Earning money as a pedigree stud dog owner

GLEKA

We have 2 golden retriever dogs (4 year-old brothers!). They are both kennel club registered, fully vet scored, etc. My wife and i love them both as members of our family. One (Jasper) has a condition called collitis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colitis. The other one (Chester) is fine.

The breeder we got them from said that Chester showed all the signs of being a show-dog &/or breeding material. We dont want to parade him about in competitions - but we might consider using him as a stud-dog (but only if it was done correctly).

My question/ request is - does anyone know more about this, and can anyone help?.

aspinallkate

have a look on the net and see if there are any retriever forums out there, they would probably have more info for you.
You should also consider getting your dog hip scored before offering him as a stud.

ka7e

There is lots of info via the forums at Champdogs, including the responsibilities of a stud-dog owner.

mizmir

Please think very carefully about this. Before you even consider using him you should make sure he is both hip and elbow scored with scores lower than the breed average. If he is used at stud you may find his behaviour changes - he may become more difficult to handle particularly around females and may roam if there is a female in season nearby. He may also behave differently towards your other male dog.

It is also not always a simple matter of putting dog with female and letting nature take its course. Some dogs, especially those without experience, need a lot of help. I have a friend who is a breeder - she has been known to have to manually assist her dog! :eek: Would you want to go there?? There are also risks of damage to both dog and female during the tie, when they are joined together and any sudden movements can hurt either or both. You'd have to of course regularly test your boy for infections and insist that visiting females were also tested. Some owners expect their females to stay for a few days with the stud dog especially if they are some distance away.

If you are thinking of this as a way to make money (as your post title suggests) then I would forget it - you are unlikely to make much unless you have a steady stream of females coming to you. This is usually reserved for dogs who have proved themselves either in the show ring or in the field. The odd stud fee won't make you much - especially after your expenses of x-rays/tests.

If you definitely want to go ahead then the best person to guide you (assuming they are a reputable and experienced breeder) is the breeder of your dog. Indeed if the breeder says he is of breeding quality then maybe s/he would use him on one of their own females and you could see how it goes?

However, there are thousands more puppies born each year than there are homes - you just need to look at the numbers of dogs in rescue centres to see this. IMHO you really should have a very good reason for adding to these numbers. For me that in itself would put me off - I would be devastated if I found that a puppy sired by my dog was homeless, unwanted or abused as sadly so many are.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

moj1966

unless your dog has won any major shows then you are very unlikely to make any money with your dog at stud.

JennyW_2

mizmir wrote: »

However, there are thousands more puppies born each year than there are homes - you just need to look at the numbers of dogs in rescue centres to see this.

my thoughts too. There are thousands and thousands of homeless/unwanted dogs and to breed more is just adding to the numbers