info on starting a kennel

[jada girl]

I know that there is alot of that goes into this. I also know that u need space and time. Can i some info. One day I would love to have one. (in about 5-8 years ) Might impact where i buy a house. Thanx

[jada girl]

no replys WOW thought for sure there would at least 20 by morning.

[FearlessKnight]

Well there is a lot to tell on this subject. Is there anything in particular you have questions about?

[jada girl]

no just some basic info.

[semo]

only thing i know is to do it ONLY for the right reasons, and NOT to make $$$

imho you need to be working or showing or doing something to make them worthy for breeding etc.

there are too many BYB back yard breeders...so be careful

[misterdogman]

If you want a Kennel then I suggest that while your waiting for the next 5-8 years and learning about APBTs in a kennel setting.... and deciding if your going to have gamebred or whatever dogs and learning about them in paticular... and saving money for your start.... you should start collecting Chains and Kennel materials and looking for a house with a area that can be fenced in...so you prevent a dog running wild and prevent theft too....also strays and other animals with potential disease will be kept out better...so just know it takes a big investment.....even to keep a small kennel in operation....6 dogs plus vet and city fees and food and time and clean up and equipment can run thousands and be something of a full time job....so that is some basic advice...If I think of anything else ill add it somewhere....

[The Watcher]

be ready for sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears. o yea, hard work, a smelly house. A full time JOB to support your OVERTIME hobby. Be ready to spend $$$ that you wont get back.
Dicover, Mastercard, Visa, Amex..... with sky's the limit.
Look before you leap.
Dont buy the first dog you see, dont sell to the first person who inquires.
Someone with LESS $$$ might very-well take BETTER care of your pups than someone without much.

[jada girl]

how much start up money do u think a person needs. i only wanna start with a small kennel. i live in jersey do i need to move somewhere warm. how many times can a bitch give birth. Just a few question thanx alot im sure i'll have more if you dont mind Lol. later

[jeeperino]

1 single chain setup with a barrel can run $75 or more depending on the type of chain and hardware. Even building your own doghouses costs is still expensive.


Like was said, start collecting chains, scrap wood and lumber, bags of cement, chain link fence and posts and hardware, 55 gal. barrels, weights, bowls, privacy fence, and anything else you could possibly use. The climate you live in will also affect costs.

[bahamutt99]

how much start up money do u think a person needs. i only wanna start with a small kennel. i live in jersey do i need to move somewhere warm. how many times can a bitch give birth. Just a few question thanx alot im sure i'll have more if you dont mind Lol. later
The first is going to depend on a lot of different variables. If I ever have a kennel, I plan on rotating my dogs between the house and a privacy-fenced yard. If I end up with more dogs than can be together in the yard, I will partition the yard off into different yards or runs. So in this case, probably $100 per dog for a good-sized house crate, maybe a few thousand to put up the fence, depending on the size of the area I'm fencing.

If you want to show/work/title/health-test your dogs (and hopefully you do) that is going to cost you more. First you have to have the right equipment for the registry and event you want to do, and you might need to buy different crates to travel with. The average 2-day show weekend within a reasonable driving distance probably costs us $300 for show entries, gas, hotel, fast food, etc. And that's just for one dog in one event. I'm dumping out $234 to get Loki's hips, elbows, patellas, CERF, cardiac and tattoo, and that's a steal. In the opinion of this picky puppy buyer, I look for a breeder that has their dogs titled in conformation and some kind of work before they breed, and also a bare minimum of OFA hips.

As far as how many times a bitch can whelp, technically she can whelp twice per year from her first heat until her uterus falls out. But every litter is stressful for her, so the breeders I respect the most don't breed a bitch more than once or twice (maybe 3-4 times for an exceptional producer), between the age of 2 and 8. A healthy bitch will be able to continue to have puppies after that time, but she needs to be carefully evaluated to make sure you're not putting her at unnecessary risk.

I don't think there would be a problem with Jersey, unless there is BSL in your area. Accomodations can be made for any temperature, and dogs are adaptable.

[The Watcher]

I spend $320. dollars a month on dog food. $90 on medication (wormers and heartworm) Its very costly, but I DONT cut corners. In the state I live in ALL pups must be sold with health certificate ($50.) I spend an average of $400. before a pup is ever sold (and I dont breed to sell.)
Chains, swivels and laplinks I buy at the cheapest hardware store. For shelter I use pickle barrels that I buy at the feed store ($12.) and I mount them ontop of two pallets with a "lean to" for extra shade.

[Attila]

Money:

Cost of dogs $450 and up +registration of dogs $45 and up+shots hundreds, feed$375 a month, vet etc ouch.

Cost of kennel equipment housing few grand, chains few hundred, hardware $50 or so, collars about $12 a peice, water buckets depends, food dishes depends, standing kennes$10,000, welping boxes $200 a shot, training tools $2000, first aid stuff costly, Lisenceing state depends on state, local depends, Registering kennel $200 ADBA $20 back when I did it the first time they lost it so I just dished out another fee and put another name on the records. DPBBR $50, UKC, etc. DBA federal tax code $2500

Ok now vet bills, Feed bills, I spend in one year more than my neighbor makes in a year. Plus I own a farm too. Another money pit. Tax write offs though so it pays off in the end because I get all my money back. Ok dudes what did I miss.

Oh ya cleaning up shit, lyming the yard every so often sanitizing the kennels, crates, and spraying clorox out on yard to kill the parvo virus that cats and rats and any other little bastard animal brings in. cleaning more shit. sick puppies, some times bottle feeding, delivery problems emergency c sections, worming, heart worm, Fleas, ticks and chiggars, ringworm, tape worms, mange, cancer, defects, breeding problems, bitchy people, Cleaning up more shit, burying or burning dead dogs, culling, Pulling puppies when stuck, Pushing them back in to move head into position, mouth to nose resesitaton, Bottle feeding a whole litter if mom dies or abandons her pups every two hours for 4 weeks then every 4 hours and start with soft food increasing till week 8 , finding qualified people. Paying taxes/ what every they can find they chew up even nice furnature. more shit to clean up. BSL. Dorks telling you that your pup is a visious animal and it will eat your kids bla bla blah. crates, treats, training, entering shows, pulling harnesses, hernia's ok next person hand off I ran out of steam.

[The Watcher]

Money:

and spraying clorox I love Clorox........ :D

[Attila]

I love Clorox........ :D
Me too. It kills many little things on surfaces and stuff. And it gets it clean and kills fly larva and any smells.

[newbieturtlepits]

oh gosh yall are so funny.. i do my shots at home and the rabie shots at the spca only 6 dollars... but , you said 5 to 8 years good for you .. learn learn learn.. and get outa jersey with alot of money and start where its friendlier to the breed .. if you get you on a budget and dont spend for anything unnecessary for now .. drop a few in cds and good investments you could have a nice little nest egg.. get a house with no down ok cuz its a write off .. and use the money you have for start up.. while you wait ,,study any money for business start up.. there is something for everyone out there no sense in using your money when you can use someone elses..then also drop some of that for later use.. while it grows you plan for it expansion and pay off.. its better to take the longest loan possible for a house they have 40 and 50 yr loans now.. no you wont be paying that long becuz you will take the discount difference and put it in mutuals and other things like bonds .. that will grow while you are in honey moon period of mortgage tax write offs when it begins to lower ,, then , pull out money and pay off , you own your place in less time and have money to pay off.. much more on this , like rehabbing a hud home gets you plenty but .. hey you got 5 to 8 years do the work!!

[Attila]

oh gosh yall are so funny.. i do my shots at home and the rabie shots at the spca only 6 dollars... but , you said 5 to 8 years good for you .. learn learn learn.. and get outa jersey with alot of money and start where its friendlier to the breed .. if you get you on a budget and dont spend for anything unnecessary for now .. drop a few in cds and good investments you could have a nice little nest egg.. get a house with no down ok cuz its a write off .. and use the money you have for start up.. while you wait ,,study any money for business start up.. there is something for everyone out there no sense in using your money when you can use someone elses..then also drop some of that for later use.. while it grows you plan for it expansion and pay off.. its better to take the longest loan possible for a house they have 40 and 50 yr loans now.. no you wont be paying that long becuz you will take the discount difference and put it in mutuals and other things like bonds .. that will grow while you are in honey moon period of mortgage tax write offs when it begins to lower ,, then , pull out money and pay off , you own your place in less time and have money to pay off.. much more on this , like rehabbing a hud home gets you plenty but .. hey you got 5 to 8 years do the work!!
It ends up being your money anyway. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. But hey if you fail you owe uncle Sam that is always fun. Make sure you keep very careful records or the IRS which isn't a Government agency but a self regulating intity that pays themselves and the federal government some. Scandal and rape is what it amounts too. I think you should do it the hard way and make your own way. Don't depend on the Government. That is way we piss our rights away so that big brother can take care of you. If that is so he owns you. You will be owned by the man. A peasant.

[Riptora]

I know that there is alot of that goes into this. I also know that u need space and time. Can i some info. One day I would love to have one. (in about 5-8 years ) Might impact where i buy a house. Thanx
I'm in the same boat! I'm going to build a kennel or buy kennel property with my home in the future. A few years from now of course and zoning is everything.

I would volunteer at some shelters or even get a part time job at a shelter or boarding kennel. Even other kennel owners ( that's a little harder to get into ). Shelters are great because the have many difficult dogs, there's a lot of them to get different experiences from, they always want volunteers ( on YOUR time ) and they will make you a better breeder, because you will see how many pure breds one can adopt from death and that will make you breed only dogs who are worthy. I've done both because there are so many different types of kennel set ups and different ways of sanatizing and rotating the dogs. These kennels have schedules and differences that you can use to adopt your own. I've certainly thought of my favorite points from each place I worked/volunteered at to come up with my own idea of how I want to do things. There is also a book called, " Kennel Building and Managment " that is highly respected and has been recommended to me often ( I haven't read it though ). Hands on is the best, get some experience and you will be able to visualize what you will be doing in the future and make it work with your life style.

[goodbyexgirl]

only thing i know is to do it ONLY for the right reasons, and NOT to make $$$

imho you need to be working or showing or doing something to make them worthy for breeding etc.

there are too many BYB back yard breeders...so be carefulOMG! your picture is so cute semo. haha
sorry T/O

[ABK]

How much start-up money depends on now many dogs you'll be starting with. But this should give you an idea.

Well-bred registered pup: $500 - $1000.

Shots: $35 ea. from vet or $5 ea. if you do it yourself.

Rabies vac.: $15 per yr.

Wormer: At least $64 annually.

Food: $25 to $50 per week.

Food pans: About $5 ea.

Water buckets: About $4 ea.

Snaps to secure water buckets to kennel: $1 ea.

Leashes: About $10 ea.

Pooper scooper: $20

Locks: $50. You'll need these for your house & kennel

Shovel: About $15. To bury poop or deceased dogs.

Powdered Lime: To sprinkle in kennels to keep odor down & for use on manure piles & when burying dogs.

Seven dust: To kill fleas/ticks.

Straw or cedar chips. $6 per bale/bag. Bedding for your dogs.

Whelping/puppy pens: $250 ea.

Crates: $65 ea. To keep sick or injured dogs indoors.

Collars: Regular for about $12 ea. or theft deterrant for about $65 ea. Theft deterrant collars are a very good investment if must if you chain your dogs.

Dog houses: $10 to $75 ea. You can use doghouses if you wish ($75 ea.) but the dogs usually chew the corners & ruin them. Thick plastic barrels IMO make the best houses & you can usually pick them up for $10 ea.

Monitoring system: $150 to $500 ea. A very good idea to have, that way if anyone steals or poisons your dogs you have video. You will need several to cover all angles of your yard well.

Insurance: Where needed - price depends on the requirements of your area. Not cheap!! Usually in the thousands of dollars.

Medications: $1000. You will need various meds on hand for yard accidents, illnesses, birthing & general husbandry

Privacy fencing: $1000 to $1500 or more, depending on size or yard. You will want this so thieves & crappy neighbors do not know you have pit bulls.

Wire fencing: $150 - $500 or more. To put between your privacy fence & the dogs. If you don't, the dogs will chew your privacy fencing down.

Super heavy duty kennels: $500 ea. for 10 x 10 kennel. 10 x 10 is the absolute smallest you can IMO humanely keep a dog. 15 x 15 or larger is preferred. Super heavy duty is best b/c pit bulls can chew out of regular chain link.

More privacy fencing to put between kennels: $500 - $800. This is put between kennels to avert fence fighting & the injuries that can result.

Or if you choose to chain ...

Heavy duty chain: $20 - $50. 10 ft minimum. Any less IMO is inhumane.

Bull snaps: About $4 ea.

Heavy duty swivels: About $4 ea.

Quick links: About $2 ea.

Axel or anchor: $3 to 10 ea.

OK. So let say you start w/ 4 dogs. If we put a conservative number on it, that will put your start-up for a kennel of 4 dogs at between $6000 to $10,000. And that's not including registration fees, cleaning supplies, insurance, (if any) as well as any other items I may have missed.

Further down the road you will have unexpected vet bills to look forward to, as well as replacing anything they destroy (pit bulls are good as destroying things), health testing, any licensing fees & replacing kennels &/or hardware as well as replacing any dogs that die.

As for how many times a female can give birth, they should only be bred once a year. Their breeding career should begin when they are physically mature, ideally at around 2 years of age & they should retired by the time they reach middle age, ideally at around 7 years of age.

[newbieturtlepits]

It ends up being your money anyway. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. But hey if you fail you owe uncle Sam that is always fun. Make sure you keep very careful records or the IRS which isn't a Government agency but a self regulating intity that pays themselves and the federal government some. Scandal and rape is what it amounts too. I think you should do it the hard way and make your own way. Don't depend on the Government. That is way we piss our rights away so that big brother can take care of you. If that is so he owns you. You will be owned by the man. A peasant.

its way different than you think this system is very good to help you get your property paid off sooner , however.** there is the people that dont have control over bad spending habits..i come across them all the time..seems like being harassed by bill collectors to them is like talking to family...
if a person does the work in that time frame given , that is workable, looking into , women in business partnerships , brings entrepenures some cost relief., then look for grants and funding outside the government as well as inside the good ole usofa , check the by lines and see if you qualify for it , many times you must find the local entity that will actually hand over the funds.. after that look to related gifting from endowments and charitable orgs , since you have time ... barns and noble has very large business section.. they allow you to sit and read unbothered.. get the exact web addys to the interested parties and log on and read...then look up grant writing and check on the how to.... after that sometimes the library offers grant writing or the city recreational will also offer it... with your own savings and some help its possible ... then its zoning... you really have to check zoning thats why i said where i am is good... weather is fine , and outdoor dogs thrive on it.. we have alot around the city where you can have your dogs and no one will say anything.. just across the line 20 min away is northcarolina.. way many dog breeders have gone there for the freedom.. having 200 or 300 dogs is not unusual there...suffolk and portsmouth , isle of wight here closer to where i live also has much land and hud homes and what ever you need... also try to diversify... not every litter is going to sell right off.. or farm out.. so for the interest of making your income to support you pit habit try to diversify your lil farmette,,, easy and if you choose to come my way i help ya out. . theres organic farming... easy... other things like fish , cats, birds, all of which might qualify you for more funds from outside sources.. not just uncle sam but other sources ... good luck

[c10d]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this all seems really interesting to me. I want to have a kennel-type yard within the next 5-8 years like this guy, but probably not even for breeding and selling pups, but just to have multiple dogs.

I was curious as to what kind of career some of the other members have that have big yards and all in areas where you can give your dogs lots of space to run/exercise/roam/train/weight pull/ etc.

SO, what do some of you do for a living and what is your general location?