My bitch had one pup by elective caesarean and the pup did not survive. She recovered from the caesar really well physically and is fully fit now.

What would your advice be re: breeding again. Some people have said do it next season as she only carried one pup and did not go through the strain of raising a litter.

Anyone had any experience of this? What do you think?

Thanks.

One of my bitches had 3 puppies born by c section, none of which survived.  The advice I received was also to breed on the next season rather than wait for scar tissue to build up too much.  She came into season 4 months later and she went onto have 9 healthy puppies born naturally with no intervention from the vet.  Hope this helps you.

I have had the same experience as both of you - pups born and (lost) by c-section and then mated next season and pups delivered successfully. I have also had a bitch who had a c-section for her first litter (very large pups, all survived), given 18 months to recover then had one pup (who survived) by c-section again as she never went into full labour.  I asked the Vet to spay her while he was doing the c-section but as both mum and pup were in a critical state by the time he operated, he decided not to. 18 months on, I discussed the pros and cons of having one last try with her. I desparately wanted a bitch to carry on with but up to that point she had only produced dogs. He said to have one last try and  he would be ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble.  She went on and whelped six pups all by herself and yes, I did get a bitch.  She is behind every bitch I have had since and, so far, no further welping issues.  I think you can only do what you think is best having taken the advice of your Vet and, if you have one, mentor.

I had the exact same situation last new years eve, my girl had one pup delivered by c-section, female puppy and she was dead.

I want a girl for myself so want to try again, though she only had the one pup, because she had a c-section i have chosen to wait a year and will be trying again in a couple of months, if she had delivered one puppy naturally (and lost her) i would of tried on the next season but because she was opened up i want to be completely sure everything has healed well internally. She too was as fit as a fiddle after 6 months but it felt safer to wait.

As people have already said on here they have mated on the next season with no problems so it can go well but i think you have to feel confident with your own decision.

>The advice I received was also to breed on the next season rather than wait for scar tissue to build up too much.

I had a bitch that had a caesar (4 dead, 9 live pups) I waited for 2 years before trying again but she didn't carry to term. I was told later, after she had been spayed, that the scarring was too much and she would never had carried again anyway. So I would say yes, breed before the scarring gets too much.

My question would be if she should be bred from again at all. 

You would really have to be sure of the reason for the C section.

I appreciate where you are coming from re: ever breeding from the bitch again and agree that you really have to consider why a c-section was needed.  I have recently whelped two bitches (unrelated to the one mentioned earlier) who both had c-sections for their first litters.  One had a big puppy stuck, the other had a small litter and never got on with things :-(  Both have just whelped six puppies apiece in a matter of 3 - 4 hours with no fuss whatsoever.  As I said in my earlier post, if I had followed the "one c-section, get them spayed" chain of thought, I would have been up the creek without a paddle many, many years ago.  Each bitch is different and the assistance of a good Vet and an experienced friend/mentor, if available, is a Godsend when considering future plans.

Yes the reasons and the likelihood of it becoming an inbred issue are important things to consider.

I have had two bitches that have had C sections, bitch of them were for their third and last litters and both were grandmothers by that time.

The two bitches were great grandmother and great granddaughter, so very unlikely to be a hereditary issue, with no issues in geenrations between and after.  

Certainly not primary Inertia in the great granddaughter as the first puppy was delivered at speed (a catchers mitt would have been handy). 

The first was probably a combination of age (in 7th year), length of time since last litter (3 1/2 years) and a relatively small litter.

ditto brainless....i wouldnt be repeating a mating after a caesar.

Sam, I don't think that was what brainless said (but I stand to be corrected by brainless :-))  Her point was that you have to look at the reason for the c-section and, reading between the lines, the bloodlines of the bitches concerned.  Taking all that into account, you then make a reasoned decision before mating a bitch again following a c-section.  Every case is different.

Same here.  I agree we each make our own choices, but I choose to spay if a bitch needs a section.

What I am saying is I was fortunate that both my bitches C sections were at the end of my bitches breeding lives after they had already proved themselves easy self whelping on previous occasions.

I really would have been stumped if these had been from their first litters and would certainly have looked deeply into the female lines and questioned how often this had occurred before. 

I probably would not have bred from them again, but would be looking to see if I should breed from the offspring.

In my breed on balance I would have bred from the female offspring in the litters.

I have had a litter of 7 beautiful babies delivered without any problems at all from a bitch which required a c-section the year before. 

My most recent litter from my other girl (different breed) also resulted in a c-section, i will be repeating that mating in 12-18 months but i already know that if a section was required again....she will be spayed.....i would never breed from a girl who has required 2 sections. JMO

Regarding the original questions of how long to wait to breed after a c-section, my girl i referred to in my first reply has gone and completely messed up my plans by coming into season today 7 weeks early!!!!

I was planning on trying for my final litter as i really want a female puppy for myself but now it means her puppies would be ready bang on christmas which i really dont like.....dilema is do i mate her or do i wait for another 6 months, which isnt a problem at all just after reading peoples comments on here about scar tissue building up if left too long i dont want to miss my final chance for my puppy.....anyone had a gap of 18 months or 2 years after a c-section and had a healthy litter with a good delivery????

My first bitch was born from her dam's 3rd Caesarian and yet my bitch went on to have a litter of 14 without any problems and likewise the daughter I kept had 2 x litters of 14 without needing a Caesarian.   The grand-dam of my first bitch delivered her 2 litters of pups without a Caesarian.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, all very interesting, especially about the scarring and latter successes.