So why do you want to be a dog breeder? The classic question is love or money? Lets start with money since it is generally the reason people go into business. If you want to make a ton of money then breeding champion Tibetan Mastifs for sale in China is for you. Unfortunately that’s about it for the six figure dog sale. Most dogs sell for a few hundred to a few thousand. Where you fit on that spectrum will largely come from reputation. And you won’t get there over night following ethical practices. Most reputable breeders only produce a small number of litters a year. So the bottom line is you aren’t going to get rich selling dogs. It can be a nice side business, but breeding by itself is generally not a top career choice.
Then there is love. It usually starts with the best dog ever. Yours! You want to share your find with the whole world. What better way to do that than make some more of your own. Get a mate and let nature take it’s course. What could be simpler. This is usually where people get in over their heads. It can get really expensive if you get sucked into trying to do everything you could do.
Somewhere between love and money is a balance. You definitely need to love your dogs and you need to think about the money aspects. That’s sort of what this site is all about.
At some point if you do decide to breed dogs, the true answer for you will present itself. For our family I would say a defining moment occurred a few years ago. My wife and kids were at a dog show in Maryland with one of our first champions – Simon. After they show, they took a trip into D.C. and walked around the mall. Since our dogs are naturally cute, people often want to play with them. This day it happened to be a little boy with autism. His mother said it was OK and he sat down to play. Simon was his usual playful self and the little boy was laughing while they played. That’s when my wife noticed that his mother was crying. This was the first time she had ever heard her son laugh.
I don’t know if your dog breeding experiences will lead to moments like this. But there is often more to breeding dogs than you might expect.