Hiya, can anyone give my any advise on breeding my pet Bitch??
Alot of my friends have been telling me that i should breed Mya my bitch with Logan my other dog (same breed).
Mya though is only 4 months old at the moment and i have no intention of breeding her early.
When is the best time to breed from her - age wise and is there anything that i can buy from the pet shops to protect her whilst she is in season until the time comes for her to breed??

Thanks

First of all, read this post (click on the blue link) very carefully.

Are your friends experts in canine genetics or your breed? If not, why do they think it's a good idea to mate these two dogs?

Breeding a litter of puppies is an enormous responsibility, and you will be responsible for those puppies for the rest of their lives, no matter who owns them.

Mya will need to be at least two years old, and have been hipscored and eye-tested by a specialist ophthamologist (and so will Logan, of course) before you even consider mating her. In the meantime, you will need to keep Logan separate from Mya (ideally not even in the same house) for the three weeks of each season (which start at about 6 months of age) to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

To be honest if Mya is just a pet to you and you don't show or work her and have no specific reasons why you want to breed i.e. to better the breed and show a pup or work a pup then it would probably be better to have her spayed or each time she comes in season keep her totally seperated from your male.

Many years of research and knowledge should go into breeding a litter - are you prepared to potentially fork out more money than you get back after rearing these puppies?  Can you potentially keep males and females from the litter if you cannot sell them or new owners decide to give them up years down the line.

Unless you specifically bought your bitch because her lines go well with your male's lines then it is highly unlikely they are compatible to produce better offspring than themselves.

Think very carefully whether you really want to risk your girl - there has been a few threads on here where people have lost their bitches during birth.

And as has been said already look into all the health tests that have to be done, these are costly.

To protect her from your male while she is in season you must completely seperate the dogs from each other...I have known dogs to mate through their kennel bars!

> i should breed Mya my bitch with Logan my other dog

You are talking about Mya the poor timid little puppy you are having problems with? The one with the faulty temperament?

From your previous posts it would seem that you also have a small baby.

Adding all these factors together and add the current recession where many long established breeders with top winning dogs are struggling to sell puppies and will continue to do so, springers being produced in hundreds by puppy farmers .......then I would say no.

Unless Mya's temperament is 100% sound then don't even contemplate breeding from her.

Quite simply - I wouldn't - echoing the various reasons above and believe me, there are already enough springers,sprockers,sproodles and god knows what else coming out of this particular area and not in great states.  It seems to be a hot spot at the moment.

> Hiya, can anyone give my any advise on breeding my pet Bitch??
>

please please don't?

listen to what the others have said, breeding a bitch is a huge undertaking and can risk your girls life. from what you've said about her before i don't think this would in any way benefit your breed either. hundreds of springers are in rescue, could you cope if the puppies were returned to you by their new owners? because thats your responsibility as a breeder. 

breeding a litter is not all fun, its not all nice, its exhausting and at times heartbreaking. its also a huge financial commitment and increadibly stressfull.

Hiya, i know what having a litter of puppies is like.
Before we got our 2 Springers, we were watching my partner's sister's 2 dogs, whilst she was on holiday, this was about 3 years ago.
Tia was a Staffie and Max was a Black Lab. What she didn't tell us was that her staffie was due into season and her lab hadn't been neutered. When she came back, her staffie was pupped and along came 9 puppies, all needing to be hand fed every 2 hours as well as having their mother's milk. They stayed here with us until they were all away to new homes. If my partner's sister had told us then her dog wouldn't have been caught and her staffie didn't show any signs of being in season and she didn't even bleed. So i know how exhausting it is bringing up a litter of puppies.
As for whoever was going on about me having a baby and the way Mya is at the moment, i never said that i was going to breed from her i was only asking for advise if i ever considered it. As for my friends, 2 of them who asked about breeding Logan and Mya and Springers of their own too. And just because i have a baby doesn't mean i can't have dogs or a litter of puppies.

Am I right in thinking there are other dogs in your household?  If they are entire males you will need to take exactly the same precautions to prevent them mating with her too, don't forget, as dogs do not care about pedigrees.

As for Mya - she doesn't have a faulty temp, yes she is nervous of certain things but she is gettign better everyday - Better than she was at the start

> And just because i have a baby doesn't mean i can't have dogs or a litter of puppies.

No, but it may be that being responsible about the sense in the mating could well do or rather it should do.
Being nervous in a spaniel is a faulty temperament unless, of course, you can attribute it to some trauma.

Yes, i have another 2 male dogs in my house (family pets) excluding Mya & Logan but both off them have been neutered.
I have 4 altogether.

As i said though, Mya is coming on better now than she was. She is great with children as you know i have  baby and i stay next to a primary school. As for her hiding when people come into the house, she doesn't hide anymore, she goes up and wags her tail.
My Partner brings up to meet myself and my son from the toddlers group every Wednesday morning to gether used to cars, other adults etc and she's doing good with that.

> What she didn't tell us was that her staffie was due into season and her lab hadn't been neutered. When she came back, her staffie was pupped and along came 9 puppies, all needing to be hand fed every 2 hours as well as having their mother's milk. They stayed here with us until they were all away to new homes. If my partner's sister had told us then her dog wouldn't have been caught and her staffie didn't show any signs of being in season and she didn't even bleed. So i know how exhausting it is bringing up a litter of puppies.

Hm well for that to happen it would mean that you had the two dogs for around 12/13 weeks before the puppies were born & you never noticed amything at all until she had the puppies ?

I presume you left the two dogs alone together & never saw the dog showing any interest in the bitch ? Also you didn't realize that the dog still had his testicles ?

I'm speechless(& I'm not often that)

Can you potentially keep males and females from the litter if you cannot sell them or new owners decide to give them up years down the line.

I had a litter recently. Champion father, mother done well at shows, mother passed character assessment, both parents up to date with eye tests and good hip scores etc etc. I had a bigger litter than expected, and although I managed to find good buyers for all but the one pup I was always going to keep, the final home fell through when the buyer's personal circumstances changed unexpectedly. I did not manage to find another home and so ended up having to keep two pups. Can I just say that at the moment, life is a total NIGHTMARE as far as pups go?! I cannot even BEGIN to describe the work involved in trying to get TWO puppies socialised and trained and house trained -I have seldom been so stressed out in my life (and I've had littermates before, swore I'd never do it again!). Just to get each pup out and about ON ITS OWN; away from the littermate -is not easy. Yet I had no choice -and this is the risk you take and MUST be prepared for, when breeding. I also did not want another male dog (in case they fight when adult) as we already have one entire male dog - he was returned to me just over a year ago when his owner could no longer keep him, so obviously I had him back. Yet another risk you take when breeding.

Some of the costs involved in my latest litter which all had to be paid out well BEFORE any puppy buyers paid for their pups: £250 for hip scoring and eye testing. £600 stud fee. £145 microchipping of all pups. £120 KC registration.Then there was at the height of it all 2.5 kg of puppy food A DAY -that sized bag costs £8! (As obviously they have to be reared on the best.) I could go on as of course there is a lot more. BUT at the end of the day I  got a bitch pup that I am going to show in the future and hopefully do well with -my ENTIRE reason for breeding.

We new that the lab wasn't neutered but she never told us that her staffie was due to come into season, if she had told us then they would have been in different rooms (kitchen/livingroom) As for the female staffie, she didn't show signs of being in season nor did she even get fat - and yes if am honest her lab never tried to mount her when we where with them both even out on a walk.

I have 3 male dogs - 2 neutered and 1 entire.
They have never fought, they are all different ages and my oldest of the 3 (neutered male) he is the boss of them all and he still tells Logan off now and then and Logan is an Entire male and he has never tried to be the boss.
When i mean telling off - he gives Logan a couple of growls

you asked for advice and the advice that was deemed appropriate was given, which was not to consider it.

and how was i to know you've raised a litter before?

> I have 3 male dogs - 2 neutered and 1 entire.
> They have never fought, they are all different ages and my oldest of the 3 (neutered male) he is the boss of them all and he still tells Logan off now and then and Logan is an Entire male and he has never tried to be the boss.
> When i mean telling off - he gives Logan a couple of growls

yes but if you get back a boy who has not grown up with your lot you don't know how things will change.

> We new that the lab wasn't neutered but she never told us that her staffie was due to come into season, if she had told us then they would have been in different rooms (kitchen/livingroom) As for the female staffie, she didn't show signs of being in season nor did she even get fat - and yes if am honest her lab never tried to mount her when we where with them both even out on a walk.

But you knew the bitch was entire? I would never leave an entire dog & bitch alone together even if I knew the bitch wasn't in season. How many puppies can't have been many for you not to realize she was in whelp until she had the puppies. Especially considering the size diference. BTW showing interest isn't just the dog mounting the bitch.

Apart from all the advice and pitfalls given and the supplied link on breeding.

Why, do you actually want to breed your dogs?

Apart from your friends saying oh, breed them. :-D

Why else would you wish to breed your dogs?  What reasons? ;-)

We didn't know that she was in season as she was only 6 months. - If you speak to a vet they will tell you that bitches can come into season between the ages of 6 - 18 months - nothing to say that they will definetly be in season at 6 months.
And if you read a couple of posts above you will see that i have said that - she never got fat!!!
She had 9 puppies altogether and they turned out great and all went to good loving homes.

But i never posted on here to get hassle off of other people and only asked for advise - incase i ever think about breeding my dog later in here life.

As i have said already i was only asking for advise - for if i ever do consider breeding my dogs in the future.

iam not going to let a strange male dog just walk into my house.
I would let all the dogs meet outside away from my house and let them get to know each other and then walk them for a couple of hours together before heading back to the house. Like i have done in the past if i have ever had to watch my friends dogs or family members dogs that my own dogs don't see all the time.

yes kelly, but i'm not just mentioning it in reference to a first meeting. my sister and family had to move back in with us for a while several years ago bringing their  dog with them. initially he got on great with our dog and bitch but then began starting fights with them.

any new dog entering the home on a perminant basis totally readjusts the order of things amoung the dogs.

I never said it was - the dog just mounting the bitch.
As i have already said - even sniffing round her and things like that - he never done any of it.

She was 6 months and she never got fat with the sire a lab!!!! i find that very hard to believe, either that or you dont know waht your looking for. her teats would have been huge and her belly with 9 pups she would have been huge too. Having a dog and bitch both entire i know when she is due in season a week before she has actually started bleeding, he will be testing her more than usually sniffing her etc. He wont even mount until she is ovulating around 2 weeks after she started to bleed. But i know what to look out for, he WOULD have been showing interest in her definately. Yes my advice is not to breed you dont know what your doing, sorry. You even said posted ''your pet bitch'' and below the sticky where is says ''thinking of breeding your pet bitch''

Louise

> But i never posted on here to get hassle off of other people and only asked for advise - incase i ever think about breeding my dog later in here life

no one is hassling you, we are giving advice, as per request.

yes vets say a bitch comes into season generally between 6 and 18 months- thats why its advisable to be eagle-eyed from around 5 months and super paranoid about your dogs behaviour around that time.

My dogs are more that used to other dogs coming to stay with them  - short or long term.
Anyway i never said for definate that i was going to breed from her - i was only asking for advise if later on i did consider it.

I can see three goats clippity,clap with our new friend here from under the bridge. :-D

yes but thats your dogs kelly, not a strange dog who you may have bred but don't really know.

maybe but other posts seemed genuine enough

This for Louise DDB - Who are you to say that i don't know what i am doing!! Yes i'll admit that i never owned a female dog before i was asked to look after my partner's sister's female dog. I would know if the dog was getting fat - if her teats where getting big. I had my first female dog 2 years ago (Logan's Sister) and she did of cancer before the age of 6 months.
And for your information i never said for definate that i was going to breed her - advise only thanks

Well the spelling of advise- advice is sometimes a clue. I believe you are genuine, were offering advice and we believe you shouldnt breed enjoy your pets and enjoy not having the responsiblilty of raising a litter and taking pups back when things go wrong.

Louise

Yes i am saying you dont know what your doing, sorry if you havent the experience but a child could tell that she was pregnant, you cant say she didnt show, its her biology to with 9 pups. sorry but its science

All i asked at the very start - if yous would read my question correctly.

The age of when i can breed my bitch - if i decide too and if i can buy anything from the pet shops to protectr her whilst she is in season?????????

Not for hassle or people telling me not to breed - at the end of the day its my choice.

Not below 2 years, you cant buy anything to protect her, you will just have to be vigilant and keep them apart. He will show interest in her, obvious interest.

For Louise DDB - For your information a dog in the next street from me is due a litter of pups anyday now and she hasn't shown either - fat wise.

As for a child - i don't believe that as there could be something else wrong with the dog.

The reason i say this is that as i have said, we lost our fist female dog before she was 6 months old through cancer - and her stomach was like the size of a football!!!

yes the dog across the road because you dont know what your looking for. pregnant stafford around 6 weeks Sometimes it maybe difficult to tell if a bitch is pregnant if she is a large breed having a small litter, but its telling whether she is pregnant or having a phantom, but you would see her boobs and take her to the vet for a confirmation. You say the dog across the road is pregnant they must know some how?

Louise

Well the spelling of advise- advice is sometimes a clue

Try to keep it civil.

Buying something to protect her - i have just gave my local pet store a quick call asking about anything that i can buy until the bitches season is over - the lady on the phone said that they stock small, medium, large and xtra large - nappies for bitches in season.

Yes - NAPPEIS

For Louise DDB - Are you nasty to everyone - talking wise

(don't know what i'm looking for)

the nappies are to protect you carpet from blood etc not a contraception. They wont stop the dog from being mated.

For Louise DDB - Well i know now what to look for as you have just told me a couple of posts above.

Well im glad to help, but still shocked as you didnt notice a 6 month old pup pregnant with a labs 9 pups.

Louise

I never said that the nappies are a contraception - at least it would give me piece of mind while i was in the house with them - incase i had to nip to the loo

It would not give you peace of mind because it will not stop her being mated! Cant anyone else back me up on this dog heat nappies do not stop her from being mated. if she is in season and you need the loo take her with you or put him outside.

Louise

the lady on the phone said that they stock small, medium, large and xtra large - nappies for bitches in season.


Back up coming LouiseDDB

Incase others are also reading this post and think these huggy type things are any good in stopping a dog getting to an in season bitch, they aren't, bitches can get them off a dog interested certainly can get them off. They are purely used to stop bitches soiling the furniture etc, but honestly everyone is better off with a throw,, dogs don't like them at all, and it stops air from circulating, which could harbour bacteria etc.

The only way to stop a dog getting to a bitch is to not allow them access to each other and as a dog will usually go hysterical at the peak time, won't eat, won't sleep and turns into a quivering wreak, it is best to remove the dog from the house to a family or friends.

Like i have said already though - i had never owned a female dog up until 2 years ago when we lost her through cancer before she was 6 months.

At the end of the day though - its my choice if i breed them or not.

Thankyou very much carrington. As we all know google this and it will come up for others to get incorrect advice.

Louise

It is your choice your right and we cant stop you, but thats an ignorant way to go about its as any mating should be done to produce healthy dogs and improve the breed. Will you be happy if someone sues you because of a genetic defect in the pup that you could have avoided if you had tested them? Not saying your not going to but thunder follows lightening....

Louise