Managing Your Dogs & Litters
Video walkthrough: Watch on Loom (link coming soon)
Every record in BreederBuddy starts with your animals. Your dogs are the foundation — once they’re in the system, everything else (litters, health records, pedigrees, finances) builds on top of them automatically.
The Core Idea
You add your dogs once. From there, BreederBuddy connects them to litters, tracks their health history, builds their pedigrees, and displays them on your public program page and website — all without you having to enter anything twice. Think of it in three layers:- Dogs — your individual animals, each with their own full profile
- Litters — a breeding between two of your dogs, tracking every puppy from whelp to go-home
- Planning — the Litter Planner lets you map out future breedings before they happen
What Each Feature Covers
Dogs
Add and manage every dog in your program — health records, weight, gallery, sharing, and more.
Heat Cycles & Breeding Records
Log heats, progesterone tests, and breedings, then turn a breeding into a litter.
Health Certifications
Upload OFA PDFs and track every health test with expiry badges.
Litters
Track each litter from planned through born and completed. Manage puppies, statuses, finances, and go-home dates.
Neonatal Check-In
Log daily puppy weights, ENS, and ESI from day 3 through day 16.
Litter Planner
See every breeding female’s heat cycles, pregnancies, and forecast heats on one timeline.
Pedigrees
View, build, export, and share a family tree for any dog in your program.
Genetics
Record coat color and trait genetics, then forecast what a pairing could produce.
Where to Start
If you’re just getting set up:- Add your sires and dams. Go to Dogs in the left menu, click Add Dog in the top right, set Type to Active Breeding Dog, and click Create Dog. Repeat for each breeding dog.
- Add any current litters. Go to Litters, click Add Litter, pick the Sire and Dam, fill in the Date Bred (and Date of Birth if they’re born), and click Save.
- Add your puppies. Open each litter, go to the Puppies tab, click Add New Puppy, enter a Name and Sex, and click Create Puppy. They link to the litter’s parents automatically.
Tips & Common Questions
Should I add puppies from the Dogs page or the litter?
Should I add puppies from the Dogs page or the litter?
From the litter. Open the litter, go to the Puppies tab, and click Add New Puppy. That keeps the puppy linked to the litter, so their date of birth, sire, and dam fill in automatically.
Do I need to add outside stud dogs as full dogs?
Do I need to add outside stud dogs as full dogs?
No. On the litter, click Select a Sire (or Select a Dam). Outside dogs you’ve used before are listed below your own dogs (click Use), or click Add a new outside sire (or dam) to add one. They’re kept in your pedigrees, not your Dogs list. If you want their health records on file too, add them with Add Dog instead.
How do I keep a puppy as a future breeding dog?
How do I keep a puppy as a future breeding dog?
Open the puppy’s profile, click Edit Details, change Type to Active Breeding Dog, and save. Their profile gains the breeding tools, like Heat Cycles for girls.
Can I import my dogs instead of adding them one by one?
Can I import my dogs instead of adding them one by one?
Yes. On the Dogs page, click the cloud icon next to Add Dog and choose Bulk CSV Import or Import with Buddy. See Importing Your Data.