[MDbaydog]

How many times does a "good breeder" breed a healthy female in her lifetime without fear of being to hard on the dog? I am not a breeder nor do I own a female dog. I have always had male dogs and have no plans of breeding any females ,just curious.

Thanks

 

[TxFig]

My opinion (which may be worth no more than you paid for it):

no more than 3 or 4 times. I tend to lean more to the 3 than the 4.

 

[caesarlabrador]

I am the same. 3 to 4 times usually starting when they are 3 years old and then every year or 1.5 years and not after 7 or 7.5 years old.

Danielle

 

[Ken Newcomb]

What is really sad is to see dogs listed twice a year in the classifieds having pups.

 

[SueLab]

What might be important to some bitch owners is whether or not they are more interested in competition than producing puppies. There are alot of people who own both males and females and really have no desire to contribute to the gene pool...many don't need the money or the headache...hence they don't breed at all. Some of these dogs are national caliper...

Others only breed when there is a significant interest in offspring by people who are important to the posssible breeder. Many times, all of the pups have homes before the breeding...

And then there are others who really want to contribute to the genetic pool on more than one occasion whether or not it is warranted and whether or not there is significant interest in the proposed breeding prior to the breeding.

And finally, there is the group who thinks that they can make money producing pups...some of these breeders have cornered a little nitch in the marketplace, not unlike that of silver lab, british lab and labradoodle. Some that I have seen have used the same bitch more than once per year (poor dogs)...

 

[NateB]

What is really sad is to see dogs listed twice a year in the classifieds having pups.

Personally I agree with this, but there is "some" evidence that it is healthier for the bitch to be bred on successive heats than to have a heat cycle without breeding. Going through heat without breeding is hard on the repro system, according to some repro specialists. Of course this would also depend on the bitch being COMPLETELY back into shape before breeding again.
However, I only breed to get myself a pup and cannot handle pups that close together, plus I like to see how the first pup turns out before breeding again. So I would never breed back to back for those reasons.

 

[stonybrook]

Dr. Baxter -

Is it true that when a bitch is bred in consecutive heat cycles that typically the second litter will result in a smaller number of pups? I've heard that is mother nature's way of working things out and that the bitches sytem will only produce as many pups as the mother's system can permit i.e wolves and fox.

All that being said, I don't believe I can think of a scenario in which I'd knowlingly have my bitch bred in consecutive cycles (if nothing else for my own sake).

Travis

 

[Guest]

If you read Dr. Hutchinson's studies/research/whatever he does... And he's, from what I understand, the premier authority on reproduction in dogs....

You SHOULD breed every cycle for the health of the bitch.

Every cycle they skip, their uterus is being pounded with progesterone. This causes thickening of the uterus and cyst formation and apparently other unhealthy things.

Of course, as humans that love our dogs (and I fall into this category) it does seem inhumane to breed them every cycle. But naturally, that appears to be what's healthiest for their system as in the wild, they'd come into heat 6 mos after giving birth and certainly be bred again.

If you skip cycles, as mentioned above, "you" are potentially causing damage to the uterus and making future litters less viable.

But, like the rest of you, I feel it just doesn't seem right...

-Kristie

 

[SueLab]

Not only does it not seem right but if everyone did that, where would all of the pups go? Perhaps culled to produce the great 1-2 pups per litter?

 

[Guest]

Not only does it not seem right but if everyone did that, where would all of the pups go? Perhaps culled to produce the great 1-2 pups per litter?

To shelters... or to the dump... or thrown off a bridge...

Actually, the "official" good way to do it, from what I recall is to get your breeding done early on and spay.

But, again, that doesn't work with what we do and how we feel.

The point is that it's healthiest for THE BITCH to be bred every cycle.

-K

 

[tjw_128]

I don't believe I can think of a scenario in which I'd knowlingly have my bitch bred in consecutive cycles

I really think alot of this has to do with how often the bitch cycles...I have a bitch that only cycles every 12-14 months. This is way different than a bitch that will cycle every 6 months.

 

[msdaisey]

I also think it has to do with the bitch, herself, and how she handles a litter.

I was fortunate to have a bitch who, with pups eight weeks old, did not look or act like she had whelped. She was very athletic, in very good shape, was a wonderful mom, and worked during and after pregnancy with no problems (she was not a FT dog! but had no problem swimming (and swimming, and swimming)).

She had two litters of one pup (stud was pretty much sterile), which I did not really count at all - they did not tire her out for a day!

I hope this isn't taken to mean that I think you should just repeatedly breed a bitch; I just think it also depends on her health, attitude, etc.

 

[Ken Newcomb]

Sounds like those that just breed and breed and breed again now have another excuse to put beside "It's good for my kids to witness the birthing process."

I may believe that in the wild where preservation of species is king it may be healthier, during the pup bearing years to constantly be pregnant. Now, tell me how long a wild dog, or wolf, or coyote lives in comparison to a domestic dog nd how does it affect the health of the dog in its later years.

I can name two people that breed repeatedly and when the dog is no longer viable to produce puppies it is removed, either give away or killed.

 

[Hidden Valley]

The "new" thought is to breed up front while the bitch is young, but NOT every heat. Breed two heats then skip a heat. Only breed the second heat if the bitch is FULLY recovered. I've had a bitch that was physically fit 4 months after whelping(recovered fast), and 1 that was not recovered until 6-8 months after whelping. All depends on the bitch.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Kristie is right. Dr. Hutch advocates breeding every cycle but stopping early. So, if you want 4 litters you'd get them in 2-2.5 years rather than in 4-4.5 years. The dog would then be spayed. This wouldn't increase the number of puppies available.

Eric

 

[Candy&Chilli]

Just wanted to say, that in nature a wolf comes into heat every 12 months. So theres no discussion whether or not having two litters per year.

teh othe rthing is, that in nature only the alpha bitch is having puppies, all the others are not being bred, as long as they are not the alphas in the pack.

So that for me shows, that I would never ever breed a bitch back to back, and of course would not breed her more than 4 times in her life.

We should also have a look at the average puppy number in the wld, which is a lot less compared to our dogs.

Although our dogs often have better nutrition and health care, still when we look at nature, in my eyes its not healthy to breed twice a year.

Alessa