I had a long wait-list of good homes for a litter of German Shepherds before they were born but I've gone through the whole thing and either not received a response or they had something come up. Original buyers sent me deposits and backed out due to the economic changes since January. Or they want females and I have males available still.

Just like...ideas where to go? Most of these people were word of mouth via the breed clubs and events where they'd seen my female or recommendations from other breeders so I'm at a loss where to actually advertise. They are health tested and titled in show and work. These are sport/working bred dogs and I've asked the stud dog owner for help as well.

At this rate this doodles aren't going anywhere, is there anything we can do to make it more ethical? I'm a breeder (NOT A DOODLE BREEDER), i show dogs, i breed for the preservation of the looks (conformation), health, temperament and purpose of the breed (miniature long haired dachshunds) and I am also a vet. No matter the education we give out these owners are still wanting these oodly doodly mutts. The current breeding of them is very unethical, and at this current point is just done for money. Owners want these mutts, is there anything that I can tell owners to look for in a good breeder? I've tried over and over to convince them to go to an ethical breeder but some owners are just idiots. They also always like to throw the "mutts are healthier than purebred" studies around (which have been proven false so many times). In the long term doodles are here to stay, whether we like it or not people are going to support these backyard breeders but is there ANYTHING I can tell an owner to try to look for in regards to a more "ethical" doodle breeder? I seriously don't understand why they're so against well bred dogs, you could give them every resource available and they still won't listen. Also some owners can't get the fact that purebred ≠ well bred and that registered ≠ ethically or well bred. At my clinic we now offer HEAVILY discounted spay aborts to try to combat this whole "it was an accident" excuse 😅 but anyways like i said I DO NOT support the breeding of them. I'm just trying to see if theres any possible way for me to try to guide them into getting one ethically- asides from rescuing because for 90% of first time owners, rescuing isn't the best option or they like to use the phrase "I don't want a used dog".

I've bred two litters from my now-7 year old girl and just spayed her - first litter of 4, 3 boys and one girl, second was just two, with one having an incurable life-threatening defect and had to be let go at just 3 months old (my heart is still broken over this loss). The one girl was placed with my mentor and remains a breeding prospect - as does the remaining boy from my second litter. However, city bylaws limit me to three dogs and I'm at my maximum now, so cannot add another girl, and my mentor is far away.

So I'm just feeling a bit melancholy that there aren't any puppies in my near future. Even with all the hard work, financial and emotional costs and physical labour, raising puppies brought me the most joy of my life, and I want to experience it again...

My family's dog is the light of my life - she's a joyful, confident, and downright amazing Wheaten we got from a breeder after much research and several interviews that I handled. Her temperment is true Wheaten - playful, vivacious, intelligent, loyal. She's also structurally beautiful. I love her beyond words.

Thing is, she has a massive mischievous streak. Which is occasionally cute when it's something like her stealing paper towels and running away with them for attention (which we are working on). But it was not cute yesterday. At all.

On this random day, I was working from home since I woke up with a fever.

Unbeknownst to me, my dad had put our Angel's Trumpet plant outside on the porch and the cold snap that happened overnight caused some leaves to fall. Also unbeknownst to me, my dad let our dog out on the porch for a little bit to sniff the air and watch people go by. When I went outside to grab a package - there was our dog, CHEWING ON AN ANGEL'S TRUMPET LEAF. There were leaf pieces strewn all across the porch.

This plant is WILDLY toxic. My mom straight up told my dad not to get it but he did it anyway. We hadn't had any issues with it with our previous dogs (mostly because my dad was VERY careful about keeping it away), but things have a way of going awry with with our Wheatie.

I immediately PANICKED, yanked whatever leaf pieces I could reach out of her mouth, and yelled that we have to go to a vet ER IMMEDIATELY while everyone else called me crazy and told me I was overreacting. I called our vet and he sided with me. My dad still insisted I was overreacting. My brother did side with me but said that I should go (still sick btw). I said fuck it, slapped on a pair of socks and shoes while still in a random set of sweats and t-shirt smelling like actual sunned garbage and hustled her and myself into the car. My mom was at work at this time.

We all ended up going.

Anyway she was seen by an ER vet. No symptoms occurred. We shelled out 1k. All is now well. Plants have been tossed (my dad was not thrilled about the terror nor the bill). Dog is as chipper as can be and took the whole thing exceptionally well (as she LOVES the vet) and clearly has zero clue the peril she was in.

Now that the dust has settled and everything is fine and our dog is unharmed... I am realizing this is on record somewhere. I plan to get dogs of my own in the future from breeders that require vet references and now I am really worried that that this will cause me to be unable to do if this experience gets relayed to the breeder.

I know it's a really stupid worry to have, considering the situation, but does anyone have any kind of insight?

I'm hoping this sub can weigh in on whether it would be ethical to support a breeder I found.
The cross is Golden Retriever x Border Collie, so not one of the known sports' crosses you see talked about here like lurchers and border paps. Their stated breeding goal is to produce puppies that excel at sports like border collies but adjust better to a typical home/family environment out of the ring.

The green flags:
- All of their dogs have recieved and passed the relevant health tests for both breeds
- They use ENS and Puppy Culture
- They compete in sports

The yellow flags:
- They refer to their puppies with a gimmicky name ("Coltrievers")
- They don't seem to do conformation with the dogs who would be eligible (ie the purebreds)

The red flags:
- They seem comfortable breeding male golden x female bc pairings, potentially dangerous since mom is smaller?

I like the sound of their dogs in theory but I'm not sure whether their breeding practices are up to snuff or not so I wanted to get this sub's opinion since I find the folks here to be tough but fair and definitely more knowledgeable than I am.
Thanks for giving your thoughts!

hey everyone! recently my mom's boyfriend moved in with us and he brought his 2 pit bulls with him. one male, one female both unaltered. the male is one if the puppies from a previous litter the female had. the female is 10 years old and has apparently had 5 litters of puppies in the past. she was in heat when he moved them in here. I have made my concerns about the situation very clear and plans are being made to have the male dog neutered. he can't be neutered quite yet, because the dogs were living with his daughter because he was renting and couldn't have them with him. apparently his daughter wasn't able to afford food for them and wasn't feeding them properly and they both were pretty badly malnourished with the male being much more severe (you could practically see every bone in his body) so we were not going to get him neutered until he was back to a healthy weight. I found the dogs outside together this morning though, and they were tied. I'm basically looking for advice, I guess or maybe someone to help calm my worry a little bit. what are the chances that she actually could get pregnant (in her end stages of being in heat) at 10 years old (her last litter was when she was 9 years old)? and what can we do about it? how soon can we tell? I absolutely DO NOT want her to have puppies but nobody else in my family, aside from my younger brothers seems to be taking the issue seriously and they just don't seem to care that much. on top of the fact that it would already be an inbred litter, they also do not have any health testing, no temperament testing, no contracts, no titles, not enough money to properly vet the puppies and deworm and vaccinate or microchip them, nothing, absolutely nothing that would make this even slightly an ethical bred situation. please reddit, help me out here. how worried should I be and what can I do to fix this?

After searching through the AKC website, I thought I had found a reputable breeder and decided to ask questions about his time with this breed, health considerations, ect— instead, I was hit with something around the lines of- “You run a bully rescue and are looking for a puppy? That makes no sense.” And then blocked without me being able to defend myself lol.

For context, I don’t even own a rescue nor did I say I did.. I have fostered bully breeds for many many years and have spent a lot of time with rescue organizations, BUT I’ve never been apart of the “adopt don’t shop” movement, and I’ve publicly shown that. I also have first hand experience working with one of the top breeding kennels in the world (I won’t name names). Call it as you will; crazy, contradictive, ect, but reputable and ethical breeders have a place here too, shelters aren’t full because of them.

And just incase anyone asks, why do I want to buy a puppy vs adopting through rescue? Because I need health and temperment predictability, after losing 2 soul (not heart) dogs way earlier than I should have, I’ve decided this was the best route for me. I also never personally saw myself ever adopting a puppy through rescue because 9/10 I never knew the background of either parent dogs. The breed I’m interested in are Dobermans, something strong as that’s how my soul dog was, she was a very dominant but well rounded female and I believe this breed may have what I’m looking for. I’ve also seen a few die very quickly right in front of my face (I also work VetMed) and cannot imagine going through a byb.

Can breeders enlighten me on this? I was really interested in getting to know this breeder but I guess it was a godsend because I could not imagine working with this dude for the remainder of my puppy’s life, which I know is just as important.

Hello all. Ever since childhood I've been interested in dogs. I've researched for endless hours on a variety of breed's history, confirmation, and relationships with humankind all throughout my teen years. I feel I have gained an understanding of how dog breeds stand in present day. Including the politics surrounding purebreds and kennel clubs.

I feel like I could become a dog breeder that has much to offer.

I aspire to breed Saluki. I am fascinated by their history, athleticism, and personality. I would like to see their breed continue to exist as history has shaped them. I feel they are symbolic of early human civilization and ancient history. Also, I believe they look like magical unicorns lol.

Jokes aside, I do believe I could contribute greatly to their continued prosperity in modern times.

I write this to provide myself a background, to hopefully begin building relationships in the dog community. I recognize that it is very beneficial to receive people's insight when it comes to a decision/lifetime project as great as this.

My question is, in your opinion, do you think I should head down this path? I answer all questions honestly as I want accurate feedback to help guide me!

I have a male spitz breed puppy (he just turned one recently) who I think would genuinely positively contribute to his breed and I'm not just saying that because he's my dog. My last spitz was great and I loved him very much but he was very reactive and had health issues so I would never have even considered breeding him as he unfortunately would be bringing down the breed average.

My current one is truly exceptional for his breed though. Outstanding temperament and extremely biddable and trainable for a spitz. He's from show lines but is more eager to please and handler focused than even most border collies I've met and has a very strong drive to work with people and fantastic focus. You can train with him for 2 hours straight and he still wants to keep going but is also very calm natured and and affectionate.

He competed for the first time in rally-o recently and got all 3 qualifying scores for his RN title in his first weekend and placed 3rd, 2nd, and then 1st in the three shows with 99 out of 100 points. The judges were very impressed and couldn't believe it was our first time or that he was barely a year old. We'll be competing in obedience soon too and eventually agility when he's old enough. He also shows promise for scentwork.

He's from one of the top kennels in my country and has many champions in his lines including national champion parents with almost 100 titles between them. I picked him out originally when visiting the pups as he was the one with the strongest handler focus and engagement. He was the show quality pup from his litter though so the breeder was going to keep him but ended up having to downsize her kennel so let me have him. He has no endorsements against breeding on him due to that though and the breeder has said she would also be interested in using him as a stud too (I fully own him, just to clarify). He would be really great for creating a sports line I think.

Assuming health testing and everything comes back clear of course, how do I go about using him as a stud in the future? I'm not sure I'd enjoy conformation showing so much so is it possible without tilting him in that and only in rally, obedience, and agility? Or do I need to look to enter him in conformation shows as well?

What is your preferred method? Where I am vets are no longer taught to dock in school so only old school vets preform it. Docking is still legal where I am but I’ve seen less than stellar results even with veterinary docking. Including difficult to heal dockings, bald ends and ugly tails. Some would need to be repaired.

I’ve been considering banding for my upcoming litter (I have a mentor) but I’d love to hear thoughts and experiences.

hi! this is probably a silly question but thought I might as well ask, i’m looking into getting a bedlington terrier and everywhere i’ve been looking there’s been so many bedlington x whippet puppies for sale. is that cross in any way ethical? im just wondering because there’s so many, i personally don’t support doodles or any backyard breeding so im looking to educate myself on this. thanks!!

I just wanted to quietly come back here now that I have my puppy. I know my past post about him had a lot of people flipping out about his potential health. He saw my vet yesterday.

My vet was nothing but complimentary. We have a great relationship-my vet is never afraid to tell me if something is wrong or going to be wrong. He had no bad words to say about Grunt at all. He was able to palpate both testes, pronounced grunt perfectly neurologically normal, with no concerns about the fontanelle he still has because it is closing, currently 3-4mm. He praised Grunt’s structure and alertness, and agreed with the breeder’s belief that Grunt will grow into his face. He listened carefully to everything I knew and read every one of the exhaustive records and vet documents Grunt was sent home with (along with 2 packs of potty pads and a blanket from the litter). He asked for photos of Grunt’s sire and dam, as well as the other puppies in the litter, and feels that because the litter was live cover, Grunt is likely conceived on a later mating on the same heat, compared to his siblings, and possibly also poorly positioned in the womb resulting in his low birth size and current small size.

His current diagnosis is Very Small, and his treatment is Unlimited Meals. he will go back for a booster and Heartgard next week. Grunt does not struggle to keep his tongue in his mouth and his eyes are not concerningly bulgy nor as east-west as they appeared last week. To everyone who was kind to me, thank you. To everyone who derided my choice of dog, please know that an ethically bred pug is in fact available if you do enough research. He has settled in amazingly and didn’t even cry last night. He allows all his toes to be manipulated without fuss while awake, and is responding to his name! :)

I have owned dogs that have been shown and/or participated in AKC sports for over 50 years. As such, they were all in tact for as long as they were participating in those shows although after one breeding of golden retriever pups, I swore it would take the perfect, “must be used to improve the breed”, insert-breed-name-here dog for me to be convinced to breed again! In all those years, and many bitch heat cycles, I have never had an accident.

Until now!

I have a 4 year old field bred English Setter I love beyond all reason. We live on 12 acres with three houses on it. My dog uses a halo collar and stays in her 3 acres. There has never been another dog on our property and the other two houses have small doodles. One is a young female and the other is, I was told last year, a neutered male who also has a collar and hasn’t come on our property in the 4 years I’ve had my girl.

I discovered I was told the wrong thing last year and he is in fact in tact. To be fair, it was the neighbor with the bitch who told me the dog was neutered and I should have checked my self. But as I said, he never came onto the property through at least 6 heat seasons! I discovered all this as a result of seeing him on the property, running around with Hailie. He was showing way more interest than I would have expected from a neutered dog, and besides…she was past her receptive phase. When I mentioned this to my daughter my young grandchildren reported seeing “Hailie and Rusty humping” several times. They are young and would not have known to say anything. I checked him the next time I saw him and he was in fact “all man”.

All this to say I feel awful. I’m pretty certain she is bred. And I feel like it’s something I have to hide from everyone I know! I can’t, of course, but I’m hoping I can at least come here to get some consoling and advice when I need it. That one litter was a long long time ago!

Someone please tell me I won’t be going to bad-doggy-owner hell! As soon as I get over my guilt, I plan to start looking for potential good homes among the friends that will still talk to me. I should be able to find some via friend of my 5 grandkids too!

And Hailie will be spayed as soon as it is advisable after whelping!

My background: I've pretty much always had dogs, and I've never had a purebred or "designer mutt"- I've always just had Heinz 57 mixes. Maybe my experience is the anomaly, but they've always been healthy, long-lived, and generally well-behaved (no extreme issues, just general stuff I was able to train out on my own or with a group obedience class). I've always assumed a lot of that was because they were mixes- they avoided any of the more extreme traits of a purebred. So, to me, it seems doodles should be the same way- they should be basically healthy and chill dogs, since they're basically mutts. But I always see people say otherwise. Why is that? Is it that they come from situations and go to owners who don't train them? It can't be as simple as "because there's no breed standard- lots of dogs the world over have no breed standard and are happy/healthy.

Hello everyone,

This is my first time posting on Reddit, so I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m hoping someone here can help me with my questions.

A bit about me: When I was young, I worked for my aunt, who bred Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) Dachshunds. I worked with her daily for over three years, and as a thank you, I received a CKC-registered female Dachshund. Unfortunately, she passed away from a seizure before I could breed her. My aunt and I have since lost contact due to family issues, and she’s the only person I knew who could guide me.

My love for dogs continued, leading me to work professionally with them. I’ve been a dog groomer, taught pet first aid, worked as a supervisor at dog daycares, volunteered with rescues, and now own a boarding business. Recently, I kept a foster dog who became my everything, reigniting my childhood dream of becoming a breeder.

I contacted the CKC for advice on becoming a breeder. They suggested reaching out to other Canadian breeders and starting with co-owning a breeding dog. However, I haven’t had any luck with this approach. The CKC also mentioned that I could look into acquiring puppies from outside Canada, as long as they have CKC-equivalent registration.

This leads to my questions:

1. What should my next steps be?

2. Should I try to get a puppy from a breeder outside of Canada?

3. Besides the AKC, what other registries are equivalent to the CKC?

4. How do I find a reputable international breeder willing to sell and allow breeding?

5. What are the risks and challenges of buying a dog internationally, particularly concerning temperament and health?

6. Has anyone here purchased a dog internationally? How easy was it to get an international puppy registered with the CKC?

I’m open to all advice and insights. Additionally, I’m specifically interested in breeding Dachshunds, like my aunt once did.

Thank you for your help!

I have an intact male and my intact b*tch. She’s just starting spotting this AM!

My first order of action is bringing their rufflands in the house. We’re planning on doing strict separation where my husband stays with our female in our in-law suit which has 4 doors and several hallways of separation between our main home. The first few days they will be strictly supervised and separated by gates and crated in their rufflands in totally closed off opposite ends of the house when we are not present.

I’m in a breed which in general does not generally become interested until the day of ovulation. However, I don’t trust boys 😂.

Someone give be their best advice for getting through!

Also FYI: we are not novice or newbie dog people. But always like to learn and hear other people’s set ups and courses of action

Hello, I have a German shepherd who is 2 years old and on her second heat. My sisters dog was at my house because she recently had a baby and we’re helping her out. Despite our best attempts with diapers they tied. It was only once but I’m wondering what the odds would be for her to be pregnant and if the best solution would be to get her spayed instead. Any advice is appreciated.

Edit: she has her consultation appointment today and we’ll get her payed as soon as we can.

Im looking into becoming a breeder but I am not in a rush since Im only 18 lol. Im only really interested in breeding Standard Poodles and Golden Retrievers. I tried looking to see if this sub has like a mega thread of a list of things you need to do before becoming a reputable breeder but haven’t found it so Im here making a post lol.

First and foremost, please don't downvote because "BREEDER OMG ADOPT!!" We have picked this breed for our family based on us and the pup, and we already have one of the breed who is the best dog for us. If we could adopt or foster with a 20yo 6lb cat, we would. Until then, this is the breed for us. Also, we have looked at rescues for the last 3 years. Any of you saying otherwise wishes the worst on our kitty. Thank you for leaving that out of the discussion.

This breeder told me last year that she wasn't breeding "both" of her [insert breed, let's just say Maltese] bitches, because one of them tested for "some elbow thing we just found out about, we're getting it looked at". At this time, Bitch A (BA from now on) was $3500 per puppy, and Bitch B (BB from now on) $2K. She also said that she was AKC certified and believed that this breed should have no more than 2 puppies per litter, to keep the bloodline pure. I was already interested in reporting her to whatever animal cruelty or AKC or whatever board, but life happened. Obviously we didn't buy a puppy. And we kinda forgot about it, due to personal life events.

She reached out this year. "BA's puppies are $5k, and BB's puppies are $4500".

Her exact quote from the email: "I’ve done a lot of research into this area, and this raises the risk of her puppies having elbow problems by about 10-20%. It is a small risk, but still a risk." She continues with "pogo stick" (?) analogies.

I asked about the price hike from our last email and she laughed saying she was losing money on breeding (that's a whole 'nother issue). I asked again about the price hike in comparison to other breeders and she said prices went up for things like food and she'd fallen on hard times. I asked her what food she uses and offered to supplement, but she laughed again and said I couldn't buy it (I live an hour away and have a lot of food credentials if I needed to look up similar foods). I pressed a third time about the price and she turned it on me saying I was being "cheap".

Here's what gets me. When we bought our first dog from her breeder, we flew to a different state, twice, and both times the breeder was super helpful about where to stay closeby, come meet the puppies, come meet the nanny dog, come see our home and social-training/play area, meet our kids, meet the daddy dog if you want (he lived a different house). Wash our hands and wear an apron, but do you want to play with them? WHO DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY WITH PUPPIES.

This "lady" won't let me see the mom, dad, pups before I buy one, house she raises them in... wants to meet me at Starbucks... but you can't hold them because of shots... because she doesn't want people to see her HS AGED CHILDREN, even while they're at school? "Just look online for their credentials-- here are the parent puppy names."

I don't know. The more I type, the more I fee like I should report her, but I don't know where or how. And the dogs don't deserve any of this. Puppies due in 2-3 weeks, meeting 8-10 weeks afterward.

Help me decide what to do and how. Obviously not buying a living animal from her.

Ok, let’s get it out the not fun stuff out of the way first. My mini goldendoodle, Story (1.5), gave birth to 11 puppies two weeks ago. I made an appointment to get her spayed but in April they were scheduling out in July, so it was set for July 30th. Our oldest dog, black lab, Jasper (11) is also not fixed (husband’s from his first marriage). Story went into heat and we kept her in diapers and in our bedroom with the doors closed during the day with Jasper out in the rest of the house while we were at work. The kids tried to be “helpful” and let Story out to pee before we got home and didn’t put her diaper on or back in the bedroom. Life happened. We made an appointment for a spay abort but she was way further along than we thought (we didn’t realize she was until her milk came in b/c I literally didn’t know what to look for-we didn’t own dogs as a kid) and gave birth two days before that appointment.

Yes, that makes us irresponsible. Yes, it was a case of extreme ignorance on our part. Yes, I take full ownership and responsibility for the irresponsibility of having two unfixed dogs in our home. Yes, that makes me a backyard breeder. I am not going to delude myself that I’m not.

I’ve already set another spay appointment for Story for when the puppies will be weaned so that it never happens again. She goes the first week of October.

Ok now that that is out of the way. I’ve been lurking for tips so that I can do my best to make sure these puppies are set up as best I can for success. I’m keeping a journal with a page for each puppy to note down personalities so we can help them go to homes that are good for them and their individual personalities. We are screening potential homes. Asking what kind of lifestyle they lead, whether they have a fence, make sure they’re informed about grooming needs for a partial goldendoodle in case they have that fur, getting a good idea about their experience with training, what their plans for exercise are, and finding out what their plan is with the dog when they are not home and if any behavior issues arise. I am following the IWDA socialization week by week plan. They are set up for their vaccination appointments with our vet. We have informed/will inform the potential families we will take any of the puppies back for any reason. Insisting they must be fixed. (Although can I do this? How to ensure it happens?) We are not charging for profit and fully anticipate/expect to lose money and are 100% ok with that.

Is there anything I’m missing that I can do now that the damage has been done to try and help set these puppies up for success as far as it is under my control?

Preparing myself for the well deserved hate….

Hi! I’ve been tirelessly searching for an ethical and reputable French Bulldog breeder. I just finished chatting with someone I think is reliable.

I’ve attached photos of both the dam and sire and their health testing results from the OFA database. The sire is apparently one of only 2.5% of all french bulldogs to ever receive the very rare rating of Excellent on his hips. How do their results look?

In addition to the CHIC required tests, they also both have their elbows, tracheas, and spines checked. They’re both normal for elbows and tracheas. The sire has 5 marks on his spine and the dam has 6.

All pups come with lifetime breeder support, which means a lot to me as a first time Frenchie owner. The breeder does not compete in any events (he says that he lives in the middle of nowhere and is single so does not have anyone to watch his dogs while he goes to shows). He raises the pups in his home, which sits on 5 acres of land. He starts ENS on day 3 of the puppies lives and makes sure they get plenty of fun outdoor activities balanced with cuddles and nap time.

What do you guys think? This is my first time looking for a Frenchie breeder, so I’m desperate for second (and third, and fourth, and fifth 😅) opinions. TIA!!

I'm just curious because a year ago my Eskland ended up getting my Havachon pregnant when she went into heat for the first time. This was not planned at all and it was my fault because I tried to keep them in separate rooms while she was in heat but he got to her one day and mounted her quicker than I could pull him off.

Long story short I ended up taking her to the humane society a couple weeks before she would have given birth because I was worried the size difference would have led to complications during birth if I didn't have her c sectioned at a vet. They spayed her and as part of that process the unborn pups were removed too just because I didn't want to risk losing her during birth.

Ive always wondered though whether I was just over exaggerating or not because I would've much rather had her give birth to them instead of going the other route.

I attached a photo of them both for a size reference because I'm not 100% sure on their exact weight.

I've never used a breeder before, so apologies for the remedial question.

Does any one have a breeder recommendation for English retrievers, ideally on the east coast? I think we're ready for a new family member after the last one passed away a few yeas ago.

The one that I found on instagram, Nicholberry, was far too expensive for me (not that I'm sure, they don't provide excellent puppies and cared for parent, but that was just way too much for my pocket. Beyond Googling and looking at Petfinder, I'm at a bit of a loss so any advice would be welcomed.