Patience is a Virtue

I have been asked to answer the question "what is the minimum amount of dogs needed to develop a breeding program?"

Given the current state of affairs in Cavaliers with many new to the breed in North America buying in, in my opinion, excessive amounts of dogs on a continuous basis with no real purpose except to buy a "winner" I think it is a pertinent question. Developing a successful breeding program takes careful planning, time, luck and patience. Too many are on a fast track and think that buying lots of dogs will get them somewhere fast.

Breeding someone else’s dogs together and having a successful litter does not mean you have a breeding program. It is the result of someone else’s hard work. The true trick is to have successful litters after several generations of your own breeding.

I suppose the flippant answer to the "minimum amount of dogs" would be 2. One to supply eggs and one to supply sperm.

Conventional wisdom says the needed dogs to develop a breeding program has usually been 2 bitches. A well bred foundation bitch and a secondary bitch of similar type and lines. Those bitches can then be bred to different outside studs, related or outcrossed and the best puppies retained. By breeding back and forth between the two bitch lines and going out to different studs as needed a breeding program can be developed.

Any kennel’s true strength is in its bitches! So choose your bitches well. I will address the need for stud dogs in a later post.