Gun Dog Forum

At what age do risks become more likely to happen, and what are those risks.

really depends a lot on the dog
then the age when they are first bred and how they are bred all along
the longer you wait on that first breeding the more the risks... If you do not have them bred by the time they are 4 4 1/2 your really increasing the chances of problems
every time the female comes into heat and is not bred the uterine lining gets a bit thicker with each cycle thus allowing for more surface area of bacteria to set in
I have seen females that were never bred till older get pyometria and have to have emergency spays to save their lives
I have seen 9 plus year old females that have had a litter a year do just fine

So if.you have a once a year dog you should be able to wait till 6-7?

ultracarry wrote:So if.you have a once a year dog you should be able to wait till 6-7?

personally I would not wait that long..but that is me..there are plenty of females that are bred later in life with no problems but unfortunately I have seen more problems with those that had first litters later in life then sooner

i would sure recommend breeding when they are four and probably wouldn't breed one past six for a first litter.

Ezzy

Guess I waited too long. I've got a female pointer with a spectacular pedigree whose breeding has proven to produce great dogs. Now that my male is aging I wanted to get ready his replacement.

How old is your dog?

6.5 years.

brdhntr wrote:6.5 years.

Breed her, she is still in her sixth year. Just be aware that there could be problems a younger dog wouldn't have. But chances are she will do good.

Ezzy

We had a breeding this spring of a seven year old female for her first litter. She lost two of a dozen pups in labor and required c-section. Other than that, everything was great and the pups are healthy and strong.

It's not abnormal to breed a real nice Field Trial bitch in the 6-9 year range. If a female is being campaigned and is hitting her prime years in the field it's hard for owners to pull that dog to breed her, so sometimes they get held back from breeding until they are 7 or older.

Age to me is subjective to breed, and shape the dog is in etc... Breeding a GSP that has a lifespan of 12-15 plus years. 7-9 years old is not to old to breed. I personally wouldnt breed a bitch over 9 year old unless I was trying to save that specific side of a line, from that bitch, but 7 in my opinion isn't to old. The younger the bitch is the easier it is, for her to deliver and recover from the pregnancy. So breeding a 7 year old or older bitch, could lead to a harder delivery (take longer, or potential for having to due a C section etc...) but if your bitch is in shape (not sitting around eating Ho-Ho's all day) 7 is fine.

Larry Lowell