The American Bully Breed: How Important are Foundation Females in a Breeding Program?
Discussing the Importance of Foundation Females — They’re Absolutely Vital to the Success or Failure of an American Bully Breeding Program
HOW IMPORTANT ARE FOUNDATION FEMALES TO A BREEDING PROGRAM?
Choosing the right foundation females when starting a breeding program or making the decision to become a breeder is absolutely vital. They’re the most important part of the equation in my opinion.
Far too often I see newer breeders attempt to cut corners or get talked into buying cheaper females by other breeders and their friends. No, you won’t be applying “pressure” and you aren’t about to “kill the game” like some of the claims I see from new breeders in bully groups on social media daily.
Bottom line: you won’t even be a blip on anyone’s radar starting out with $1500 females.
In this article we’re referring to breeding stock. For those interested in purchasing a pet quality American Bully, looking a companion and not planning on breeding — you can find one at much lower prices than breeding stock. Or better yet, rescue one.
COMMON MISTAKES
1. THINKING A KENNEL FACILITY IS A REQUIREMENT
The next mistake I see many new breeders make is thinking that they need a large kennel facility and 10+ dogs to start out. A kennel facility isn’t a necessity if you get two or three quality foundation bitches to begin with.
Personally, I’d rather have 3 quality foundation bitches than 15 mediocre dogs on my yard.
If you’re not starting out w/quality foundation females you’re going to be facing an uphill battle. Bring any sub par female to a top stud and you’ll likely only end up with a watered down version of what was initially intended.
2. PURCHASING TOO MANY DOGS
The next biggest mistake (guilty of this one myself) is purchasing too many dogs to start. New breeders look at websites like ours, see our pup prices and start doing mental math: “20K+ a pup is a lot. Damn.. what would that amount to if I have 10 dogs?”
Until you’ve sold a litter you have no idea what your pup prices will be.
3. NOT UNDERSTANDING BREEDING COSTS
They’ll do the math and see green but fail to realize all of the costs involved.
BREEDING COSTS
An example:
- Say you’ve got 5 breedings and you’re using an outside stud to bring new blood in to your program. We’ll use an average stud fee of $5000 just to keep things simple. ($5000 X 5 = $25,000)
- Shipping: $250-$350 per Stud (5X $350 = $1750)
- Progesterone testing: Minimum of 2–3 tests. Tests can range from $40 a test up to $185+ in some states. We’ll use a median # of $100. ($100 X 3 = $300)
- Surgical AI’s can range quite a bit depending on the state and vet but we’ll use $700. ($700 X 5 = $3500)
MISSED BREEDINGS
- Now let’s say that you’ve got terrible luck and all 5 breedings don’t take. ($25,000 + $1,750 + $300 + $3500 = $30,550)
- Thats a loss of -$30,550
SUCCESSFUL BREEDINGS
For the breedings that did take.. congratulations! You’ve got even more expenses coming your way! Don’t forget to include ultrasounds for confirmation, x-rays for pup counts and c-sections for delivery.
Keep in mind that this is just for the breedings. These #’s don’t include the cost to feed and house dogs, stay up to date with vaccinations, vet visits, emergency vet visits, compliance with state laws (local Animal control) registering as an LLC etc.
NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS
Many new breeders will get in over their heads and won’t be able to properly care for their dogs or worse: they take a quality foundation bitch to their buddy’s male dog or a neighbor’s bully.. then wonder why they can’t sell the pups.
Next they’ll grow frustrated with the work & cost involved in caring for that many dogs. Most won’t be willing to put in the work to simply care for their dogs — let alone all of the additional work required to sell litters: taking photos & video, attending shows, marketing & promoting their dogs & litters.
STOP TAKING ADVICE FROM FRIENDS, FAMILY & UNSUCCESSFUL BREEDERS
Next these same ones will listen to their breeder friends and get talked out of using a quality stud because they’re “too expensive” then get stuck selling $1500 dogs — just like the friends and local breeders that were in their ear.
We’ve had Customers use studs of ours and get 25K+ for their pups. Others that’re just starting out, or may not have the same following as established breeders, and don’t market their litters.. will get less.
START WITH QUALITY FOUNDATION FEMALES
A better way to start out is to begin with quality foundation females. Once they are of appropriate breeding age — bring them to the best stud you can of a similar bloodline that consistently produces in areas they lack. Don’t rush into in-house breedings before tightening up on the bloodline you’re after.
Our studs have produced some incredible dogs from outcross breedings (completely unrelated females) but watch and follow breedings where a female off one of our studs is brought back to another stud of ours. The difference is night and day.
Once you’ve tightened up the line, you can carry out in-house breedings and produce the next generation of females for your camp or produce your own future stud.
BEFORE DECIDING TO BECOME A BREEDER
Before making the commitment to become a breeder or establishing your own bloodline, an honest appraisal of your resources is in order. First, do you have the money and time to invest in this endeavor?
Do you have cash on hand for progesterone testing, artificial inseminations, emergency c-sections, vet bills, and proper care for the puppies?
What if your breeding female becomes ill or develops an infection like pyometra? Do you have 3–5K saved in the event of an emergency?
The worst possible thing that you can do is make the decision to become a breeder and then not being able to afford care for your dogs in the event of an emergency. And with dog breeding, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.”
AMERICAN BULLY STUD SERVICE
Most breeders offer a stud service. If you are new to breeding dogs, you should definitely take advantage of this.
ADVANTAGES TO USING A STUD DOG
Many that get started out in the dog breeding business will decide to purchase a male along with several female dogs. Then regardless of how the male purchased ends up turning out — at this point, they’re already invested. Next they’ll breed the females purchased to their male instead of taking them to a proven stud — then they’ll be frustrated when they’re not producing the same quality as other breeders.
As discussed in American Bully Breeding 101, the better way of going about this is to start off by purchasing female dogs. When your female reaches breeding age you can contact the kennels that offer stud service or contact the kennel you purchased your female puppy from to use their Studs.
Housing, feeding, and taking care of stud dogs is expensive and you’re not always guaranteed to have a great stud dog once they mature.
DECIDING ON AMERICAN BULLY STUD
GETTING DETAILED PEDIGREE INFORMATION
Choosing a Stud is a big decision and one that can set up your kennel for success. Be sure to get detailed pedigree information on the dogs to ensure that you are getting a quality linebred dog (meaning the same ancestors appear more than once in the 4 generation pedigree)
Linebred and inbred Studs produce more consistent litters than scatterbred ones. Successful breeders that’ve been around for a while and have quality productions — will usually linebreed.
All of the Studs at Venomline are either linebred or inbred for consistency, have health tested, DNA-Profiled and carry every color and all tri color variations. Bottom line — they’re bred to produce.But don’t take our word for it — always check a Stud’s Productions.
VENOMLINE POCKET BULLIES
Venomline is known for producing some of the thickest dogs in the world, without sacrificing conformation or health. Our dogs are known for having massive heads, dense bone, broad chests, wide shoulders, short muzzles, and being packed rock solid with muscle on short & compact frames.
We are different than most kennels in the fact that we do not use a traditional kennel set up. Our dogs sleep in beds and are a part of our family, not kept locked up in kennels all day. We pride ourselves in producing dogs that have “wow” factor along with great temperament and athleticism despite the heavy muscle/bone they carry.
If you have not read Becoming An American Bully Breeder: Part I & Part II, we suggest first reading those before returning back to this article. We have included links to each below.
AMERICAN BULLY BREEDING PART I: DECIDING ON A CLASS
AMERICAN BULLY BREEDING PART II: PURCHASING FOUNDATION DOGS
Our dogs are DNA & Health Tested, pups come with health certificate, ABKC registration paperwork, shots & de-worming as well as a health guarantee covering any genetic related issues.
We ship semen (Stud Service) worldwide. View our World Class Studs. We are also experienced and familiar with the import process and regulations for shipping semen to any country.
Venomline (South Florida) is proud to announce the opening of our 2nd location- Venomline South located in North Carolina.
THE TOP AMERICAN BULLY BLOODLINES
Our productions are top of the line — we’ve worked extremely hard over the past several years to become one of the most consistent American Bully bloodlines in the world. We will continue to work hard through all of 2022 — to introduce as many new people as possible to this incredible breed.
Another goal for the upcoming year is to give back — by giving up more of my time to help educate and teach those that may be newer than us but are serious about learning more — through mentorship. Lastly, we will have our dogs out and in the public eye this year.
We took off from all shows in 2021 due to Covid-19 — some of our best dogs haven’t been seen by the Public yet.
We will have a much stronger presence at Shows this year… meaning a lot of people will be laying eyes on our dogs for the 1st time in person.
This will only increase the value of our Customer’s stock and demand for our dogs — thus increasing demand and the value of our Customers litters when they use one of our Studs. If you’re not currently working with a breeder that’s constantly increasing the value of your stock.. might be time to start working with one!
THE FEMALES OF VENOMLINE
Venomline females are known for being some of the “bulliest” and most Extreme females on the planet. But what separates us from many other breeders are the females used as part of our breeding program.
It’s simple to use a top Stud, anyone can do that… but at Venomline, we know that it takes both a Top level Stud and a Top Level bitch to produce quality litters on a consistent basis.
We’ll put our females up against any lineup in the World.
FOUNDATION & THE NEXT GENERATION FEMALES
It’s fairly easy to add mass and extreme features, but what’s not easy is producing these on a complete american bully. One with angulation along with a thick strong rear on a dog that may exhibit extreme traits but is still functional. If a dog can’t run and play, in our opinion.. that’s a failure.
There are not too many kennels that are currently combining the “wow factor” and extreme traits desired in the breed while also producing balanced dogs from head to rear that are fully functional and athletic for the breed and still able to excel in the show ring.
Here you’ll find Foundation Females that are linebred to produce.
The result can be seen in our productions
RESERVING A PICK OFF OF AN UPCOMING BREEDING
For Availability please visit our Upcoming Breedings page. We update our Website every 24 hours and when we list breedings and begin accepting deposits — they will be listed and sent out in our newsletter first.
VENOMLINE POCKET BULLY LITTERS
Check out some of our previous Pocket American Bully litters in the playlist below.
ARTICLES & BREEDER INSIGHTS
One of our main goals for 2022 is to start giving more back to the community and other breeders. We plan to do this by helping to educate some of the newer or less experienced breeders by passing down what was taught to us along with some of the lessons picked up over the years.
We’re not claiming to have all the answers.. we’re constantly learning. But if any of our past successes and miserable failures can help out someone that’s willing to learn.. it’ll be time well spent.
HEALTH, TEMPERAMENT, TRAINING & EXERCISE, SHOWS/CONFIRMATION EVENTS + BREEDING METHODS & TYPES
Over the next year we’ll be covering several topics topics like: diet & health, training, showing, breeding techniques/types & more.
For those interested, be sure to turn “post notifications” on so you don’t miss out.
HOW TO CONTACT VENOMLINE
- Call/Text 832–452–0898
- Text is always best for fastest response.
