**WARNING** Mature Subject Matter ( handled rather immaturely).

The first thing I learned about being a dog breeder is, I know nothing about breeding dogs.  I mean I understand the basic mechanics of course. But there is really a lot of day by day scheduling, feeding, healthcare, licensing, and general business decisions. And that list only scratches the surface.

So I started with the basics. I fired up google and typed in "animal husbandry". For the most part it's not as gross as it sounds. It's mainly the art of selecting the bloodlines you want to breed, to produce the traits you desire in the offspring.

It's said that the only reason to breed dogs in to improve the bloodline. I believe that can achieve this while still making the parents bonified family members and keep the offspring as "product". I don't want to run a "puppy mill", but the bottom line is these dogs are going to be a business. I believe that by selectively breeding the right pairs, I can both improve the breed and make a living matching dogs with homes and/or careers that leave them forefilled.

For my German Shepards I know to accomplish what I want I'm going to need a couple of different momma dogs (I'm still having a problem calling them "bitches". I know it's just a term but it still seems disrespectful.) One possessing a higher work ethic. One possessing a more nurturing personality. Also I'll need a "stud" (it's either that or "sire" I have no problem with either of those terms because they both make him sound like a badass. Make sure you leave all your "double standard" comments in the space below ) that is a mixture of both.

This will be expensive at first, but it will yield two marketable bloodlines. The former for police or search and rescue or military dogs. The latter for home protection, agility training, show caliber family pets.

For the Chihuahuas it should fairly easy. I'm only looking for bloodlines that will produce healthy, good tempered, and cute and tiny family dogs.The main two qualities of temperament and size(and to a lesser degree appearance) will be the main selling points. There aren't really any working class Chihuahuas.

Back to google again. I typed in "animal midwifeing" which is way grosser than it sounds. That's the science of helping the momma actually deliver the pups. I'm sure that in that moment it's a beautiful rewarding experience, but trust me you don't want to randomly search for "puppy whelping videos" on the internet. But it is something I need to know. If you think of clinically it's just a process of helping the pups start their lives and help the mommas though a potently dangerous medical procedure.

There's also tracking the females reproductive cycle to know the perfect time for conception. This is a simple matter of little temperature monitoring and graft making. Along with some behavioral cues.

This line of research led me to the subject of "artificial insemination". Which I  haven't ruled out, so I read on. The female part of which is just a well timed medical procedure. The male part however is much more of a to do. I may employee a vet to do this part. It may one day be necessary to have a "sample" of my dogs essence on hand, but the last thing I want is to come home to a candle lite doghouse with my dog sitting there with his "beaker" and a six pack of Molsen waiting for me. But like I said, I'm not sold on this. It would be a last resort situation.

My Great Grandpa Brown used to raise hunting dogs. I'm pretty sure he did more of the animal husbandry and left the midwifeing to nature and the mother.Not that he wasn't concerned with their well being. I want to take a more active role in the birthing to insure the over all health of my pups. And build a better relationship with the mommas.

Andrew Brown and his hunting dogs.

The bottom line is that it is astounding the amount of learning I still have to do.  So now it's back to the Internet for more research on feeding and training.