How many litters?

I'm curious, since I'm entering the world of breeding Miniature Schnauzers.

How many litters do you as a breeder produce per year? How many per year do you find normal?

In your opinion, how many litters should a beginner produce?

After how many litters per year do you consider a kennel to be a puppy mill?


I just want your opinion since this is a very hot topic for some, not asking for rules or laws, just your opinion.


My point of view is, when you have to many litters over little time you can't really concentrate on what you are doing and how your litters will turn out. All good things come in good time.

As I get older, I don't enjoy having puppies anymore. They are just too much work. (And I HATE whelping puppies!)

It is now getting to the point that I have a litter every 2-3 years. Three years ago was a case of looking at my dogs and realizing that my only "breedable" bitch was three years old and had never been bred. OOPS! So she was bred.

The next year was a case of her being in season when a very nice imported German black came to me for showing, and after I groomed him up, I decided that I really wanted to use him with her. Those puppies are now two years old, and one is pointed. (I was delighted when I discovered that German import went back to what was behind my foundation stock!)

I also have a BS bitch that was given to me by someone I mentored and she is now 3 and should be bred. It seems it is time to have another litter here....

Back in my "youth", I would have 1-3 litters a year, depending on how many puppies were in a litter. Socialization takes a LOT of time. I think anything approaching 20 puppies a year is WAY too many.

How many litters should a beginner have? NONE, if he/she doesn't have a good mentor and a good dog. Too many start out with dogs of inferior quality, and just produce more of the same. A beginner should save his money and buy the best bitch he can afford. Just because a dog is intact doesn't mean it should be bred.

I know a breeder here who some of us feel is a puppy mill. She started out with bad stock, and produced so many puppies that she was able to buy better dogs that some idiot (legitimate) breeder sold to her (in fact, sold her some really good dogs). Some of these dogs/offspring have now been shown and have finished championships here and in Canada. She still continues to crank out puppies. Five litters in two weeks is excessive by any standards (that information came off of her webpage a few years ago). She also used to breed her bitches every heat cycle, and started at six months; don't know if she still does, but it wouldn't surprise me. Those puppies got her off of welfare.

Sad to see that there is only one person in this forum that has an opinion on this matter. (Except for me)

I can imagine having more than 2 or 3 litter per year can be really difficult. Whelping is lot of work, and taking time to socialize the puppies is really important for their temperment, and some don't have all the time in the world for that.

I had a Labrador litter in 2005 with nine puppies and geeezzz that was work. One a year with that amount of puppies is more than enough.

I'm planing to have only one or two litter per year in the future (and I will do my best to stick to that plan). My first litter will (hopefully) be born in September and I can't wait. But I've made sure that I'm not busy those two months so I can really but all my mind into it.

But having more litters is normal when you have a large kennel and maybe tons of people helping you, cleaning, whelping, socializing and etc.

I also find it really important to really focus on how your litter is turning out, temperment, comformation and etc. before you continue on the next one.

All good thing take time.....

In belgium you are as an hobby breeder only allowed to have 2 litters a year. Until now I only had one litter a year and for the moment it is more than enough for me. It must stay an hobby and a litter ask a lot of time, not only for me, but for whole the family.

Hi

This is a tricky question...

It all must depend on how many females you have, how much time and effort you are willing to put into the litters and last but not least how much time you have for the future owners of your puppies.

I think a responsible breeder is the one giving his/her heart and soul into EVERY puppy. Who is willing to sit over a cup of coffe and ansver all those question over and over again, who has time to answer even more questions on the phone and willing to help with coatcare and lifelong support. And all this disreguarding how many puppies you breed per year.

For me all this makes it impossible to breed more than 1 or 2 litters per year.

I think the numbers of litters per year is not the only criteria for a puppy mill. It all comes down to your efffort during your time with the pups and your commitment after they move to their new owners.

Good luck in your future breeding / Maria

I think that it is very importing to start slowly. As for me 1 litter at a time, and wait at least for a year to see the outcome from this combunation.
And to be able to study what you are doging, expecialy for beginners in the breed. Well i would concider myself a beginner, and still i had miniture for 4 years, and a week doesnt pass by without me looking into pedegrees, ore chatting online with more expirianced breeders and so on.
I think that expirianced breeder is more capeble of having more litters, becouse he ore she would have more insite of what they are doing. It is not good too produce many litters without expiriance.
In Iceland we have small population, and many breeders. The schnauzer Club here has advertisement almost every month. So this is a popular breed here, but i think tings will slow down soon. Most of the breeders here have only 1-3 litters Each year. We have a puppy mill called Dalsmynni, and luckily she does not have miniatures.

This is very interesting topic.
For me, the number of litters does not compere to the number of puppies the breeder has pr. year. nor the number of times a bitch is breed or a stud is used. (specially here in Iceland, We have alot of very good dogs and again and again some breeders use the same dog over and over again.)
You can have only 1-2 puppies in a litter. And are 3 litters pr. year then to many? then there are "only" 6 puppies. Or if you have big litters whit 5-7 puppies in a litter.. then you have 15-21 puppies pr. year..

And I think that this is VERY important
Myltan wrote. "It all must depend on how many females you have, how much time and effort you are willing to put into the litters and last but not least how much time you have for the future owners of your puppies.

I think a responsible breeder is the one giving his/her heart and soul into EVERY puppy. Who is willing to sit over a cup of coffe and ansver all those question over and over again, who has time to answer even more questions on the phone and willing to help with coatcare and lifelong support. And all this disreguarding how many puppies you breed per year."

You can be a breeder that has only one litter pr. year and not take care off your puppy buyers.. and then you can have 3 litters pr. year and take really good care off your puppy buyers.

Elis wrote:Sad to see that there is only one person in this forum that has an opinion on this matter. (Except for me)

In this forum are mostly serious breeders and a few hobby breeders.

You are a hobby breeder and that’s nothing wrong with that, but when you almost call majority of the breeders here a puppy mill because they have more than 1-2 litters a year, do your really think you will get any answers?

Esther wrote:

Elis wrote:Sad to see that there is only one person in this forum that has an opinion on this matter. (Except for me)

In this forum are mostly serious breeders and a few hobby breeders.

Can hobby breeders not be serious?

hehe yes of course, but you know what I mean... what do you what to use as the opposite of hobby breeders?

Professional breeders are maybe a better word?

I was jist joking, but Professional or Semi-Professional Breeders are I think indeed more appropriate names.
And for me such breeders aren't necessary the same as puppy mills.

When do you become a "Professional" and stop being "Semi-Professional" breeder?

When do you become a "Semi-Professional" and stop being "hobby-breeder"?

Esther wrote:

Elis wrote:Sad to see that there is only one person in this forum that has an opinion on this matter. (Except for me)

In this forum are mostly serious breeders and a few hobby breeders.

You are a hobby breeder and that’s nothing wrong with that, but when you almost call majority of the breeders here a puppy mill because they have more than 1-2 litters a year, do your really think you will get any answers?

Did I do that? Where?

I did nowhere state that a breeder is a puppy mill after producing more than 3 litters.

I was simply asking people for their opinion and I said mine and did nowhere call anyone a "puppy mill" breeder and where they thought the boundries lie.