# what age to breed from a bitch



## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

I have just had a phone call of a friend of mine to tell me that a bitch I bred has had pups. Not one she owns she has the litter brother. These pups are ready to go next weekend so must be nearly 8 weeks old. The bitch is only 20 months old so must have been mated before she was even 18 months of age.

I personally would not have a bitch mated that was not 2 years old When I bred the bitch her mother was not quite 2 years when we mated her but went 12 months between seasons but she was still 2 years old before the pups were born and I had puppies booked by people who did not want tp wait another 12 months for their pups.

At what age do you breed of your bitches?


----------



## Guest (Oct 18, 2008)

18 months to 2 years is acceptable in our breed but I wouldn't breed until my bitch was close to or over 2 yrs,
We thought about mating Meg last season she was 21 months,but the timing wasn't right for us so we left her and planned to mate her this month which would have mean't she was 2yrs 4 months 
Sadly she is now spayed.


----------



## clueless (May 26, 2008)

I wait till they are over 2years old. Did you not endorse the litter Freya??


----------



## Ridgielover (Apr 16, 2008)

What does you breed club's code of ethics recommend? All the RR clubs in this country say a bitch shouldn't be mated before she is 2.

I'd also be interested to know why you didn't endorse your pups, Freyja. I endorse all of mine - on the odd occasions that I breed!.


----------



## whispers (Sep 2, 2008)

The breeder who bred my two afghans breeds her bitches at about 3 years old, I think most Afghan breeders do this as they are slower to mature. I used to breed and show cocker spaniels and both bitches I had were over 2 before I bred them but that was due to the fact they only had a season every 10 months and I liked them to have 2 seasons first to make sure everything was ok.


----------



## Guest (Oct 18, 2008)

mine was coming up for 3 wen she had her first litter.


----------



## jackson (May 22, 2008)

I wouldn't breed from a bitch much before her second birthday, but probably would usually choose to have a first litter between 2 and 3 years old. 

What I wouldn't do is breed a bitch because people wanted a pup from her. If they weren't prepared to wait, they didn't want one of hers enough. In some numerically small breeds people wait 4 or more years to get a pup, especially if they want a specific sex.


----------



## Kenmillix (Sep 15, 2008)

my bitch is 2 and a half and i would not have took her before then.


----------



## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

Ridgielover said:


> What does you breed club's code of ethics recommend? All the RR clubs in this country say a bitch shouldn't be mated before she is 2.
> 
> I'd also be interested to know why you didn't endorse your pups, Freyja. I endorse all of mine - on the odd occasions that I breed!.


THey weren't endorsed because the woman was supposed to be a friend and I knew she was going to show them and I knew she wanted to breed of them eventually. But how I understood it she wasn't going to breed of them until they were 2 years. The whippet club I think reccomends 2 years.

I also only endorse ones that I don't think will make the ring. The trouble with whippets because there is so many being bred I you endorse their papers the people after pups will ust go to the next person. If they do have an endorsed pup then when they want to breed they will the just sell as unregistered theres plenty of people who want a whippet to work and npot bothered about papers


----------



## Ridgielover (Apr 16, 2008)

Freyja said:


> THey weren't endorsed because the woman was supposed to be a friend and I knew she was going to show them and I knew she wanted to breed of them eventually. But how I understood it she wasn't going to breed of them until they were 2 years. The whippet club I think reccomends 2 years.
> 
> I also only endorse ones that I don't think will make the ring. The trouble with whippets because there is so many being bred I you endorse their papers the people after pups will ust go to the next person. If they do have an endorsed pup then when they want to breed they will the just sell as unregistered theres plenty of people who want a whippet to work and npot bothered about papers


It's horrible when a so-called friend takes advantage of you 

As I said, I endorse all of my pups - if people aren't happy about that then I'd rather they moved on to the next person.


----------



## gemnjoe04 (Oct 17, 2008)

I waited for 5 years long time but I intended to only breed to keep a pup which resulting in badger little angel for a 4 month pup
plus it gave her time to calm down being a springer and there manic personallitys shes the most hyper bitch i've ever had so at 5 she had calmed beautifully as 2 hyper gundogs would be abit much in the field 

shes off to be be spayed after her next season which could be any day now shes hounding poor monty and being very clingy in your face kind hehe will be terrified but would rather that than her get an infection when shes older


----------



## jackson (May 22, 2008)

Ridgielover said:


> It's horrible when a so-called friend takes advantage of you
> 
> As I said, I endorse all of my pups - if people aren't happy about that then I'd rather they moved on to the next person.


I agree. I am only concernedabout the future welfare of my pups. Not what people want when they buy a pup. If someone doesn't want their pup endorsed, they can go elsewhere.


----------



## wooliewoo (May 27, 2008)

Our girl was nearly 3 when she had her litter, she just wasnt "grown up" enough before that to even consider.


----------



## clueless (May 26, 2008)

jackson said:


> I agree. I am only concernedabout the future welfare of my pups. Not what people want when they buy a pup. If someone doesn't want their pup endorsed, they can go elsewhere.


Totally agree, if someone does not want a pup from me that is endorsed Go Elsewhere as obviously they are only thinking of Breeding first and foremost imo


----------



## chiangel (Sep 12, 2008)

I have both pet and working dogs. My chihuahua is due to have pups in 9 days time, she will be 2 years old in november. I think 18 months to 2 years old is fine, but it depends on each bitches maturity. I would not breed from my working dogs until they were at least 3-4 years old, to prove that they are good enough workers to breed from.


----------



## gemnjoe04 (Oct 17, 2008)

chiangel said:


> but it depends on each bitches maturity. I would not breed from my working dogs until they were at least 3-4 years old, to prove that they are good enough workers to breed from.


deff agree with that my springer holly is a fantastic worker took a couple of 3 years to bring her round to a decent standard took me long enough to find a suitable sire so at 5 it was perfect timing and for her first litter she had 9 pups usually first litters tend to be smaller then my gamekeeper had 11 springer pups this year from his dam her first as well something in the water around here


----------



## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

What I forgot until my OH remended me was this bitch was actually my keeper so wasn't endorsed as she was not for sale. The woman that had her had a whippet pup that was seriously ill she was PTS at 6 months old. She fel in love with my bitch and another. I had 2 bitches that I liked and wanted to keep so I let her have the bitch as we felt sorry for them because of the other bitch. I spoke to her a a show yesterday and told her I felt that the bitch was not ready to be bred of she said her vet had checked her and said it was ok to breed of her at that age. If she had contacted me I would have told her to wait until the bitch was older


----------



## clueless (May 26, 2008)

Freyja said:


> What I forgot until my OH remended me was this bitch was actually my keeper so wasn't endorsed as she was not for sale. The woman that had her had a whippet pup that was seriously ill she was PTS at 6 months old. She fel in love with my bitch and another. I had 2 bitches that I liked and wanted to keep so I let her have the bitch as we felt sorry for them because of the other bitch. I spoke to her a a show yesterday and told her I felt that the bitch was not ready to be bred of she said her vet had checked her and said it was ok to breed of her at that age. If she had contacted me I would have told her to wait until the bitch was older


Its sad when people you thought were friends and that you trusted can do this and not consult you about it.
The litter I have at the moment are all endorsed, even the one I am running on. One went to friends who have a dog from one of my previous litters, I trust them but still not enough to not endorse. 
They all have a contract stating not for breeding until contact with myself and then endorsements MAY be lifted, so it covers quite a bit putting it this way. A contract in the future Freya may be good idea for you, saves a lot of heartache


----------



## iwantadog (Sep 24, 2008)

Sorry for being nosey (!), but what does it mean when you endorse a litter?

Thank you in advance!


----------



## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

I didn't see the point in endoresing a pups papers that was staying with me as I intended to show her and if she was good enough then to have a litter of pups of her. I have never made anyone sign a contract an never will as I have been told unless they are drawn up by a solicitor and signed by both parties in the presence of a solicitor then they are not worth the paper they are written on and are not legally binding.

A friend sold one of her pups 12 months later she found out the pup had been handed over to the RSPCA kennels as they no longer wanted it and didn't want to return it to the breeder even though the contract they signed said the pup was to be returned to the breeder if they couldn not keep it. The breeder tried to get the dog back but was told even though the contarct was signed and witnessed it was not legally binding


----------



## clueless (May 26, 2008)

You are probably correct Freya re contracts. I have never had a problem so do not really know if they would stand up or not.
I do tend to still get people to sign them as I suppose maybe 9out of 10 may believe they are legal.
I have always endorsed the full litter as it is easy enough to get it lifted by myself.
At the end of the day the Bitch is not under 12months so nothing illegally done in KC eyes so she should be okay. Let us know if everything goes okay


----------

