Hello, I came across this website while searching for answers online. I have a CKC registered female mini dachshund, she is about 1 year old and about 7 lbs. in weight. It is coming the time to decide whether to breed her or have her spayed. I expected her to weigh a little more than she does now, and had always had intentions of breeding her once or twice simply for the experience and love of animals. But now I am not sure as some people tell me it will be fine to breed her as long as the stud is on the smaller side and others say it is not worth the risk. Any expert advice for me?

Do you know anything about the genetic history of your dog, and of any dog that you plan to breed her to? Do you know how to pick a stud that will result in pups that are closer to the breed standard than either parent? Do you know what potential genetic problems are hidden in your dog, so that you can avoid having pups with genetic defects? If you breed her, can you find homes for all the pups, and will you agree to take them all back if those homes do not work out? Are you prepared for the costs of any medical emergencies that may arise?

What does the breed standard say about this? I think it would be a good idea if you love her to spay her!! But if not see information below for the beginning breeder.

Many people think that breeding dogs is easy. However, the reality is quite different.

I often have people email me who want to breed, and invariably their has just come into season, and they want to breed without having the skills or the knowledge. At best, this is careless. If your is in season, and you are asking questions now, then do NOT breed her. Wait until you are properly trained and mentored.

If you do not have the competencies required to facilitate the breeding of your , the raising of puppies, and the placement of puppies, it is irresponsible and unethical to breed until you have.

As a starting point, if you can answer the following questions, then you'll be well on the track to being ready to breed. If you can't answer 90% of these, don't even bother attempting to breed until you can:

Setting yourself up right
What does dog conformation refer to?
How can you test if my dog has the correct conformation?
What important points should be considered on a dog's pedigree?
How many championships should be listed in a pedigree prior to breeding?

The beginning of the season
When will a first come into season?
Should a be bred on her first season?
How old should a be before breeding commences?
On what grounds should a not be bred from?
On what days is a fertile?
How long is a 's season?

Breeding the dogs
On what day's should a be bred?
What is a studmaster and when should they be used?
On what attributes is a stud dog selected?
What health testing should both the dam and dog have prior to breeding?
How old should a dog be before he is used at stud?
What are the responsibilities of a stud dog owner?
What are the important contract items to have in a breeding contract?
On what grounds should a dog be neutered?
What diseases can a dog get while being bred?
When should a dog be allowed near an in season ?
How does the breeding actually take place?
Does there need to be a tie for a breeding to have taken place?
What is AI and when should it be conducted?
Who should conduct the AI and what specific precautions should be taken?
Why is the stud dog turned during a breeding?
How many times should a be bred?
Can a litter have more than one father?
Where must a be kept while she is in season?

Gestation
How long is a 's gestation?
What special diet should the be fed while in season, and while pregnant?
Under what special circumstances should additional calcium be fed to a pregnant ?

Whelping
What are the signs that a is going into labour?
What is the best type of whelping box arrangements?
Where should the be when she whelps?
What are the signs that the whelping is going well?
What are the signs that there are problems developing?
When should a c-section be performed?
What is primary inertia and the implications?
What is secondary inertia and the implications?
What is oxytocin?
When should the vet be called for help?
Should calcium be administered during whelping?
What does green fluid indicate?
How long should it take for a to whelp?
What is the incidence of puppy deaths in each litter?
What is a breach birth, how often does it happen, and what are the problems that can result?
What are the implications for a pup born out of the sac?
How do you ensure that each placenta is accounted for, and what do you do if they are not?
What should be done with the placenta?
How do you resuscitate a dead puppy?
How do you clear fluid from a puppy's lungs?
How many extra set of hands should you have at a c-section?
When should oxygen be administered to puppies?
When should puppies first fed from the dam?
How do you check for cleft palate?
How are puppies who are deformed managed?

Caring for the mother
What should the dam be fed while she is looking after puppies?
What are the signs of infection in the ?

Caring for puppies
What are the signs that the puppies are progressing well?
What are the signs that the puppies are in trouble?
What is mastisis and how is it treated?
What do you do if the dam's milk does not come in?
How do you bottle feed a puppy, and what do you use?
How do you tube feed a puppy?
How can you tell if a puppy is feeding well?
How can you tell if a pup has received enough milk?
How can you check to see if a pup is dehydrated?
What is fading puppy syndrome and how do you rescue a puppy from it?
What are the common problems to be aware of when raising the puppies?
When do you introduce "real food" to puppies?
Why should puppies never be given "baby food"?
Why should puppies not be given grains to eat?
Should puppies be vaccinated?
Should puppies be wormed?
Under what conditions should a puppy be culled and how?
Under what conditions should a puppy be wormed and/or vaccinated?

Placing puppies
How do you choose puppy buyers?
What responsibilities do you have as a breeder for those pups?
What sort of guarantees are you going to offer the buyers?
How do you ensure your puppy buyers are going to look after the puppies?
When and how do you temperament test puppies?
How do you match the right puppy with the right person?
When do you remove the dam from the puppies?
When should the puppies be totally weaned?
How are puppies house trained?
When are puppies first socialised and how?
What sort of puppy pack information are you going to provide to the buyers?
When do you start training the puppies?
What breeder support are you offering once the puppies have gone?

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You'll find the answers to these questions from gaining loads of experiencing under the careful guidance of a mentor before you breed yourself. I'm encouraging you to join the dogmentor email list now, and ensure you surf plenty of websites, and buy some good books about breeding dogs.

From Questions for the potential breeder a great place for ALL those interested in breeding!

My sister's mini dachshund is also one and one half years old and she just gave birth to her first litter. She weighed 4 and one half pounds and gave birth to three beautiful healthy puppies.

Have her spayed.

If you love animals as you claim, then you will decide it is for the best to not breed her, not only just for her health, but for the lives of the shelter dogs that would consequentially die. It would only be a "pleasureful" experience for you, and you alone. Not only will pregnancy and birth be physically and mentally enduring on your dog, but you can guarantee yourself that the number of puppies you have will be equal to the ones that die for it. There is no lack of dachshunds in the world, or in shelters waiting to die this very minute. Purebreds are not exempt from this fate.

Are you aware that:

• Number of cats and dogs entering shelters
Each year: 6-8 million (HSUS estimate)

• Number of cats and dogs euthanized
By shelters each year: 3 - 4M (HSUS estimate)

• Number of cats and dogs adopted from
Shelters each year: 3 - 4M (HSUS estimate)

• Number of cats and dogs reclaimed by owners
From shelters each year: Between 600 and 750k --
30% of dogs and 2-5% of cats entering shelters
(HSUS estimate)

• Number of animal shelters in the USA:
Between 4k and 6k (HSUS estimate)

• Percentage of dogs in shelters
who are purebred: 25% (HSUS estimate)

• In 7 years, one female cat and her
Offspring can theoretically produce 420k cats.

• Average number of litters a
Fertile dog can produce in one year: 2

• Average number of pups per canine litter: 6-10

• In 6 years, one female dog and her
Offspring can theoretically produce 67k dogs.

It costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2 billion
Each year to round up, house, kill, and dispose
Of homeless animals. (USA Today)

Over 56% of dogs and puppies entering shelters
are killed based on reports from over 1,055 facilities
across America. (National Counsel on Pet Population Study)

An estimated 5M cats and dogs are killed in shelters each year.
That means that one animal is euthanized every six and one half
Seconds. (HSUS)
Millions more are abandoned, only to suffer from illness
Or injury before dying. (Doris Day Animal League)

On average, it costs approximately $100 to capture, house,
Feed, and eventually kill a homeless animal - a cost that
Ultimately comes out of our pocket. Low cost spay/neuter
Services are far below that amount.
(Doris Day Animal League)

The cost of having a pregnant female can be
Much higher than the cost of spaying

Seven dogs & cats are born every day for each person
born in the USA. Of those, only 1 in 5 puppies and
kittens stay in their original home for their natural
lifetime. The remaining 4 are abandoned to the streets
or end up at a shelter (HSUS)

Each day 10k humans are born in the USA, and each day
70k pups and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates
Exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals


That's right, 1 in 5 puppies stay in their forever homes, you might think you found perfect forever homes for each of your babies, but a fairy tale ending for all of them is unlikely.

Silver, I wish I didn't have to spread the rep! This also needs to be made into a sticky! VERY WELL DONE!

I don't know how many times it needs to be said. If you truly love your animals, PLEASE, for the love of God, have them spayed and neutered.

I understand that some people just aren't aware. Please take a look at the statistics that were just given. Just in the last yr. we have come across an enormous amount of people that are wanting to breed dachshunds in particular. Just in the last few weeks we have come across probably a good dozen! Do the numbers!

That is thousands upon thousands of dogs that will end up in overcrowded shelters, and ultimately meet their untimely death. It is not just the ONE dog and her small litter. That litter makes another litter, and their litter makes another litter... and it just goes on from there, until the shelters are so overpopulated, that they are forced to euthanize millions of dogs every year.

It is estimated that just in the United States alone, that there are 2-3 million perfectly healthy dogs, need to be euthanized every single year! There just isn't enough room for them! Why do they have to die because someone wants to breed more? I just don't understand the mindset!

If you love your dog and it's breed, please have it spayed or neutered. You don't want to see the sad eyes of a dog, who has done nothing but want to be a friend, be taken onto a cold table and watch the big needle come at him.

I'm sure she/he wonders why? I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to pee and poop on your floor, I didn't know that the garbage wasn't mine, I didn't know that I shouldn't have dug holes in your backyard. I wish you would have taught me, because I would do anything I could to please you if I only understood what you expected from me!

There are too many dogs that have to die with this question in their heads. WHY? I wish Mommy or Daddy would have done their research, and learned that there are so many of us that need love, and we are left to die all alone. I hope none of my babies will ever have to be sitting on this cold table that I am sitting on now.

Please have your dog spayed. It will also help her healthwise. Un-spayed female have a high risk of cancer and other health problems. If I can appeal to nothing else, I will appeal to your pocket book. Having your dog spayed now, will save you a lot of money in vet bills. You don't want to see the extra costs, if your dog develops cancer or another serious illness, just because you opted to breed her, instead of getting her spayed.

I am very happy that you asked this question. It sounds like you want to be responsible. Please do the best thing for you little fur baby. She will be happier and healthier, and you will know that you did the best thing for her. They are the ones, after all, that are there when we are happy, sad, or mad. They don't worry, they are always up for a big kiss! :)

Thank goodness Silver and Starby came along. I'm getting tired of all the people coming here wanting to breed their dogs, so I took the shortcut. Have her spayed.

I could tell you all the reason why you shouldn't breed her, there are 1000's of reasons. I can't give you even one reason why breeding her is a good idea.

For the health of your dog, and the health of all dogs out there, please, have her spayed.

May I also add, that if you want to witness the "experience", go to your local shelter on any given day. You can see it there, and then find out how many of those dogs will not get the "experience" of living out a full and happy life.

If you do "truly" love dogs, you will have her spayed.

Please watch this video. This is just ONE shelter. Many of these dogs are registered and papered too! You can then see what happened to them.

Then please read what I going to copy for you, from another thread I have posted. This may just make up your mind, and convince you of the best thing you can do, not only for your dog, whom you love, but for the other dogs that would beg you not to breed more, could they only speak.

Brightlion | In Hope - English

The HUMANE SOCIETY HAS COMPLETED AN INVESTIGATION AND PETLAND, AND OTHER WELL KNOWN PET STORES, GETS ITS PUPPIES FROM PUPPYMILLS.. SO DON'T PLAY THE DEAD DOG GAME... In my first example, let's assume that you simply have to have a dog today. And you don't want to deal with the annoying questions that the shelter asks before they will deign to allow you to adopt. So you march down to the local pet store and plunk your credit card down on the counter and take home that special “doggie in the window.”



BOOM – right there, a shelter dog will die. You could have found the perfect doggie companion with a little effort waiting for you in a shelter. But since you didn't want to put that effort in, for whatever reason – a shelter dog will die.



But you aren't done yet. Since the pet store made a successful sale, they will call up their broker and order another cute little puppy to put in the window. So the broker calls the puppy mill and orders some more dogs. And in turn, the puppy mill breeds another litter. For the sake of argument, let's assume that the average dog litter is five puppies. That's five more dogs into the pipeline. It doesn't matter if these dogs get sold in pet stores, destroyed when the puppy mill can't sell them all, or if they are turned in to a shelter somewhere. It is still five more dogs in the pipeline. And that means that five more shelter dogs will die.



So your conservative score on the cost of buying that pet store puppy is 5 DEAD DOGS. Congratulations, you killed five dogs today. But you are a good person. You saved your precious new friend from that nasty old pet store. So be sure to hold him tight tonight, and tell him that you love him so much that you KILLED 5 OTHER DOGS so that you could bring him home.



Isn't this a fun game? Let's try another example.



Your family pet is such a special dog. Your kids love her dearly. You'd like to have another one just like her, and you'd like the kids to learn the facts of life. So you decide to have a litter of puppies. Just one, because after all you are sensible folks. So you find a friend with a willing stud and it's off to the races you go. And your precious pet produces a fine litter of 5 of the cutest puppies that you could ever imagine. They are just so precious! Now you aren't bad people, you don't want to make a profit off this – you just wanted to teach your kids a lesson about life. So you decide to keep one of the puppies and give the other four away.



BOOM – that's five more dogs in the pipeline, so five more shelter dogs must die. Quite the lesson for little Johnny and Suzy isn't it? But wait, your score isn't complete yet. It is time for the bonus round!



Your sister-in-law took one of those precious pups. And it turned out to be fine pet for their family. Now, two years later, she decides that since having a litter of puppies was such a fine lesson for Johnny and Suzy she would like her kids to have the same lesson. So they breed their family pet, producing another litter of 5 puppies. Wow! Bonus score for you! We'll add them on to your score, since your sister-in-law didn't buy a spayed dog from the shelter, we'll credit you with her litter as well. Final score for you – 10 DEAD DOGS! Now that's a lesson for Johnny and Suzy.



This game is just so much fun! When it comes time for your next dog you have a choice to make. You could deal with the hassle of rescuing a dog from a shelter, but it is such a hassle (and where do they get off with those ridiculous “adoption fees” anyway – you would be doing them a favor adopting one of those dogs) and they ask so many questions – OR – you can play the DEAD DOG game! You decide. Remember, it is your right to do what you want. You can support a puppy mill or a backyard breeder and KILL DOGS as a bonus. Or you can rescue a deserving dog, give him a loving home, and help stop the wholesale slaughter of 8 to 12 MILLION dogs a year. It is up to you. Which lesson do you want to teach?



Thanks for playing the DEAD DOG game!

Please spay and neuter your pets!

Drat, I have to spread reputation again! Haven't been on here in forever and in the first 10 minutes I have to print several answers off for future use! Morbid though it be, I love the dead dog game. I can see people's eyes glaze over when I start my canned speech with all the statistics. This puts it in terms people (maybe) can comprehend.