Skip to main content

03 - Breeding Practices

What to write in the breeding practices section of your RightPaw profile

Updated over a year ago

It can be hard to detail what things you do in your breeding program and where to detail them.

This article will aim to help guide you on the information you should add into your breeding profile, so puppy buyers get as much information as possible.

Behaviour and Socialisation:

This is where you should be detailing how you raise and develop the puppies. You can go week by week, detailing what you do in each week of raising the puppies, alternatively you can briefly outline the main points of how you raise and socialise your puppies.

The main points you should be covering are:

  • Who the puppies are socialised with, for example: adults, teens, children, other dogs, cats, farm animals, etc.

  • Do you allow visitors at a certain time before the puppies go home: for example after 6 weeks and they have been vaccinated.

  • Do the puppies get exposed to a variety of noises? If so what noises? TV, music, vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, kitchen sounds, gardening equipment (lawn mower, etc), local traffic, aircraft flying overhead, thunderstorms, wind chimes, etc.

  • What enrichment or play activities do you do during their development? Sensory, toys, play pens/areas, sandboxes, outdoor play, etc.

  • Do you begin any toilet, crate or lead training as part of your playtime or development?

  • Do you use Puppy Culture or Badass Breeder procedures for development (NOTE: we will need to see certificates that you as a breeder have completed the official program in order to include this in your profile).

Health:

Health should be where you detail what health procedures and checks you perform on the puppies and breeding dogs. The main points you should be covering are:

  • How many breeding dogs you have (sires and dams);

  • Do you DNA test (with your local vet or Orivet) and/or do additional physical testing (such as x-rays on hips, elbows, etc) on your breeding dogs;

  • Do your breeding dams receive a health check before breeding.

For your puppies:

  • What are your whelping, weight check and monitoring procedures;

  • Do they get vet checked (if so, when?) and advise what you do for microchipping, first vaccinations, worming, flea and tick procedures.

  • What food do you feed them (dry, wet, organic, mix) and the brand of food.

Home Environment:

The Home Environment details the type of home you have and the living conditions in your home. Points you should cover include:

  • Roughly where your property is (LGA/Council area) and approximate distance from a major town or city (for example: "we are located approximately 70km west of Brisbane")

  • Is your property a suburban home, acreage, farm?

  • Is your property securely fenced and does it have a specifically fenced-off area for the puppies?

  • Are the puppies whelped inside? After they are born, are they moved to a different area in the home or on the property (provide details)?;

  • If they are not kept inside after they born - where are they kept? NOTE: It is a requirement of our Code of Ethics that puppies and breeding dogs must be kept in a sheltered/indoor environment, either in the home, in a structure connected to the home or a purpose built structure.

  • What features does your home or shelter for the dogs have? For example: heating lamps, mobile medic station, air conditioning, whelping mats, blankets, warming blankets, bathtub, etc.

  • Are the puppies and breeding dogs monitored? If so, how often (24/7, or is it less?).

  • Are there people onsite with the dogs at all times?

  • What toys, equipment, environment do the puppies get access to?

What's Included:

In the what's included section - you should be specific about what your puppy pack includes. Things to include in this section are:

  • If you include a starter food pack of some kind? If so, provide details of brand and size of food pack. Example: "2kg bag of Blackhawk dry food".

  • If you have or include recipes for any homemade dog food or treats you provide?

  • Blankets and toys - you do provide any of these? Are they scented with mum and the litter? If so - mention this.

  • If you provide any leads, crates, carry cases, beds, or additional items? If so - specify what brand they are and what they are as a product.

  • Microchipping - if it is done prior to pickup and if you'll provide transfer paperwork

  • Vaccinations - if the first vaccinations will be done prior to pickup and if the owner will receive a vaccination booklet/passport.

  • Worming, flea, tick treatment - if this has been kept up-to-date and any information/documents around this.

  • DNA health tests - do the puppy buyers get a copy of the breeding dogs DNA tests? Or do they get to cite them when they come and pick up the puppy off you?

  • Health information, booklets or reports you want to provide

  • Health guarantee - do you offer this to your buyers?

  • ANKC or MDBA pedigree certificates or information

  • Any booklets, training manuals or added items you want to mention

  • Pet insurance - are you part of a pet insurance breeder's program and what type of free pet insurance do you offer to your buyers?

  • Ongoing support - do you provide ongoing support, how long for and how? Do you have a Facebook group or a special litter messaging group, etc.

Tips and Tricks:

  • Writing in bullet points means you can add a lot of detail into the breeding practices sections without it appearing that you are writing loads of paragraphs about your breeding practices. Feel free to copy a bullet point design and use it in your breeding practices

    • The dash ⁃

    • The standard bullet point •

    • The arrow ➡

    • The triangle ‣
      ​
      ​

  • You can use emojis 🐕 ❤️ 🛍️ to express different things in your sections.


    ​

  • Try to avoid repeating the same over in different sections.
    ​
    ​

  • You can be creative to try and separate sections into sub-sections, for example when writing information in the health section - you can split breeding dog health and puppy health using bullet points, equal signs or dashes - see below example:
    ​
    ​== BREEDING DOG HEALTH ==
    ​

    We DNA test our breeding dogs with Orivet and they are we x-ray and score their hips and elbows.
    ​
    == PUPPY HEALTH ==
    ​
    ​All our puppies are weighed from the day they are born, daily afterward and from two weeks we revert to weekly weigh ins. All our puppies are microchipped, vaccinated and wormed.

Did this answer your question?