I have bitches and am breeding them with a dog i also keep as a pet. They all have been brought up together since they were 9 weeks old.
    They are all 2 years of age and i am now planning to breed them. My first bitch came into season a month ago but the dog did not do anything for a short while. A day or 2 later he did try and mount her but nothing else happened. The bitch would yelp and the dog would get off and stop trying straight away. This is the first time in two years that he has tried anything while the bitches have been on heat.
   We have spoken to other breeders and they say he will not do anything as he has been brought up with them, is this correct?

Trinity as I don't want to be rude I would suggest that you read the second and third highlighted posts on the breeding board.

What you are doing is not the correct or responsible way to go about breeding dogs.

Please also read these links :

http://www.dogplay.com/Breeding/index.html
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeder.html
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1448&S=0&SourceID=47
http://www.nopuppymillscanada.ca/back_yard_breeders.htm

Yes, it's not unknown for dogs to be unwilling to mate bitches they live with; it's one of the (many) reasons why most breeders don't use their own dog on their own bitch/es. (It's also incredibly unlikely that one's own dog is the most suitable stud, genotypically and phenotypically, for one's own bitch!)

I agree the OP should read those links to be sure she is ready to breed and that her dogs will suit each other, but just to add to JG that although I agree for the most part, sometimes the dog will suit - I bought my girl specifically to have a pedigree to match my boy, and it also worked out that her head is her weak point and his head is stunning. Mind you, she missed to him anyway and I went elsewhere for various reason! :-)

>sometimes the dog will suit - I bought my girl specifically to have a pedigree to match my boy, and it also worked out that her head is her weak point and his head is stunning.

But you could only use him with her once or twice (not much point in repeating matings), so for the rest of his life he'd be of no use to you as a stud. ;)

Just so, so unless the dog is imported for his bloodlines you have the option of using the bloodlines you desire for the price of a stud fee.

I can see why the owenr of a super male may want to buy in a compatible bitch, as that may be the only way they can ensure the dog is used on a certain bitch or line, as otherwise they have to hope a good bitch comes to their dog.

can i ask why you should only use a stud dog once or twice on a bitch?

Because you will have had the next dog or bitch you need the first or second time.  Repeat matings are not good for a breed as they offer nothing new to the gene pool.

Far better that each litter is by a different male and that males sire litters to bitches of differing bloodlines, as this helps to keep a wide gene pool and the whole point of breeding any litter is the good of the breed as a whole.

I have only ever had one repeat mating and thought very hard about it.  As the first litter was not large I went ahead. 

The two litters togetehr came to 11 pups.  Three have been exported and will or have been succesfully used to  broaden the gene pools in those countries.  Of those based in UK the two shown from the four in the first litter one is a champion and the other a RCC winner. 

From the second litter one bitch is being shown to champ show class wins, one of the others who is an Irish champion, has also been shown here, getting BPIS at the breed club champ show, and most recently a RCC, his offsrping are also doing well as puppies.

Not forgetting that you'd be keeping a bitch puppy to carry on your 'line', and you wouldn't be wanting to use him on her either.

I have a nice male dog but can't use him on any of my bitches, too closely related, and even if I buy in a bitch that would still only mean he could be used for the one litter as yes, I can't see the point in repeating matings unless the pups were really good but the sex I wanted to keep wasn't in the litter. So much easier to go out to stud and pick the best.

This is a big problem in cats. Most studs are private use only and will NOT be allowed to mate anybody else's queens. It's virtually impossible to go out to stud. Hence I have 6 stud cats of my own and currently a total of 9 queens. Sooner or later the day always come when a stud is no longer of any use because he is related to most of the queens and have already mated those he isn't closely related to.Which means he has to be neutered, regardless of how good he is, and kept as a pet. (For instance I have a stunning Champion who had to be neutered simply because he is now behind all my girls and I had to buy in new blood.) This is why I have 35 cats but only 15 that can be bred from! I'd LOVE it if  was as easy as with dogs!

I agree, rather 'cherry-pick' the best lines and not have the hassle of keeping a male dog with unspayed bitches.     I did a repeat mating and I'm pleased as it seems to have produced similar good quality but a slightly different type.  But I don't think I'd repeat a mating again.   And I'm now in that situation of having to look for a compatible bitch for my own male so that I can carry on with the lines I have been 'cherry-picking' on.

That's true JG, but in my particular case, somewhat unusually, I bought a dog for a pet and to occasionally show, and he turned out a superb example who did a LOT of winning. So of course then I was hooked on showing and wanted to try breeding, and also of course wanted more than one dog to show! So I got this girl specifically with using him in mind. We've got 2 puppies now by the other dog I used in the end, which is great! (Won't say breed, but I do have more prospective owners than I know what to do with as it was a small litter!)

Can I ask how many bitches you have and whether or not you have had a litter of puppies before?

Could I ask the reasons for breeding? Is it for the money or have you some other reson for breeding?
I think you would need to spend a lot more time thinking about your reasons for breeding, I believe you said you had Two ( Sorry on re-reading the OP no number was specified) bitches and were wanting to use this dog on both of them, Would they both be compatable with him? Have any of them any traits you would not wish to pass on, have they been health checked?