First let me say sorry my first question has probably been asked a hundred times but there sooo many posts (you people are so talkative hehehe)

I have a male dog that I am thinking of studding at what age does he have to be before I can do this? (he is 1 1/2 yrs now)

I just found this site today and I'd like to say its wonderful. I can see I will be spending alot of time here LOL
Thank you so much
Suzz

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Eyes need testing I know but not sure what other problems you should be looking out for, why not ask his breeder or contact the breed club. Do you show him? If so let it be know that you would be happy for him to be used at stud. If neither you or the hound has experience of mating I would make sure that his first bitch and her handler is experienced.

You need to take his breed into consideration as this depends on the type of tests that need doing. In some breeds heart testing has to be done. In others it does not need doing. I do believe all breeds have their hips scored.
I can only say it is important to have the health tests done so that if any health issue does pop up that you are covered by the fact you had the tests. Also being tested does not mean he wont produce health problems but the chances are if he is clear of everything he may not produce it.
All people have different ideas on stud dogs and whats expected of them.
A lot of people like the dog to of been shown so that you can say he is an excellent specimen of the breed. Also in some breeds it may be more important to have worked the dog so he shows he has what it takes in the field.
We all think our dogs are wonderful and I will tell you a storey now where one woman did think her bitch was the greatest and wanted it mated.
I was called three times by a lady that wanted her bitch mated. It was too young so I told her to contact me when the bitch was two years of age and we would chat. She contacted me again and arranged to bring her fantastic bitch over. Now I own Weimaraners, they are silver grey in colour, and are allowed a small piece of white on the chest. When the lady came I first of all had to double take that it was indeed a Weimaraner. It was slight, looked like a whippet and had ginger markings on its legs, vulva, muzzle like a doberman. Now these markings can appear in Weims at some point, but you dont mate the dogs that have them because you dont want to keep this colour in the breed. I very kindly pointed this out to the lady and she went away.
I was called again a week later, saying she had been to her vet and he said she was an excellent specimen of the breed. It was not of course.
Anyway, not only is it a good idea to get your dog checked over by maybe the breeder who bred him, or if you have a breed club they could advise you. But you have to hold onto some ethics with him, and be strict that you have to turn some people away that want to use him. I have had people wanting to mate an old bitch, and when they said it was going to be her first litter at 9 years of age I told them that they could not register them with the kc. Also that I would no way let my dog do it. To me thats like mating an old lady. ha ha ha..or should I say YUK!! The couple were quite nasty. So you have to be quite tough.
I think owning a stud dog can be hard work as I also have to check out that they have not bred more than three litters. Under my clubs rules. I have had one woman swear black and blue her bitch only had one litter and it had two. I got in touch with the kennel club, so I knew.
On the other hand it can bring friendships and great joy seeing pups that your dogs sired.
You will get great advice on this site. So the first thing you need to do is find out what health checks need doing.
I will let some others tell you about temperament and what it is like to own a stud dog that can roam up to 5 miles looking for his bitch. ha ha..
Nutkin

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