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SO YOU THINK YOU WOULD LIKE TO BREED A LITTER
HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER
Is your bitch Kennel Club registered, if not it is not really advisable to breed from her, having registration at least ensures that you have a recorded history of her parentage. Without any papers it is not possible to ensure that her ancestors were pure bred Staffords. Any KC registered dog should not be mated to an unregistered bitch.
Is your bitch healthy enough to be bred from. How old is she, is she clear from hereditary defects? Please read the (Health Issues Page).
Have you had her checked by the vet to see if she is suitable to breed from, or will she need a Caesarian? The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Council is totally in support of the guidelines as laid down by the Kennels club on age and frequency criteria for registering litter from a bitch. In addition the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Council do not recommend breeding from any bitch before she is 18 months old or on her 3rd season.
You are advised to have any your bitch eye tested to see she is free from PHPV/HC/PPSC. All bitches should have an up to date eye test. DNA testing to identify carriers of the HC gene is now available and is strongly recommended if you are going to breed from your bitch. Please read the (Health Issues Page).
Do you understand the risks involved. If everything goes well then no problems. However, you could lose some... if not all of the puppies, although thankfully this does not happen very often, or you could lose your bitch. If you do lose your bitch and the puppies survive, they will need to be hand reared, this involves feeding every three hours, DAY AND NIGHT.
Can you afford a litter. Lots of people think of breeding as a way of making money, this is not usually the case, and if things do go wrong you could incur a lot of expenses along the way. The stud fee for the dog, extra food for the bitch during pregnancy and lactation, weaning the puppies, their food this is all normal. What if your bitch needs a call out from the vet at 2am, or a Caesarian in the middle of the night, this can be very costly.
Are you aware of the work involved, lots of lovely puppies making lots of mess as they get older, all very time consuming to keep them clean and preparing 4 to 5 meals a day, watching over them when they are fed, is every puppy getting enough to eat. Weaning them from Mum at the right time.
Finding suitable homes can be a nightmare, all calls need to be carefully vetted as they are people out there to whom you wouldn’t want to sell your puppies to. This can be very time consuming. Every one needs to be carefully vetted, is someone at home most if not all of the day, do the children seem frightened of the dogs, is this a commitment the whole family want to make. If you have any doubts about your prospective homes then don’t sell to these people, it is worth hanging on to a puppy until the right family come along.
Are you prepared to take any puppies back that you have bred and re home them if necessary.
THINKING OF USING YOUR DOG AT STUD
If you wish your dog to be used at stud there are many issues to consider.
It is important that only Kennel Club Registered Staffords are used at stud and that the bitches served are Kennel Club registered. Kennel Club registration is the only guarantee that you have the dog’s real history, beware of other organizations offering alternative registrations.
Unless your dog is used regularly at stud, this means a number of times a year, it is possible that he could make a nuisance of himself, it is often said that what the dog doesn’t have in the first place he won’t miss. It is also highly likely that his temperament will change particularly towards other males, who he may see as rivals.
For a dog to be used regularly, it is usual that he will be shown regularly at KC shows and will be seen by bitch owners looking for a dog rather than the other way round.
If you are considering keeping a puppy from a one off mating with your dog you need to consider this carefully. It is an absolute NO-NO to keep two male Staffords together, this could lead to a totally untenable situation. If you keep a bitch puppy, one of them should be neutered to stop any unwanted liaisons.
You may or may not be aware of any hereditary health problems in the breed, please read the Health Issues Page. These are major issues and all dogs to be used at stud should be tested and passed clear before being used. Please make sure any bitches are similarly tested.
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