Breeding Dogs as a Hobby Business - Requirements, Considerations, and Earning Potential
Dog Breeding for Profit
Dog breeding can be a very profitable hobby business, with purebred puppies often selling for $200 to $400 or more depending on their breed and gender. Females are generally worth more than males since they are able to produce more puppies, but even males will sell for $200 or more.
You can advertise the puppies that you have for sale in local newspapers or even online. Once you have a dog that is expecting a litter, you can even create a waiting list of people to contact once the puppies are born. Breeding dogs don’t require much more care than any other dogs – you simply need to keep them up-to-date on their shots, feed them a good and healthy diet, and make sure that they get plenty of exercise.
Purebred Breeding Dogs
One of the simplest ways to begin breeding dogs as a hobby business is to purchase a pair of unrelated purebred dogs to breed. Both dogs should be registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC) before you start breeding them. This will require you to know the name of the dogs’ parents and their registration status as well, as you will need to prove your dogs’ lineage so that the AKC can classify them as purebred. Most purebred dogs are bought as puppies, so you will be able to register them well before they are of breeding age.
Once the dogs are old enough to breed, keep watch on the female and separate them when she goes into heat. Allow them to attempt breeding two or three times a few days apart, then separate them again until her heat cycle is over. If your female does have a litter of puppies, allow at least one heat cycle to pass after the puppies are born before attempting to breed your dogs again. If you keep any of the puppies yourself, it is important that they do not breed with their parents or each other. The close relationships can cause genetic problems in the resulting pups.
Stud Service
Another way to breed dogs as a business is to have only a single female dog and then rely on a stud service to impregnate her. The use of a stud service allows you to incorporate a wider range of genetics into your dog’s offspring, and will generally cost around the same amount that you would receive for one puppy. Some stud dog owners even prefer to get a puppy from the litter instead of payment, choosing theirs before you sell any of the rest. When using a stud service, it’s important to remember that the same rules about skipping a heat cycle after your dog gives birth still apply.
If you don’t want to deal with the birthing and selling of puppies yourself, buying a male dog as a stud is also an option. You will generally need to make your dog available for at least two breeding sessions, and will be paid a single fee as soon as the final breeding session is over.
Once your stud dog has impregnated a female he is considered to be “proven”, meaning that he has created viable offspring and you can increase your stud fees somewhat. If the litter that is produced has a large number of pups, rare coloring, or a high percentage of females you may be able to increase your stud fees even further.
