Breeding Options

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So you think you want to breed. Be educated before making that decision because “breeding“ & “breeding the right way“ are two VERY different practices. Consider these things first:

Female Owners:

• Is your female an excellent representation of the breed that meets breed standard set forth by AKC & ASCA & will continue to improve the breed when bred to a prospective mate of equal quality.
• Did the breeder you purchased from include lab reports of appropriate health clearances for your female including Hereditary Cataracts & Progressive Rod Cone Degeneration. If not, are you willing to pay for these tests to clear your female so you can breed to improve the breed.
• Is your female AKC and/or ASCA registerable with breeding rights included from the breeder you purchased your female from. If not, this topic of discussion should have been a priority by the breeder you purchased your female from & he/she is the only person that can change the paperwork if you did not receive breeding rights at time of sale.
• Do you own a male to breed your female to with a matching registration, again AKC and/or ASCA. If not, consider the following facts:

1. If you plan to take your female to a stud for breeding you will need to plan to leave her for the duration of her cycle because if the breeder sends her back home before she is out of heat there is always the chance of a neighbor’s dog or stray visiting your home & breeding her as well. If this happens, your female could contract a sexually transmitted disease such as Brucellosis which causes infertility & is canine/human transferable.
2. Be aware that your female may sit & pout the entire time she is away from you because she is upset that her family “abandoned” her. If the female behaves this way she typically will not allow the male to breed her wasting valuable time & resources for both you & the owner of the male.
3. If the female does breed there are many registration issue’s you need to be aware of. The male owner will be required to sign all of your registration paperwork for your puppy. The male owner can refuse to sign at anytime if there is any question you have allowed another dog to breed your female during her cycle. If the male owner’s registration is in 2 different names BOTH parties must sign your paperwork. If the male’s registration is on a co-ownership with both parties living at different locations you will need to allow time for the paperwork to be mailed to both locations, if not local, in order for you to have your registration paperwork ready at time of sale. Any party can decide at any time not to sign your paperwork & you will be saddled with placing an unregistered litter. If the male owner’s paperwork is registered to a husband/wife there is always a chance that separation or divorce could keep you from getting your paperwork signed. Keep in mind it takes only one party getting upset over some little something & you will not get your paperwork signed, again, leaving you saddled with placing an unregistered litter. You have only 6 short weeks for puppies that are placed local & 8 weeks for puppies that fly to have your paperwork in order for your buyers at time of sale.
4. When buyers visit your home to see your puppies they want to see both parents.
5. If you breed to a male owned by someone else you need permission to have pictures & video to send to your buyers that are out of area so you can properly represent your puppies.
6. Consider how the male you want to breed to is housed. If he is allowed to roam freely around his neighborhood or mile section you have no idea how many infected stray females, or other neighborhood females, he may have come into contact with putting your female at risk for STD’s, again some canine/human transferable. If the breeder you want to take your female to did not require a Brucellosis test for your female you need to ask yourself how many other females this stud has bred without being tested as well putting your females health at risk. Simply put … responsible breeders do not breed to outside females without required testing to ensure the safety of their male & breeding program.
7. Once your puppies arrive do you have an adequately funded bank account to cover the thousands of dollars in expenses you will incur for the placement of your puppies including registration fee’s, DNA testing (required for both parents through ASCA to receive your registration paperwork), vitamins for mama & puppies, canned food for puppies, additional food for a lactating mommy, vet care for the removal of tails & dewclaws, vaccinations, & worming if you are not able to complete these tasks yourself, advertising, additional electric expenses for heating pads & heatlamps in the winter & fans for cooling the puppies in the summer, continued vet expenses for vaccinations, worming, & cost of feeding for the one’s that do not place by 6-8 weeks of age. Do you have additional fencing to keep your puppies separate from their mother & each other as they grow older & sibling rivalry sets in. Do you have many hours per day to devote to training the one’s that are still with you into adulthood. No one wants to purchase an unruly 10 month old dog that has been locked in a pen with no training or socialization. They DO NOT all sell by 6 weeks of age! Especially if you have no waiting list, website, & no time to do your advertising & marketing.
8. If you live in a neighborhood with a 3 dog limit keep in mind that all puppies do not place by 6 weeks of age. How will you provide adequate care, training, fencing, & housing for the puppies you still have into adulthood putting you over the 3 dog limit. 

Male Owners:

So you want to keep your male intact for breeding but do not want to own a female. I will never be interested in breeding to your male so do not ask. I have my own breeding males & have no need to breed to a male I do not own. I will also never put myself in a situation where paperwork could be an issue. I want to be listed as breeder on my paperwork with no question that my paperwork will be in order at time of sale.

It is also not in the best interest of my females health to breed to a male that I have no idea who/what he has come into contact with or bred previously without being tested for STD’s. It takes only one affected dog to tear down an entirely clean breeding line & breeding program. There is no reason for me to risk the ten’s of thousands of dollars I have spent building my breeding program to breed to a male I do not own outright & have no control over where he has been & what dogs he has come into contact with.

If you want to stand your male for stud consider these things first: 

1. Are you willing to leave him at the property of the female for the duration of her cycle or do you have an adequate area to house the female on your property without risk of another male breeding her for the duration of her cycle.
2. Has she been tested both for STD’s & appropriate health clearances like Hereditary Cataracts & Progressive Rod Cone Degeneration.
3. Who will be responsible if the male or female digs out or climbs over & escapes while in the care of the other person. Remember, they are animals. They will find a way!
4. Which party will cover the expenses of travel if you plan to visit the females home everyday to breed her. A female can be in heat for up to 21 days & there is no way to know which day she is fertile & receptive to a male.
5. If the male & female are not kept on the same property together how will you know if another male (i.e stray or neighbors dog) breeds the female then passes disease to your male on the next visit for breeding.

Now you know there are too many scenario’s that can go wrong if you want you to produce a litter of puppies but don’t want own both parents.

To summarize …

1. Both AKC & ASCA registered as an Australian Shepherd ONLY.

2. ASCA DNA profiled with a copy of the DNA certificate in hand as proof.

3. Cleared for Hereditary Cataracts & Progressive Rod Cone Degeneration with lab reports in hand as proof.

4. Tested for Brucellosis & other STD’s within 30 days prior to heat cycle.

5. Your unwillingness to leave her in my care for the ENTIRE duration of her heat cycle.

In addition …

1. Your female needs to weigh between 40 & 60 lbs & stand 18-21” tall. If she does not meet these height & weight requirements I will not consider breeding her as she is not a good match for my males.

2. My stud fee is pick of the litter 2 puppies for Jester & Rookie & 3 puppies for Cal as he is a UKC Champion.

3. You must live within driving distance. No shipped females will be accepted & no shipped semen is available.

4. I will visit your home at age 3 days of age to remove tails & dewclaws myself to make sure they are done properly choosing my pick puppies at that time so you can move forward with your marketing & placement of the puppies.

5. If at any time you are unable to follow through with your commitment to care for & place each & every puppy in the litter & continue on with their training into adulthood they will be surrendered to me with signed paperwork for placement. “Surrendered” means you will NOT receive payment for the puppies.

6. Keep in mind my name is on the puppies you produce so you will be expected to provide a contract similar to mine & conduct business & placement of all puppies in a professional manner.

7. If you are not agreeable to ALL of these terms then I will thank you in advance to NOT waste my time.

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