Questions About Breeding Dogs

[l.michelle]

First off, no, I am not breeding dogs, second no, I am not even remotely considering breeding. I have just a couple questions that are playing on my mind.

How soon after a female dog has pups is fine for her to breed again? What age does a male dog mature sexually? How long is a female dog pregnant for?

The reason I ask these questions, is the lady we got lola from told us she was not a breeder, but that she wanted to show her children the miracle of life (weird, I know) and so they bred their two dogs who had pups. The pups were born last August 19. She phoned on wednesday, and told my mother that she had another litter of pups, that were 3 weeks old, and we could have one if we wanted. I personally, am very not ready for another dog, and probably won't be for a while. My mother thought it was nice she asked us.

But then I got to thinking, if these pups are 3 weeks old, my boyfriend told me he thought female dogs are pregnant for 5 months, meaning about 3 months or so after her first litter, they bred her again. I don't know anything about breeding, but this doesn't seem right or good to me. If this is not right to do, then would this sort of thing potentially make the pups have health problems or defects? I know I may be grasping here, but I really don't know if the August 19 litter was in fact her first litter, what if she had been doing this before? there is really no way we would truly know, and could that maybe have caused Lola to be so sick?

To me, it seems they are not doing things right, but as I don't know about it, i thought i would post here.

Any thoughts would be appreciated especially since my mother is leaning towards having a sibling of Lola, but I want to make sure that it will be okay. Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry i can't help but one fact i do know about breeding that I've found just plain wierd is that you have to time the conception very carefully as they will give birth dead on they're due date almost to the minute of conception!! So depending on your schedule it's probably best to breed them reasonably early in the morning but not quite first thing so that on the day you've time to get up and get things ready but after the birth you've got all day really to sort out any complications and get the pups at least a little bit settled before bed time!

 

[Erised]

Have a look through this website, it might be of help:
Labrador Retrievers

A couple of quotes:

The female dog comes into heat (estrus) about every six months, although very large breeds of dog may cycle every 8-10 months. The heat period lasts about three weeks.

The most fertile time is concidered the 8th through the 12th days of estrus; however, some dogs will be fertile as early as the 3rd day and as late as the 18th day.

Pregnancy, also called the gestation period, ranges from 60 to 67 days, averaging 63 days. Most dogs deliver (whelp) between days 63 and 65.

I'm just a bit lost as to how she can have a 3 week old litter if she'd come into heat every 6 months. That would mean she'd have been in heat in december rather than feb. Unless ofcourse she's what they describe as 'a very large breed of dog' and didn't come into heat untill 8 months later. Or I could just be doing my maths wrong ofcourse

 

[Morquinn]

Yeah they arent preggers for 5 months.. about 2 months (little over)

 

[grahamsokel]

A ***** comes into season roughly every 6 months and if mated on her 10-12 day of her season she will produce pups 9 weeks (63 days)later.
Most breeders miss a season between litters when they have pups from a ***** so in other words they mate the ***** once a year.I personaly wait 18 months between litters but thats just m personal choice.
I know you can get permission from the kennel club that involves getting a letter from your vet to say that your bitches is in a fit healthy condition to mate them 2 seasons off the belt but this must be done before the ***** is mated again this is not something i would ever do.

A male dog is usually put to his first ***** around 10 months and normally to an experianced ***** but i do know of a 5 month old dog that mated a ***** by accident and he did sire pups and i know it was definatly by accident as it was a friends dog and i was at her house when it happened
If the litter you are talking about is from the same parents they have mated her at the next season

 

[pica_nuttalli]

lola was your poor puppy who passed away, right? if so, then i wouldn't get one of her siblings for fear of the same problems emerging again... but that's just my instincts and not anything i can support with fact. i definitely wouldn't pay a penny for another puppy bred by that woman; one litter might be an exercise in miracles but two litters makes her a backyard breeder

 

[KathyM]

i'll echo what others are saying - she sounds very much like a backyard breeder, she's not acting responsibly at all. not only is she overbreeding her ***** if it's the same mum, but she's not learning from lola's death. i would steer clear of her and people like her. i'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[venom2112]

sorry i can't help but one fact i do know about breeding that I've found just plain wierd is that you have to time the conception very carefully as they will give birth dead on they're due date almost to the minute of conception!! So depending on your schedule it's probably best to breed them reasonably early in the morning but not quite first thing so that on the day you've time to get up and get things ready but after the birth you've got all day really to sort out any complications and get the pups at least a little bit settled before bed time!

thats funny, who told you that?? we had a litter 4 days late!! also get the pups settled before bedtime our litters were never alone for a fortnight 24 hours a day, thats a classic dead on there due date? priceless!!

 

[omen666]

She could possibly have another ***** that she has bred? Just a thought

 

[l.michelle]

It's the same two dogs as before. I think they are doing it for the money, that's what it seems like, anyway, they sell those pups for abotu 200$ each, without vet checked or shots. The cancer, we found out, wasn't hereditary, and none of the other pups nor parents are showing any signs of it. Even still, I don't think I want a dog from the same people, nor even maybe a dog of the same breed. or even another dog.

Would it be possible at all, that over breeding or the way they are breeding could cause the problems lola had?

 

[venom2112]

i wouldn't let this put you off a breed (what breed was it?) but this breeder sounds a poor one & wouldn't go back, get yourself along to some local shows & talk to reputable breeders, they can answer your questions on the breed you want, its a good day out for the family aswell, people are often under the misconception that reputable breeders are in it for the cash, a good one is not, i refused to sell 2 people my pups as they lived in a block of flats!! i am not saying that all people who live in flats are bad, i just don't think its the environment for a boisterous boxer!!' anyway good luck

 

[kanzaris]

Hi Again

A responsible breeder would have been heart broken herself about the loss of one of her puppies and probably given you your money back. (Not that the money is important at a time like this) I meet my breeder through my neighbour who had a puppy of her, and two years later my neighbour and I both had a pup of her, and in March I had little Eboney of her. She has now become a very good friend and always pops in to have a chat and a cuppa. When I took Eboney for her first jab the vet detected a slight heart murmur. I think I cried all of that day. The breeder came to my house straight away and offered to take the pup back, but I already had fallen in love with Eboney. So we both done a lot of research about murmurs in puppies and she must have Emailed loads of cardiologists who all responded. We found out that puppies can grow out of murmurs .The Breeder still offered to share the cost of what ever treatment Eboney would have to receive if the worst came to worst. This weekend she is driving me 2 hours to where the cavalier club is having a cardiologist check dogs out for breeding. Just for peace of mind.
Sorry for going on, but one thing I learned is check out your breeder, as there are a few people who only care about the money not the dogs.

Sabby

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry i can't help but one fact i do know about breeding that I've found just plain wierd is that you have to time the conception very carefully as they will give birth dead on they're due date almost to the minute of conception!! So depending on your schedule it's probably best to breed them reasonably early in the morning but not quite first thing so that on the day you've time to get up and get things ready but after the birth you've got all day really to sort out any complications and get the pups at least a little bit settled before bed time!

thats funny, who told you that?? we had a litter 4 days late!! also get the pups settled before bedtime our litters were never alone for a fortnight 24 hours a day, thats a classic dead on there due date? priceless!!

Ian's sis, she's about to start breeding husky's so doing loads of research and stuff, that's what she told us?!

 

[venom2112]

i would tell her to do a bit more!! just in case she books time off work etc thinking the pups are due, wouldn't like to think she took time off on a tues & the pups were born on thurs!!, waste of a day, we had a couple of litters & none were on time!! some mates of mine who breed always take a week off from the due date, they can come anytime, just tell her to be careful, & good luck, its great having pups (only thing is you want to keep them all!!lol)

forgot to add we always lined our ***** on the 9th or 11th day, so if she did take we didn't know which mating it was anyway, in my experience & people i know there never on time

 

[KathyM]

no disprespect to you at all miss w, cos obviously it's not you making the mistakes, but i'd be tempted to advise them to look elsewhere for their research into breeding if that's the information they're finding - as the source of that advice is obviously ill-educated on the facts of breeding and it's best if they find better sources. god knows what else they've been told by whoever fed them that. breeding is a really big deal as i know you know, so they could do with maybe speaking to a vet and making sure any dogs they breed from are health tested for inherited conditions first, and are impeccable examples of their breed, illustrated by maybe show results and obedience training as well as impeccable health and temperament.