Breeding Plans For This Year.

[Fieldsporthunter 1,864]

Very soon i plan to breed some pups for early summer, Its been over four years since I bred a litter of workers for myself and normally its not something I look forward to until its all over and done with and I'm left with the pup of my choosing. This time is a little different though and I am looking forward to it as its the first time Ive own both the dog and bitch I'm going to use. I've always kept dogs and bitches but I've never had both potential parents as I've always know where there was a better dog than I had or know a bitch in pup or pups where planned that I would be happy with.

In the past I have had some losses that are missed to this day and have learned the hard way some losses can not be replace so I do prefere having a litter of pups a year early, than a year late or as in the past not having the opportunity of having a litter at all but as we all know these are the hazards of working dogs and ultimatly finding out if a dog is worth breeding from.

There are two dogs and a bitch spoken for, normally if three pups where needed then the bitch would rear three pups only. I'm not really on for people I don't know having a pup for many reason I'll not get into, also if I'm honest if it was not for the thoughts I'm having this post would not happen either.

After looking for a couple month and putting a few feelers out to see if I could get a pup from else where before deciding to breed I've been noticing on some of the advertising websites the demand for crossbreed dogs and the crazy price of them, has the world gone mad? 15 years ago some of the breeds on there would of been drowned, I mean what the f**k is a patterpoo shitzapoo? But on that thought, heres me breeding a full border which i would like to think is hundred times better than 99% of what's on there as she is a proven worker to a mongrel proven worker to worker type dog because theres an excellent chance of getting a replacement worker to worker type bitch pup i need, when I could of used another full border and creamed £500 a pup and on top of that I've also gone and bought a needed replacement border pup so I was able to have my bitch lined the way I know is best work wise.

So I ask this, is it me that is the mad one? Obviously money is not everything and I believe I have a fair chance of getting a worker and definatly shows the faith i have in my breeding plan. I know one thing if there is any spare pups this time around I will be considering selling to cover rearing costs as I've never in the past had any reward apart from the enjoyment out of my dogs. Is this wrong?

Edited March 21, 2015 by Fieldsporthunter

[leethedog 3,071]

No I wouldn't say so primarily you are breeding for your own use and then covering your costs ie vet bills and feed as long as you don't feed the high prise end of the puppy market that we all know is out there I've personally seen pat pups up for 400 quid I mean what do they shit gold nuggets

[northern lad 2,292]

If youre putting a "mongrel" worker to worker bred dog over your bitch,how can you accurately predict the outcome Genuine question,not crabbing you ,the resulting litter could be all shapes and sizes

[matt1979 766]

Not if he knows the breeding of the mongrel well enough. Think your plans are fair enough breeding for the right reasons in my eyes atb

[neil cooney 10,415]

JMHO but the ONLY question a terrierman asks himself regarding a potential litter is "Have they got the potential to turn out good workers to my standard ?"

If money and the market even comes into the equation then that answers that question then , doesn't it ?

It's about the money.

 

Another thing that makes me laugh is the statement "I'll sell pups to cover the cost of the litter."

Then the pups are sold for anything from £200 to £500 (or if the market is the US then £1000s.) just to cover the cost of rearing.

If you've used your own male then that's a free stud. If you've used someone else's stud then a gentleman will either take a pup or nothing at all.

When it comes to feeding ? You've weaned the pups at 3 weeks and shoved the grub into them until they go to their new homes but that's still only 3 or 4 weeks of feeding. Let me guess ? £50 or £60 at most.

Whoever is getting a pup of you let them have them inoculated and micro-chipped , that's another £20 or £30 but it's their expense.

OK, maybe they've to be docked by a vet (not Borders though) but again not a massive bill.

Worming ? Another £10 or £20.

So IMO if someone is selling 2,3,4 or 5 pups "just" to cover expenses IMO the expenses they mean is week for themself and the wife in the sun.

Also IMO, and everyone might not agree, BUT if you breed a litter and there's more pups than you have good homes for them IMO you should do the right thing and I'm not talking about bringing them to your local shelter to add to their problem, and the overall problem of too many dog in general.

Edited March 21, 2015 by neil cooney

[marshman 7,756]

I can remember when I was a little lad that if my father bred a litter of Jrt he would sell any spare, it wouldn't be for a lot of money £10 to £15 lol, and my mother would lay claim to it and either buy a winter coat or boots for my brothers or me . There wasn't as much stigma around selling terriers back then I don't think . Mind you average people were a bit more savvy back then and wouldn't give handfuls of money for a cross bred mongrel just because it had a silly name !

[Fieldsporthunter 1,864]

If youre putting a "mongrel" worker to worker bred dog over your bitch,how can you accurately predict the outcome Genuine question,not crabbing you ,the resulting litter could be all shapes and sizes

 

Dog I'm using is a tight 12tts patt lakey type and a very tidy looking dog, you could describe it as a fell terrier type? He's a steady worker and he could be used at his job a few times a week if needed.

The border bitch is about the same size tight and spannable she also knows her job. One of the replacements are for her as she is getting harder with age and spending longer and longer in sick bay also I'd like to use her for other things.

 

I can't guarentee how they will turn out (they are know guarantees) although using my small amount of experience I have a rough idea of what I'll get and I'm pretty certain they be no 14/15/16+ TTS monsters that will be no good to me at all.

I rate my chances of getting a useful pup a lot more than someones chances of buying a pup with a big name used for selling pups that half the time have no breeding of the sort in them. Atb

[Keepbordersworking 103]

What's the big problem if you've got a good working dog and bitch you want to keep a pup or two to keep the line going and you want to sell the surplus it's nobody's business no matter what the price is the pups will sell for what people think they are worth. In other words if there's a pup or two left after the rest have gone then you drop the price. And before any body starts I haven't bred a litter of pups for fourteen years and the fifteen month old border dog I have here cost £550.

[Fieldsporthunter 1,864]

What's the big problem if you've got a good working dog and bitch you want to keep a pup or two to keep the line going and you want to sell the surplus it's nobody's business no matter what the price is the pups will sell for what people think they are worth. In other words if there's a pup or two left after the rest have gone then you drop the price. And before any body starts I haven't bred a litter of pups for fourteen years and the fifteen month old border dog I have here cost £550.

Problem? Do you have to have a problem to post o THL? I'm sick of reading "show me your Plummer" "is 29tts to big to do eathwork" "will a bellmen collar work with a deben box" ect ect... So instead of complaining I thought I'd trie contribute something.

The point I'm trying to get across is how many people are genuinely trying to breed workers for the right reasons for them self's while thinking about there future and how many people are trying to breed workers while thinking about the cash?

[leethedog 3,071]

 

What's the big problem if you've got a good working dog and bitch you want to keep a pup or two to keep the line going and you want to sell the surplus it's nobody's business no matter what the price is the pups will sell for what people think they are worth. In other words if there's a pup or two left after the rest have gone then you drop the price. And before any body starts I haven't bred a litter of pups for fourteen years and the fifteen month old border dog I have here cost £550.

Problem? Do you have to have a problem to post o THL? I'm sick of reading "show me your Plummer" "is 29tts to big to do eathwork" "will a bellmen collar work with a deben box" ect ect... So instead of complaining I thought I'd trie contribute something.

The point I'm trying to get across is how many people are genuinely trying to breed workers for the right reasons for them self's while thinking about there future and how many people are trying to breed workers while thinking about the cash?

unlike you're self fieldsporthunter there are lots of people who put untested shit over untested shit not only in the terrier world happens in all working dogs then when they.have bred they sell all the pups at top prices fair play to you for going tested worker to tested worker atb

[Fieldsporthunter 1,864]

.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Fieldsporthunter

[chilli 368]

In my experience when dogs get a bit older as in 8 or 9 they are not getting harder but just slowing down & unintentionally take a bit more than they used too . A lot of people then think that there dogs are getting harder . jmo . This is a reply to a comment that was made earlier

[neil cooney 10,415]

I can remember when I was a little lad that if my father bred a litter of Jrt he would sell any spare, it wouldn't be for a lot of money £10 to £15 lol, and my mother would lay claim to it and either buy a winter coat or boots for my brothers or me . There wasn't as much stigma around selling terriers back then I don't think . Mind you average people were a bit more savvy back then and wouldn't give handfuls of money for a cross bred mongrel just because it had a silly name !

That's the way it was in those days Marshman, and nothing wrong with it either.

But nowadays there's lads with 4 and 5 bitches in pup at a time (they must dig 1000+ a year) and some of these bitches , if not all, haven't seen their second birthday.

But, because the punter is parting with their hard earned cash the generous puppy peddler throws in a pedigree with 45 years of line breeding as part of the deal.

The days you're talking about going back to your father were great days when every parish had a terrierman with a reputation and the breeding was local and sought after by locals.

But nowadays the market is international and for every lad who knows the game and who's who there's a thousand novices or wannabees with their wads. And for every one of them there seems to be a chancer with his litter of well bred, but expensive, pups for sale.

That's when you hear lads saying it's very hard to get a good terrier.

It's not.

It is however hard to find the real deal.

Terriermen I mean, not terriers.

[marshman 7,756]

 

 

I can remember when I was a little lad that if my father bred a litter of Jrt he would sell any spare, it wouldn't be for a lot of money £10 to £15 lol, and my mother would lay claim to it and either buy a winter coat or boots for my brothers or me . There wasn't as much stigma around selling terriers back then I don't think . Mind you average people were a bit more savvy back then and wouldn't give handfuls of money for a cross bred mongrel just because it had a silly name !

That's the way it was in those days Marshman, and nothing wrong with it either.

But nowadays there's lads with 4 and 5 bitches in pup at a time (they must dig 1000+ a year) and some of these bitches , if not all, haven't seen their second birthday.

But, because the punter is parting with their hard earned cash the generous puppy peddler throws in a pedigree with 45 years of line breeding as part of the deal.

The days you're talking about going back to your father were great days when every parish had a terrierman with a reputation and the breeding was local and sought after by locals.

But nowadays the market is international and for every lad who knows the game and who's who there's a thousand novices or wannabees with their wads. And for every one of them there seems to be a chancer with his litter of well bred, but expensive, pups for sale.

That's when you hear lads saying it's very hard to get a good terrier.

It's not.

It is however hard to find the real deal.

Terriermen I mean, not terriers.

true mate!!

[stop.end 4,079]

the only difference in now and then is the internet..... if were going to be totally honest and real about this!

 

I remember growing up and going to clandy boy, Tandragee and the like way my father and a few other men i was very young ... and there was always the same men that seem to have a few pups for sale... and men would buy them and beleive it or not them men are still about selling a few pups way the exact same pitch..... there like car sales men to the young or gullible folk....and dont get 1 bit embarrassed when you can tell them you were out way such and such and it was a tube, they just change the subject lol.... if any older terrier man on here says he never once dipped his pocket to buy a terrier cos they wanted to see if such and such stuff was the real deal then i must be different, you never know until you try they say!

 

...id a bought a terrier off some one to see if he was a spoof or not but beleive me if any $$ changed hands and he didnt suit I never had a problem getting the $$ back! back then in say 84 £50 was big money cos money actually meant something...it had value...so did having a terrier, a WORKER.... something that someone who owned and worked them knew how the countryside work's... and knew that proper terrier work is a neccessity not a crime!

 

Now it seems to be about books and DVD's .....terriers and pest control has only ever cost me money...ive never made money from terriers or utilizing them in their natural enviroment.... when money comes into it...making dvds and the rest of the bullshit selling pups winning shows and fabricating stuff.... your not a dog man your a man who keeps dogs to make coin....and like money now a days have no value in the working terrier world!