Hi all I am new to this site, I have a 2 year old dalmatian bitch who i would like for her to have at least one litter but am unsure as to where to get advice on this. my question at the moment is when are they actually fertile as i have heard different stories. she has been bleeding for over a week now and she is confined to the garden rather than her usual excursions to the beach as I don't want her to get caught by any old horny mutt as this would spoil her. any ideas???

Vicky, Why do you want your bitch to have at least one litter?

Do you show her with success?  Have you had her assessed by breed specialists, so you know she is a good representative of the breed?

Have you had her hip scored and any other relevant breed health tests carried out on her?

If you don't even know when your bitch is most fertile (something which every bitch owner should know, even if they never want to breed, to help prevent their dog getting caught by other dogs), then sorry but I don't believe you should be thinking of breeding her yet.

I don't want her to get caught by any old horny mutt as this would spoil her.

This is an old wives tale of course. You'd get crossbred puppies, wouldn't mean anything else.

If you don't know when she is fertile then how would you know how to cope with the pregnancy? the birth process? possibilty of an emergency c section? etc etc.
Dogs should only be bred when they are a good representative of the breed and have passed all neccessary health tests.A bitch does not NEED to have a litter...it IS a risk to her life and you would need to able to take at least 2 weeks off work when the pups were born.It can be expensive and heartbreaking...ask yourself why?
Can you remember all the little 'presents' your girl left you when she was a puppy and not yet house trained? If your bitch has 10 pups you can multiply the number of those little packages by 10!They will chew and could get ill.What if you can't find good homes for the little darlings...are you able to keep 8-10 little pups for maybe months?
Archer

she has been bleeding for over a week now and she is confined to the garden rather than her usual excursions to the beach as I don't want her to get caught by any old horny mutt as this would spoil her. any ideas???

When your bitch is ready to breed her instincts will mean she will seek out a male as much as they will seek her.This will mean that unless your garden is 110% safe(6ft fencing is not enough) the possibilities of her getting caught by the local stray romeo are very high
She should not be allowed outside without you with her
Archer

She has, of course, been BAER tested normal? If not, don't even consider breeding from her. She's only just old enough ethically to breed from - you'd be better off waiting till she's 3. In the meantime, don't even leave her unattended in your garden, no matter how secure you think it is. Very many litters are sired by the local Romeo who can jump (or 'Juliet' can! ;))

Hi :)  These articles will give you food for thought: http://www.dogplay.com/GettingDog/breedercomparison.htm
http://www.dogplay.com/Breeding/index.html
I would suggest joining the breed club and attending shows to see what males are available and the kind of pups they are producing, and of course I would advise showing yoru girl so you can get an idea of her quality and make freinds with experienced breeders who may be able to advise you if and how your bitch shoudl be bred from.

She should in the mantime be hip scored and BAER hearing tested (not sure about eyes).

Thanks everyone for the advice, I am not saying that I am going to breed her straight away. I know I need to research it more and I know that I need to consider all of the points that everyone has made. She has been Baer tested and it was fine I asked the breeder to do this before I got her. I don't want to show her as she is purely a family member. I have already discussed iwth my husband about having to take time off from work and the possible need for a c-section is something i am going to discuss with the local vets. Again thankyou all for your advice. She only goes in the back garden under supervision

Hi vickyblyth

So why do you want to breed then if she is just a family member ?

Vicky, you really should also hip score her - you can ask your vet about that, since he should be able to do it.

If you "don't want to show her", in my opinion you should not be thinking of breeding her.  How do you know if she meets the breed standard?  If you breed her, all the Dalmatian puppies she has can potentially produce more Dalmatians, which will in turn produce more Dalmatians - all of them potentially not meeting the breed standard.

Responsible breeders only breed stock which meets the breed standard, they spend a great deal of time and money matching the right bitch to the right stud, for the betterment of the breed.  It doesn't sound like you're this kind of breeder....

Vicky, I've PMed you. :)

Are dalmations normally hip scored before breeding?  Just out of interest really, my friend has a dalmation and I remember asking her ages ago about hip scores.  She didn't seem to know anything about it!

Very few are. Although HD exists in the breed (as it does in all breeds, and indeed in humans as well), very rarely has it been known to cause an actual problem - and this is in a breed that was designed for distance travel. The breed mean score is 10, but only 100 (I think) have been tested. The most significant health test - for something that can affect an individual's whole quality of life - is the BAER test.

The range scored is 0 to 39 on such a small number, not excessively high, but nothing to geet complacent about if a high scoring dog got used a lot.

Just looked at the BRS for Ridgeback hips, quite a few good ones including zero's in the lst bath, but soem high ones too.

IMO all dogs should be hip scored, as the damage to a gene pool can be imense if a problem is allowed to become established rather than avoided.

Generally the ones tested are the ones thought to have a problem ... according to the scoring system, they don't. Thankfully. It goes to emphasise the variance between theoretical figures and actual handicap.

It is interesting though that Otterhounds for example have awful scores and yet they are not many generatiosn removed from hunting hounds designed to hunt, and one would think HD wouldn't be an issue?  Obviously a smal gene pool has allowed it to become so, and makes it hard to improve on.

It's clearly a very complicated affliction. The size of the gene pool is very important; the larger it is, the more easily a minor discomfort can be minimised in the next generation.

HD is very strange. One dog with a total score of 63 can, to all outward appearance, be normal, but another with a score of 64 can be crippled.

We have a high scorign young bitch in our bred at teh moment beign shown and you would never think it from seeing ehr move.  Very strange indeed.  Also the build of the dog and of course muscle seems to make a difference in it's effect.

I would just mention that breeding is not most vets area of expertise, unless they happen to be a dog breeder in their spare time.

Did you read the articles I posted, and do you belong to the breed club who will be the source of research and knowledge.

Breeding is a huge responsibility, and puppy buyers have a right to expect their breeder to be knowledgeable about their breed, else how are they to provide the needed after sales support.

I can't add to the advice already given, other than to say that if you do decide to go ahead make sure you have good homes for the pups. There are a LOT of dalmatians bred each year and a lot are very easily available IMO.

Hi I have just looked at those links. It is scary. I hadnt given some of those a thought. I have a 9 month old yorkie and as I only wanted her as a pet I wasn't too concerned about her having an excellent pedigree. I bought her from a local breeder. I wouldn't swop now her now for the world but if I had read this before I probably wouldn't have bought from this breeder. Incidentally I was worried when she e-mailed me to say her bitch was having another litter of puppies at her next season. I will be keeping an eye out for a litter with the next season. Me and my husband were discussing it but is there anything we can do if it looks as if she is breeding this bitch at every season?
Jane

Afraid not as there is nothing ilegal in breeding dogs badly or unethically, and people witll produce puppies this way just so long as people will buy them.  the only way to stop this being profitable for such people is for puppy buyers to be more educated and walk away from badly bred litters :rolleyes:

Hi Vicky

If you have difficulty finding help and advice if you ring Shelagh at the British Dalmatian Club her number can be found on the British dalmatian Club website she will be very helpful and when we first started guided us in exactly the right direction. She is very friendly and will make sure you are aware of the commitment you are making.  I would also get the book of the bitch and a specialist dalmatian book always availible on ebay to make you aware.  In reality you are probably too late for this season and if she is just two it might be a idea to wait until her next although every one has her own personal views on this.

You could also try contacting the breeder as a first port of call her details will on the registration documents.  Dalmatians do have very large litters sometimes and finding good homes can be difficult so think very carefully before embarking on this.  Be prepared for the fact you might have them past 8 weeks as well.  Imagine having a dozen deliquent teenagers ransacking your house and that might prepare you for what having a litter is like. 

Karen

Thankyou again everyone as I said before this is just a thought for now and as a mother myself I wouldn't do anything that would harm SKYE (my dogs name) as she is like my 3rd child and spoilt like one too. My husband although he plays with her feeds and walks he etc doesn't seem to have the same kind of bond with her that I do and says things like "why do you call her baby"? and she eats better than us. And thinks I am mad when I disappear to the beach for hours in the freezing cold