My Breeding Experience

My breeding experience spans more than 30 years. My mom raised Shelties for about 20 years from the time I was a baby until after I left home. She also worked for a vet for about 12 years. My dad was a rancher & did most of his own vet work & taught me as well. I know quite a bit about breeding animals including dogs, horses, & cattle & have chosen this fulfulling occupation as my full time job in addition to homeschooling my son & serving my church & community. My parents always included me in the daily chores & learning process &, though I didn't know it at the time, was the basis for my knowledge to one day be successful in my own breeding business as well.

However, this job is not for everyone & requires strenuous physical labor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are financial dry spells, disappointments, & heartbreaks when a puppy does not survive. Those things are part of the job & must be dealt with accordingly.

Then, after deciding to breed, there was the working 2 jobs to pay for & selecting just the right male & females & waiting for them to grow up to be old enough to breed. Some work out & some don't. Building materials have really increased & paying for a kennel was quite expensive in addition to registration fees, dog crates, towels, dog food bowls, water buckets, flea collars, wormer, fans, heating pads, dog houses, vet bills, winter bedding, etc, etc, etc. So if you are considering breeding, you must be able to deal with all of the above mentioned circumstances.