Kilgallonklan Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Hi there, I'm new to this site, hoping to find alot of information and help! We have a 6.5 month old pure bred Beagle male, he's gorgeous. The plan is to breed him and in 10 months time we will be purchasing a female pure bred Beagle. They will be kept seperated untill he would be 3.5 years and she would be 2 before proceeding with health checks and to begin breeding. I've never bred dogs before, so this is all very new and exciting, i've been trying to gather some good information and will be speaking to out Vet along the way. Have other people done this? Where they had a male and female dog of the same breed and just decided to breed them a few times and then continued keeping them as your family pets? Just don't know of it very much. I know some people frown down on 'backyard breeders' but I am taking this seriously and will be making sure that both animals are extremely healthy and well taken care of, it's not for profit reasons it's purely just for interest and hobby. Is there any good information websites in regards to breeding beagles or any info that anybody would like to share with me? That would be great. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 To most breeders, having a litter is the result of a long 'apprenticship' in their breed. It takes a long time to learn about your breed, wether it be in the show ring or working the dogs, studying many years of pedigrees / lines, learing what lines combine well with others, studying the health aspects of your breed, and most importantly if you are able - to find a mentor to guide you through. Any one can put two dogs together, but to do the right thing by your breed, you would join the Canine body in your state and then pass the tests to gain a breeder's prefix, join the Beagle club if there is one or join another state's beagle club, start researching your breed worldwide so you gain international perspective, attend as many all breed and beagle specialty shows as you can & observe. Is your boy from a registered breeder on the 'full' register ? if so, Will you be showing him to see how his quality is up to par ? There are quite a few really good beagle breeders on this forum, the more you can learn the more you'll find there is to learn in a lifetime :-) fifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 (edited) Hi - I'm not a breeder - but breeding for a hobby is probably not the best way to start off . In my opinion, breeding needs to be done because you KNOW (due to health testing and show results) that you have really good specimens of your breed ..and they have lots to contribute to the gene pool Hobbies are fun ..and can be on again/off again ... dog breeding is not something one can just 'do' .. To breed dogs responsibly I believe you need to do the education , and become part of the registered dog breeding community . You need to be very careful from where you source your dogs, too! There are folks out there who are unscrupulous/ignorant , and who will only see the dollar signs These are the 'breeders' who won't provide you with proof of pedigrees/health checks/registration ..and who are not available to 'mentor' you if you decide to do the hard work, and become a breeder. Will the breeder from whom you bought your pup provide help and information? Did you discuss procedures should your boy be found to have a hereditary disease/abnormality? Are they willing to take him back, if , heaven forbid , something goes wrong and you are unable to keep him? You also need to source your bitch from bloodlines which will complement those of your dog .......... not every dog & bitch combination will produce solid/healthy pups. Oh - and if /when you find homes for your litter - what procedures are in place to stop the new owners crossbreeding to produce more designer dogs ... which are certainly NOT needed in this day & age .. perhaps if you CLICK HERE and have a read - it will help explain things to you .... There is waay too much work involved for my old brain!! ;) Edited May 15, 2011 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Great post and link Pers fifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Hi there, I'm new to this site, hoping to find alot of information and help! We have a 6.5 month old pure bred Beagle male, he's gorgeous. The plan is to breed him and in 10 months time we will be purchasing a female pure bred Beagle. They will be kept seperated untill he would be 3.5 years and she would be 2 before proceeding with health checks and to begin breeding. I've never bred dogs before, so this is all very new and exciting, i've been trying to gather some good information and will be speaking to out Vet along the way. Have other people done this? Where they had a male and female dog of the same breed and just decided to breed them a few times and then continued keeping them as your family pets? Just don't know of it very much. I know some people frown down on 'backyard breeders' but I am taking this seriously and will be making sure that both animals are extremely healthy and well taken care of, it's not for profit reasons it's purely just for interest and hobby. Is there any good information websites in regards to breeding beagles or any info that anybody would like to share with me? That would be great. Thanks in advance! Im curious about your time line and why you have chosen this way in particular to begin. Why will you wait until he is that old? Why will you mate her at age 2 ? You dont need to keep them separated unless she is on heat and thats not as easy as it sounds. Your quiet boy turns into a nut case when he scents that she is on heat and she will find the most devious ways of getting to her man or several men and getting a bit. Does your boy have blue registration papers and have you spoken with his breeder about breeding him ? How will you choose the best partner for him? Will his breeder have any input into that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkehre Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 (edited) What the others have said and added.... what if you only discover that your girl does not compliment your boy as a breeding partner until she is 2? what will you do then? Breed them anyway? Or desex them both? Send her back? Send him back? Plenty of people breed with their own pets, and yes, this of what is known as Back Yard Breeding, and around DOL it is mostly frowned upon. Is it something I would do? No! Is it something the majority of DOLers would do? I am pretty confident in saying, No. Many of the most highly respected breeders do not own the studs they use. And they would not make a decision on what stud they would use over their bitch until the bitch reached breeding maturity, because how she finishes will determine what stud will suit her best. Bitches are the foundation of any good kennel, not stud dogs. Edited May 15, 2011 by dyzney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Just curious as to what you think breeders do with their dogs after they have bred from them? Yes SOME are rehomed to pet homes (and yes I have rehomed SOME to pet homes) because to be a serious breeder you simply cannot keep everything, but "breeding dogs" are really no different to any other dogs - they are pets first and a very long way second they are occasionally bred from. As others have said, you don't need to keep them separate except for when the bitch is in season. Let them be pets and friends first and foremost. As others have also said - how are you going to determine that your dog is the best mate for the bitch you buy? This isn't something that can be done when the bitch is 8 weeks old. What are you going to do if the dog and/or the bitch aren't "good enough" to breed from - either they fail some relevant health check or they simply don't measure up to the breed standard physically or mentally? I think you need to go back to the drawing board on this idea. The world doesn't need any more badly bred dogs of ANY breed. If you are serious about wanting to breed, take your boy to dog shows or start doing obedience or agility or flyball (yes Beagles can do these things) or train him up to to drag hunting (is that done in Australia??) and find out if he has anything to offer the breed before you even think about buying a bitch and commencing to create dogs which should not be born. I don't know how Beagle breeders feel, but I know in 'my' breed very few ethical breeders will sell a bitch to a pet person who already owns an entire dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toy dog Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) Just curious as to what you think breeders do with their dogs after they have bred from them? Yes SOME are rehomed to pet homes (and yes I have rehomed SOME to pet homes) because to be a serious breeder you simply cannot keep everything, but "breeding dogs" are really no different to any other dogs - they are pets first and a very long way second they are occasionally bred from. As others have said, you don't need to keep them separate except for when the bitch is in season. Let them be pets and friends first and foremost. As others have also said - how are you going to determine that your dog is the best mate for the bitch you buy? This isn't something that can be done when the bitch is 8 weeks old. What are you going to do if the dog and/or the bitch aren't "good enough" to breed from - either they fail some relevant health check or they simply don't measure up to the breed standard physically or mentally? I think you need to go back to the drawing board on this idea. The world doesn't need any more badly bred dogs of ANY breed. If you are serious about wanting to breed, take your boy to dog shows or start doing obedience or agility or flyball (yes Beagles can do these things) or train him up to to drag hunting (is that done in Australia??) and find out if he has anything to offer the breed before you even think about buying a bitch and commencing to create dogs which should not be born. I don't know how Beagle breeders feel, but I know in 'my' breed very few ethical breeders will sell a bitch to a pet person who already owns an entire dog. I agree with what others have said, not being registered and just being purebred is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. pedigrees are a useful tool in studying to ascertain whether your dogs have any genetic problems that could come out in the pups. Then you sell those pups with a genetic problem then you get a phone call from an iriate buyer asking you to give their money back as they are not happy with the puppy you sold them as it is sick or has a disease. have you factored in that? don't mean to sound harsh but this is the reality. breeding is not for the faint hearted/ it takes years of studying to make sure you are doing the right thing by those pups you have produced. not an easy task im afraid. even if you know every dog in the pedigree (been there done that) there is always that dog or dogs you don't know and is hidden there somewhere to come out genetically in the pups you produce. had a work friend breed some pups sold them, had an angry buyer wanting to give pup back as it had an inherited fault with the eyelids from the sire of the puppies. they never got told of this fault that gets passed on until they had the pups. then they wanted to stud out a puppy with the eyelid fault and i said, be careful you don't end up in court passing that on knowingly. put them off, the dog got desexed lot less hassle in the long run they said. Edited May 18, 2011 by toy dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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