I've found a really good boy for one of my girls. He has impressive champion lines, he's very good looking, and he has a great, sweet, adorable temperament...BUT..he's 7 years old, and he's a maiden stud, never been bred. I have experience with difficult matings, and the bitch has already been mated before. We'll be doing a sperm count to check his fertility. What do you think? Is he too old?

hi!....seven too old,hardly they should be plenty fertile,do get a spem check though......i have a litter of twelve by a six and a half year old male...it may be another story if hes not interested in breeding...i would pull progesterones and have a plan b of doing a.i.if he can't get the job done...

My last litter was the result of a similar mating. Experienced, willing, proven bitch, with the stud an 8-year old maiden.

Very straightforward - he even knew how to turn!
:)

bican....remember the bad thing about using a male thats never been bred is you have no idea about what he throws...given a choice i would use a male that has titled progeny with genetic clearences..the male i used is a ch that has already produced several ofa excellent champions including a westminster bob.......this is more desirable than a male that has no progeny on the ground...

But that attitude leadsto the popular sire syndrome that depeletes the gene pool. An older dog that has proven to be healthy and has desirable traits should be used. This wil broaden the gene pool, and you never know he may be a better producer than the proven dogs :D You should of course take his ancestords into account also, and those of the bitch.

My own bitch was the first real winner from her sires fourth litter. Had she not been shown, he may not have been used again, even though he was top dog in our breed. He is now 8 years old, and has a good winning Junior son, and some more offspring on the way.

Whether a dog becomes a useful stud is so often a matter of luck, as if his best offspring are not shown, or worse a not very good example is shown then he is overlooked. In this case I looked at the Dog and the Bitch and they were a good match with complementing characteristics, and strengths where the other failed slightly. I was lucky and the bitch I show is a real blending of her parents.

One should if at all possible consider as many good suitable dogs as possible, not just the Fashionable or top winning studs. sometiimes the dog consistently in the cards, but not the stand out will make the better match.

The order that one would rate dogs in the ring is not necesariuly the same as how one would rate potential studs when faced with finding a partner for a particular bitch.

My friend used a nine year old lhasa apso once because the brother who she owned went barron he sired 4 pups 1st time.

hi brainless........i think brainy is a better name for you!!!!...but i must disagree ,i think we have a vast gene pool in no danger of being depleted.my current litter is a complete and total outcross.......''backyard-bred syndrome'' is far more of a problem than''popular sire''.the percentage of dogs sired by titled dogs is tiny compared to ones sired by untitled dogs ..not mention genetic clearences..which i doubt someone has on a dog thats never been bred........and unless you know the pedigree you won't know your issues...given a choice its always better find a suitable titled male with clearences thats proven he can throw something.............in a perfect world of course.!!!!!..........we are able to reasearch pedigrees and find out orthopedically what a dog and all his pertinent relatives have thrown..invaluable tool...

I think this depends on the breed, and in popular breeds you will find the typical and well bred stock will have a narrower than might at first appear gene pool, and then a wide range of poor quality chance bred stock produced purely commercially.

In my breed one year 2/3rds of the 15 litters bred were by the same sire. In fact it is very hartd to find a useable dog at times, as the ones you like are often closely related to your bitches, ort do not make a good match for some reason. Even of the dogs shown not htat many pwople have their dog at Stud.

Mine is a breed in the UK that has fewer than 150 dogs or 20 litters registered annually.

In the USA there is a lot of my breed puppy farmed, but among the known show lines the sme dogs are in the pedigres if one goes back more than a generation or two, and they register 20 times our number. The same can be said of #Scandinavian Pedigrees.

Thank you everyone for your replies! I do find this dog as the perfect match for my girl, but in any case I'll keep searching, because I still have 3 more months before her season starts. He has many top producers in his pedigree, and he just haven't been bred because he's mainly kept as pet. He is very healthy, has had all proper tests done, he has been shown in conformation and he's obedience and agility titled. He seems very willing to meet in-season bitches, and as he's veeery friendly I don't think he would have a problem if we need to "help" him while mating. I'll get his sperm count, and I will let you know what I decide. :) Thank you!

hi brainy......thats true i forgot which breed we were talking about........which breed do you have???....does anyone import frozen semen or is that not commonly done over there???

Hi kelly,
I think I'm right in saying that in the UK it is only imported semen that can be used! (For AI! ;) )
:)

We have only had two succesful litters this way in born over 20 yuears apart. The semen has to be quarantined for 6 months, and permission sought from our Kennel club. A very expensive way to get half new blood. The chances are that most of the resulting pups will be sold as pets anyway, as there are few new exhibitors coming throug in the breed each year.

I always try to keep the best pup back of each sex (if I am not keeping one myself) hoping someone will come along that wants to show and perhaps I can include it in future breeding plans.

I am limited to how many I can keep. Really I don't want to go over four, but must, as my youngest bitch is 3 1/2 and oldest only 11. I hope to prove the Champion bitch this year, and keep a pup from her second litter in hopes of spacing things out.

My breed is Norwegian Elkhounds, and we register about 15 litters a year (between 100 and 150 pups) in the UK.

It works out that we need new blood every 3rd genearation, as there aren't enough active people to keep the gene pool broad enough.

hi brainy.....i think they changed the laws about bringing in semen????.i mean do they they think the semen has rabies???????............................its pretty big over here most studs are being frozen,and several litters have been sired this year by a dog who was frozen twenty years ago...it opens up possibilities as far as linebreeding etc.....though i've sworn never to use frozen on living stud again...too stressful...................does anybody import champions from other countries???

The rules about 6 months quarantine were certainly in place up to the Pet Passport sacheme coming into force. As there is a requirement for a 6 month wait before a dog can come in on Pets I would imagine restrictions still aplly to semen also, haven't found this one out yet.

If there was no longer a requirement for freezing and waiting I think timing fresh chilled semen would have more chance of success. I beleive that chilled semen will keep up to four days in good condition???

I am sure that few people would be willing to part with too may Champions, but we have had one US Champion dog imported in our breed, who went on to gain his UK title. Unfortunately getting one from Scandinavia is very unlikely, as to become a champion there the dog has to pass it's working tests, and after all this the investment in time and training is far to grteat for someone to want to part with them.

Now it would be great to be able to lease a top class dog for say a show season, but I don't think the majority of Norwegian hunters are interested enough in the show side, and the Americans don't really appreciate that getting a dog made up over here would not normally be accomplished in one show season. Most dogs get made up at 3 to 5 years of age. In the states many are made up as puppies.

Re some US dogs being made up as Champions while they are puppies - I have heard of a US Champion in one breed (so there may well be more) who was made up without ever meeting another of his breed in the ring!!!

hi guys......we import champions enmasse from other countries.,mostly germany.but then they are the global model for selective breeding........and of course we are so far behind globally.,those pilgrims didn't even like dogs,those repressed zealots................................i don't think you could get fresh express across the water in time.i do about half my breedings using fresh express they collect it about three in the afternoon and fed-ex it by 10;30 the next day ,the last one i did as a surgical a.i....nine pups.........you have to have a vet thats well versed in progesterone,and surgical a.i...but its a rate that rivals natural........of course with frozen you only have a twelve hour window when to inseminate.......nerve wracking at best........,,,,p.s.you can't get an american championship without 5point majors....go to AKC...they should tell....the average age of show champions is around two...working champions about 6-7.......