repeat breedings?

[snakesNxD]

good morning :) just have some questions...

- would you ever repeat a breeding? if so, what would your criteria be? (ie. 3 dogs finished, or 2 great working dogs, etc..)

- have you ever repeated a breeding and had better dogs in the 2nd litter?

- have you ever repeated a breeding and the first litter was better?

just want to know what all you breeders think of repeating a breeding, and what would go into your decision.

thanks,

[Nancy Estes]

I've done repeat breedings with two different bitches. My criteria wasn't based on numbers of titles but on how successful I thought the breeding was in terms of conformation / structure, temperament and health. If you're willing to wait a couple of years before deciding to do a repeat you will have more health information available. The breedings I list below were done a year apart.

On the first one the original litter produced 10 puppies and one died.

Titles: 5 Champions, 1 Canadian Champion, 1 TDX, 3 CDs, 1 Canadian CD, 1 CDX, and 1 UD, 1 MRC Grand Prize Futurity Winner. (If you count the ones with advanced obed. titles there were 5 CDs.)

The repeat litter was 9 puppies, 1 born dead.

Titles: 2 Champions, 3 CDs, 1 CDX, 1 MRC Grand Prize Futurity Winner. (2 CDs if you count the one with the CDX.)

There were several finishable in the both litters that were pointed but never shown enough to finish. Also several that could have obtained obedience titles. There were 5 OFA Excellents, 9 OFA Good, 1 OFA Fair, and 1 Mild. Two were never OFA'd; one prelimed good / fair and the other never x-rayed. Overall, both litters were equally nice.

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The second bitch's first litter was 12 puppies.

Titles: 3 Champions, 1 BOS to MRC Grand Prize Futurity Winner and no obedience titles. Again, there were more that were finishable and capable of obedience titles.

The repeat litter was 10 puppies.

Titles: 1 Canadian Champion and BIS winner. Again, several that were finishable or could have obtained obedience titles.

These breedings produced numerous health, bite and temperament problems and none of the offspring that I had any control over were ever bred. The second litter had more problems than the first. Only 3 were OFA'd, Good. One was prelimed Good and the others never x-rayed.

So, one repeat was overall successful and the other was not. I would do a repeat again but I would wait longer between litters to get better health information before making the decision.

Nancy

[snakesNxD]

thank you nancy :) i appreciate your time and post.

anyone else care to share?

[frontierrots]

I only allow my bitches a maximum 3 litters total in a lifetime (never bred after 6 years of age) and I never repeat a breeding as I want each of her 3 litters to represent slightly different genetic combinations