Wow. Didn't know people kept count for me. I'm flattered.
I actually have 15 pups on the ground since June. A litter of 4, a litter of 3, and currently a litter of 8. The heat is unfortunately thinning the litters naturally.
The puppy feed bill is nothing compared to having the 10 dogs here being trained for clients, not counting my 6 personal dogs. Went through $600 in feed in 2 months. Now, Parvo vaccine is a different topic. Just had $200 worth shipped in today.
By far, the biggest expense is my time. This time of year, I spend 5 days a week, training dogs. I don't use the pack of hounds school of thought on training. I spend time with each dog individually and pair them up with a finished dog in the field, to they are at a certain point. From there, I hunt them on their own to build the confidence, as they are expected to be the only dog on stand when they get back home. That takes alot of time.
Sorry your 'dog in heat' thread got derailed coyote1758. I was the target of the derailment, so I had to reply to it. Now...to your question: If you aren't going to be running into any males dogs, take your female out hunting. If there's a chance she'll run into a male somewhere along the line, put her up for the couple of weeks that she is breedable.
Tony