Breeding Kuvasz

Lambent Kuvasz
Home Our Dogs Health About the Kuvasz Breeding Breeding Ethics Puppies	So you want to be a breeder? Before you consider breeding, first read the Breeding Ethics page. If you cannot comply with good breeding ethics, please don't start as you will be doing the breed a great disservice. Outside of practicing good ethics is the physical and financial demands of breeding. It is costly. First, there is the cost of buying, raising, and performing the health checks on the bitch. Then there is the stud fee to consider. As a first time breeder breeding a maiden bitch, do not expect the stud dog owner to ask for a puppy back in lieu of a stud fee. Expect the stud fee to be around $1500.00, and tack on to that the cost that it will take to get the bitch to the stud (highly variable!). Next comes the costs of breeding. More vet checks to determine pregnancy (including ultrasound and x-ray), and whelping supplies (whelping box, scale, tubes, syringes, etc.). Next, you have the cost of raising the puppies: food, vet checks for all the puppies (this is costly!!!), worming, vaccines for puppies, and advertising the litter, and again - THIS IS IF ALL GOES WELL. Well ... what can go wrong?? A MYRIAD of things can go wrong!! To start with, the most tragic thing that could happen is that you can lose your beloved bitch. Many breeding and whelping problems can, and do occur, and each has it's own associated cost. Cesarean sections can be costly, as can other whelping difficulties such as secondary inertia (which can result in C-section). Pyometra and eclampsia are two other difficulties your bitch can encounter. Your bitch will most likely not be so accommodating as to have difficulties during regular veterinary hours either. You can also have health problems with the puppies which could be costly, not to mention time consuming. Before you breed, make sure that you are emotionally, physically, and financially prepared to deal with what could happen, and what will be required even if everything goes right. Ask yourself these questions. Are you prepared to lose your bitch? Is your family - your children - prepared to deal with the loss of their pet, and possibly the puppies? Are you prepared to take over the care and feeding of the litter if something should happen to the bitch? Puppies require feeding every two hours, followed by massaging to get them to eliminate. With a large litter, just as you finished the last pup, it's time to start all over again with the first pup - a 24 hour non-stop process. Are you prepared to do everything possible to save your bitch and her litter, even if it means taking out a small loan? Are you prepared to spend pretty much your entire day taking care of even the healthiest of litters? A healthy litter whelped by a good mother still needs hours of daily care. Is your family prepared to assist with the long hours of care? If not, or if you are doing this solo, are you prepared to hire a helper that can assist with the litter? Is your family prepared to deal with YOU not having the time to do the other chores around the house that would otherwise occupy your time? Do you have a suitable place to raise the puppies in your home? Dams require privacy the first few weeks. Winter litters require warmth. After the puppies are up and about, they need room to romp and play ... and eliminate. They will need to be kept in a place where they cannot destroy any of your valuable belongings or get into anything dangerous. Not only can all of these things happen ... they HAVE happened!! The problems you can encounter are endless, and some are devastating. The amount of time you need to spend with a healthy litter is physically and mentally taxing, and the amount of time you need to spend with a litter that is not healthy is impossible for one person to manage. The amount of money needed to take a litter from start to finish is daunting to say the least and you cannot possibly expect to earn it back. So why do we do it? We do it because we love the breed and we have a certain devotion to it's preservation and improvement where possible. We do it because we have clearly defined goals for improvement that we want to accomplish, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. We do it because we have gone through hours of education and study, and producing your own litter of quality puppies is the logical next step to putting all that education to practical use. So think carefully about breeding. Think carefully enough to do it right, not to just do it.
Copyright 2004 Susan Gilmore and Lambent Kuvasz Susan@Lambentkuvasz.com This page last updated - April, 2005

So you want to be a breeder?

Before you consider breeding, first read the Breeding Ethics page. If you cannot comply with good breeding ethics, please don't start as you will be doing the breed a great disservice.

Outside of practicing good ethics is the physical and financial demands of breeding. It is costly. First, there is the cost of buying, raising, and performing the health checks on the bitch. Then there is the stud fee to consider. As a first time breeder breeding a maiden bitch, do not expect the stud dog owner to ask for a puppy back in lieu of a stud fee. Expect the stud fee to be around $1500.00, and tack on to that the cost that it will take to get the bitch to the stud (highly variable!). Next comes the costs of breeding. More vet checks to determine pregnancy (including ultrasound and x-ray), and whelping supplies (whelping box, scale, tubes, syringes, etc.). Next, you have the cost of raising the puppies: food, vet checks for all the puppies (this is costly!!!), worming, vaccines for puppies, and advertising the litter, and again - THIS IS IF ALL GOES WELL.

Well ... what can go wrong??

A MYRIAD of things can go wrong!! To start with, the most tragic thing that could happen is that you can lose your beloved bitch. Many breeding and whelping problems can, and do occur, and each has it's own associated cost. Cesarean sections can be costly, as can other whelping difficulties such as secondary inertia (which can result in C-section). Pyometra and eclampsia are two other difficulties your bitch can encounter. Your bitch will most likely not be so accommodating as to have difficulties during regular veterinary hours either. You can also have health problems with the puppies which could be costly, not to mention time consuming.

Before you breed, make sure that you are emotionally, physically, and financially prepared to deal with what could happen, and what will be required even if everything goes right. Ask yourself these questions.

Are you prepared to lose your bitch? Is your family - your children - prepared to deal with the loss of their pet, and possibly the puppies?
Are you prepared to take over the care and feeding of the litter if something should happen to the bitch? Puppies require feeding every two hours, followed by massaging to get them to eliminate. With a large litter, just as you finished the last pup, it's time to start all over again with the first pup - a 24 hour non-stop process.
Are you prepared to do everything possible to save your bitch and her litter, even if it means taking out a small loan?
Are you prepared to spend pretty much your entire day taking care of even the healthiest of litters? A healthy litter whelped by a good mother still needs hours of daily care.
Is your family prepared to assist with the long hours of care? If not, or if you are doing this solo, are you prepared to hire a helper that can assist with the litter?
Is your family prepared to deal with YOU not having the time to do the other chores around the house that would otherwise occupy your time?
Do you have a suitable place to raise the puppies in your home? Dams require privacy the first few weeks. Winter litters require warmth. After the puppies are up and about, they need room to romp and play ... and eliminate. They will need to be kept in a place where they cannot destroy any of your valuable belongings or get into anything dangerous.

Not only can all of these things happen ... they HAVE happened!! The problems you can encounter are endless, and some are devastating. The amount of time you need to spend with a healthy litter is physically and mentally taxing, and the amount of time you need to spend with a litter that is not healthy is impossible for one person to manage. The amount of money needed to take a litter from start to finish is daunting to say the least and you cannot possibly expect to earn it back.

So why do we do it?

We do it because we love the breed and we have a certain devotion to it's preservation and improvement where possible. We do it because we have clearly defined goals for improvement that we want to accomplish, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. We do it because we have gone through hours of education and study, and producing your own litter of quality puppies is the logical next step to putting all that education to practical use.

So think carefully about breeding. Think carefully enough to do it right, not to just do it.