research. As I said in the last episode, I suggest talking to a mentor and even going to a dog show. Dog shows are also helpful for doodle breeders as well, because you can ask questions about the two different breeds you will be using in the doodle program. Second is health. As I said in the last episode, health is definitely something you shouldn't ignore. Knowing their DNA and getting an OFA done is very important. I did both with my breeding dogs and found that to be very helpful. And the people who got a puppy from me, that is what they were looking for. They want to know that the puppy they get are coming from healthy parents. Third, temperament. You could be looking at the cutest and most adorable puppy. But if good temperament is not there, you are bringing puppies that will go to forever homes and the families will not be happy. How the parent dog is will reflect what the puppy will be like. So take time to watch the puppy you are getting for your breeding process. I also suggest bringing a mentor along to help with spotting anything you wouldn't want in your breeding program. Remember, a fearful parent can pass that fearfulness down to their puppies. And fourth, education and mentorship. This is one this is this one you don't want to miss. I will talk about this more later, but for now I will tell you that I had a few mentors and so gl and I am so glad I did. I couldn't have had success if I hadn't had them. The same for the education I got. Getting the foundation right, choosing the right dog from the start, that set the tone for everything that comes after. Alright, let's walk through what act what the actual breeding process looks like once you have your dogs. Step one is timing. And what I am talking about here is your female coming into heat. Remember, you want to start breeding once she is on her second heat or she is two years old. So as you are looking for the female, ask yourself, when do I want to start breeding? You have to put in the consideration of her age. For the male dog, they are ready to breed at six months. They mature much faster than the female. Another part of timing is the progesterone test, where your veterinarian can test your female to see if she is ready to breed. So with my dogs, I had three females and one male. I didn't have to do the progesterone test on two of my dogs because they were not related to my male dog and I was able to do the natural breeding with them. Now my one female was the male was my male dog's daughter, so I would take her to my mentor's house to breed her. I did the progesterone with that one because I needed to know when the right time would be to take her to my mentor's house. That way I didn't have to do a lot of trips. I knew exactly when to go. I also listened to my veterinarian about what she suggested on days and everything in the breeding process. Now with my two other females that were not related to my male dog, I just let them breed every time they wanted to. So that is why I didn't need the progesterone test done. I got the male first, which you can you don't have to do. My male was a miniature poodle. I then got my female a cavalier char a cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I then waited till the right time to breed her on her second heat and when she was two years old with my male. That is the one time thing I wish I had known when I started my breeding program, and that is that I should have gotten the female first, then about one year later get the male. But everyone is different and things still worked out fine. So I suggest doing what you and your mentor thin is best. Step two is the breeding itself. You can breed naturally or you can do AI. The best the best and easy way is the natural way, but sometimes you just can't do that. I will talk about more I will talk below about how I did this with my dogs, since I did both ways. I will tell you that AI can be tricky, so it is best to learn from your veterinarian or an experienced mentor or breeder. So with my first female, Sophie, she's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, I was able to breed her naturally with Bentley, my miniature poodle. As soon as she came into heat, I could tell that Bentley was showing interest, and I let them go into my fenced in backyard and breed. I also carried a diaper with me out there so that as soon as they unhooked, I would place the diaper right on right back on Sophie. This way I kept everything still inside of her. I would do this every day and maybe several times a day until Bentley started showing no interest or I could tell she was slowing down. I also did this with my other dog, Piper, and she's a miniature golden doodle. Now with my Kava Pooh, who is Sophie and Bentley's puppy, Gracie, when she turned two years old and had her second heat, I had to take her to my mentor's house to breed. There were a few times that I that she wouldn't be able to breed that with that male. So my mentor did the AI. Step three is pregnancy confirmation. Around 25 to 30 days after the first day your dogs breed, your vet can do an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy. Later in the pregnancy, around the 50 around day 55 or so, an x-ray can give you a puppy count, which helps you know what to expect at whelping. Having this information was very helpful to me. Another thing to look for if your female is pregnant is if her nipples have gotten bigger. Now, when it comes to finding out how many puppies your female will have, that is the most important. Some breeders don't do that. I find it helpful because a puppy could get stuck or you could think she is done and she isn't. I know someone that they didn't do this and a puppy ended up dying because of that. So this is very important. And step four is whelping. The birth. This is one of my favorite parts and also one of my stressful parts. You will need to know the signs of labor. Know when to call your vet, have a welping kick ready, be prepared to be there. Some births go smoothly and some need your your hand right some need your hands right in it. I have several different I have had several different births. Sophie was the first female to have puppies. And her first set she had to have an emergency C-section. That was stressful, especially if you are a new breeder and love that dog very much. So with her she started vomiting a lot. I took her to the emergency veterinary and she said that Sophie needed to have an emergency C section because one of her puppies looked like it was in trouble. Sure enough, the puppy was born dead. But the other seven were fine. I was stressed all night due to worrying that my Sophie was going to die. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see I can't tell you how relieved I was to see her the next day and to see the cute little puppies. From then on out she had normal deliveries. But she also had one whole litter to die, and then she had one where only two puppies survived. But she also had two other litters that all the puppies were normal and healthy. So like I said, I have seen different types of birth, but through all that I wouldn't I would stay stressed when I knew my female was going into labor. I got nervous about something happening. Seeing the puppies being born dead is so hard because they are so cute. Also watching my female mourn is the hardest as well. My welping kit included ribbons to identify the puppies, a scale to weigh them after they were born, and you also want to keep the scale out because the next few days and on you're gonna want to be weighing them daily just to make sure they're gaining weight, not losing weight. You'll want a c you will also want a clean rag to clean the puppies up, surgical scissors with a rounded tip at the end to cut the cord if the mother doesn't do that, and have someone or you can do this yourself to write down the puppy's weight, coloring, gender, and time born. Each one of these steps has more has more depth to it than I can cover in one episode, but I want you to have the map, even if we don't walk every trail today. Okay, I want to take a moment here and be really honest with you because I think this is the most important thing I'll say today. Not all litters will be perfect. Even when you do everything right, even when you help test and DNA tests and work with a great vet and time everything perfectly, things can things can still happen. And if no one tells you that before your first litter, it can shatter you when it does. I know that from experience. I've had stress. I've had puppies that came into the world not quite right. I've had puppies that got sick, I've had puppies that didn't make it, and those moments are devastating, even when you know in your head that they were out of your control. There is stress in this, there are sleepless nights, there are moments where you wonder if you made the right decision, and none of that means you did anything wrong. I want you to hear me. You can do everything right and still face a hard litter. That's not failure, that's part of reality of working with living things. What I wish someone had told me before my first letter is exactly this. Be ready for if n for it not to be perfect. Have your vet's number saved, have your support system, have someone you can call at two in the morning when you're scared. That's what a mentor is for. That's what this community is for. The beautiful moments, and there are so many, are even sweeter when you've walked through the hard ones. That's what I believe. Now I want to address something that comes up a lot in the dog world, especially around doodles. And that's the question of how to find a reputable breeder. I'm going to stay neutral here because I think this conversation is bigger than anyone's side. But I am going to be real with you. Whether you're looking for a doodle or a purebred dog, the most important thing you can do is educate yourself about what a responsible breeder looks like. Ask about health testing, ask about how the puppies are raised, ask what happens if something goes wrong after you bring your puppies home. A good breeder will welcome those questions. Now, I believe in education over judgment. I'm not here to drag anyone, but I do care about people getting healthy, well-raised puppies from people who actually care about their dogs. And here's something else I'll say. If you truly cannot afford a puppy from a reputable breeder, please consider rescue. I have always said this and always mean it. There are wonderful dogs waiting in shelters and rescue organizations. If a dog is in a rescue that seems shady, do your research there too. But please don't rule it out. This is how I go about all of this. When someone approaches me and wants one of my puppies but can't afford it due to my prices being more than they can afford, due to the DNA and OFA test I do, and knowing I get high quality breeding dogs, I tell them to check out the dogs in the shelters, who need loving homes as well. I also find dogs in my neighborhood sometimes running off leash, and I am in the city. I will try to get them to come to me and if they do, I usually have a leash with me or call someone in my house to bring me one and I will walk around trying to find its home. I have had a few times that I didn't find the home and kept the dogs safely in my backyard which is fenced in till I found their home or I can get it to a rescue group I know. I try to know about the different rescue groups around so I can mention the responsibility responsible ones to them. We all want the same thing at the end of the day, dogs in good homes raised with love. I've mentioned my mentor a few times today, and I want to close out the content portion of this episode by really driving this home. One of the biggest gaps in the world of dog breeding, especially for newer breeders, is mentorship. There is so much information out there, and so much of it is conflicting or overwhelming. And then there are things you just can't learn from the internet. Things like timing a breeding or reading a welping or knowing when to call the vet versus when to wait. My mentor helped me through the AI process on my girl. She was right there with me, and because of her I actually understood what was happening. Not just the steps, but why but the why behind them. If you are serious about breeding, and I mean really serious, do this with integrity. Find yourself a mentor, connect with a more experienced breeder in your area or in your breed community. Join a breed club, ask questions, be humble, be willing to learn. And if you can't find a mentor locally, that's part of what this podcast why this podcast exists. I want to be a resource for you. I want this to be a place where you get real information from someone who has actually lived it. I also will have a form on my Facebook page for of hearts and hounds with people I recommend talking to. That's what of hearts and hounds is all about. Alright, let's wrap this up. Today we covered the breeding process from the ground up, picking the right dog, timing and breeding methods, pregnancy and welping, the honest realities of what can go wrong, finding reputable breeders, and the power of mentorship. This is a big topic, and we could go so much deeper on every one of these things. So if there's something you want me to dive into in a future episode, let me know. I'm always listening. If you got something out of today's episode, I would love to hear to I would love for you to come join me on Facebook. Search for the page of Hearts and Hounds. That's where I post when my new episodes come out, share links to resources I mentioned, and connect with community. I also have my newsletter link there. And if you ever want to send me a message or ask a question, that's the bl best place to find me. Thank you so much for.