Hi ya, I recently bought a well proven stud dog from a friend. I am very new to owning a stud dog and I bought him to breed with my bitch.  Another friend wanted to use him on her bitch. We tried her on day 10, 12, and today 14 and she is flagging and acting like she is ready however I know this is not always the case...  She is staying over tonight so we will see what tomorrow will bring.  Any advice will be much appreciated. Many thanks.

Hello. Do you have experience with a stud dog? Helped with matings.? I'd recommend if no experience is your friend who used to own dog willing to help?
Why did your friend sell her stud dog? Why not just have visited a stud dog for your girl? Why did you wish a stud dog? Health tested?
All questions many members may ask buy I ask for another reason.

I came here as a newbie thinking I might wish to use my dog as stud. Oh how my naive,innocent eyes were truly opened by yes baptism of fire and also kind meaning words from the forum. Yes a difficult time and members here not shy of pointing out shortcomings, heated debate yet I learnt and understood certain points too.
I realised my boy may change behaviour and start marking indoors and seeing any female as a possible mate. I as the posdible stud owner had a life duty of possible re homing any sired litters if breeder unavailable.  I took a long hard look at what is expected of stud dogs and owners and we came to the understanding it was NOT for us, a brief ooh lovely have a puppy from my boy rose coloured glasses idea..

I'm sure you will get advice from more experienced members on here..... I wish you luck.

Bitches will flirt and flag and tease the male but if it's too early she won't let him go any further, when she's good and ready it will happen.

Puts me in mind of a well-known breeder who managed to get her hands on a 'top stud dog'.   In truth, as is often the case, he wasn't being used as much as his sire whch may, just may, have been part of why she was able to buy him.   However, I took one of my bitches to him and she missed.   He missed shortly afterwards to another visiting bitch and over time, it became apparent the dog was firing blanks.   He never sired a litter with his new owner.   Not to say your situation is the same but I have to wonder why anybody with a stud dog would necessarily sell him, to a novice at that.   He may not be what you hope he is.   

There's another thing worth bearing in mind re buying a 'stud dog' - so you are going to use him on your bitch.   What then?   You might be lucky and get interest from others (is he going to right for all the enquiries you might have?) but once you have used him on your own bitch, unless you do more than the one litter from him, he will become a passenger.    Given once you do have a litter, you'll want to keep something from that litter .... it's amazing how quickly numbers add up (been there!).

For me, it makes more sense to use outside stud dogs, unless you happen to have an outstanding male in one of your own litters, to keep and show.

saxonjus

How very true!    I know that newbies can take offence when offered well meaning advice.  And I know that being very passionate about our dogs, we can sometimes sound a bit harsh.  But it is based on experience of many years.

And I'm always surprised that people don't know that they are looking at having a dog wee all over your house. But then common sense tells me that there was a time that I didn't know either.  Pet dogs are trained to wee outside.  Stud dogs want to leave their peemail everywhere to mark their territory.

I'm an experienced stud dog owner, but many people wouldn't want to 'help' a dog get in.  Lots and lots to chew over. 

I expect by now that you have achieved a mating? But I was interested in what the problem was with your boy, is he showing any interest in the bitch? It can depend on how his previous owner handled his matings, some boys accept help, others will not!

> some boys accept help, others will not!

How true - in general, my main breed needs assistance (I sometimes feel the breed would die out if left to their own devies!)   However, we had one, who at the tender age of just over 8 months, managed to mate with his first partner without me being directly involved.   He was very rare and for sure, didn't welcome me helping him at all.   Obviously I was right there the first time and had intended to breed the two together, but didn't expect that on that particular season, for her!    As it was, it wasn't an especially good litter either!!   He was used on her daughter from a previous litter, with great success in terms of the resulting puppies.

> (I sometimes feel the breed would die out if left to their own devies!)

Isn't that though a sad indictment of what we are doing to our dogs, and that we nee to step back and go back to them being able to be natural dogs able to do all things dog without human assistance, especially something as basic as reproduce.

Surely a very important part of our selective breeding should include natural breeding and whelping/mothering behaviour. 

Stud dogs that know when a bitch is ready and who won't mate one who isn't bitches that accept a male when ready without fuss, and who mother their puppies reliably.

>> Isn't that though a sad indictment of what we are doing to our dogs

Of course, but the Basset is a man-made breed, developed by the French ions ago so they had a hound they could follow on foot.  

And at least it was developed for a specific purpose, not for looks as is the case with so many breeds.

"History

The Basset Hound is an old breed originating in France in the 15th century. They were bred as hunters, being dwarfed to make them slower and more manageable on foot."
From Champdogs, History, Basset breed.

I think you'll find a Basset hound from the 15th century looked very different to a Basset hound today....

If they are man-made to the point that they cannot reproduce properly now, then I think they need to be 'man-made' out of that huge burden and problem humankind has bestowed on them...

I wonder why the French did not breed the Bassett for a more biddable nature in order to control them rather than "dwarfing" them, other pack hounds are not so extreme and almost all breeds are "man-made", I don't think we should ever make or alter a breed in a way that renders them unable to perform all their natural functions without help.

Thank you rabid, but I am well aware of how the breed has developed over the years.   I didn't say they 'cannot reproduce properly either' just that having one that helped himself, was quite rare.  

As for making them more biddable - well the point of making them lower and slower was linked to what they were used for.   Basically so it wasn't necessary to follow them on horse-back.   The breed is a wonderful hound to follow, with voices and scenting ability second to none.   Seems I was wrong to mention how difficult it was for SOME to mate, without human assistance

I don't think many people who have breeds that are of average shape/size realise how hands on many other breeds need you to be.
I dare to say most giant breeds for you example often have quite hands on breedings so it's not just the funny shaped breeds alone.
It's not just that step, breeder needs to be more hands on all through whelping and puppy rearing due to size again.... I know many people who have bred a "normal" breed and them done 1 giant litter and gone never again, so hard work compared!

> I don't think many people who have breeds that are of average shape/size realise how hands on many other breeds need you to be.

Thank you Noora for your understanding!    Yes, breeding some breeds is definitely a challenge in so many ways, but still worth it!!   Nothing opened my eyes as much as when having lived out in Canada, doing our first litters out there in my breed only, we moved into a Boarding Kennel situation for a couple of years, where they bred Jackies.   Compared with what I'd gone through with mine, the mating (wham, bang, thank you maam) and then whelping - like shelling peas.  A puppy every 20 minutes or so, wonderful mum - amazing.

Sorry if it touched a nerve but you did say you thought the breed might die out without human help, I have experience in 5 different breeds over nearly 40 years and know that any breed can need assistance both mating and whelping from the smallest to the biggest, I don't know anyone who would truthfully say that they just sat back and did nothing. I suppose the ideal to which we all should work is that all breeds should need minimum help and we would be able to say that our breed is normally straightforward and trouble free. I do agree that bassets are wonderful to run behind and not being as fast as beagles you definitely see more action.

> Sorry if it touched a nerve but you did say you thought the breed might die out without human help,

I guess I should have realised people might take that literally