Question on Older Breeding Dogs
I've always heard that the ideal age to breed a large breed female is from 2 to 5. I would guess that breeding a dog that was older than 5 would be pretty hard on the female. I guess I would just like more information on this. Aside from risks to the mother, are there risks to the babies as well? Is it more likely to have health problems due to the mothers age? |
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| For clearance purposes, two is the minimum age to be able to get certified hips. I've always heard that if she hasn't had a litter before age five, don't start. The mother of our future Golden is due to be in heat any minute. This will be her second litter, and she will be six around the time of delivery. This is her final litter. But I am not a breeder and know only what I've been told and read.  |
| I don't know how long a bitch who has been bred regularly or even semi-regularly can be bred successfully, but I do know that it seems like more show breeders are waiting longer to breed for the first time, waking up and going - oh, my - she's six, this might never happen. For a healthy, fit bitch, having a litter at six or seven is no big deal. Maiden bitch getting pregnant - quite possibly a very big deal! Sort of like what happened with women. More had careers, forgot about that whole having kids thing, and then suddenly they're in their forties and...whoops! So, yes, there are repro vets and you can do IA's and what's it called, ah, yes, surgical insemination and what have you to counteract that their most fertile years are probably behind them. Very expensive to have a litter that way and they are usually small litters, but that's a chance you take. In and of itself it's not terribly stressful for most bitches (who are fed and housed well and so on) to have a litter. Most enjoy being moms. You sort of select for that. Belle only had one litter at age 3 1/2. I spayed her a year later. At 12 1/2 I'm going to guess a litter of puppies wouldn't thrill her as much as it used to, but she spent many years hopping into whatever whelping box she could get her paws into if a relative had a litter. She never saw a puppy she didn't feel compelled to clean! Her she is with one of her niece's puppies four years ago, in fact Dawn's daughter, LeAnne's, Martha:  Belle's daughter wasn't bred till she was six and she must have inherited her mom's maternal instinct because (also long since spayed), here she is with the daughter of a cousin...   Leaving all else aside in terms of breeding for a moment, a lot of dogs actually do enjoy having puppies. No word on if they prefer grannie status, you know, when they can enjoy the puppies, but then dump them back on their daughters when they get to be too annoying, but I suppose that too is possible  Kristine |
| We generally try to breed between the ages of 2 & 6. If we haven't been able to get a girl pregnant by the time she's close to 5, we don't. Don't feel it is good for them to have their 1st litter after the age of 5. Not to mention that by that age we've tried breeding them in multiple ways with no success so that doesn't give you a very comfortable feeling either. I would be looking at the health & comfort of the mother. She's our primary concern. And most times our girls live in show homes & we breed them for just 1 litter. I certainly wouldn't want to jeopardize her health for 1 litter especially when she is the family companion of another family. I don't know that I would say there is any increased risk to the puppies as the mother ages. But I would say that sometimes the older they get, the less fertile they are so litter size can be smaller. Every breeder has their own thoughts. These are ours. |
| What happens if there is a back-to-back breeding? I have heard of a breeder being laid up from a surgery and her female was impregnated on her husband's watch. Needless to say, I'm sure she was devastated that it happened. It turns out that only one of six puppies survived the birth... Do you think it had something to do with the back-to-back breeding? Maybe the body just rejected the pups? |
| No. Not if the bitch had an easy pregnancy the first time. There was probably something else going on. The newer wisdom (from the repro vets) is that in some cases it's actually better to do a back to back breeding (this is probably esp true in a situation when you've waited to breed a bitch till she's 5 or 6) They may only have a single puppy the first time. But now you've kicked the hormonal pump into action. You breed again on the next season and you may very well have a normal size (or at least an actual) litter. This is if the bitch is healthy and wasn't much stressed by the first litter. And you don't keep doing it. You've pretty much got one shot and, if it doesn't work, too bad, too sad, you spay her. So you really don't want to be waiting till they're older to breed them. But life happens. But is breeding them back to back inherently bad for the puppies? No. Again, not if mom is healthy and in good shape and didn't miss a stride during the previous pregnancy. I know performance bitches who are back in training as soon as the puppies are weaned. Probably not what I'd do, but, like humans, the fitter the bitch going into a pregnancy, the easier a time she's apt to have. And husbands are notoriously bad for unplanned litters, or at least risk of same. Usually when you're off at a national specialty   I've had this happen to two friends in the last five years alone, though it only resulted in one litter. Husband thought the would-be dad was too old at age 12. Nope  Five puppies. Dad still going strong at 13 1/2. Breeder no longer leaves dogs with husband though, but brings son (the one who called her to rat out his dad) home to care for them Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: And husbands are notoriously bad for unplanned litters, or at least risk of same. Usually when you're off at a national specialty I've had this happen to two friends in the last five years alone, though it only resulted in one litter. Husband thought the would-be dad was too old at age 12. Nope KristineSnicker, chuckle, gawaff, why does this not surprise me?? Because I cant even leave two dogs and one cat at home alone with Wayne for one weekend without coming back to some minor disaster like the cat ate the plastic bag and then vomitted (hey siamese are stupid) or Tiggy raided the bench and ate all the treats and got a poopy butt etc etc. For some reason, lately whatever happens while I'm away seems to result in a vomit on the large, straw colored living room rug. And it always happens just after I'm home to clean it up. |
Mim wrote: For some reason, lately whatever happens while I'm away seems to result in a vomit on the large, straw colored living room rug. And it always happens just after I'm home to clean it up. I think they save it up for you! Perhaps they feel too vulnerable around dad, and feel safe enough to be sick around you. I know that Mulligan tends to save up his pottying for mommy, too. |
Ron wrote: Mim wrote: For some reason, lately whatever happens while I'm away seems to result in a vomit on the large, straw colored living room rug. And it always happens just after I'm home to clean it up. I think they save it up for you! Perhaps they feel too vulnerable around dad, and feel safe enough to be sick around you. I know that Mulligan tends to save up his pottying for mommy, too. Fess up - you TRAIN them, right?   And, Mim - I thought Siamese were supposed to be extraordinarily smart felines? Kristine |
| another plastic eating cat! Todd's aunt has 2 cats who lick and eat plastic!! I need to find out what kind they are...... |
| I love my siamese to bits and I loved the siamese boy I had before him too, BUT they are not smart. Just plain demanding of your affection and you MUST NOT neglect meal times or you pay, BIG TIME. If you've met a siamese and its yowl you'll know what I mean. They are however notorious for eating inappropriate things. Kasumi, previous siamese, ate knitted wool. He was a cat who only went for the best, so he only ate brand new knitted wool.  I lost more than his considerable value in brand new jumpers and woolen gloves, he even managed to claw a pair of brand new angora gloves out through a one inch gap in the top of the drawers. I came home to find my beautiful new gloves destroyed. Interestingly he ate the palm and the back of the hand so instead of fingerless gloves I had fingered gloves. The bit that goes around the wrist was still intact and the finger tips were joined to it by a few strands of knitting but the palm was gone and most of the back of the glove. I could actually put them on but they were pretty useless.Rowdy cat (current siamese) is not as particular in his taste. He is into plastic bags, shopping, packaging,freezer it doesnt matter to him he will happily knaw a hole in it and then chuck up later. Dawn I suspect Todd's aunt's cats have some oriental in their breeding somewhere. Are they purebred? |
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