Taken from a craigslist posting in Atlanta.

So, You Want To Breed Your Female?

Let's think about this for a minute. So you want to breed your female. You
know what to expect if everything goes right. Your little girl will present you
with little bundles of joy. She will lovingly nurse them and care for them
until they are old enough to be weaned.

You and your family will find great joy in watching and playing with these
little dolls, and then when the time is right they will all (or maybe you keep
just one) go off to special homes to live out their lives as cherished
companions. But have you given consideration to what if something goes wrong? I
have listed here a few of the problems that I myself have personal knowledge of.
Everything listed has happened either to me or someone I know.

These are not isolated incidents. I'm sure others could add miles to my
list. We learn by the mistakes of others. Leave the breeding to those who REALLY
know what they are doing, have the experience and know what to expect.

What if during the breeding............

1) The stud dog you have chosen is carrying a venereal disease and gives it
to your female. She not only doesn't conceive but you have to pay the vet
bills to get her infection cleared up and she is now sterile. .

2) The stud dog you decided to breed your darling to is not experienced.
Once the two dogs are joined tightly in a tie, he decides to chase the neighbor’s
cat out of his yard. He bolts for the cat ripping his penis loose and causing
your bitch to hemorrhage from within. .

3) Your modest girl decides she doesn't want the attentions of this gigolo
chosen for her without her consent. She snaps at him catching her tooth on
his loose cheek and rips it open sending blood flying everywhere. He
retaliates by sinking his teeth into her left eye. .

4) You leave your dog with the owner of the male dog because the breeding is
not going very swiftly. In fact, it's been three hours and nothing is
happening. The stud owner leaves the two dogs alone in the backyard. The dogs get out
through a tiny hole in the fence and a truck hits your female. .

5) You pay the stud fee up front figuring you will make that and more back
when the pups sell. The owner of the male guarantees the stud service to work
or you can come back again. Well into the gestation time you discover your
bitch isn't pregnant and you now must wait another 4 months for her to come back
in heat in order to try again. Of course it doesn't work again, so in
another 4 months you take your dog to another male and risk loosing another stud
fee. .

6) You get her bred. Bring her home. She bothers you so you let her out (she
is still in heat and still receptive to males). You here a commotion outside
there is your girl tied up with the neighborhood mutt. When she whelps there
will need to be DNA tests done on the pups. .

7) You get her bred. Bring her home. Let her out. (She is still in heat and
receptive to other males) but you do not see the neighborhood mutt breed her.
The pups are born but look very odd. You call the stud owner he suggests DNA
testing (at your expense). You have a litter of mutts!. What do you do about
the ones you have already sold?. .

Or, knowing she tied with the neighborhood mutt you decide to terminate the
pregnancy and try again being more careful next time. But a few weeks later
your female is very sick because you had her given a miss-mate shot which has
caused a hormonal imbalance which in turn caused a uterine infection and now
she has Pyometra and needs a complete hysterectomy. All plans of getting a
litter is gone and your females' life is now in danger if she does not have the
operation. .

What if during the birth.............. .

1) The puppies are too large for the female. She never goes into labor, the
puppies die and she becomes infected by the decaying bodies. .

2) The puppies are coming breech and they drown in their own sacks before
they can be born. 

3) The first puppy is large and breech. When it starts coming your female
starts screaming, and before you can stop her she reaches around, grabs the
puppy in her teeth and yanks it out killing it instantly. .

4) A puppy gets stuck. Neither your female nor you can get it out. You have
to race her to the vet. The vet can't get it out either. She has to have an
emergency caesarian section of course it is 3:00 am Christmas Day. .

5) A puppy is coming out breech and dry (the water sack that protects them
has burst). It gets stuck. Mom tries to help it out by clamping her teeth over
one of the back legs. The head and shoulders are firmly caught. Mom pulls on
the leg, hard, peeling the flesh from the leg and leaving a wiggling stump of
bone. .

6) A dead puppy gets stuck in the birth canal, but your female is well into
hard labor. She contracts so hard trying to give birth that her uterus
ruptures and she bleeds to death on the way to the vet. .

What if directly after birth.......... .

1) The mother has no idea what to do with a puppy and she drops them out and
walks away, leaving them in the sack to drown. .

2) The mother takes one look at the puppies, decides they are disgusting
droppings and tries to smother them in anything she can find to bury them . .

3) The mother gets too enthusiastic in her removal of the placenta and
umbilical cord, and rips the cord out leaving a gushing hole pulsing blood all
over you as you try in vain to stop the bleeding. .

4) Or, she pulls on the cords so hard she disembowels the puppies as they
are born and you have a box full of tiny, kicking babies with a tangle of guts
the size of a walnut hanging from their stomachs. Of course all the babies
must be put to sleep. .

5) What if because of some Hormone deficiency she turns vicious allowing
no-one near her or the babies, who she refuses to nurse, or you have to
interfere with. .

6) You notice something protruding from her vagina when you let her out to
pee. You take her to the vet to discover a prolapsed uterus, which needs to be
removed. .

What if when you think you are in the clear.................. .

1) One or more of the puppies inhaled fluid during birth, pneumonia develops
and death occurs within 36 hours. .

2) What if the mothers milk goes bad. You lose three of your four puppies
before you discover what is wrong. You end up bottle feeding the remaining pup
every two hours, day and night. After three days the puppy fades from
infection and dies. .

3) The puppies develop fading puppy syndrome you lose two. You bottle-feed
or tube feed the last remaining baby. It begins to choke and despite your
efforts to clear the airway, the pup stiffens and dies in your hands. .

4) Your female develops mastitis and her breast ruptures. .

5) Your female develops a uterine infection from a retained placenta. Her
temperature soars to 105. You race her to the vet, he determines she must be
spayed. He does the spay in an attempt to save her life, you pay the hundreds of
dollars bill. The infection has gone into her blood stream. The infected
milk kills all the puppies and the bitch dies a day later. .

6) All the puppies are fine but following the birth the female develops a
hormone imbalance. She becomes a fear biter and anytime anyone tries to touch
her she viciously attacks them. .

7) Mom and pups seem fine, the puppies are four weeks old and are at their
cutest. However, one day one of the puppies disappears. You search everywhere
but you can't find it. A few days later another puppy is gone. And another.
You can't figure how on earth the puppies are getting out of their safe 4' x 4'
puppy pen. Finally there is only one puppy left. The next morning you find
the mother chomping contentedly on what is left of the last puppy she herself
killed. .

What if the new homes are not so happy?....................... .

1) You give a puppy to a friend. Their fence blows down so they tie the
puppy outside while they go to work. A roving dog comes along and kills the
puppy. Your friend calls you up to tell you about the poor little puppy and asks
when you are having more puppies. .

2) You sell a puppy to an acquaintance. The next time you see them you ask
how the puppy is doing. They tell you that it soiled their new carpet so they
took it to the pound .

3) You sell a puppy to a friend (you give them a good price and payments).
They make a couple of tiny payments. Six months later they move to an
apartment. They ask you to take it back. You take it back and of course even the tiny
payments stop. The dog they returned is so shy, and ill mannered from lack of
socialization and training it takes you a year of work providing socializing
and training to be able to give it away. .

4) You sell a puppy to a wonderful home. They love her like one of the
family. At a vet check done by their vet it is determined that the puppy has a
heart murmur. (Your vet found nothing when he checked the puppy before it was
sold.) They love their puppy and want the best for her. They have an expensive
surgery done. The puppy is fine. They sue you for the medical costs. They win,
because you did not have a contract stipulating conditions of guarantee and
so as breeder you are responsible for the puppy's genetic health. .

5) You give a puppy to your mother. she is thrilled. Two years later the
puppy starts developing problems. It begins to develop odd symptoms and is
suffering. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of tests later it is finally
discovered that the dog is suffering from a terminal condition that was
inherited, possibly from your female since you know nothing about her family lines. .

6) One loving home decides your puppy is un-trainable, destructive and wants
to return the pup and get a full refund, which you have spent on your vet
bills. .

7) One loving couple calls you and is very upset because their pup has
crippling hip dysplasia and want to know what you are going to do about it. You
have spayed your female so a replacement is out of the question, looks like
another big refund. .

The Sale:................... .

1) You put your ad in the local paper for your pups at the usual price and
get only 2 responses and no sales. You cut the pup's price in half and broaden
your advertising to 3 other newspapers in which the advertising totals
$120.00 a week. .

2) You get a few more puppy inquiries from people who ask all about health
testing you did before breeding and if the pups are registered with AKC. You
tell them your dogs are healthy and it was enough and that you could get the
papers. The callers politely thank you and hang up. .

3) The pups are now 4 months old and getting bigger, eating a lot and their
barking is really beginning to annoy the neighbors who call the police who
inform you of the $150.00 noise by-law. .

4) Your neighbors also call the humane society who comes out to inspect the
care of your dogs. You pass inspection but end up feeling stressed and
harassed. .

5) You finally decide to give the rest of the litter away but still have to
pay the $1200.00 advertising bill and the $600.00 vet bill. .

So you gotta ask yourself:  Is it really what I want to do is risk my Girl for a litter of puppies??