Hi,
I have a wonderful Gordon Setter bitch that I would like to breed. But I have some misgivings about breeding her. She has a very good pedigree, with some excellent ancestors ( for example Am Can Ch. MacAlder Mr Chips, Am Ch. MacAlder Upland Hunter, and Am Ch. Heavenly´s Current Choice),she has a wonderful temperment with children, to date she has recieved 5 Best of Breeds, 3 Best of Groups, and 2 Reserve Best in Shows and she has only been to 5 shows, she is a FCI champion, and is very fit. But I am worried about breeding her as she is 6 years and is a maiden bitch, also her hip scores have not been so good. The scores are OFA rating Fair and European rating C. Should I breed her or not?
Thanks
P.S. If I did decide to breed her we would of course choose a male with excellent hips. Also she never limps or shows any sign of pain.

imho - if you're not sure - don't do it. It's just not worth the worry. Also if her hip score is not good then you should think really hard before you do. It won't affect her but you could you forgive yourself if her puppies then suffered hip problems? Also from what I understand, first litter at 6 years old is pushing it a bit for her.

I's enjoy her success:D

hth

Pam n the boys

I am slightly confused about her Hip Status. The comparison chart I have shows OFA fair as equating a B in FCI scores, or roughly 11 to 18 in the British one (which is better than the breed mean which is 25)./ An FCI C grading would normally be Mildly Dysplastic in OFA?

If her hips are in fact OFA Fair, and therefore likely to be under 20 by the UK scheme, that would not prevent bme breeding from her with a low scoring dog.

Her age on the other hand would. My bitches have normally almost reached the end of their breeding life at this age! I would not ridk a first litter from a bitch of this age.

If you decide to go ahead I would run a lot of other general health tests, full bloodwork, thyroid etc etc, and ensure she is really fit and well muscled without a scrap of excess weight.

Yes I think I made a mistake on the FCI hip scores. Sorry

Then her hips are actually quite good for a Gordon Setter. How fita and young is she in herself, as with people some dogs age much more quickly and some are immature and stay physically in much better.younger shape.

If she is your only bitch, and there would be no other way of having her bloodlines (She may havew a sister or brother who already have offspring??) then I would only mate her with full veterinary back up and take the greatest care to ensure she whelps safely. Also don't be surprised if she isn't a particularly brilliant moither.