National Puppy Day: a breeder’s perspective
As a nation of dog lovers, Britain is celebrating National Puppy Day today with their ten million furry friends.
On the third anniversary of the Covid-19 lockdown, the UK is marking the day with more pups than ever before.
Dog sales rose dramatically during the pandemic, which has seen an increase in the number of people choosing to breed their dogs at home.
The law permits two litters of puppies per household per year without any form of licensing.
We spoke to Emma Back, a first-time breeder, about her experience this National Puppy Day with her litter of four-week-old Cava-Poo’s.
“I’ve loved every part of doing this, even the sleepless nights; I am still sleeping on the sofa four weeks in,” she said.
Having owned dogs for many years, Emma knew what to expect from young puppies, however there were many new aspects to raising a litter that she was not expecting.
She said: “I found one of the biggest challenges to be finding a stud. Our Mabel has been fully health tested so we know she doesn’t carry any genetic diseases, so it was hard to find a stud that matched.
“Another challenge we faced was finding the right homes for the puppies. Mabel is a shop dog, and a lot of my customers were interested in having a mini-Mable but in reality, many didn’t have the funds, or it wasn’t quite the right time for them. I really didn’t want to advertise them, I would have rather they went to friends, family and friends of family.”
Emma also explained that, through all the challenges, one had a very simple solution.
“One of the hurdles that we had was not getting attached, so to overcome that we are keeping one of the puppies!”
Emma and her family are looking forward to looking after their puppies for the next few weeks, until they are handed over to their forever owners.
“I would definitely recommend breeding your dog, it is so rewarding and to see what they can create, it is just lovely. It has been very rewarding, something that I don’t know if I would do again, but I have all the equipment now so we will see.”
