Breeding Age

[Saint33]

Not to sound nieve but I know of a female who is nine years old who is an excellent specimen of the breed and in extremly good physical condition. Who is going to be bred, this will only be her third breeding and her last. Is this an unheard of age to breed a female.

Sorry if this sounds like a not so smart question.

[alexav]

Just my opinion....
I don't think I would risk it. A nine year old large breed dog is equivelent to a 65-75 year old human. (depending on which system of calculation you use)

The possible complications would well outweigh the value of any puppies I would hope to produce.

[Judi W]

Not unheard of, but certainly bordering on abuse. 9 is the age, regardless of health or number of previous litters, when a bitch should be retired. Carrying, whelping and raising a litter requires great resources and to suck those out of a bitch that age certainly does not show any appreciation or consideration or caring for her.

[samanthac]

I agree. I think 8 is the maximum breeding age for females and 9 for males in Germany. There has to be a reason for that. Personally I don't know if I'd breed a bitch much past 7.

[Bruce Lanthier]

What makes this bitch such an "excellent specimen of the breed" that someone would risk her life for puppies?

[Sharon Marples]

I agree with Bruce, no matter how healthy the bitch may appear by just "looking" at her, you have no idea of the condition of her uterus. We will only breed our bitches up to the age of 7, never after that. 9 is definitely way too late to be breeding her, risking her life and also that of the potential puppies.

Does the person who owns her belong to a COE club? If so, they should know better! They should be ashamed of themselves for even considering a breeding at this age.

[Liz]

When you breed an older bitch, you not only risk the life of the bitch, but you risk the lives of the puppies as well. After the age of seven, the bitch is likely to produce less milk, and her colostrum is not as strong and healthy as it was when she was younger, leading to possible immune deficiencies in the puppies. And, as in humans, late life breedings tend to run a higher risk of birth defects.

Also, if the bitch has been bred in the past, her uterus may be friable and weak, which could lead to ruptures.

I did a breeding years ago with an eight year old bitch and lost over half the litter (seven out of twelve) because of immune system problems. I will never breed a bitch over 6 again, and probably not over five. When I had Janni, the mother of that litter, spayed (6 weeks after the puppies were born), the vet said that her uterus was spongy and very friable and we were lucky that she didn't rupture and die during the pregnancy.

Chrome (a puppy from that last terrifying litter) is five years old now, and while we'd like to keep her intact in order to earn her ABST, I'm leaning more and more towards just spaying her. If I were to breed her again, I would want to wait at least a year, bringing her close to six years of age, and realistically, I probably won't be ready for the stress of whelping and raising another litter for close to two years :)

Liz

[BostonRott]

I have also been hearing a lot of theory recently that a bitch has an easier time with later litters if her first litter is bred around 2.5-3 years of age (vs. waiting for titles, etc and breeding first time at 4yrs). I am considering this with Vikka.........as long as health screenings and preliminary titling is done.......the final stuff can wait til later. I'd rather have the pups while the bitch is young, then spay her and be able to enjoy a long healthy life with her. :)

[rotts and roses]

My Bitch is 5 and 1/2 and was in excellent physical condition.With her one and only litter,she had 11 puppies and lost 5 of them. ( still born) She had a hard time with labor and delivery and I ended up having to deliver all but 2 puppies. Of the 5 that died, 3 were born with out a sack of fluid around them.Now she is having hip trouble( arthritis) and had gained a lot of weight rapidly.She goes to the vet next week to be checked for thyroid disorder, Nursing the 6 remaining puppies but way to much strain on her even though I supplemented with bottles. In my opinion 9 is too old to be breeding a bitch. In Dash's case, 5 was probably too old.She is not the same dog she was before she whelped.

[Claussen k-9]

I agree Gretchen. this is why I bred Bonnie at 2.5.
My research has shown the same thing. If you want your female to be a brood bitch (even if only breeding once) they do MUCH better being bred in their prime of life.
It is the same in horses. If you don't bred a mare by age three, they have a harder time with deliveries and milk production in later years.

Now that Bonnie has had her first litter she has earned her BH, and TT title. Before the litter a weight pulling title. She is still working towards her SchHI at this time. I did not stop training her while she was pregnant. I adjusted it some for her sake........but we still trained all the way up to the eighth week. She was back to work after the pups were five weeks old and weaned enough that she could be gone from them for a few hours.
All in all she only had to have about two months down time from training.
she had ten puppies, one still born because of malpresentation and prolonged delivery of him and one faded at three days. Eight beautiful healthy babies.

Good luck with your girl.

[Luvs]

Originally posted by Claussen k-9
It is the same in horses. If you don't bred a mare by age three, they have a harder time with deliveries and milk production in later years.

A mare should NOT be bred until she is at LEAST 4. Breeding a mare 3 and under is the same as breeding a dog at a year old. They are still babies!

I have spoken to numerous breeders and vets concerning the right age to breed a mare (since I have a mare that has been VERY difficult to breed and we have since found out she can't have a foal) EVERYONE I have spoken to has agreed that waiting until they are 4 at the very least is best for the mare and resulting foal. I have heard that if you breed them between 4-6 that it does help the mare have an easier time if you try to breed her later.

[spidey]

I have heard that if you breed them between 4-6 that it does help the mare have an easier time if you try to breed her later.

This is my understanding as well. I wouldn't breed a mare any younger than 4.

[Saint33]

Just to be clear with everyone this is not my female nor am I planning on breeding a female of this age. I only know of an individual who was thinking of breeding his female that is nine years old.

Thank you for everyones comments, as far as horse breeding I have no Idea what is the correct age.

[TrinityRun]

Originally posted by rotts and roses
Of the 5 that died, 3 were born with out a sack of fluid around them.

I just wanted to add that it isn't at all uncommon for live, healthy pups to be born with the sac already ruptured.