When to Breed Shepherds

Question
We had a man come to our door saying he saw our shepherd (5yrs) and wants to breed with his female(1yr).  How old does a female have to or need to be before breeding?  
How would you advise on going about it.....our shepherd has "papers" and a comes from a long line.  We purchased him as a pup from a husband and wife who just breed and train shepherds.  
Are we suppose to "charge" to have our dog breed when someone asks like this?  His dog doesn't have papers but he said he could get them if he wanted....but i don't know what that means.  
Also, are we suppose to get pick of the litter...and how many are we entitled to?  

Thank you any advice is greatly appreciated.
audrey

Answer
Hi Audrey, Here are the answers to your questions and some advice.

How old does a female have to or need to be before breeding?  At least 2 years of age.  She needs to have her hips x-rayed, and tested for various diseases that she can pass on to her puppies, including Von Wilhebrand disease (a bleeding disorder) and thyroid disorders as they too can be passed on.  Your male should go through these tests also as he can pass these on as well.  Another thing that is very important and should be mandatory as far as a requirement of the female is a vulva smear done to make sure she does not have any bacteria that can cause a urinary and/or kidney infection in your male, and can also make your male sterile.  Compare it to canine STDs.  This is very important for your male to protect him.  If the female has bacteria, they just put her on antibiotics for a couple of days and then she can be bred.  You can tell that to the other owner.  It is very common for the female to have these bacteria and the owner won't know it.  The female will not show any outward signs.  

How would you advise on going about it.....our shepherd has "papers" and a comes from a long line.  We purchased him as a pup from a husband and wife who just breed and train shepherds.   Make sure that you have the AKC papers, not the blue puppy papers as that does not make your dog registered.  Then write up a contract so that both of you are protected through the entire process.  The contract should state the fee, the dogs names & registration numbers as well as how many times you will be breeding in this heat (the average is 3 times a day apart each time), and if you will be offering a free return service if she does not become pregnant.  This is normally a courtesy thing.

Are we suppose to "charge" to have our dog breed when someone asks like this?  Yes, all stud owners either charge a fee which is paid up front, or you can get pick of the litter which means when the puppies are old enough you are allowed to pick which puppy you would like to keep out of the litter before he can sell any.  You can then choose to keep that puppy or sell it.  You don't sign litter papers until you get your puppy.  All of this should be in a written contract so that you are covered if something goes wrong.

His dog doesn't have papers but he said he could get them if he wanted....but i don't know what that means.  Do not breed until you actually physically see the papers as you are producing unpapered puppies, plus when you write up a stud contract, you need the female's registration number to put in the contract to identify her to AKC if something goes wrong.  And don't ever think it won't.  AKC is full of breedings gone wrong due to no stud contract.  It ends up resulting in unpapered puppies all over the place.  

Also, are we suppose to get pick of the litter...and how many are we entitled to?  Pick of the Litter is just one puppy.

Hope this helps,

Dawn