Sending Bitches Away for Breeding - Page 2

I'd have to look it up, GSDlver.  I'd say probably three weeks, but I'll check my calendar to be sure.  They were bred at the same time, though to different studs:  Ike von der Mohnwiese and Asko von der Lutter. 

Karla is a hot young thang, I wonder if that had anything to do with Asko passing away two months after mating with her?  What do you think? :-)

Veronica

 Gee Veronica, if  Karla is THAT hot, I don't think he'd have made it two months.  

If you could check your records about the timing, when you get a moment, I would appreciate it. I have a few reasons for asking this post, one is the timing of the mating and the shipping. The other is the shipping and stress and how it affects them after confirmed pregnant.  If the cortisol level surges in a pregnant bitch (from stress) it can cause her to lose her litter but is the timing of that important? I would think yes.  I know this is individual to each bitch but I have had this on my mind for a while and really would like to hear from alot more people on their experiences.

Anyone out there work for an airline? and have either imported/exported pregnant or bred bitches? 

I would never just ship a female for breeding. We either fly with her and get it done, or (and that is what we have done for the last 10 years or so since our kids have been born and take away that freedom now to go on a whim) we place our females with friends in Germany to get them bred (not for free, of course). This is the least stressful way, since they are already acclimated when they come into season. It is best to keep females in Germany until after the 34th day, due to danger of reabsorption. But every female is different.

I know of a couple of boarding kennels in Germany where you could put your female, but it will cost dearly. If they are willing to do all the errands for you (vet, driving to the airport and stud etc.), this breeding will cost you thousands of dollars, due also to the weak dollar. If you want the names and contact info for the boarding kennels, please send me a pm, but I have never used them, so I can't vouch for them. Another option would be Terry. I know that he used to be in that business to get these things done. Terry, if you read this, maybe you can chime in here.

Chris

I just imported a female from Germany who was 6 weeks pregnant.  I wish I had bought her a little sooner so she could have been shipped a couple weeks earlier, but that didn't happen.  So two weeks to the day of when I picked  her up at the airport, she whelped.  No problems whelping, but 3 puppies were stillborn.  One obviously had been dead for quite some time (days at least) the other two ???? maybe were "normal" stillborns, maybe due to the flight - who knows.  I do know that the female was in perfect coat and condition and weight, also very calm, not obviously stressed, walked out of the crate like she was right at home.  So her stress-factor IMO was very low.   I have heard however that the pressure changes along with stress can cause placental separation and death in later term unborn puppies.  In fact I have known at least two imported pregnant females who lost their entire litters, possibly due to the flight.

As for shipping females to be bred, I've never had a problem with doing it.  The main problem nowadays is shipping a dog is VERY COSTLY - last I checked which was last year it was $500 each direction.    IF I did ship a female for breeding ideally I'd ship at the very beginning of her heat cycle, so she had time to settle in, and leave her there 2-3 weeks after breeding so she had time to "settle" her pregnancy before shipping back.

molly