The Joys of Breeding Pugs
So, you think you want to breed your female Pug and perhaps make a few extra dollars for that vacation you'd like to afford.
Sounds reasonable, right? WRONG!!! Take it from someone who's been breeding Pugs for over 20 years, there is no way to make money breeding Pugs, at least not if you intend to be a responsible breeder.
Although Pug girls are usually sweet and loving, and seem like they would be great moms, the truth is they typically are not good mothers.
Let's look at what a good canine mother means . . .
A good canine mother is one that can whelp and care for her pups, wean them at the appropriate time, and teach them proper canine behaviors so they will know their place in the "pack" or the social structure of canines.
These abilities are all very important to the pups, and to you, the owner, because if you want happy, healthy babies, who are not going to have social issues with other dogs, the puppies will need help. If their own mother doesn't provide all the necessary care & skills to do a proper job of caring for and raising them, it's YOUR responsibility to step-up and do it.
What does that mean to you? It means that you must be the one that helps her do a good job. Not too worried yet? Sounds easy enough. What's the problem?
PUG BREEDING 101
First, most Pug moms are totally clueless when it comes to labor, delivery & newborn care. Most are also unwilling to spend time caring for their pups, if it means time away from you, the center of their universe.
Here's what you must be prepared to do for your girl's babies before, during and after birth. Puppies are sweet, innocent, and adorable, but they require a tremendous amount of care, and unless you have a super Pug mom, YOU will be the their primary caregiver!
I'd put a cute picture here, but we all know they're cute. I won't scare you with some of the specific problems I've had to deal with, but read on to get a general idea of what it's all about.BEFORE The Miracle of Birth HAPPENS.
OK, so you've decided to become a Pug breeder, and you'd like to be responsible, what should you be doing to prepare for the big event?
Do you have a male Pug that has not been neutered, or do you need to find one that belongs to someone else? If you find a male Pug that has not been neutered, do you like the way he looks? Is he healthy? What Pug/dog genes and/or characteristics will he contribute to your girl's genes to make their puppies? Does he carry any genes that will combine with hers that although not dominant in either parent, would be in the genetic makeup of the pups, that would adversely affect the quality of life the pups will have? How do you know for sure?
If you sell a puppy and it develops a life-altering genetic condition, what would you feel your responsibility would be to the puppy buyers, and/or the pup? Would you be willing to take the Pug back and return their money? Would you just give them their money back? Or, would you even want to hear from them in a year or two, and be expected to do anything?
These are all relevant questions, considering the number of cases of litigation clogging our courts. You must have a policy in place and provided to the buyers listing your responsibilities and theirs if a health issue develops in the pups to protect yourself and finances for the life of any pups you sell. In some states there are puppy lemon laws which you should become familiar with as well. Talk to a lawyer familiar with the pet laws in your state to be safe from legal issues BEFORE you proceed.
Back to finding that male Pug . . . Unless you're working with an established show breeder, any available male that is unaltered (not neutered), will likely be someone's pet. AKC registration is not a guarantee of quality, it only means the parents of the Pug were registered with AKC as Pugs. (They're a big database of pedigrees.)
If you want to breed Pugs that look like and behave like PUGS, you can find the Pug standard on the Pug Dog Club of America's web site, as well as pictures to compare what is correct in Pug structure and what is not.
Study the Pug Standard and start comparing your Pug and others you see to it so you can see what to look for in your search for the right male to be the sire of your puppies.
Once you find a male you like, ask the owners some basic questions to find out if they're willing to let their male breed. Not everyone wants a male dog that will develop an interest in "humping" as a house pet, so although a male hasn't been neutered, and even if the owners are flattered, they may not want their boy learning about S-E-X. Such an experience can change the basic nature of their once docile little Pug boy, and turn him into a raging sex addict.
Such behaviors are not usually something the average pet owner wants to deal with, and who can blame them?
So, where do you find a quality stud dog? Well, I have to recommend a show breeder. Not because we're all looking to have pet owners use our champion males as stud dogs, that is NOT what I mean to imply. But, we are the source of good information, and we also know we cannot supply all the Pug puppies sold as pets. We are not the elitist snobs some folks think we are, but we want to protect and preserve the breed we love.
This is the foundation of the philosophy behind every very responsible breeder. Find a show breeder, who's accountable to follow a code of ethics, to mentor you and teach you how to be a responsible Pug breeder!
That said, we need to talk about your girl. You should know that the best reproduction vets (vets that specialize in canine reproduction) will tell you there are some breeding fundamentals, similar to human reproduction, you should follow to ensure the health of your puppies. Foremost, you need to make sure your girl is free from any health issues, BEFORE she is bred.
Talk to your regular vet about the tests he/she can do on your Pug to rule out the issues affecting the breed. These tests are going to cost you, but better now than after you have a litter of puppies with a severe debilitating health problem that will require you to make a decision about expensive surgeries, or euthanasia. Yes, I did mean you might have to decide to mortgage the kids or put the puppies to sleep. This isn't something I'm saying to scare you, I just want you to know it can happen.
Don't have a clue, so a vet must "collect" the semen (yes, that does mean what you think it means), and then do an artificial insemination to impregnate your girl. Before that, or a natural breeding happens, be sure to take her in for an examination as soon as she comes into season, to rule out any infections she may have in her reproductive track that could affect her pregnancy and/or the development of the pups. Blood tests should also be done on both dogs to check for Brucellosis, a canine STD, which is extremely dangerous to dogs and people. Dogs that have this should never be bred, and in most cases they must be put to sleep before they spread the virus via their bodily fluids to other dogs and possibly people.
The other canine STD, which, by the way, is a virus that is spread with contact of bodily fluids from an infected dog, so sex is not required, is Canine Herpes Virus. You can find out what this can do to a litter of newborn pups by just googling it. So, be sure to get your girl, and any potential stud dog tested, so you know whether or not you will need to prepare for the pups to be affected. If a newborn gets it from mom, or if mom gets it from dad, without treatment with plasma from a dog with the antibodies, and a heat source that will keep the temperature in the whelping box above 97 degrees F, you will experience a litter of dying newborns. Not a very joyful eperience, since the pups will scream for 24 to 48 hours as they die a painful death.
If the dogs check out, you can proceed with the breeding, either naturally, if both cooperate, or by artificial insemination, if your vet will assist you. You should know that most general practice vets to not support the breeding of dogs. If you do not have a supportive vet, you must find either a reproduction specialist vet, or a breeder willing to assist with the A.I., if a natural breeding is not happening.
If you use an established stud dog, the breeding is usually the responsibility of the stud dog owner, as part of the stud fee, and any veterinary assistance will be extra,and must be paid up front before the breeding takes place.
Some breeders require an AI, since it is safer for their stud dogs, and they may request that your girl be tested for her ovulation (the timing of the release of the eggs from the ovaries). Ovulation testing is done by a blood test, and it can take several to pin-point the correct timing for the breeding.
These tests can be expensive, costing $75 - $200 each, and several can be needed. Once ovulation occurs, the eggs must become ready for fertilization. In canines, they are not ready when the egg is released, but at approx. 48 hours afterwards.
The due date of the pups is calculated by the day ovulation occurs, unless no testing was done. If ovulation is not known, the breeding is done based upon the best guess of the person handling the breeding, and the timing of the experienced stud dog. If the dog is inexperienced, or inept (Pug boys are not the most savvy), a breeder must rely on other signs the timing is correct. Missing the fertile period for the eggs is always possible, but more likely without the testing.
When no pregnancy results, the owner of the girl is forced to make some decisions about the future plans for their girl's next season. Females are only able to conceive when their eggs are fertilized during the critical time they are "ripe" which last only a few hours per season, and Pug girls only have one season every 6 to 11 months.
If you own both a male and a female, some of these problems are overcome, but your boy might need some help figuring out exactly what to do to get the job done. If he's a "natural" leaving them together will often result in pups, but you won't know when to expect them. This can be a BIG problem, because Pug mom's typically do not do well delivering their puppies.
Stud Dog Ownership
So far I've talked about the responsibilities of female Pug owners in the breeding process. Sometimes I get email from folks with a boy, hoping to get me to use their dog as s stud on one of my girls, or asking how to go about promoting their boy as a possible stud dog to the Pug breeding community. So, I think something should be said on what the responsibilities are for the stud owner.
Not every dog should sire a litter of pups. The Pug Standard applies to both males and females, but the attributes for a stud dog are much more stringent that for a female Pug, among those of us wanting to improve the breed.
I've owned more than one champion male that I never used as a stud dog, because I didn't like something about the dog, so wouldn't risk passing on those traits to a litter of pups.
We all think our Pugs are beautiful, that they are even the very finest, but we have to be realistic. Does the world need more Pugs that are not physically sound?
The idea for those of us dedicated to improving the breed is to improve upon each litter we produce, so that each generation is better (closer to the standard and healthier) than the parents generation. We can't do that if we don't understand the shortcomings of our dogs, particularly the males we use for breeding.
There is no perfect Pug, but we must be careful not to overlook things that will ruin years of hard work.
Breeding is part science and part art; a whole lot of luck with some skill thrown in.
Get more than one opinion from more than one source before you use any dog for breeding. This is why we show, to get the opinion of the judges that our dogs are worthy (close enough to the standard, which is the ideal for the breed) of being used for breeding.
Remember, decisions you make will impact future generations. Think carefully and make informed decisions you're willing to live with.
Providing your dog passes all his health tests and is worthy of being a sire, next you should know what to expect when doing a breeding to someone else's girl. Most stud dog owners have a Stud Contract. This spells out the terms and conditions which both parties agree to, before the breeding takes place. If the owner doesn't have one, get one!
You might agree today, but tomorrow, one of you may remember the agreement in a different way. If you have it in writing, there's no problem, you just look it up. You can always agree to change it after the fact, but a good contract will save you so much grief later, they're worth their weight in gold.
A contract won't prevent all problems, but they are a basis for a working agreement. Never enter into anything without one. Like any other endeavor, there are unscrupulous folks waiting to take advantage of an unsuspecting Pug lover.
Typical Stud dog owner responsibilities associated with breeding include the following:
~ Caring and feeding of the girl while she's there to be bred (This would include picking her up at the airport if she's been flown in for the breeding)
~ Transporting her to the vet's for any required testing as many times as necessary
~ Providing the documentation for registering the litter (This can mean just signing the litter registration application, or include sending the contract, DNA certification, etc., including a certified pedigree and proof of Brucellosis and CHV testing.)
~ Re-breeding for no additional money, if the girl doesn't get pregnant. (This includes repeating all the above steps.)
~ Testing & possible treatment to ensure the dog has an adequate sperm count to be a stud dog.
If shipped semen is requested, more is involved, but for our purposes here, I'll leave that alone.
Rett Says, "Life is good!"