Breeding A lot harder than expected - Page 1

I will have to admit that I never knew how much work went into breeding and selling. This is the first litter for me, I have German Shepherd/ Working line Pups. The sable  ones went fast, but I still have 4 Black Males & 1 Black Female. My Price now has gone down to $375.00  My pups soon will be 12 wks. I hate to just give up and give them away. Some say it's the area I live in Ky That people are not familiar w / working line. My pups are beautiful & healthy and they have  good temperaments. I love my dogs please advise and go easy on me.  

What part of Kentucky?

PM me incase I don't pass back this way.

Yes, breeding is definitely not for the faint of heart!

Have you tried advertising on the database here? It's a good way to reach a wide and diverse group of people.

What is the pup's pedigree? Are the parents titled and hip/elbow x-rayed?

These are all factors to consider when breeding, as they increase the marketability of the litter. 

I always say: "Breeding is not for pussies". Just wait when your pups get sick or die after you got a deposit on it or people call you at 2 am for one reason or another and when  finally, when you succeed, people will get jealous and will hate you for your success and so called friends suddenly are not.
But: Good luck!!!. Do not give up!!! There is  happiness stemming from  satisfied customers or when your dog protects your client or police dog kicks ass. And happy pups going to happy clients,......That will all make it worth all the heartache . 
As Samurai's samurai
Miyamoto Musashi said:
"At first, all seems difficult."
Prager Hans. 
 

I held on to 3 of my puppies (American Bulldogs) because i could not find the right homes after the promised homes backed out for legit reasons. So i held on to my little girls until they were nearly 6 months old. And guess what! I found 2 the best homes ever and 1 i ended up having to take back at 2 because her owners got divorced. Found her a better home the second time.
Not once did i think to get rid of my pups because i could not sell them at 12 weeks. Actually the two i got great homes for i placed at no charge because they were great homes.
By the time the litter was all placed and Mom spayed i was well over $800 in the hole. And that did not bother me because i never bred to make any money on my pups.
Good luck with your pups and don't rush to get rid of them.

I have been hearing many people having a hard time placing puppies this year. Good luck.

Placing pups is hard, especially when one's just starting out and even if you've dotted every "i", crossed every "t", titled and health-checked the whole way through, many folks tend to look at breeders who've been in the business longer; sort of a brand name thing, I think. Which is too bad, because I know several small/solo-breeders who have outstanding dogs from outstanding parents, and a heck of a time placing them.

Oh, and for the record, I love black working lines. One of my favorite colors!

JC.Carroll.....I disagree I'm not opposed to looking at a litter from someone who is just beginning or just bred one litter because they have a really nice male/female that's been bred to a really nice male/female. In fact that's who I purchased my last puppy from. A gentleman who has a ton of knowledge and a super nice titled female that he bred to a proven super nice titled male.

On the other hand, I would think twice about a litter from parents without any accomplishments or titles that prove their workability and I'd  walk away from a litter who's parents lack the basic health testing. To me a responsible breeder no matter how large needs to do the very basic health tests (Hips and Elbows certified) BEFORE they have that first litter.

Lynn......You have to be a bit of a sales person to sell dogs. You need marketing (videos of parents working, health certifications...etc), good advertising (awesome puppy pictures, location of ad etc), and a strategy (target the right puppy buyer) for who and where you want your puppies placed. Have your puppies evaluated by a knowledgeable working dog handler and consider donating one of your puppies to a service dog organization or working dog organization (SAR or PD). I looked at your Ad on the  PDB and it could use some sprucing up. Include the pedigree for the puppies, show better pictures, include some pictures and video links of the parents working....especially important since they do not show any accomplishments or titles.......and I did not see any Hip or Elbow ratings on their pedigrees (I'm assuming you have them).....update their pedigrees to show them. Hope this helps......good luck :)

I have too many people and not enough pups.
One lady called and said she liked the fact that I check my dogs eyes,
now how hard is that, it is about $30.00 a dog to check eyes.

If you have done all the required health checks and had them certified,
and are working the parents in some venue, then you should not have
a problem. I used to think solid black dogs were hard to place, but it's 
all about where you are advertising, try putting an ad on here, or place
an ad with the AKC classified listing,if you don't have your own web-site
then it can make advertising difficult.

I started out selling my pups by sending the people to the sires web-site as
I didn't have a web-site back then.

I breed Labrador Retrievers also, and the man that owns the studs I use sends so many
people my way that they are all spoken for before they are born, that's the way every breeder
should go about it, if someone uses my stud dogs I advertise the pups for them for free,
I find that it's my obligation to do so, not everyone has a web-site.

Anybody can manufacture anything or breed even good quality dogs. But that is only necessary beginning without which ( the quality) you will seize to exist pretty quick. The logistics of it is easy. Get matched high quality  breeding pair and put them together when the female is in heat. Big deal . Right?            I always hear people saying I do not like people, that is why I want to train or breed dogs. The fact of the matter is dogs are owned by people and you need to convince them to buy the dog from you or let you train it and so on and not from someone else who has same thing as you sometimes for less.   Thus breeding  dogs is only 15% or less of it , the rest is salesman ship. But then you have to sell what you do not want to keep for your breeding program. And that is the tough part.  If you are bad salesman you can have best dogs on the world for sale and you will struggle. If you base your success only on quality of the dogs, then even  if the quality is high, that reputation of quality of your dogs will start selling your dogs after years or decades. Took me long time, at least 10 years, to people look at Czech dogs when I brought them as a first importer to US. Another thing is competition. Many people have what you have. best way to distinguish your self from the rest is to have a white elephant. Something what others do not have.  And then marketing!!!  The first litter is usually easy  since you will sell them to your friends and relatives and neighbors. But the subsequesnt litters will get harder and harder. 
           Breeding dogs is not just genetics, husbandry and cleaning dog shit. There is all plethora of topics you need to deal with and if you are breeder you probably do not have funds to hire experts or menial  help thus you will have to be doing all of it by your self or with family members. Every day, every year . No vacation, no weekends, no days off. For ever(!!!!!) or until you quit. Which it usually takes 4 years. It's called 4 years burnout. If you stick with it it is a rewarding  way of life which you must love,..... or you will not last.
             Pricing is another thing. You need to charge what ever you or your hobby needs to get  to survive.  It is a poor man's business and only very few do survive or get wealthy and either one earns it , you believe me. If you ask too musch or too little people will not buy and you or your breeding hobby will not survive. Your hobby or if it is a business is not charity even so 
 people at a key board  will tell you that you charge too much you need to walk the fine line of competition and survival.
             As I said if you love it you will endure it and have moments of shear happiness and if you do not love it you will not last. None can. 

Prager Hans