Hello again, I'm wondering peoples thought on this

I was contacted by a lady wanting to use my stud for her bitch. I usually have a set list of questions I ask the owner of the bitch before accepting and one of these is the bitch's size/weight.

My stud is 5.2kg and her bitch is 4.9kg. Not a huge difference, but I advised her it's not recommended to put a larger male to a smaller female for the obvious reasons. I understand 0.3kg is not a great difference but I advised her to consider a smaller stud than mine. She said she has no problem last time she bred her bitch to a slightly heavier male and said it wasn't something I should turn her away for when she would be responsible for the bitch's health, pregnancy and birth etc.

What are other peoples thoughts on this? How much (if any), is acceptable for a stud to be larger than a female by? Do other stud owners accept a smaller bitch within a certain tolerance? Do breeders ever choose a slightly larger male for their bitch within a certain boundary of difference?

Was I too harsh to turn her away over a small size difference? I'm now doubting myself over 0.3kg lol!

This must be breed specific, is yours a breed that often requires caesareans?  In both my current breed silkens and in the borzois I used to have the males are generally much larger than the females with no problems other than logistical, sometimes with the zois I'd find it easier to stand smaller girls on a couple of slabs, or a slope.

Are they both within the breed standard? Or are you deliberately trying to breed them smaller? Less than 10% of a size difference even in a smaller breed sounds ok to me, but not if you're worried about natural whelping or because both parents are oversize? 

Obviously there are far more important things to consider which I assume you've done, how do the lines go together, health testing, temperament etc.

Thanks for your reply.
Both dogs fall within the breed standard. I've not met the bitch but she looks petite in photos, my stud is very lean and on the muscly side. I'm also familiar with the Dam and Sire of the bitch, both of these dogs are within the standard, as are the Dam and Sire of mine.
I'm partially putting my reasons for saying no down to having a close friend that bred hers with a slightly larger male which resulted in 2 pups born naturally and the third had to be delivered by c section as he was too large for the birth canal.
In terms of lineage and health testing on paper she is a bitch I would serve but having seen it happen to others I would not want to be partially responsible for a bitch potentially needing a c section. Should I be putting my own feelings aside?

You are being a responsible stud dog owner, if you are not 100% happy at the outcome of a mating then go with your gut feeling & say no

You are being sensible with this enquiry.  They should both fall within the Breed Standard, and not just with size btw.   If your gut instinct tells you this may not be a good idea, then refuse.   Over the years I had males at public stud, I turned away more than I accepted - mainly because I knew the bloodlines and whether or not they would nick.  Be aware that when things go wrong, and they often do despite all the paperwork saying ok, it's ALWAYS the 'fault of the stud', whether true or not!!     And others within the breed will be listening. 

Re the risk of a C.Section - this could always happen regardless of size if a puppy presents in an awkward position.

But what about construction - do they both carry the same faults?  Temperament?   And so on.   Again if part of you says this isn't a good idea, say no.   Have the two lines been combined before (in other matings)?  With outcross matings, you may get the best of the best, or the opposite.   Remembering that the owner of the stud dog is 50% responsible for how the offspring turn out.

> Should I be putting my own feelings aside?

No, not at all if you have any misgivings then you should listen to them. It might be something else that's putting you off and size is a good excuse? If in doubt say no

In most breeds the male is larger than the bitch, often by quite a margin.

I was under the impression that in small breeds with a size limit the reason for using smaller males was to keep size down.

In tiny breeds iften oversize bitches are used for breeding, and the smaller pups chosen for showing.

> <br />No, not at all if you have any misgivings then you should listen to them

Got to agree with Chaumsong.  I think you have had misgivings subconciously - gut instinct - whatever it is called.? 
I must admit that unless there are concerns regarding a breed known to require C sction intervension, considerable giant or large breeds are involved  or an untested bitch is suggested, there is very little to suggest that larger than bitch studs cause problems. (it's normal for males to be larger).

Trusting your instincts overtakes any advice so this mating obviously wasn't meant to be.

> In most breeds the male is larger than the bitch, often by quite a margin.<br />

This is true!

I agree. In all breeds, the male is larger than the female on average.

If we advise female owners always to breed to males which are smaller, then we are actually breeding smaller and smaller dogs.... is that what you want to do?

Where are you on health testing your dog?

In the Dachshund Breed it appears to be best practise to use a smaller stud to reduce the risk of disproportion in the pups.

Do you mean in minatures, as I didn't think the UK standard had a limit in standards.

On the continent the breeds are divided in size using chest circumference, and have 3 sizes.

If it's a toy breed I expect yes, as they are often fighting nature in trying to keep down to standard size.

Look at most pet bred Yirkies and Poms, usually well over size.

Yes, miniatures, I don't know about standards.