Help!! Is 7 Too Old For Breeding

[Trittie]

We have been search for our new pup and have come in contact with someone who was referred to us by a kennel club with a good code of ethics. Her dam is OFA cert in hips and elbows. She has a v rating in conformation and has CD, TT, BH, and CGC. I am Not sure what all that means.

Everything looked good, but when I saw her birth date of 1998, I thought maybe that is too old to be having her first litter?

[winniecnm]

I would be looking for eye and heart certs too. And the entire pedigree and siblings too. Go on the ofa website and do a vertical pedigree to see the rest of her relatives certs. Do the same for the sire - he is just as important!

I can't comment on 7 years old maiden bitch but I am sure you will get a response to that.

[sophie's-mom]

Remember that OFA vertical pedigrees are only as good as the information ENTERED.

one number off/transposed in the registration number or a slight misspelling in the name and a dog won't show up or may possibly be linked to another dog.

KNOW YOUR BREEDER. I can't stress that point enough.

That stated..............7 being too old will depend on several things.....one being how many litters she has had. You say this is her FIRST litter? Ask the breeder why this is.

[frontierrots]

she should have heart, eye , hips and elbows done and yes you need to inquire about littermates as well as her parents

That said "I" will not breed any bitch over 6, first, or last litter so for ME 7 is too old

[Trittie]

Well, she is not cerf for eyes or heart. Her mother is cerf in eyes. She has a male litter mate cerf in heart. Her father and mother and two litter mates listed are all OFA hips. One litter mate elbow.

As far as the sire of this new litter, she is getting me his information. I will ask her why first litter at seven .

I have not spoken with her yet but she has been very up front and honest with me so far. Thanks for the advice.

[frontierrots]

NO Rottweiler litter bred since the year 2000 at least should be produced that the parents are not at MINIMUM tested appropriately for hip dysplasia and cardiac problems. NO EXCEPTIONS

[Sharon Marples]

You also need to find out what type of contract she will be using and what type of guarantees (health and temperament) will be included. Get everything in writing.

Will she require you to spay or neuter a pet if you get it?
What stipulations are there on the show potential dogs before you are allowed to breed them?
What happens if the dog you buy from her does not pass OFA certification for hips, eyes and heart?
What type of guarantee is there if the dog does not grow up to adhere to the breed standard?

As you can see, there are lots of questions you need to ask. These are only a few of them. Do a search in the archives here for buying a puppy, puppy contracts, etc. You will get a lot of information to help you make the best possible decision in who to purchase your new puppy from.

That all being said, I would never breed a 7 year old bitch, 6 is the latest any of my girls are bred.

[Ann Felske-Jackman]

I will breed a 7 year old bitch, assuming that she is in excellent physical condition (our girls tend to live very long lives and actively compete into older age as well) and that she has successfully carried litters before and was an outstanding mother (ie. it wasn't considerably stressful to her in the past).

The advantage to the bitch being older is that the breeder might be able to offer you some information as to how her littermates produced and maybe even their kids. Hopefully that information would help the breeder to determine the stud dog this time.

The disadvantage is that the chance of that bitch conceiving for the first time at age seven is very low and if she hasn't been bred before, there's no way to know how hard this will be on her body or whether she'll be a good mother.

And yes, at her age, she should still have been tested for cardiac and CERF. She still can be even if she has already been bred and if the breeder refuses, I would run, not walk.

[BostonRott]

CERF is an eye certification (Canine Eye Registry Foundation), not a verb. A dog is certified for heart, not cerf'd. Just wanted to clear that up.

First litter at 7, personally: no thanks. If she's had other litters previously, that's different.

[damp]

The red flag I see is, why is a bitch… worthy for breeding… first time bred at the age of 7 years old??? To me it looks like an oops breeding! Does the breeder own the sire???

[Trittie]

Well, my search continues. Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I really appreciated the information.