Is your bitch healthy enough to be bred from. How old is she, is she clear from hereditary defects?  Have you had her checked by the vet to see if she is suitable to breed from, or will she need a Caesarian? The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Council is totally in support of the guidelines as laid down by the Kennels club on age and frequency criteria for registering litter from a bitch. In addition the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Council do not recommend breeding from any bitch before she is 18 months old or on her 3rd season.

3.

You are advised to have any your bitch eye tested to see she is free from PHPV/HC/PPSC. All bitches should have an up to date eye test. DNA testing to identify carriers of the HC gene is now available and is strongly recommended if you are going to breed from your bitch

4.

Do you understand the risks involved. If everything goes well then no problems. However, you could loose some if not all of the puppies, although thankfully this does not happen very often, or you could loose your bitch. If you do loose your bitch and the puppies survive, they will need to be hand reared, this involves feeding every three hours, DAY AND NIGHT.


5.

Can you afford a litter. Lots of people think of breeding as a way of making money, this is not usually the case, and if things do go wrong you could incur a lot of expenses along the way. The stud fee for the dog, extra food for the bitch during pregnancy and lactation, weaning the puppies, their food this is all normal. What if your bitch needs a call out from the vet at 2am, or a Caesarian in the middle of the night, this can be very costly.


6.

Are you aware of the work involved, lots of lovely puppies making lots of mess as they get older, all very time consuming to keep them clean and preparing 4 to 5 meals a day, watching over them when they are fed, is every puppy getting enough to eat. Weaning them from Mum at the right time.


7.

Finding suitable homes can be a nightmare, all calls needs to be carefully vetted as they are people out there to whom you wouldn’t want to sell your puppies too. This can be very time consuming. Every one needs to be carefully vetted, is someone at home most if not all of the day, do the children seem frightened of the dogs, is this a commitment the whole family want to make. If you have any doubts about your prospective homes them don’t sell to these people, it is worth hanging one to a puppy until the right family come along.

8.

Are you prepared to take any puppies back that you have bred and re home them if necessary.