Breeding Young Pup

Here's the deal...My mom wants to breed me once. She's never bred dogs before and she needs to know some things... How will she know when I'm ready? I have had my first heat before I came to live with her when I was 6 months old. I am 1 year and 4 months now. How does she go about finding a stud and how much does stud service usually cost? And if I need to have a c-section, how much does that usually run? Thanks in advance for the help!
~Chata

First, pups should not be bred until they are at least 2 years old. This gives them enough time to go through all their hormonal changes and have adequate checking for any health or genetic concerns they could pass down to their litter. So, your mommy should not breed you for a while longer.

Second, why does your mommy want to breed you? The reason I ask is because you mentioned that she wants to breed you just once. Usually breeding is done to better the quality of the dog breed line and not because you are cute or have a good personality. A good portion of the time, the pups dont turn out anything like there parents... we are perfect example of this. We are from the same parents but two separate litters. Night and day personalities, night and day health, night and day everything! There isn't one thing we have in common - heck, even the size of our paws are greatly different.

So, please do not breed if it is for these reasons. If you still plan to breed, please wait until your pup is over 2 years old and has had all of the health checks. Then talk to your vet about breeding because the longer you put off spaying, the greater the chance on your pup developing some nasty health problems like cancer.

Lab smiles,
Dakota & Cheyenne