When purchasing a puppy or considering a career as a dog breeder, you might have heard the term stud dog. Yet, not everyone understands the term and its use.
When planning on becoming a dog breeder, you will need to decide whether you will own the sire yourself or use the services of a stud dog. Both have advantages over the other, but also there are disadvantages that you need to consider.
Science and natural instincts are required for dog breeding, and the sire of your puppies is a critical decision. If you decide to purchase your sire, you might even want to consider him becoming a stud dog. In this article, we look at what a stud dog is and their fees?
A stud dog is a male used for breeding. They are the sire or dad of the puppies born. A stud dog can be hired to mate with a female dog, or bitch, to produce a litter of puppies.
They should have excellent pedigree, great health, and structure conforming to breed standards. A stud dog should also be good-natured and may have particular skills to their name. For example, they might be a show champion or have won agility competitions. A stud dog is a special individual who will make excellent genetic contributions to the line of a breed and produce puppies with well-tempered natures and good health.
A proven stud dog has already successfully fathered a litter of puppies. This qualifies their fertility but also can help confirm that the resulting puppies have great qualities, appearance, health, temperament, and adherence to AKC breed standards.
A proven stud dog is often a preferred choice. However, the price increases as the standards of the stud dog increase, and so very successful stud dogs, perhaps those that have produced several show-winning puppies, can be in very high demand.
If you are a dog breeder and considering hiring a stud dog, you need to pay a dog stud fee. This is a fee that the owner of the bitch pays the owner of the sire for breeding rights.
The dog stud fee will vary by several factors. This can include the pedigree and any titles the student holds, their health screening, and certificates from the veterinarian. The history of litter success rate might also contribute to the cost.
They might have a particularly unusual feature that might command a higher price. For example, a lemon dalmatian is rarer than a black, so a lemon stud dog will likely command a higher stud price. Or you might require the services of a stud dog for a rare breed, which will again command a higher price. Dog stud fees can vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
If you are unsure whether the fees are reasonable, contact other breeders for recommendations. In addition, you can ask for evidence of their health, fertility and offspring. Alternatively, you can look for a new stud dog, but this might take time. Another option might be to offer a profit share program, where they earn money for every puppy sired by their dog, the potential costs of this can outweigh the initial proposal.
There are pros and cons to both owning and hiring a stud dog. If you own the stud dog, you have control of the litters your dog sires and your breeding schedule. If your puppies are very popular and you own your stud dog, you will not be limited by how many litters he can sire.
However, if your sire is not so successful, and it is your dog, this can affect the success of your dog breeding business. If you use a stud dog, you can select a different stud dog for future litters if the first is not successful.
If you own your stud dog, you will have to market and advertise his services, but this can be a helpful addition to support the profits of your dog breeding business. If you own the stud dog, you will have the cost of the sire, his upkeep, vet checks and certification for genetic conditions, vaccinations, etc. You will also need to keep good records.
A stud dog is generally considered a good beginner option. You might want to invest in your own as you become more successful.
When working with a stud dog owner, you need to find a responsible breeder, preferably with AKC registration and all the relevant health certifications, vaccinations, and evidence of great lineage, like championship certificates.
You should also check for a calm, friendly, and confident dog who is healthy and meets breed confirmation standards, as advised by the AKC. The stud dog owner should be able to give information about previous litters and other breeders' success with the sire.
A professional website and social media with good reviews are essential for social proof. So you can be sure you are Dealing with a professional stud dog owner.
If you are looking at becoming a dog breeder or looking for puppies on Puppy Hero, and wondering, ‘What is a stud dog?’ A stud dog is a dog that can be hired for breeding purposes to sire litters of puppies. As a dog breeder, learning about stud dogs is an essential part of dog breeding 101 lessons. And if you’re purchasing a puppy that mentions a ‘stud dog,’ you know that the sire of the litter is not owned by the breeder of the litter.
01 May, 2025