my female german sheppard is on heat but wont let the stud mate her - Page 1

have her progestrone checked, she may not be ready.
consider IA at the vet's

In dogs, including the German ShepHERD, the heat period typically lasts 3 weeks and the female is typically receptive near the end of that period.  The typical heat cycle starts with bleeding that becomes much lighter in color when the female enters a receptive period and then she "bleeds off" at the end.  That being said, receptivity to the stud dog does not always indicate the best time to breed.  Cell cornification and Progesterone levels indicate best time to breed. 

If you are breeding you should be checking her ovulation by either doing cornification slides or progesterone testing.  IOW's you pay money and go to a vet and do these things. 

I suggest separating the two dogs and getting this book and READING it.  "Canine Reproduction - the Breeders Guide (Revised 3rd edition) by Phylis Holst 
Another good book is:  "Dog Breeders Secrets - Ethical Breeding Practices" by Sylvia Smart 

I also must ask, are both the stud and the female over 2 years old, been health tested (hips and elbows xrayed at the LEAST) and both are titled (in something??)?  Or working???

You shouldn't breed what you can't even spell!!

AmbiiGSD - don't be ugly - you don't even know if this persons first language is English....

If your female has only been in head for 7 days -are you counting those days from the first blood you saw - if so - then she probably isn't ready.  Females often try to mount the male - nothing unusual........  Usually, they start standing for the male at about 10 days - but just because you put two dogs together - doesnt mean they will mate.... 

Why do you feel that her life of breeding is over if she is only 4?

Yogie

You said that you have two inexperienced dogs. How old is the male - is he younger than your 4 year old female? That would explain her wanting to mount him...
 
First timers should be usually introduced to the experienced mate, but if those are your dogs that know each other, and you keep them together throughout the heat cycle - they will finally figure it out...
 
If this is an outside, unknown to your female, stud male, progesterone testing is your best bet to find out when your female is ready (every female is different - mine for example wasn't usually ready until day 21).  In case that they don't figure out how to do it this time - you can do easy vaginal AI with fresh semen - progesterone testing will pinpoint the best time.  
 
Is the stud owner inexperienced breeder as well? Do they know how to collect the semen?  If not - contact the vet - they usually can collect the semen from the stud and inseminate female the same time.
 
'Making puppies' is rather easy - taking care of them and finding them good homes - very difficult...
 
Inexperienced mother may not know how to take care of the pups for the first time. You will have few sleepless days and nights during and after she whelps to make sure everything is OK... The first time mom should not be left alone until you make sure she is a very good mom and all her puppies are quiet and happy. And this is because some females are simply naturally bad at it, some shouldn't even have puppies at all (they may kill them even after 2-3 days of taking care of them)...etc. etc. etc...
 
I hope everything will be OK and good luck.

You can breed your breed your dog beyond four years old. What makes you think that you can not breed a dog older than 4 years old? Otherwise all of the others have asked the important questions about hips elbows DM testing etc...

You can breed a healthy female into her 8th year but (like in case of women) first pregnancy shouldn't be later in her life. 5 years old can be late for first pregnancy...

I had the same question about why you think this is the last heat cycle you can breed her? As for her not accepting the male she probably isn't ready, don't stress we all know what it's like when you are trying to breed and you are worrying about hitting the right day, or missing the right day etc. Very nerve racking esp when it seems fido that just runs the neighborhood can seem to knock up every bitch in a 10 mile radius with no help.  That being said it does seem that you are rather inexperienced.  You really should know a lot about the breed before attempting to breed, you should be able to match temperments drive etc and have a clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish with this breeding.  If what you are trying to accomplish is $$ it will end up in heartache for everyone involved and a loss of $$.  It's not just the breeding, you also need to be able to educate the buyers about the breed, and about the particular pups you have, everyone always wants the cutest pup, but truth is that pup may really not be the dog for them, and they need to be guided to the right decesion.  Your relationship with the buyer does not stop when they leave with their pup, esp if it's an inexperienced owner you should be available to answer questions, help them problem solve etc. If you can't do that you should expect to get quite a few pups back.  One of the golden rules of breeding Dont ever breed more pups than you can afford to keep for the duration of their life if need be. Hope that helps I was in no way trying to be nasty it's just the general population really has no idea what breeders go through and how long it took them to gain the knowledge they did before breeding, there is A LOT to learn!