Here are a few tips and words of wisdom that we have learned from our first few litters of puppies.  Send us an e-mail and we will add your experiences as well:

• Make sure you read up on the quirks of the breed you want to raise.  For instance, you should not breed 2  Merle Australian Shepherds for chance of causing a lethal white gene,  English Bull Dogs almost always need C sections etc. Also consider the need to dock tails, dew claws, ears etc.  Do your homework.
• Check the lineage of the potential parents to make sure they are not too closely related.
• Join an Association of breeders for the type of dog you think you want to raise.

Whelping

• Dogs are den animals.  We stack three to four straw bales up to make a little igloo for our girls when they whelp. Place a few boards across the walls to support the top bale from caving in. This simple structure keeps out the wind and cold, keeps them cool in the summer and is easy to get a better look at what is happening. You can also expand the bales out into a larger play pen like whelping box once the get old enough to romp
• 
• Your mommy dog is not going to like the thought of people, vets neighbors etc touching her babies.  The most loveable pooch can turn into Helga the she-wolf when Post Partum.  Nor will she like strangers coming to take her babies away.  You may want to keep her on a leash or inside.
• Puppies, especially if there are a lot of them make quite a mess.  Make sure you have a space for them like a mud room that you can donate while they grow.  We have a mud room and then moved them out to the dog barn in a kennel.  They still made lots of mess, but at least it was outside.
• Know what medical services need to be accomplished such as dew claws and tail docking.  Don't be afraid to pay a vet if you are not sure what to do.

Selling

• Make sure you know what kind of home your dog needs.  We sell Australian Shepherds.  They are very, very energetic.  We have to, unfortunately, turn down prospective buyers because they lived in an apartment.  Don't be afraid to say "NO" to a bad fit just to make a sale.  That pup will end up coming back to you or will end up in the pound.  (We offer to take back any pup that doesn't work out)
• When you show puppies, see if you can narrow down the field as to what the new owners want.  if they want a certain color, only show that color.  if they want a male, only show the males.  Otherwise they become overwhelmed with how cute they all are and may never be able to choose.
• If you do show all the pups at once, put them in a play pen or some other type of enclosure that allows them to romp and play without running into the street!  As your client sees one they like, pick them from the litter to play with their new prospective owners.  Tat way the pup will focus on them and not their siblings.
• Start to advertise your pups at about 4 weeks.  Place an ad in the paper or have a web site built. (We can help you with that) and include pictures.  Nothing says cheapskate like a high priced pup and an owner that's too cheap to pay for a picture.  Here are a few places we sell our pups and have great success.

  -  www.equine.com  Yes, I know equine are horses (See our Horses Page

  - www.puppyfind.com  This site expects you to pay to view sellers information or expects you to pay to let  buyers see your information.  It seemed a bit expensive, but we got hits on our pups in less than an hour.