Genetically speaking how safe is is to breed a 9 year old bitch? - Page 1

I'm currently looking around to buy my next new future puppy from workingline stock. I'm debating wether or not I should get a West German Workingline or a Czech. I'm doing the responsible thing by picking out a responsible breeder who breeds only titled dogs. I know I would be paying a bit more for their stock, but that is a price to pay. Anyhow I emailed this breeder who apparently has a good report on this site. I explained to them how I wanted to have a dog for duel purpose. I want a dog/puppy that will have a solid temperament, and has an on and off switch. I explained that I would like for the dog to become a service animal because of my panic attacks and anxiety. Anyhow they mention a partcular stud that I was quite interested in getting to know. They also mention that they recently bred a bitch to this male, who never been bred before. They said that the bitch is 9 years old and still have the same stamina like young dog would have. Red alarms went off almost immediately as breeding to  an old female can be risky, not only for the bitch but also to the pups, and the future of their lifespan. Like humans the risk for having a down syndrome child increases as the woman reaches her late 40s and up. I sent them an email back expressing my concerns, and they haven't yet emailed me back with their response.

I Google some information up regarding to the risk of breeding to a 9 year old bitch, and I found this thread http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/forum.read?mnr=648614&pagen=1

Apparently breeding to an old bitch is not a good idea base on what I read on the thread... So why would a promiment breeder risk their reputation to do something like that? To breed an old bitch?

I'd find a different "responsible" breeder. Who waits 9 years to breed a bitch?

Brittany, first off, I still stand by what I said in the thread you referenced. Yes, the risk of birth defects in the offspring does increase as the bitch ages, just as it does in any other mammal  . 

That discussion, however, was regarding the breeding of a 9 year old veteran brood bitch, not a bitch whose first mating took place when she's 9 years old. While from a genetic basis, there's little difference [if any] between the risk of birth defects in the veteran brood bitch and the maiden when both are 9 years of age, I certainly would be concerned as to the reasons why this particular bitch had never been bred before yet suddenly became worthy of bringing forth a litter. 

On one hand, if the bitch IS in excellent condition and shows no evidence of her age, either physically or behaviorally, and she's sound and correct and has all her health clearances in place, there is the fact that she should have demonstrated, by now, whether she herself has any form of allergies or other immune-system weaknesses, whether she's prone to bloating, or has EPI, and so forth...all of which is encouraging to know about the dam of a pup one is buying.  On the other hand, though, I still come back to the 'why hasn't she been bred before this?'  

The age of the bitch alone wouldn't necessarily deter me from considering a pup from her, if I liked everything about the breeding save for the fact that it was the female's first litter. But it would slow my roll down quite a bit until I'd gotten answers to my questions of "why this bitch, at this age, now?"...and the reasons would have to be extremely strong, sound and convincing, IMO.

An interesting subject..I have heard old Germans say that the 8-10 year old bitch produces the best dogs.  The very popular sire Vito v Waldwinkel was born to an 9 yr old bitch, and I have a 12 yr old male whose father was born to a 10 yr old bitch.  In the US it is mostly deemed unacceptable.  Is it because the Europeans tend to continue to work their bitches into their older years and Americans don't need titles to breed so most females aren't kept in shape at all?  I don't know... My repro vet says they can be bred as long as they are in excellent muscle (no fat) and that breeding after NOT breeding for several years causes problems.  All that said, I don't know that anyone would support breeding a 9 yr old bitch for her very first time.

"Germans say that the 8-10 year old bitch produces the best dogs"

Are these veterans or virgins?

"Genetically speaking", genetics has little to do with the safety of breeding a 9 year old bitch!!

Veterans, definitely.  The way the sentence was written, it kinda seemed like possibly it was the male that was the virgin?  It's hard to believe anybody would breed a 9 yr old virgin bitch.  I'm not sure what "genetically speaking" means.  Maybe "genetically speaking" means: will the pups be born with downs syndrome or missing a chromosome or something to that effect?  I've heard of smaller litters, more stillborn/dead pups, but never any pups that are somehow retarded or defective.  I've only heard of strong pups from older females.