# Things that can go wrong with breeding/whelping



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

A lot of people think having puppies is all glorious and a wonderful experience. They have NO CLUE as to how many issues and/or complication can arise and either cost you TONS of money and/or heartbreak. I thought this would be a good post for everyone thinking about breeding to read. Although most of these things have not happened to us (hubby and I), *crossing fingers they never do* they have happened to breeders we know of or have heard of and they can happen to ANYONE, thus why *crossing fingers*.

1. Pregnant bitch could have complications needing an emergency c-session in order to save some (if not all) the puppies. C-sessions can cost thousands of dollars.

2. You could loose 1, 2 or more puppies. I don't care how many times I've lost one. It always breaks my heart. Specially with the so called "Fade aways" that will survive for a day or two but end up dying and there is nothing you can do about it.
I've held a puppy, that was slowly dying and refused to eat, against my chest for hours till it took its final breaths. Talk about tearing your heart apart!!! I cried for days!

3. The mother could die during delivery or even after a c-session, leaving you with a bunch of puppies (as many as 10-14) to feed every two hours for at least 3 weeks if you want them to survive.

4. The female could get mastitis, costing you lots of money to treat!

5. You could have people come to visit your litter of pups and bring Parvo with them (in their shoes... a lot of people like to shop around and will go from breeder to breeder, including Back-yard-breeders), infecting all your puppies and loosing all of them. Even if you could pay to treat one of them, it can run you up to thousands of dollars to save just one puppy.

6. The mother could eat every single one of the puppies. Trust me it happened to a reputable breeder I know.

These are just some of the problems/complications that come to mind, if I have forgotten anything please feel free to add.


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Excellent Idea! This should be made a sticky, and have other experienced people add to it. Make it required reading for anyone contemplating breeding their dog.


----------



## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

Castlemaid said:


> Excellent Idea! This should be made a sticky, and have other experienced people add to it. Make it required reading for anyone contemplating breeding their dog.


 
Agree. I didn't know most of those things. I would never let my dog have puppies, but if I were too, I would actually want a wake up call like this.


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

The mom can develop subclinical mastitis. It is not obvious that she is sick, the puppies nurse and get sick from the milk. They cry and slowly die, one by one, before you figure out what is wrong. 

This happened to someone I kow.


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I found the investment in whelping box, supplies and preparations not a small deal. Whelping was one very long day with a pup not progressing due to size. There was also the purchase of food for the dam and to wean pups with. I work each day to enrich the pups lives so that they have the best start in life. I have to say at four weeks that I am pooped! Now in the weaning process and that is time consuming. I am seldom away from home except a quick errand run. 

There were costs in getting the dam cared for. Testing, then ultrasound and xray. Fortunately no section was needed but we had one scheduled due to large pups. She went into labor early and there was the worry of preemie pups and viability! Yes, i am poorer and exhausted. There are just two pups and I can not imagine 8!

It is not something to be done for fun. There are personal rewards but much work and expense if done right.


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

The mom can refuse to care for the babies. 10-14 pups to bottle feed every couple of hours.


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

You are pooped and they are only 4 weeks old? :rofl: Sorry, but that was the easy part.


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

Yes, just wading through the house with 10+ landsharks attacking the legs


----------



## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

Great post. These are all the reasons I'll be breathing a sigh of relief once Juno is fixed. I'm surprised at the amount of people I've had come up to me since I got her and ask me if I'll breed her. They always act so surprised when I say that the answer is and will always be a resounding NO! I love the breed and I love my dog, but it's such a massive responsibility where there is so much room for error if you don't know what you're doing. I'd rather leave it to the pros. 

Raising 30 hens from eggs to adults is hard enough - I can't imagine trying to raise a whole load of wee pups if even one of the things on the OPs list happened.


----------



## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

I vote for this to be a sticky!

Great thread. Where's Selzer? She seems to get the short stick a lot....


----------



## DharmasMom (Jul 4, 2010)

I haven't found a GOOD reason TO breed yet. I am sure there are some but none that I can see. God love you guys that do it and do it RIGHT!


----------



## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Seeing my heart dog upside down on a table with her middle cut open. It wasn't the cost or being worried about losing the puppies. It was the fear that I might lose my dog.


----------



## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

to me the saddest problem is the healthy seeming pups that get sick or have a congenital defect meaning their life will be very short..these are pups you've loved and cared for, and then to know they are dying, too sad, I've heard of litters with parvo,if they survive, tons of $$ has been spent, or they just die, one after the other...too sad


----------



## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Having watched your bitch go through about 7 weeks of a normal pregnancy and look outside in the yard and see the bitch having the puppies and them not being viable enough to live, no matter how hard you and the vet try to keep them alive.


----------



## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

Great thread and another vote to make this a sticky!


----------



## GSD Fan (Sep 20, 2010)

I too vote to make this a sticky and add this to the breeding part.

-Your female or male catches a illness from their mate during the breeding and it leaves them infertile.

-Your female attacks and possibly kills the male during the mating.

-You pay a LOT for frozen semen or for the breeding to take place and the female does not conceive.


----------



## meldleistikow (Oct 24, 2011)

Where I grew up, I always heard that a female should have at least one litter to "calm her down". Stupid, I know. Growing up, my parents bred our Old English Sheepdog to the Old English Sheepdog in the next town a few times. She was the best mother and luckily nothing ever went wrong. Then I got my German Shepherd when I was 10. We bred her for the first time when she was three. That went great, so did the second litter. Unfortunately the 3rd litter was a disaster. She had six puppies total. For whatever reason, she ate 3 of them. Out of the last three that we saved from her (I am almost certain she would have done the same to them), only one lived. I was in high school and I was up every 2 hours to feed him. My Grandma took him while I was at school. Fortunately, he grew up to be a happy healthy guy and lived with my Grandma. 

It was heartbreaking to know that my wonderful German Shepherd ate her own puppies. I still have nightmares sometimes. I feel terrible that I ever bred dogs. I learned a lot, but mainly I learned that I had no business breeding at all.


----------



## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

Jackson was from a litter of 12 puppies. When his mother went into labor, the first puppy was stuck so she had to have a c-section; That puppy did not make it. It costed the breeder $2,000 for the C-section.. After her c-section, the puppies had to be hand fed by the breeder and some of the puppies were not taking to it. Two more puppies did not make it and one failed to thrive.


----------



## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

My SIL's dog had a litter of pups.....10.

They made some money selling 4....now they have 6 pups running around and last I talked to them....they were going to start giving them away. And these are AKC pups. For some reason, they thought they were going to make a jackpot on these pups. 

Actually the 4 they sold barely covered the cost they spent at the vets office getting the pups their shots.


----------



## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

I've heard of females either bolting or twisting after the male is tied, then ripping the male's penis off.


----------



## SophieGSD (Feb 6, 2012)

Konotashi said:


> _"I've heard of females either bolting or twisting after the male is tied, then ripping the male's penis off."_


That sounds incredibly painful.
Even as a girl. That sounds REALLY painful.. D=


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Konotashi said:


> I've heard of females either bolting or twisting after the male is tied, then ripping the male's penis off.


Yep! As far as I know and heard, that is how Paska (my Tara's sire) died. He got hurt while tied to a female and he died later of infection.


----------



## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

Yowza. 

For a horrible "whelping war story," see this blog post about a corgi bitch having her first litter: The war story! | | Ruffly Speaking: Dog photography and general dog nuttiness of all kinds. Kind of like Nutella.Ruffly Speaking: Dog photography and general dog nuttiness of all kinds. Kind of like Nutella.

And after 10 days, the dam suddenly began shivering, started to go into pre-eclampsia, and got mastitis. 

They've got a whole family caring for mom and puppies...


----------



## Dragonwyke (Jul 21, 2011)

when i was a kid in michigan my dad bred beautiful springer spaniels for the hunters up there in the UP. i remember the work that went into the health care to get her ready to breed, then finding the right male, then the time it took for the breeding, then bringing her back home and all the vetting that went into her before she had the babies. then ALL the work in the birthing and all the care of the babies. then all the training that went into the pups before they were sold at a decent price to the "right" hunters. and the number of times those pups got hurt in the training in those days and you didn't take 'em to the vet for humanely euthanized. 

i swore back then i wouldn't do that to any dog. in all my life i've only produced one litter of dogs from a dog i was told spayed. that was over 23yrs ago. those 7pups got some amazing homes. fortunately growin' up country you have ALOT of experience birthing all kinds of animals. lol 

dw


----------



## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

Off the top of my head, I can think of a lot of things that can go wrong.


Puppies can be born with deformities. 
Their umbilical cord can wrap around their neck and kill them. 
A placenta can separate too early. 
The bitch might not go into hard labor and start pushing. 
Her uterus can rupture. 
A puppy can get stuck in the birth canal. 
Mama can go septic.
Mama could step on or lay on a puppy and kill it. 
Mama could refuse to have anything to do with the puppies.
The puppies could get too cold and die.
Puppies can get aspiration pneumonia if you don't tube feed them correctly.
Mama can get eclampsia.
Water puppy syndrome.

I'm going to stop now, but there are more things that could go on this list.


----------



## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

you all missed the # 1 reason, we have to sell to dumb. lying people...No matter how careful you are in screening, no matter how detailed your contract, there is a chance that 1 of your babies ends in a poor home. I always said I would want them in homes like mine or better, and I'm sorry but there are too many who with the best intentions and words sound great, then the breeder gets the call, either a teenager out of control, an older dog they are tired of, changing circumstances, what ever...so the breeder goes in and has to retrain or just comfort the dog who grieves for his lost family, or to bring back to health the ill or neglected...I would much rather buy than raise a litter and sell


----------



## Dragonwyke (Jul 21, 2011)

trudy, you hit the nail RIGHT on the head! i used to breed and raise lovebirds. i LOVED those little birdies soooooooo much. i hand raised each and every little bird. it was awesome, if hard, work. every little baby went thru my hands and was lovingly hand fed w/spoons and cuddled and socialized to be the perfect loving little birdy-buddy. 

but then i had to sell them. i interviewed possible buyers, had them fill out adoption questionaires, talked to them, gave them instruction manuals i printed out myself for each little bird. good heavens these ppl were PI$$ED!!!!!! most ended up walking out, lol. 
"it's easier adopting a kid than one of you $65 birds! i'll just go to the pet store where i don't have to do any of this!" 
ah well, i learned alot about genetics, inheretance, alleles, and all kinds of cool stuff, but i ended up having about 60 little lovebirds. it was **** of big flock of colorful little birds. fortunately for me they have a relatively short lifespan of only 15yrs, and not 90yrs like cockatoos. lol i can tell you, i don't breed anything anymore, lol. 

i don't trust ANYONE w/the babies i put so much love and care into. just can't do it. i leave that for people that are MUCH braver than me. breaks my heart every time. that's why i'm also a failed foster. lmao 

dw


----------



## Chance&Reno (Feb 21, 2012)

Dragonwyke said:


> trudy, you hit the nail RIGHT on the head! i used to breed and raise lovebirds. i LOVED those little birdies soooooooo much. i hand raised each and every little bird. it was awesome, if hard, work. every little baby went thru my hands and was lovingly hand fed w/spoons and cuddled and socialized to be the perfect loving little birdy-buddy.
> 
> but then i had to sell them. i interviewed possible buyers, had them fill out adoption questionaires, talked to them, gave them instruction manuals i printed out myself for each little bird. good heavens these ppl were PI$$ED!!!!!! most ended up walking out, lol.
> "it's easier adopting a kid than one of you $65 birds! i'll just go to the pet store where i don't have to do any of this!"
> ...


When I re-home a foster, the potential adopter has to jump through some serious hoops in order to adopt from me. I do 2 home visits, one scheduled, one not. I also put in the adoption agreement that I have the right to pop by, unexpectedly, and check on the welfare of the dog. I do this because I can and you wouldn't believe how different a house runs when it's a "scheduled" visit compared to an unexpected visit. I can also "repossess" the dog if I feel the dog is not receiving adequate care. Believe me, I foster and re-home probably 6 dogs a year, I can't expect a breeder to have the time to do that. In the last 10 years, I've removed 2 dogs from their adoptive homes for neglect. Even with all the rediculousness they go through to adopt the dog, they never think you are "serious" about following up. I am and will continue to do so. I see my adoptees twice a year (minimum). 
I am this strict because the dogs I foster are ones who wouldn't have a chance any other way. They had serious behavioral issues. I just don't trust people..


----------



## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Good reason I'm dealing with right now. My cousin "breeds" american bulldogs. Of course all the friends and family think she's a great breeder but she is a backyard breeder and rather pathetic in my opinion. Well this female just gave birth a few days ago she's selling them for 500 which is a great deal because they normally go for 2,000-2500 but the MALE decided to have another unplanned litter again so she couldn't get the papers (sound familiar?) the pups kept getting stuck and she lost a few of them during whelping and is left with 11 pups that lived. She's been doing some supplementing with bottle feeding however now mama dog is super sick she rushes her to the vet has an infection in the mammary glands so all 11 pups need to be bottle fed she's severely dehydrated and calcium deficient. Mama dog needs sub Q fluids every few hours along with shots of antibiotics and have her glands milked every few hours manually plus babies round the clock care and feeding by hand. She also has to take off work because obviously the babies can't go a full work shift with no care and since mama is out of the picture human has to step up.


----------



## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it. I wish more people would have this type of information BEFORE they ever think of breeding their dogs.


----------



## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Pattycakes said:


> This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it. I wish more people would have this type of information BEFORE they ever think of breeding their dogs.


But people COULD have this type of information IF they WANTED it. 

Problem is, most folks DON'T want to know what could happen. And many that DO know what could happen think it will never happen to THEM!

Personally, I too agree that this should be "sticky". If it stops even one person from breeding their pet, it would be worth it.


----------

