# age of dogs used for breeding



## jamie lind (Feb 19, 2009)

i am looking at a few litters. how do you feel about old parents? positives- that i know of could be the health of the parents. negatives- small litter size, less to choose from. what about health of the puppies? i know in humans the older the parents, the more chances for problems. also how old do you consider old?


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

I prefer older parents - gives me a better idea of how a dog will age. I hate seeing gorgeous show dogs that are bred at 2 - 4 yrs old and then deteriorate so badly you wonder how anyone ever thought to breed the dog! By the time you learn about the health problem, it is too late - the puppies are already adults themselves!


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

What breed? Old in one breed is only middle aged in another. I think you will see more potential for problems if the dam is old then the male, since she's the one who provides the eggs, plus carries the pups. And her eggs are as old as she is, his sperm isn't. But it also really depends not just on the breed, but on the individual dog. I've seen 10 year old dogs that look like 2 year olds, and 6 year old dogs that look 15.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

For the bitch ethically JMO nothing after 8 years or 5 litters I'm not a breeder.


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## jamie lind (Feb 19, 2009)

gsd. wondering about the health of the pups not the bitch.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

jamie lind said:


> gsd. wondering about the health of the pups not the bitch.


The health of the bitch affects the health of the pups.


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## jamie lind (Feb 19, 2009)

what i meant to say was wondering about the health of the pups not the ethics of breeding the bitch.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I was dern near 40 when we had our last one. He's 25 now and healthy as a horse................:-k ......errrrr.....nevermind!


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## Sue DiCero (Sep 2, 2006)

Which parent?

I have to post a litter that we just had last week that the sire is 8.5 years old. 7 puppies. Dam is 6.

Recovers quickly and complete from whelping. No issue.


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## Niomi Smith (Jan 15, 2010)

My 5 month old GSD came from a breeding of a 9 year old Dam and 7 year old Sire. 4 pups, whelping was easy, as was bounce back. The Dam was brought over from Germany 2 years ago and is handled by the breeders 11 year old daughter. They just earned their ScH III this year!

The breeder works all of their dogs at least 3 times a week and they have a stud dog that is 14, still works, trials, and breeds.

I think whether you breed an older dog is going to depend on the dog, even within any given breed, some lines/dogs have more longevity than others.


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## Carmen van de Kamp (Apr 2, 2006)

the father of the female I started with was 14 years old at that moment, he gave a litter of 5....the female was also 7 or 8 at that time,
it was a nice opportunity to get some old lines back to the front and use healthy old dogs....

I would never hesitate to use an old male, even a female that is in good condition could be used at an older age, not every breed matures/ages at the same time.....in Holland they set age limits for all breeds the same, 16 months for first mating and 8 years for last litter, total of 5 in between and the first one before the age of 5,
but I think you cannot say that that strict, some breeds are already really "old" between 5 and 8, while a breed like a malinois or a terrier or something is just getting in the best part of his/her life....


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## Ellen Piepers (Nov 6, 2008)

Carmen van de Kamp said:


> in Holland they set age limits for all breeds the same, 16 months for first mating and 8 years for last litter, total of 5 in between and the first one before the age of 5


I think the rules actually say that the first mating must be before the day that she reaches the age of 72 months, so before she turns 6.


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