The new year always brings a lot of noise.
Big goals. Big plans. Big pressure to do everything differently all at once.
But before we rush forward, I think it’s worth slowing down for just a moment and taking an honest look at where we actually are.
In today’s episode, I want to walk you through a simple way to reflect on the past year and intentionally set yourself up for success in the year ahead — not with vague resolutions, but with clarity around what worked, what didn’t, and what deserves your attention next.
This isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the right things for your breeding program and your life, building momentum, while enjoying the journey.
What Went Well?
It’s always important to acknowledge what went well. This year I was really happy with my GSP program: all my pups sold in record time, often having many dogs sold from a litter before it was born; I retired a mom, found her a wonderful home; and more buyers were interested in upgrading to first pick this year, which was an improvement and added a few thousand to my income for the year.
I also got my big pen much more secure so I can have my more elite escape artists in the big pen without being under supervision. They’re very happy to have the full day to run instead of shorter bursts. I also downsized a lot of dogs that weren’t actively a part of my program. I neutered a few males and rehomed them, using the adoptable dogs page on my website.
My dog food bill is much more manageable than it’s been in a long time: I’m actually getting around three days with a bag instead of 1-2 days, a major improvement that I feel in my cash flow. I increased my price over the year and I haven’t found all that much pushback, which has been great, and the buyers aren’t all that different.
My rat terrier program had a lot more puppies and they moved very well at the beginning of last year. I actually had entire litters sold in record time. That didn’t last the whole year, but it was a considerable increase in sales from previous years.
We had no parvovirus this year, meaning we’ve had zero cases since using NeoPar vaccine. I had a mom struggle to come into heat, so I used the dewormer on her for 10 days and she came right in season. This further builds evidence that sometimes mama dogs are right on the brink of coming in season, but their system is just a little off, so they’re holding out on you. We’ve seen great results with using Swan Essentials Perfect Log Herbal Dewormer consistently.
How about for you? What went great? Did your puppy pens improve? Was managing your website easier? Was it easier to sell to buyers? Did you raise your price?
One Thing You Want to Fix from Last Year
How did last year go? What was the one thing that gave you a bald spot from pulling out your hair? For me, I found that, while I thought I had a good idea on my new ideal puppy buyer for my ratties, I was wrong, I was consistently being contacted by a group of people who are younger than my designed ideal puppy buyer. It’s been an interesting moment trying to figure out what’s happening there.
In reflecting, it became clear that the ideal buyer I was originally shooting for was much older than the people actually using Google to find me. I had a gentleman seek out one of my puppies for his mother; this was not uncommon. Many people were looking for dogs for their parents. I also noticed that the tactics I teach in the society for the free Google Business listing are still working very well. I got a lot of traction from them. I also noticed a good boost of traffic from some of my strategic website blog articles.
Ultimately, though, my buyers were not consistently coming to me already sold on my dogs like they are with my GSPs. I was talking with Kate about it and she goes, “Well, what would you say to yourself if you were coaching yourself?” I knew immediately: my ideal puppy buyer is not well dialed in. I needed to go back to my favorite buyers and see where they were the same, and how I could attract more of them with my website copy and imagery.
My goal this year is to make that better. I sold about five times the number of rat terrier puppies in 2025 than I did in 2024, but there is still room for improvement. I know what smooth is, and I’m not there yet.
What about you? What’s an area you spent way too much time on? Were you answering the same questions over and over? Did you not like your buyers? Did you spend way too much time cleaning? Did you have to pay for advertising? Maybe you sent out four emails, which is four more emails than last year (give yourself credit for a 400% increase), but maybe this year you want to send at least an email each month.
I want you to choose something in your program that you thought was “clunky” and make that a priority to fix in the first 90 days of this year. You have until March 31.
One Thing You Want to Improve from Last Year
Now, what about those things do you want to improve on? Things may be good, but how could you make them better?
For me, I like my website for the rat terriers: it flows nice, I get good feedback, but I realize that the branding doesn’t exactly work with my newly evolving ideal puppy buyer, so I want to work on that this year. I want to redo my branding to give it a flow that works better for the rat terriers and is less of a spin-off from my GSP website.
This will not be the priority in January–that’s not likely–but it will be something I’ll mull over and work on soon. First, I need to put my slide presentation together for the GANA Breeder Conference. If you’re close to Charlotte, North Carolina, you should come! It’s open to all breeders and isn’t goldendoodle specific. I even have some VIP spots if you want to join me on a more personal level. It’s going to be a great time at the end of February. You can learn more on my website—or get your tickets—here.
This year I made some improvements to my puppy pens, better separating moms when I had four litters on the ground and of both breeds, which is newer for me. Yet, this year I want to separate them a bit further, but that’ll take a bit of Bill’s help … 😅
As buyers are shifting, asking for more, wanting to understand better, and are starting to focus more on what matters—even if it is a little misguided—it’s important to stay ahead of the trends. So many breeders I work with feel like things are going well, and they stop evolving. Then the market catches up, and passes them. They’re left with extra puppies and wondering how to get the traction back. I don’t want you to be in that place: you don’t have to be rushing, it shouldn’t feel overwhelming, but it is important to keep your head in the game, and your business ahead of the power curve.
Maybe you sold all your pups, but you’re wondering if you could get more for them by raising your prices. Maybe you’re thinking it’s working well, but looking at your numbers, you’re not exactly sure where the money went. Maybe you’re looking for a website refresh (don’t worry, I have a killer thing coming for you that’ll make it super simple and affordable!).
Maybe you just want the money to go somewhere beyond sustaining, which leads me to my next question for you …
Want to Get the Roadmap to a Successful Breeding Program?
One Way You’ll Invest in Your Future this Year?
How will you invest in your future this year? Most breeders will not want to breed dogs until the day they die. This is understandable. Yet it poses a unique situation: how are you going to have income beyond breeding if you don’t make a plan? I did some exploration into this with podcasts #114-117 (links to each episode in the show notes below), where I discuss ideas for how to use the better years of your breeding business to set you up for success—and when that includes a facility or not.
I won’t dive back into that, but it’s an important reminder that life gets better when we have options, and many times those options come from using the resources we have today (namely time or money) to make our tomorrow better and more predictable, a little less scary or chaotic.
For me, I’ve bought a few properties in the last few years and I’ll finish paying those off. Yet, this year I want to focus more on giving myself more room for creativity. Have you ever studied yourself after a period of chaos? Sometimes I’m a strange creature. I remember a few times this year it felt like I was treading water, so many things to do, people to help, and I never had a bit of time for myself.
Now this isn’t the woo woo stuff where I’m like, “You need to make time for self care.” I know, if I said that, you’d be rolling your eyes at me. It’s not like that. What I found is that I am SUPER CREATIVE when I have free time to reflect, think, listen to new business books, and to try out new ideas. That creativity is directly linked to my ability to have the time and space to do those things. It’s not just me. I see it with my kids, too. They are infinitely creative—when given the space to be. You don’t want blanket free time and space; that’s a great way to get nothing done. But with a few restrictions, like a chunk of thirty minutes by yourself in the morning with a cup of coffee, a few quiet moments in the shower, a problem you’ve decided needs a solution with your current resources, these moments give boundaries to solve our problems within. This is the boundary and freedom that’s required to get the creative juices flowing.
Sometimes when Bill is busy and the kids are with their dad, I’ll take myself out to breakfast with my laptop and work on a project. A new scene, a problem to solve, and breathing room, are a great combination for moving life forward, no matter what you’re working on.
So what will you do to set you up for success for the long haul this year? Will you take some of your profits and invest them in facilities so you have more time to work on other things? Will you hire some part-time help? Will you finally pay off an old debt? Will you begin a retirement account? Will you look for ways to make some passive income (maybe Airbnb is calling your name)?
There’s something else that you might consider that I don’t always talk about: have you thought of learning a new skill?
Many breeders that I work with tell me how they’re frustrated waiting on people or others to do something for their breeding program. Oftentimes their breeding program is nearly on-hold while they wait for a photographer to be available, their website guy to put their new photos up, or for their marketing person to put together their social media or email newsletter. Have you considered learning a new skill that makes this easier?
I often hear breeders say something like, “I can’t do my website,” or, “I’m not good at social media,” or, “I don’t know how to take good photos.” It’s as though the breeder is actually creating a psychological block for learning the very thing they need to learn. Don’t feel bad. We all do it. For the longest time, I was scared of Quickbooks (like, terrified). I was afraid to start working out because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was embarrassed. I didn’t know if my business was profitable in the beginning; I didn’t have a good plan for tracking numbers and expenses; I didn’t know how to build a website. The unknown can feel scary. But sometimes it’s not fear, it’s the overwhelm of, “Dear me, do I have to learn ANOTHER thing?!” <—add some expletives to that.
I understand both of these things. Sometimes you just don’t know where to start. That’s where I see breeders put in the society discussion boards their questions to pull an, “Ask the Audience,” like we’re back on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire! What a fun show. Other times, breeders just need to start, knowing it’ll be messy. It’s sort of like when you look into the puppy pen and realize the treats you gave the pups last night meant liquid poop all over the puppy pen, and you’re going to need muck boots to clean today.
So I ask again: what skill could you learn or get better at that would reduce some of the friction in your dog breeding business? Maybe start with a YouTube video, a masterclass, a post in a discussion board. Then ask yourself, what would it look like if it were easy?
We covered a lot today. I hope it got your brain thinking. To recap:
- What went well this past year? (Don’t forget to celebrate!)
- What is one thing that was clunky that you will fix in the first 90 days?
- What is one thing that you know can be better, even if it isn’t bad? Implement that in the second 90 days.
- Lastly, what’s one way you’ll invest in your future? Whether that’s facilities, hired help, retirement or passive income, new skills, or a little creative time for you?
I’d love to know. Feel free to leave me a comment on YouTube for this, or send me an email at [email protected].
Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Honest Dog Breeder Podcast, with me, your host, Julie Swan. New years are full of potential, and I am so excited to see what you’ll turn that potential into this year! See you in the next episode!
