So you think you want to breed a litter of puppies. There are some important questions to ask before you take that first big step. The first, and perhaps most important, question is "Why? " . The answers will be as varied as the people who own dogs. Do you want to have a puppy "just like" your dog? Do you want to breed your dog because people have told you how they would love to have one of the puppies? Did you pay a substantial amount of money for your dog and believe that you can recoup some of that money? Do you want to make some money? Do you want your children to experience the wonders of birth and nature? Do you believe that breeding your dog will make a significant contribution to the breed? These are some of the reasons given for breeding. " I want to breed so that I can have another dog just like this one! " Chances are you will not get a puppy "just like" yours. Remember that your dog is only one-half of the genetic make-up of the puppies. Your dog is the result of genes from both his/her dam and sire and the possibility that the puppies will turn out just like yours is remote unless you have carefully researched the parentage lines behind your dog and the proposed stud and understand the probabilities of what type of offspring should be produced from them. " Everyone tells me how much