peebs

i am the proud owner of a great basset girl named reagan. we also just added a male, bear, to our family. As it is inevitable we have puppies, i need help. I dont pretend to know what I'm doing. I only know I love these dogs. Reagan is 7 months, and bear is 8 months. They get along great with each other. When is the best time to breed, if i was going to plan it? any help or general information would be greatly appreciated.

Tinkerbell'smom

Cant help with the breeding issues. I had mine spayed.

But wanted to welcome you. Im in Springdale.

Hope you enjoy it here.

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Carrie

Cynthia Swearingen

Welcome, Peebs, to you and your two houndies! I'm glad you love your babies, but I am going to step up on my soapbox here. Please don't take offense! But are you sure you want to breed?

First of all, do your dogs have champion pedigrees? If not, why breed them? I believe only dogs who have something to contribute to the Basset breed should be bred. Also, are you prepared for the expense? It is VERY expensive to breed and raise puppies. Bassets often have to have C-section deliveries. Then there are the post-partum vet visits, puppy checkups and shots, the list goes on and on. I know, because my husband and I bred and raised Jack Russell Terriers for years.

Basset rescues are full of beautiful, purebred dogs who have been turned in because people are not prepared for the peculiarities Bassets have. Why add to the list of rescue animals? You never know what might happen to one of your precious puppies on up the road.

I own three dogs, one purebred Basset, Raymond, who is a rescue dog. Why did Raymond go into rescue? Because he had "cherry eye". I have the fabulous big fat Fredder, who came from a humane society. Why was Fred there? Because a lady let her Basset female breed indiscriminately, gave the puppies to whoever would take them, and Fred had been shot for wandering around, trying to find something to eat. And I have a chihuahua mix, who is a whole 'nother story, but was in the humane society because he was a pain in the butt to housebreak.

Please, please, spay and neuter your babies. Bassets take a long time to mature (2 years), and if you let your pups breed, they will be like children having children. I will step down off my soapbox now, but I hope you make the decision to avoid breeding them. Look at some of the rescue websites for Bassets. They will tear your heart...

Hugs from all here,
Cindy

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Cindy
Raymond: http://www.dogster.com/?90026
Fredder: http://www.dogster.com/?71379
Buford: http://www.dogster.com/?117083 Copper, ATB: http://www.dogster.com/?71314

peebs

Well, I dont want to be mistaken. I realy don't want to breed them.

Cynthia Swearingen

That's good to know. I'm a bigmouth where breeding is concerned, because in our area so many animals (not just dogs) are allowed to breed and breed, and the puppies, kittens, etc. are just allowed to go their way, breeding, becoming diseased, and starving. While I know that's not the case with you, that's why I'm such a nut about spay/neuter! Welcome to the forum, and post pics of your sweethearts so we can all see them!
Cindy

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Cindy
Raymond: http://www.dogster.com/?90026
Fredder: http://www.dogster.com/?71379
Buford: http://www.dogster.com/?117083 Copper, ATB: http://www.dogster.com/?71314

bubbad

Hi,glad you are here. First,any breed of dog should not be bred before the bitch's third heat cycle. Sometimes the dogs need help to breed. Second,are you breeding to make money off the puppies? If so then please don't breed. Third,are you breeding to improve the breed? Since you are not sure of what you are doing that is a stupid question. You need to investagate your dogs background,do you have a pedigree,do you know the AKC Standard for the Basset Hound. Can you look at each of your puppies and know what their faults are,in other words,where are they not like the standard. Example: Can you wrap the ears around the end of their noses. If not the ears are too short and that is a fault. When looking at them head on,are the ears attatched to the head at eye level(a short ear) or do the ears look like they are attatched on the neck(proper ear set). Ok,so you aren't into showing,you should still breed to the standard to have bassets that acutally look like bassets. Once you have puppies are you prepared to miss at least two weeks work,if you have a job outside the home. The puppies and dam cannot be left alone,you will need to sleep by them at least the first 3 days,preferably a week. Although the mom does most of the work,you will need to check puppies daily to be sure none are sick. Once the puppies are three weeks old you need a bigger pen,they still drink from mom but can be started on gruel. From now on you will go through about 3 times the amount of dog food, feeding puppies 3 times a day. At 8 weeks,puppies can go to new homes ,not before,up to this point you have been changing papers three times daily,feeding three times daily,taking puppies for shots and first wormings. You will never make enough on a litter of puppies to compensate for all the time you have put into them. Will you keep records so you can stay in touch with puppy owners. What if one person calls you to take a puppy back,can you,will you. What if all the puppies don't go to new homes and you have 2-3 at 12 weeks of age?Do you have room to hold on to them for however long it takes and continue to get their puppy vaccinations? These are just a few of the many questions you need to ask yourself before taking on a litter of puppies. One not so pleasent question is how will you handle it if the mom dies during or after delivery. 6 to 10 orphan puppies need to be fed,you need to help make them potty,keep them warm enough,or possibly loose the whole litter as well. This is why people here may sound a little pithy about breeding. Some of us have been there and had all these things happen,so please think twice about doing this.

peebs

i was convenced not to breed about a week ago, thanks alot for everyone's input and advice. I've learned a whole lot since i joined the forum. There's tons of info in here.