If you want to breed puppies but you’re just not sure if it’s going to be too hard, never fear. I’ve got all the information you’ll need to successfully breed and sell your first litter of puppies. And you can print my puppy breeding checklist for free! Check it out.

We decided to breed our golden retriever puppy right before her second birthday. Since we were new at the breeding thing as well, we didn’t quite know what to expect. But in the end, we were pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and the pay off is pretty sweet. We made $11,400! You can check out my other blog post about how much it costs to breed a puppy. Here’s what we did and hopefully it can help you.

Before the puppies are born

Usually the decision to breed puppies is about 2 years in the making when you buy your own puppy. If you want to get top dollar for your litter, you’ll want to make sure your dog is a pure bred and registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC). In addition, you can get your dog’s hips and eyes checked to ensure to your buyers that your dog will produce healthy puppies. Just make sure you do all of that before your dog goes into heat. You can’t check hips and eyes when your dog is pregnant or nursing.

Next, you’ll need to find a stud to mate with your dog. We paid $700 and the stud just hung out in our backyard all week. Some owners aren’t that flexible though. Just make sure you try to mate your dog with a stud within 5-10 days of when your dog goes into heat. The fertility window is small. Also, make sure the stud is AKC registered and take lots of pictures so you can show potential buyers. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let your dog wander the neighborhood when she is in heat. Dogs can get pregnant with multiple breeds in one litter.

Then, watch for signs of pregnancy (englarged nipples, weight gain, swollen belly, tired). Calculate 63 days from the first date your dog mated. Your dog could have puppies 63 days after the first time they mated or 63 days after the last time they mated or anytime in between. In the mean time, make or buy a whelping box. Your dogs will literally spend their entire first four weeks in this box. It’s pretty important.

Don’t forget to start feeding your dog puppy chow. She needs all the nutrients she can get to deliver and nurse a litter of puppies. Also, buy colored collars and a gram scale for the puppies. You’ll want to know which puppy is which the moment they deliver and you want to weigh them regularly to make sure all of them are gaining weight.

While the puppies are being born

When mom is about to deliver, keep a close eye on her. She’ll try to find a place in the house to deliver. Sometimes she’s chew a lot to manage the pain. You may need to help mom when she starts to deliver but for the most part, mom does the work. She will clean the puppies herself so don’t rush the puppy to the bathroom to wash him off. Don’t forget about putting a collar on each of the puppies as they are born. Then write down the order that they were born and their weight.

Check out this video we took of when all of our puppies were born:

Keep the area where the puppies are born at least at room temperature if not warmer. Place the puppies on a warming pad if necessary. Our puppies were born in the middle of the summer and it was sweltering hot. We had to move them into the house because they were overheating. Puppies cannot regulate their own body temperature so make sure they aren’t too hot or cold.

Keep an eye on the puppies the first few nights to make sure they don’t get smothered. It helps to have a whelping box that has a slight lip all around it so that they don’t get smothered when mom lays down.

After the puppies are born

Right away after you breed puppies, you’ll want to register them with AKC within first couple of days. That way there won’t be any delays in getting your paperwork. Next, you’ll need the puppies to get their dew claws removed the second or third day of life. If you wait too long, it will be too late and you’ll have to wait until they are six months old. I would recommend a vet removing the dew claws. We removed them ourselves and we did it wrong. Some of the dew claws grew back and we had to sell those puppies for less.

Here’s some other tips for after the puppies are born:

• Continue feeding mom unlimited water and puppy chow until she is done nursing
• Avoid Parvo by keeping puppies away from other dogs or places where dogs might have been
• List your puppies for sale and price them right. If you list them too high, they will take forever to sell.
• Give puppies dewormer at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks
• Start feeding puppies wet puppy chow and water at 3-4 weeks
• Transition puppies to playpen in the backyard around 4 weeks
• Take puppies to the vet at 6 weeks for a well-check, dewormer and first set of shots
• Around 8 weeks, begin sending puppies to their new owners. Just make sure they are eating regular puppy chow and drinking water

We were totally stressed out about weaning our dog off her puppies before they went to their new owners. We kept her separated from her puppies and that was a bad idea. Just let mom wean herself off her puppies naturally. It’s okay if they occasionally nurse off mom. As long as they are eating puppy chow, they should be fine.

Print your free “How to breed puppies” checklist

In case you can’t remember everything above, I’ve created a little puppy-breeding checklist that you can print out and hang on the wall at home. Just click on the link below. I offer this printable for FREE to all visitors of my blog, but if you’d like to show your support, feel free to buy me a taco .

Click here for your free “How to breed puppies” printable checklist

Breeding puppies is definitely a commitment but it is such a rewarding experience. We loved having those cute little pups for eight weeks and we will definitely do it again. Let me know if you have any other suggestions on how to successfully breed a litter of puppies. Leave your comments below.

Related link: 10 job ideas for kids to earn a little extra money

The post How to breed puppies (free printable checklist) appeared first on My Silly Squirts.

If you’re thinking about trying to breed puppies with your female dog, you might be wondering if it’s worth it. How much money can you really make from a litter of puppies? Well, it depends. From stud fees to vet bills, I’ll give you a great cost breakdown and then you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.

So, I’m not a professional breeder. I’m a backyard breeder or a hobby breeder. My husband and I just decided to try breeding our dark red golden retriever. This was our first year trying it out. Overall, it was such a fun experience and it’s not as hard as you might think to be a good breeder and a responsible breeder. My kids loved playing with the puppies, we learned a lot and yes, we earned a little bit of play money. Here’s a breakdown of all the costs that we incurred along the way.

Expenses to breed puppies

Here’s a look at the average cost of what we spent in order to breed and sell a litter of golden retriever puppies:

• Female Purebred Golden Retriever (with breeding rights): $1500
• American Kennel Club registration for mom: $75
• Stud dog for breeding (stud service fee): $750
• Digital scale (to weigh each puppy): $20.35
• Deworming medicine: $25.49
• Puppy food (6, 20-lb bags solid food for mom and puppies): $108
• Dew claw trimmer: $13
• AKC online litter application: $118
• Veterinary care health check, vaccines, dewormer: $350
• Puppy collars: $10.49
• Marketing to sell the puppies: $60
• Dog sitter while we were out of town: $150

TOTAL COST: $3,180

Additional purchases for puppy litters

There were a few items that we didn’t need to purchase because we borrowed them or they were given to us. But these items were nonetheless, very helpful:

• Dog crate (for transporting puppies to the vet): $55
• Puppy play pen (to contain puppies in one area): $40
• Health testing – OFA hips, shoulder, eyes exam for mom: $200-$500
• Whelping/birthing box (for mom and puppies): $70
• Whelping box liner: $12
• Puppy warming mat (to keep puppies warm after birth): $23
• Heat lamp: $20
• Artificial insemination: Costs vary

There are other basic costs that I didn’t list above such as poop bags, premium food, neuter surgery, adoption fees, puppy packs and pet insurance that might not apply to your situation.

A whelping box is a must. Your puppies with spend the first four weeks in your whelping box. My sister-in-law made her own and let us borrow hers. It was a life-saver. Or you can just buy your own whelping box on Amazon. I found a puppy play pen at a yard sale and it was really helpful to have after four weeks when the puppies are getting bigger and running around.

Grand total from our puppy litter

We originally started to breed puppies, we thought that the cost of a puppy would be $2,000 each. But after no phone calls from potential buyers for a couple weeks, we slowly had to drop the price of a puppy. Of course different breeds vary in cost, but because the mom and dad didn’t have an OFA score for hips, shoulders and eyes, we couldn’t charge top dollar for our puppies. Instead, we settled charging the following for our puppies:

• Girls: $1,100
• Boys: $1,000
• Breeding rights: Additional $300

After all of our puppies were sold to their new owners, six people bought breeding rights for the girls. We also had to provide a $100 discount for four of the puppies because we didn’t cut their dew claws deep enough and they grew back. Here’s how much money we ended up earning once all of the puppies were sold:

• Puppy expenses: $3,180
• Puppy income: $10,800

GRAND TOTAL: $7,620

What I would do differently

Overall, I feel like the effort to breed puppies was definitely worth it. Even though it is hard work, we pocketed more than $7,000 (which is a lot of money) and it was a fun experience for the whole family. However, there’s a few things I would do differently the next time:

1. Let the vet remove the dew claws

Okay, you’re basically clipping off a toe on each paw of these tiny puppies. They cry and I feel like crying too. Plus, we didn’t even cut deep enough and four of the dew claws grew back. It was a mess. It costs $12-15 per puppy to have the vet do it and I feel like that is well worth the money.

2. Get an OFA hip, shoulder and eye exam

This exam is kind of pricey, but people who are buying puppies want to make sure they won’t have bad hips (hip dysplasia), shoulders or eyes. However, you can’t do this until your dog is 2 years old. Our dog was one month shy of being two years old when she had her litter and that’s why we didn’t do it. But we are planning on it. Then you can sell your puppies for more money as well. It’s a best practice for adult dogs.

3. Market our puppies nationwide in the United States

Puppies in some states, like Utah where we live, don’t sell for as much. But we were new at breeding so we only advertised locally. If you want to make more money, advertise your pups on the AKC Marketplace or Good Dog. You’ll get more money for each puppy.

Overall we were really happy with how everything turned out. We learned a lot and I think we will probably try to get another litter or two out of our cute Ruby. Regardless of whether you have Great Danes, German Shepherds, smaller dogs or large dogs, hopefully this blog post helped give you a good idea whether or not breeding will be worth it to you.

Check out this cute video of our puppies playing for five minutes straight!

Do you have any other suggestions on approximate costs when dog breeding to save some extra money and extra costs? Leave your comments below.

Related link: How to raise a puppy without going crazy

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