Interested in breeding?
Who has never swooned over a litter of puppies … no one! Pups are very nice and it is very special to see it grow from a fragile little tike; a cheerful fuzzy ball of fur that boldly explores the world at large. Blazingly fast to develop, you can almost see them grow! Anyone who follows this process with the breeder of his or her puppy will often think about wanting to do this themselves at least once. Perhaps you have sighed and with all kinds of practical objections have immediately let go of that idea. But are these objections really so great that you want to loose a fantastic experience? Get that feeling back and read below more than once …
Once you have fallen for a Stabyhoun, you do not want anything else. They are such cute dogs! Many owners wax lyrical about ‘this’ breed and praise him to others who are thinking to buy a dog. Your dog is so cute that you should forget all others! Such word-of-mouth advertising, we naturally applaud wholeheartedly, for there is no better promotion imaginable. But if more people want a Stabyhoun, we do need to have more puppies! As you may have guessed, we now appeal to you.
For our breed, opportunity to have litters with females even one time is incredibly important. Stabyhouns have only a very small population; it is considered a rare breed, often listed in the top ten. We must work hard to maintain and protect them. There are no more big kennel breeders evenin Holland, and here in North America, we concentrate on genetic diversity not multiple litters by one line. The survival of our beautiful breed depends on the occasion breeders, people who have a litter once purely as a hobby or put their dog on the stud list. This could be you!
“It takes awfully long time, I know nothing about breeding, I worry that I might not get rid of the puppies, what if …”, you tell yourself. Objections and concerns tumble over each other. Put all the pros and cons on a list, the number of substantiated concerns mostly can be solved. Your dog will not change significantly in character after a coverage. You will not get a “sexed up” male who knocks up all the bitches in your neighborhood. The house does not smell from a litter, indeed, the first 3 weeks after birth your bitch does most of the cleaning. You will not be left with puppies, as for this, we have the ASA waiting list.
You are not alone, you will not really be thrown into the deep end of the pool. We have active BAC members who will stand by your side ready to help with your questions. The BAC will help you find suitable combinations. Through the breeder forum you can easily ask questions of more experienced breeders and stud dog owners. For them, it was also once the first time and they have not forgotten those first tentative steps.
There are also reasons that should not be considered as reasons to breed. For example, earning some nice pocket money is not a good reason to start. During your dog breeding career, the puppy and stud fees are high enough to usually cover the costs, but they are not going to make you a profit. There are much surer ways to make money as risks are always present in breeding. Also, the often-heard “it will be fun for the kids” is not a good argument to begin the adventure. There is more work and responsibility than a child can handle, so that really will fall solely on your shoulders. And that saying “having a litter is good for a female or a male”? Well that is a myth.
We want to leave you with reality: a litter is a lot of work and even the owner of a stud dog will have to invest time to get him on the stud list. But you will get so much in return … and it will enrich your life. It will make you feel great that your own dog or bitch really contributes something to the future of this breed. It is fun to know that there are offspring running around that came from your dog and bringing joy to their owners. Your dog is so cute — don’t you want others to have this same joy as well? Think about it!
For more information, advice and guidance you can always talk to the members of the Ameri-Can Stabyhoun Association. They will assist you with advice and assistance.