safe age to breed older German Shepherd who has never had pups - Page 1

Is a 3 year old male too young of a playmate for an 8 year old female. She has never had pups but sure seems to want to be a mom Should I worry?

You should be more worried about why you would even consider 1. breeding the female at that age; 2. breeding at all since you do not seem to be informed enough and 3. breeding is for improvement, not recreation

Ask a question to find out the proper information, Lacaze, and get blasted on this forum. Don't feel bad as it has happened to me more than one time and just about everyone else on this forum. Don't get discouraged and quit posting.

srfwheat

Lacaze, the male is not too young, but your female is definitely too old.

Even "prooven" brood bitches normally are retired from breeding at that age - as long as you don´t want to pay a lot of money for the vet, maybe even loose your female, don´t do it.

Do me a personal favour and google for "broodbitch - dog - age - retirement".

 

No rudeness or sarcasm intended, but I would never consider breeding an eight year old female for the first time ever.

Generally speaking females are retired from breeding around 6 years of age, even if they have previously had litters. 8 is way over the age, would recommend that if you're getting a male who will be her companion that she be spayed. Safer for her to avoid any breeding injury, or danger of not being able to carry a litter (Uterine inertia, Pyometra, fading puppies, etc) You also will not have to worry about your male getting injured, or being a general PITA while your female's in heat every time.

Here's some :-)s. I guess that is what it takes to not come across as rude

:-)
:-)
:-)

All breeding carries risk of bad effects on the mother or the pups health. Six years is a good rule of thumb but just that a guideline not a rule. I wouldn't risk my dog's health by breeding at eight years. More than likely you will get a small litter or no litter at that age for a female. There is a danger that with an older female that has never whelped she could have a singleton or a pair of really large pups and have a big problem delivering them. Then there is the probability that she may have high blood sugar if she eats a carbohydrate rich diet ( kibble ) which will make the pups larger as in humans ( gestational diabetes ). The risks go up with each year past 4 years. A young male is no problem and if you want large litters breeding two two year old GSD together is the way to get them. The biology of reproduction favors the young. In reality there are a lot of " highly decorated " eight year old male dogs being used for breeding that also carry the risks of having pups with age related defects ... but that is not something the show dog and sport dog people like to talk about. The risks for the offspring in humans goes up for every year past 40 for both the mother and father.

I definitely think 8 for your female is too old; here are possible risks: hemmoraging, emergency C section; needing blood tranfusions, not bonding with puppies. Not saying it has not been done but your risks are much higher than at 2 or even 3 years old. Been there myself and would NOT ever do it again. Good luck Nan

 

PS:  Cost me my bitches life when her puppies were 14 months old and my vet tried to warn me of possiblities but my bitch was such an incredible girl;  still not good enough and when I say I would NOT ever do it again, I really mean you can have way too many unexpected problems like puppies with deformities, temperament problems, etc, those eggs are old also,  think about it, would you want to have a child at 55 years old?

8 years is definitely too old to have a first litter, for most people that's too old to be bred, period, even if she was previously a proven brood bitch. Also, because she "wants to be a mother" is not a reason to allow your pets to breed. She doesn't want to be a mother, she's probably just standing and flagging because that's what bitches do when they're in standing heat.