Boston Terriers - What I Should Know About Ethical Breeding

[HorsesRMe123]

Hello! We love our Boston Terrier and are interested in breeding Bostons. We of course want to be caring, ethical breeders. So question: what amount of litters can a Boston Terrier have each year that is humane? We were thinking two one year, one the next and that pattern would continue per Boston. Or is the two litters a year not ethical? I’m not totally sure. Please help!

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I think part of that is going to depend on your dog, some dogs can handle the whole process like champs, others can have difficulties, sometimes extremely bad difficulties, which I'm sure you've heard of! Just understand that since your dog is smaller and brachycephalic that could lead to more issues (I know shih tzus can get 'pinched noses' and in all dogs look out for hernias, cleft palates and any midline deformities)

I think how many times you breed her should depend 1. how many heats she normally has in a year 2. how she handles breeding (has she been bred before?) 3. her age and health (knowing her parents and even siblings health can be useful as well) 4. your life around that time when she'd be due. Back when my mom bred dogs I remember it varied per dog, I do know she never bred back to back heats though, I can't speak for all breeders and their view on back to back breeding but she never did, it was a few year back though (she's stopped breeding now).

When I was younger we had a litter of puppies due the week before county fair (my county fair runs for 2 weeks straight, of which I have always participated in both halves, all 14 days of it) and that, in hindsight. was a bad idea. Days cut short, many trips home checking on them, I had to catch rides some days, stress about how they were doing, etc. TLDR; make sure you plan ahead when she's in heat and see if that time works for you, and once she's bred, don't plan anything for those weeks after (and a while before) she's due. It'll just make things easier in my opinion Good luck!

 

[tigger19687]

Maybe 1 per year.
Did you do all the medical testing
Is it to the Breed Standard ?
Do you have the Thousands of dollars saved if there is a delivery problem for the Vet

I worked 15 years with animals hospital and volunteered at Shelters.

If you are asking this question then you are in the category of Backyard breeder and have not done any research into this.
DON'T JUST DON'T. This is what gets shelters full and people making a quick buck

Want to do this with chickens be my guest but not dogs/cats.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I fully agree with @tigger19687.

Boston terriers are brachycephalic, meaning they cannot easily breathe on their own because their muzzles are smushed. The breed has several problems related to this. They also often times have difficulties giving birth naturally, like a lot of smaller breeds. You'll likely be looking at several thousand dollars in emergency c sections in the future.

They are a really bad candidate for breeding, unless you're adding another breed to them to stop these problems.

I won't get into spay and neuter because I know a lot of people on this site love to breed their dogs for no reason. But I will say this. There are thousands upon thousands of dogs in shelters for this reason alone. People get into breeding unprepared. They also aren't ready financially for anything that may happen to their females. I assist a local shelter and you wouldn't believe the amount of people who 'just want to breed their dog once', then when it has problems they dump it and the puppies and leave.

Please reconsider breeding. Unless you are really ready in every aspect, and ready for all the problems and issues that may arise with this breed. Consider getting into breeding something like chickens, like Tigger said.

 

[Aapomp831]

Please don’t. Every puppy that’s born, a dog abandoned in a shelter loses its opportunity to get a home. If you love your dog, let it live it’s life in peace. No need to breed her. Please.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

I think part of that is going to depend on your dog, some dogs can handle the whole process like champs, others can have difficulties, sometimes extremely bad difficulties, which I'm sure you've heard of! Just understand that since your dog is smaller and brachycephalic that could lead to more issues (I know shih tzus can get 'pinched noses' and in all dogs look out for hernias, cleft palates and any midline deformities)

I think how many times you breed her should depend 1. how many heats she normally has in a year 2. how she handles breeding (has she been bred before?) 3. her age and health (knowing her parents and even siblings health can be useful as well) 4. your life around that time when she'd be due. Back when my mom bred dogs I remember it varied per dog, I do know she never bred back to back heats though, I can't speak for all breeders and their view on back to back breeding but she never did, it was a few year back though (she's stopped breeding now).

When I was younger we had a litter of puppies due the week before county fair (my county fair runs for 2 weeks straight, of which I have always participated in both halves, all 14 days of it) and that, in hindsight. was a bad idea. Days cut short, many trips home checking on them, I had to catch rides some days, stress about how they were doing, etc. TLDR; make sure you plan ahead when she's in heat and see if that time works for you, and once she's bred, don't plan anything for those weeks after (and a while before) she's due. It'll just make things easier in my opinion Good luck!

Thanks for the help! Appreciate it.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Maybe 1 per year.
Did you do all the medical testing
Is it to the Breed Standard ?
Do you have the Thousands of dollars saved if there is a delivery problem for the Vet

I worked 15 years with animals hospital and volunteered at Shelters.

If you are asking this question then you are in the category of Backyard breeder and have not done any research into this.
DON'T JUST DON'T. This is what gets shelters full and people making a quick buck

Want to do this with chickens be my guest but not dogs/cats.

We haven’t even decided yet if we are going to breed yet. We haven’t even gotten a female. We’ve only had our one neutered male Boston Terrier for five years now and he’s what makes us interested in breeding Bostons. Also, I could not find any research on the question I asked in articles, so I wanted to ask people for their opinion. It will be several months until we’re even going to start looking for a Boston female. So I’m trying to prepare and research right now.

We don’t just jump into stuff, maybe it seems like that to you right now but no we don’t just do that, most definitely NOT. We plan everything out and I know with Bostons some have breathing problems (ours doesn’t because his face is a little further out, that’s kind of what we would like to breed out of Bostons: the smushed face and have it a little further out). Some Bostons get cherry eyes and you have to get surgery done to get it taken away. So yes, I’m aware of certain breed issues.

We wouldn’t just dump our animals and puppies. I find it absolutely beyond disturbing and ridiculously irresponsible that someone would do that just because they have to take it to the vet or something. That’s why I’m asking this question, because I want to be a prepared ethical breeder. Various things like this: puppies would be screened before they go to a home to understand that home is responsible for them, puppies would obviously get shots before leaving us, puppies can not under any circumstances leave us before 8 weeks old. Things like that will help in finding the right home for each puppy.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

I fully agree with @tigger19687.

Boston terriers are brachycephalic, meaning they cannot easily breathe on their own because their muzzles are smushed. The breed has several problems related to this. They also often times have difficulties giving birth naturally, like a lot of smaller breeds. You'll likely be looking at several thousand dollars in emergency c sections in the future.

They are a really bad candidate for breeding, unless you're adding another breed to them to stop these problems.

I won't get into spay and neuter because I know a lot of people on this site love to breed their dogs for no reason. But I will say this. There are thousands upon thousands of dogs in shelters for this reason alone. People get into breeding unprepared. They also aren't ready financially for anything that may happen to their females. I assist a local shelter and you wouldn't believe the amount of people who 'just want to breed their dog once', then when it has problems they dump it and the puppies and leave.

Please reconsider breeding. Unless you are really ready in every aspect, and ready for all the problems and issues that may arise with this breed. Consider getting into breeding something like chickens, like Tigger said.

Thank you. Yes we are going to do plenty of research before doing this. It’s still several months out until we’re even going to start searching for a Boston female. All we have right now is our male neutered Boston Terrier who’s five years old. My response to tigger will also answer to your response as well.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Please don’t. Every puppy that’s born, a dog abandoned in a shelter loses its opportunity to get a home. If you love your dog, let it live it’s life in peace. No need to breed her. Please.

Thank you for your thought. I know it’s a very controversial topic for everyone and I respect that.

 

[MistyandLuna]

Maybe 1 per year.
Did you do all the medical testing
Is it to the Breed Standard ?
Do you have the Thousands of dollars saved if there is a delivery problem for the Vet

I worked 15 years with animals hospital and volunteered at Shelters.

If you are asking this question then you are in the category of Backyard breeder and have not done any research into this.
DON'T JUST DON'T. This is what gets shelters full and people making a quick buck

Want to do this with chickens be my guest but not dogs/cats.

Do not assume what someone’s intentions are. Do you not have to start somewhere!? And the audacity to judge someone based on the only question they asked?? You had no clue that they were just asking because they could not find the question online. It’s quite rude to say they are backyard breeding JUST because they couldn’t find the answer to the question online. It’s like you can’t even ask a question without people being rude.