Sled dog breeding

[Starfire669]

Quote:
it costs the same to breed a proven healthy dog, no matter what venue you are in. Costs to recoup for a sled dog: cost of the dog itself. health testing stud fee and related testing (progesterone and STD tests top the list) prenatal care health care and food for the puppies until 8+ weeks old these are the bare bones basics and you've already reached close to a thousand dollars for just one litter. If something goes wrong or if the breeding doesn't take, all this expense is down the tubes and you start over again. A medical emergency during whelping can add $2000+ to the total just for a c-section. then you have the work you put into the dog - entry fees for the races you entered. equipment, yes the initial buying of equipment is expensive but you also have maintaining the equipment. repairing. etc etc keeping the dogs in top working condition. because it is a team of dogs, you aren't dealing with expenses for just 1 dog either. You have food and medical care for the entire team. You have transport costs for the entire team. Unless you bring "back up" dogs, if a dog injuries itself once you've reached the trial, then you are just packing up and going home. All the expense related to getting to this particular trial is down the drain. everyone mentions "unless you have super great dogs that mushers want" Shouldnt' that be your purpose for breeding? To have the best dogs? Why would you want to focus on breeding "ok" dogs? There are thousands of "ok" dogs killed every single day.

There is also the cost of training, it sounds like the OP has never trained a team and will need an expert trainer who can train her and her dogs. Just like athletes, sled dogs need a good diet to keep them in condition. There is the cost of building kennels. Even dogs kept on chains must have shelter, and some dogs can break chains and would need covered enclosures. (I personally don't like to chain dogs. I will do it for short periods but only when other containment methods have failed and I am making improvements to their existing enclosure). The cost of someone who can care for and work the dogs daily if for some reason the OP can't. There is also the possibility that even litter mates won't get along at maturity, then you have lost 1 maybe both dogs from your team. What do you do when a dog gets too old or gets injured? There are many costs and considerations, in addition to what we have listed, to think about before staring something like this.

 

[SternRose]

Ok guys I found a game on the Internet that I can breed dogs! And I know what needs to be done to breed in real life. It was just a thought. PM me if u want the games.

 

[SternRose]

its www.Furry-Paws.com

 

[Americano Blue]

There is also the cost of training, it sounds like the OP has never trained a team and will need an expert trainer who can train her and her dogs.

Just like athletes, sled dogs need a good diet to keep them in condition.

There is the cost of building kennels. Even dogs kept on chains must have shelter, and some dogs can break chains and would need covered enclosures. (I personally don't like to chain dogs. I will do it for short periods but only when other containment methods have failed and I am making improvements to their existing enclosure).

The cost of someone who can care for and work the dogs daily if for some reason the OP can't.

There is also the possibility that even litter mates won't get along at maturity, then you have lost 1 maybe both dogs from your team.

What do you do when a dog gets too old or gets injured?

There are many costs and considerations, in addition to what we have listed, to think about before staring something like this.

you don't need a pro to train a team. you just have to know what you are doing

 

[Americano Blue]

I am starting up with showing and hope to eventually breed quality Siberians, which I have stated earlier in the thread. I have read their history and their AKC conformation standard. The standard was written with their job in mind. Meaning it outlines how a working Siberian should look and act to perform the job it was originally bred for. In the Siberians case it was bred to pull light loads at moderate to fast speeds over long distances. So what a show dog should look like is what a working dog should look like. Now I will admit that some show dogs are "soft" but there are some winning show dogs that are also worked, and their breeders do this on purpose, to keep the breed true. Conformation has everything to do with a working dogs ability to do its job. Shoulder slop, head carriage, rib spacing, and much more directly impact the dogs ability to run. Some dogs are built for sprinting, some for heavy loads. The Siberian was built for endurance, and it's body reflects that. Ignorance of what makes a dog good at its job will lead to nothing but pain and heartache, for both you and your dog. I have been doing a lot of research, meeting breeders, handlers, trainers, owners, and going to dog shows. For anyone to say that health tests are no needed, or that breeding any male female pair will result in good offspring is very naive, and that's being nice. I also know that lead dogs, being the most highly trained and smartest of the team, are the most expensive dog to buy. $150 for a lead dog is rediculous, it would cost more than $1000 and probably closer to the $2000-$4000 range.

STOP DISSING MY FRIEND!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE SHOW DOG BREEDERS, MUSHING IS DIFFERENT! It doesn't matter what AKC says or stuff like that, I'm not saying this isn't good advice, I'm just saying that because you guys aren't mushers you don't really know how to breed a sled dog or what to really look for. sled dogs are less $$$$$ the show dogs cause looks don't matter.

 

[Americano Blue]

Quote:
what i meant by "super great dogs every one wants" is by like 1st place Iditarod team offspring. yes, your focus is to breed the best and a lot of "ok" dogs turn out in lead if you are willing to put the time into it. "ok" dogs are also often sold to rec mushers.

 

[SternRose]

I know a musher who would probly give me or sell her sled realy cheap. She'd probly mentor me, take me to races and probly help me buy good dog/puppies. She'd more like me help train my team. I have her #, she takes part in the idirod and has a team of 4-6, she used to breed. But is retiring. So when I ask mom and dad about starting a team, I'll give her a call.

 

[res]

This is a really hard thread, and I don't think the posts are ever going to make both sides happy.

Americano Blue has some REALLY good and true points regarding breeding working sled dogs. Most (but not all) mushers do breed differently than any "lower 48" show breeder or non-backyard breeder.

But the problem is that the OP, SternRose, lives in Kansas. There is ZERO market for sled dogs in Kansas. I have lived there many, many years all over the state.

So the "show dog" breeders are going to continue to bump heads with the "mushing" breeders because SternRose will need to be marketing/selling her dogs in a non-mushing area.

See the problem?

We've gone 366 posts now just talking in the same circle...

 

[SternRose]

Just asked mom about raising sled dog, she said no,... But I'm gunna try to talk her into it.

 

[tridentk9]

STOP DISSING MY FRIEND!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE SHOW DOG BREEDERS, MUSHING IS DIFFERENT!  It doesn't matter what AKC says or stuff like that, I'm not saying this isn't good advice, I'm just saying that because you guys aren't mushers you don't really know how to breed a sled dog or what to really look for. sled dogs are less $$$$$ the show dogs cause looks don't matter.

ROFL, again an assumption that you are the only one who can understand working dogs.

No, sled dogs are less $$$ because the desire to work isn't consistently bred in them by the BYBs of "sled dogs". Too many variables with too many different hardwired traits that conflict with each other. I do know a LOT of dogs worth a lot of money that aren't AKC registerable. But they still produce consistently. You can pretty much tell what you're getting in a pup because their breeders use genetics and testing of their dogs.

Heck, you can take two of the most fantastic, awesome, win every race, sled dogs- and their pups may be the absolute worst sled dogs in the world. Mother Nature wins every time. But what do you do with those rejects? They aren't and won't be sled dogs, they aren't pets, they aren't show dogs- What do YOU do with your failures? And you're only lying to yourself if you say there won't be failures. Oh yeah- you sell them to some unsuspecting newbie and refuse to take the dog back when it kills their cat, attacks the neighbor, the vet report shows horrid hips, a bad heart and it's blind. But you got your money and the dog's not your problem anymore.

Note that this is what you've said- The OK dogs go to rec mushers and that you won't take dogs back.

And this time I AM dissing breeders who don't think about ALL their puppies. And grandpuppies and so on. Those breeders who fleece others because they can. The breeders who don't care about both mental and physical health, who allow their puppies to go into just any home that shows up with money. I am dissing breeders who just don't care enough to realize everything is connected, if they do a bad job it reflects on all other breeders. The butterfly in Peru thingie.

I am not dissing working dog breeders.