To give you an idea of what a good breeder does, here is a list from A-Z:
Breeding - Most breeders who own a bitch do not own a sire, although some do. Those who do have to deal with keeping the pair apart for at least three weeks if they do not wish them to breed (for various reasons). This means, no feeding, potty trips, sleeping arrangements, or walking around the house together. Even if they do wish them to breed, this can only be done a handful of times to make sure the stud and the dam are not hurt because they will "tie" all day long, every day while the bitch is in heat. Those who don't own a stud have to pay anywhere from $600-$1500 for a breeding.
Whelping - or birthing puppies is a complicated. A breeder is in fact a midwife for the dam as she goes into labor, delivers the pups and gets them to start feeding. A good breeder has a clean, dry, dark place for her dog to whelp. these whelping boxes and all whelping pad and clean-up supplies to ensure a safe, clean delivery are very expensive. A good breeder weighs each pup, marks them to keep track, takes care of the afterbirth (each pup has it's own sack and placenta) and keeps the dam from digesting too many placentas because they can cause her intestinal problems. If the bitch stalls in labor, the breeder has to know several tricks to restart labor. She also needs to keep tabs on the calcium level of her bitch as she can start to act crazy around her pups and even hurt them if she gets too low on calcium. If a puppy is born lifeless, which several of mine have, the breeder needs to know certain maneuvers in order to save the pup--a backyard breeder will just throw away the carcass. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the idea.
Long Nights - A good breeder keeps a close eye on her litter for the first two weeks of life. Making sure their surroundings are clean and dry. If the pups get too cold or too wet, it can mean death for the pup. Breeders need to keep monitoring the calcium levels of their bitches to make sure she is feeding and cleaning them the way she should. A breeder monitors feeding times to make sure pups are not being laid on and smothered. Even after these sleepless first two weeks, a good breeder is still waking up at least 3x a night to monitor feeding times.
Cleaning - As you can imagine, puppies are messy. They poop and pee everywhere. Their mom cleans them some, but with large litters, it is impossible for her to keep up on everything. Their bedding needs to be washed and sanitized multiple times daily. In my personal experience, this adds at least 3x the amount of regular laundry to my loads - and I have a family of 8! My weekly laundry loads go from 15 to 35 when I have a litter here, which also adds to my electric and water bills, not to mention the washing supplies. Good breeders make sure their kennel enclosures are clean to ensure the health of the pups and the bitch. My pups also get multiple baths, to teach them to like being clean. Cleanliness also ensures the pups a great start on potty training, which makes puppy ownership a better experience for the future owners.
Feeding - Mom usually feeds her dogs for the first three weeks of life, but if she has a large litter, or if there are puppies who are struggling to gain weight, this means supplementing. You can buy milk replacer formula, but it does not have the best ingredients in it, so I make my own. This formula needs to be warmed and syringed or tube fed into very small puppies, every two hours for the first 3 weeks. At four weeks they begin weaning. This means puppy food must be soaked, blended, and added to goats milk to make it a more familiar taste for the pups. Weaning is a long process monitored by a good breeder. Pups go from this "puppy baby food" to kibble in many stages. A good breeder takes their time and makes sure puppies are completely weaned by the time they go home to make the transition from their litter mates easier.
Puppy Culture - Puppy Culture is a training system where a good breeder take time every day to train the puppy to be more adaptable. This includes things like training them to recover quickly after being scared, training new stimulus every day. Training the dog to "Mand" or sit when approached by a human. Exposing the puppy to multiple people and obstacles. The list goes on and on...there is a whole book full of protocols that a good breeder will be doing - all to make sure their pups are the best, most adaptable pups before they go to their new loving home.
Potty Training - A good breeder will start potty training their pups at around 3 weeks. Good breeders don't just stick their pups in a box for 'mom' to take care of because it is easier. Good breeders know that these pups need to not only learn to live in the "dog world" but in the humans world as well. Good breeders will take the time, and do the cleaning necessary, to make sure that their pups not only know where it is appropriate to eliminate, but that they help the pups to gain bladder control before they go home. This training takes time and patience, and a lot of supplies! But good breeders do this because they know that pups who go home not knowing anything about how to control their bodies, will only frustrate their new owners.
Shots, Dew Claws and More - Good breeders are very interested in the health of their puppies and make sure they have a great start in life by doing things like trimming their nails weekly, deworming them several times, removing dew claws and giving them their shots before they go home. Puppies are also weighed every day for the first two weeks of life to make sure they are gaining weight. Removing the dew claws from a large litter can take up to a few hours to make sure everything is sanitary and safe for each pup. In a way, a good breeder is like a vet tech because they need to know many important skills and how not to injure their pups. Good breeders do these things themselves because there are high risks taking small puppies to a vet and exposing them to various diseases before they have their shots at 6 weeks. Dew claws must be removed on day 3 or 4 of life, so taking tiny puppies to a vet then has great risks.
Exposures - Good breeders expose their pups to various stimulus to make them stronger and more adaptable adults. From the beginning of life, my pups are given early neurological stimulation, or super puppy training. This is a program developed by the military to make pups more adaptable or resilient in complicated environments. My pups are also exposed to other stimulus like human touch, vacuum cleaners, grooming clippers, collars, kennels, toys hard and soft surfaces, grass, dirt, bark and more. Each of these things is done a little at a time to not overwhelm the puppies and give them a healthy curiosity toward life.
Shots, Dew Claws and More - Good breeders are very interested in the health of their puppies and make sure they have a great start in life by doing things like trimming their nails weekly, deworming them several times, removing dew claws and giving them their shots before they go home. Puppies are also weighed every day for the first two weeks of life to make sure they are gaining weight. Removing the dew claws from a large litter can take up to a few hours to make sure everything is sanitary and safe for each pup. In a way, a good breeder is like a vet tech because they need to know many important skills and how not to injure their pups. Good breeders do these things themselves because there are high risks taking small puppies to a vet and exposing them to various diseases before they have their shots at 6 weeks. Dew claws must be removed on day 3 or 4 of life, so taking tiny puppies to a vet then has great risks.
Exposures - Good breeders expose their pups to various stimulus to make them stronger and more adaptable adults. From the beginning of life, my pups are given early neurological stimulation, or super puppy training. This is a program developed by the military to make pups more adaptable or resilient in complicated environments. My pups are also exposed to other stimulus like human touch, vacuum cleaners, grooming clippers, collars, kennels, toys hard and soft surfaces, grass, dirt, bark and more. Each of these things is done a little at a time to not overwhelm the puppies and give them a healthy curiosity toward life.
Testing - At Lake Mountain Doodle we are passionate about you getting the best dog ever, so we extensively genetic test our parents for more than 250 diseases to make sure they cannot pass down any harmful genes to the next generation. In fact, we have tested puppies who we were going to purchase to add to our program, and found that they carried genes we DID NOT want to pass down, and we let those puppies go to other homes where the stress of being a parent would not be harmful to them. This is something we do not just give lip service to. We are serious about it. Genetic testing is costly, but it is worth it to make sure that our parents are not only the best emotionally and temperament wise, but they are also the picture of health to make sure their pups can have a long and healthy life.
Training - Good breeders breed their dogs not just for looks, but temperament and intelligence, making them highly trainable and good all-around pets. They know what to look for in their dogs so that they can pass on the more desirable genes to their pups. This includes looking for these qualities in the potential mate for their dog. In addition to breeding, their puppies will be exposed to training in their first few weeks to teach them things like bite inhibition, potty training, beginning obedience training and social manners. A small example of this is the jumping up behavior. This is something that is very common in puppies, but my pups do not get petted, rewarded or treated unless they are in a "sit" position. It will be a breeze for their owners to teach them to sit.
Socialization - This is a very important aspect of a puppies training. They need to know, not only how to deal with other pups and dogs, which their mom and their litter mates will teach them. But they need to know how to deal with people. My pups are exposed to a wide range of ages from 2-70. they have been handled and socialized with people on a daily basis. If the only exposure they ever get to people is feeding, they will not know how to interact with them by the age of 6 weeks. They will have learned terrible aggressive traits which can be very difficult and expensive to train out of dogs.
Documentation - A good breeder keeps exact health records of when and where things happen, how each pup reacts to different situations, what their temperament is and how often things are done. My pups go home with a document containing, when they were born, what position they were born in, weight, when they received nail clippings, deworming, shots, started solid food, when they are weaned completely, when they got their first tooth, and date exposed to kennel. All of these experiences are tracked for their owner to help them be informed for their first vet visit which should happen within one to two days of bringing them home.
This gives you a small clue of what goes into being a good breeder. I didn't even mention the business part of it! The countless hours you spend taking pictures, documenting and advertising. If I told you there was a job where you could spend 80-100 hours a week, no weekends off, not even holidays and get paid $600-$800 dollars a month--you would probably tell me to look for a new job. You have to love these dogs to do it. I have calculated that at my prices, I make 11 cents an hour per pup, Gross. Gross not Net.
So why are puppies so expensive? Because great pups come from great breeders!
Training - Good breeders breed their dogs not just for looks, but temperament and intelligence, making them highly trainable and good all-around pets. They know what to look for in their dogs so that they can pass on the more desirable genes to their pups. This includes looking for these qualities in the potential mate for their dog. In addition to breeding, their puppies will be exposed to training in their first few weeks to teach them things like bite inhibition, potty training, beginning obedience training and social manners. A small example of this is the jumping up behavior. This is something that is very common in puppies, but my pups do not get petted, rewarded or treated unless they are in a "sit" position. It will be a breeze for their owners to teach them to sit.
Socialization - This is a very important aspect of a puppies training. They need to know, not only how to deal with other pups and dogs, which their mom and their litter mates will teach them. But they need to know how to deal with people. My pups are exposed to a wide range of ages from 2-70. they have been handled and socialized with people on a daily basis. If the only exposure they ever get to people is feeding, they will not know how to interact with them by the age of 6 weeks. They will have learned terrible aggressive traits which can be very difficult and expensive to train out of dogs.
Documentation - A good breeder keeps exact health records of when and where things happen, how each pup reacts to different situations, what their temperament is and how often things are done. My pups go home with a document containing, when they were born, what position they were born in, weight, when they received nail clippings, deworming, shots, started solid food, when they are weaned completely, when they got their first tooth, and date exposed to kennel. All of these experiences are tracked for their owner to help them be informed for their first vet visit which should happen within one to two days of bringing them home.
This gives you a small clue of what goes into being a good breeder. I didn't even mention the business part of it! The countless hours you spend taking pictures, documenting and advertising. If I told you there was a job where you could spend 80-100 hours a week, no weekends off, not even holidays and get paid $600-$800 dollars a month--you would probably tell me to look for a new job. You have to love these dogs to do it. I have calculated that at my prices, I make 11 cents an hour per pup, Gross. Gross not Net.
So why are puppies so expensive? Because great pups come from great breeders!
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