Making a living from dog breeding

I’m not sure if this thread is still active ;-) I’ve got a professional qualification in dog breeding and I’m a hobby breeder of Chihuahuas...

I agree with the points made above. Choosing the right breed is quite a strategic move. You have to keep in mind that smaller breeds are often "better earners". Puppies sell more easily and for higher prices than large breeds, especially if you’re based near major cities; that said, breeding them is often more delicate. You also really need to size up the competition before jumping into this full-time. For instance, with Chihuahuas, in certain popular counties you’ll find dozens of breeders, so there’s a lot of supply—sometimes more than there is demand...

Don't forget the competition from "backyard breeders"—casual owners who have a litter and sell the puppies for much less than a professional. Pros have a lot of overheads when they’re set up full-time, which obviously means they have to sell their pups at a higher price.

It is possible to make a living from dog breeding, but you have to produce a lot of puppies and make choices that aren’t always easy when you love your dogs—specifically, rehoming adults that you’ve had for years once they’re retired from breeding :-(. You have to be very strict when selecting your breeding stock, particularly regarding genetic health issues, to maximise your chances of producing healthy puppies and building a good reputation for your kennels.

Ultimately, it’s like any other business; it can work, but you have to find a way to stand out from the crowd, like producing specific bloodlines or highly sought-after colours...

Also, before setting up, make sure to check with your local council, as some areas have restrictions on breeding. You also need to look into all the licensing requirements and the regulations regarding neighbours, depending on how many adult dogs you have on-site...

Another point to consider is finding THE right families for your puppies. Sometimes you meet wonderful people who send regular updates and even become friends. Other times, it’s a nightmare—you get bizarre calls and messages, or the pups end up with other breeders who’ll work them to the bone, or with arseholes who’ll just flip them on classified sites or dump them at the RSPCA... honestly, you see it all. You have to learn how to size people up from the get-go. After a while, you learn how to spot the red flags, but it’s really not easy...

In short, it’s a lovely profession that can be successful if you’re well-prepared (market research, a solid business plan, checking the competition, thinking about your own skills, chatting with established breeders, etc.).

It’s a bit of a tricky one, and while not totally impossible, you’re definitely looking at a salary that rarely goes above the minimum wage. There are several factors to consider: litter sizes vary depending on the breed, and food and care costs differ for every animal. Plus, each breed has its own price range.

To give you a basic example, even though I have a fairly rare breed, they need very few health screenings (as they don't have many issues), they have large litters (sometimes up to 11 or 12 puppies), and they’re medium-sized dogs, so they don’t eat a massive amount. They don’t need any specific grooming or breed-specific care either. I reckon that breeding my specific breed is technically much more profitable than breeding, say, German Shepherds.

Mind you, managing several litters at once is a real handful. Let's say you average five litters a year (though starting with fewer is better), with an average of six puppies at about £850 each. That’s a gross of roughly £25,500 a year, but once you take off the 20% VAT, you’re down to about £20,400. However, you still have to feed the whole lot of them. To manage five litters a year, you’d need at least five or six dogs of your own. Depending on the breed, that’s going to cost you roughly £250 to £450 a month on average. Then you’ve got the show fees, the constant loads of laundry, the electric bill, the cost of health tests, stud fees for outside matings, National Insurance, and taxes. If you’re left with the equivalent of the minimum wage, that’s the absolute most you can expect. Once you’ve made a name for yourself, found some good deals on food, got a better handle on selecting dogs with breeding in mind, and generally got your organisation sorted, you might hope to earn a bit more. But one thing’s for sure: you don’t get rich through proper, serious breeding.

Hi there,

Making a living from it, yes, it’s certainly possible.

As Be Cool mentioned earlier, the breed plays a huge part in the potential profit. Take the English Bulldog, for instance, where artificial insemination and C-sections are highly recommended and litters are often small. On the other hand, breeding Belgian Malinois is very straightforward; C-sections are only needed in case of complications (which are rare), and the number of puppies per litter is much higher.

Of course, a "puppy farm" will always manage to make a living, even with breeds that are hard to produce. Some of these places produce more than two litters a month all year round (with a high number of breeding dogs to match), so I’m not worried about their bank balance. Plus, they don’t exactly spend time vetting families, so the puppies sell fast.

This kind of breeding is obviously the total opposite of loving and respecting dogs; I doubt that’s what you’re aiming for.

Ultimately, breeding MUST be done out of love for a breed, love for dogs, and a passion for improving the line. This involves a rigorous selection of parents, and "selection" doesn’t just mean picking the dog next door. It often means sourcing semen from abroad—finding the stud that is the perfect match for your *****. Again, that comes at a cost.

Passionate breeders, like many of my friends and I, all have day jobs. We rarely actually make a profit. But when we plan to start breeding, we aren’t thinking about the money we can make off the backs of our dogs; we’re thinking about following our passion above all else.

It all depends on the breed, your reputation, and how you run the business.

But it’s still tough, even after years of being established, to make a living solely from breeding.

Many breeders set up side businesses (boarding, training, selling dry food) to supplement the breeding itself, which can easily end up running at a loss.

In any case, when you’re starting out, you can’t expect to earn enough to support yourself and your breeding stock for the whole twelve months of the year.