I am not looking to make a living out of this but I was born into a Lincolnshire shooting family and have have had a lifelong interest in shooting dogs.
At this stage of my life I want to do something that absorbs me and breeding excellent quality English hunting dogs would for me and my wife be a delight.
If I breed first class dogs would I be able to make a viable business out of it. Cover my overheads and get good homes for my pups?
You'd need to have a "Certificat de Capacite" to breed dogs in France. It will involve taking a course and passing an exam. If you can speak French well enough you shouldn't find it too difficult. It's now illegal to advertise any dogs for sale without including your Siret number, which you would be able to obtain easily once you have the Certificat de Capacite. I have no idea as to whether or not you could make a viable business out of it, but I doubt it. If you were operating as an AE, you'd be unable to claim any expenses and would pay tax and cotisations from the first euro that you earned. Any dog breeder that I know of in France does it as a sideline.
Hi Tim, it could be worth you speaking to Alan Andrews. He's a gundog trainer with, I think, labs and spaniels but don't quote me on that. If he doesn't see this post you could go to the Members tab at the top of the page, search for 'Alan Andrews' and you'll find his profile page. From there you can leave an open comment for him or send him a friend request.