how old should my dog be before i breed her?

It's been a while since I told my story, so I'll tell it again, for all the good it will do for some mentalities.

Lived in Bakersfield, Ca....wanted a little dog w/the smooshed in face. Saw some Lhasa Apsos in the paper...called and made appt to go see puppies. While I waited in the liv rm...the lady went to get a couple of puppies for me to see....on her coffee table was a magazine...Lhasa Apso Gazette....on the cover was the most beautiful Lhasa you would ever want to see.....pale gold, short back for a Lhasa...just gorgeous. When the lady came back I asked about him. She told me she had bred him, had him shown and finished...he was the #1 Lhasa in the U.S. I asked if I could see him. She told me she had sold him. She said she had his parents.....asked if I could see them....not yet..she told me. After I bought my puppy, she asked me to come back so she could show me how to properly groom her. Of course I did. I told her I wanted to breed her. She gave me much info about breeding. Finally.....she let me see parents of #1...CH. Everglo's Sundance (look it up- Breeder Gloria Fowler)

She took me to a sunroom...where there were 2 HUGE RED dogs....when they got out of the chairs they were in...their front feet were on the floor their butts still in the chair...that's how big they were....and ugly.

She said....remember what I told you about breeding? Does NOT matter what they look like only what they produce, and once you have found the perfect combination.....stick to it.

I cannot simply disregard a dog's apprearance and blindly breed.....but if the pedigree is really good...and compatible w/each other's....then I would try it. I am sure that is why she bred the 2 she bred....based on each other's pedigree and not their looks persay.

So....these 2 dogs sure did not look like anything anyone would want to breed....had never been tested for anything....and never shown. BUT they produced top quality. So much for the necessities of testing and showing. Just not necessary in most cases. Just because a dog has been shown....is not grounds for breeding. The best dog at the show does NOT necessarily come out on top. Depends on favors due some judges, judge's personal favorite style, color..etc. Not always the best dog at the top. People who have never shown a dog...should not try to voice their opinion on the value of showing.

Gloria told me....do NOT breed to the local Champion.....breed to his sire. He is the one who produced the excellence. Again...the pedigrees have to be compatible. Show experience means nothing. I have proven it many times, by breeding my dogs who are not show prospects and producing champions. I produce show prospects constantly. It is only when someone wants to invest the time and money in the dog that is is actually shown. If it is not shown, it is till the same top quality. The show ring is a farce. Political. Purely political. Been there, done that. Want no part of it.

I AM a believer of hip checks on the large breeds before breeding.

As long as there are people who want to buy a nice puppy, people will continue to breed. It is these people you need to convince to get their dogs from the shelter, instead of starting off w/exactly what they want in a puppy. Those are the people who ignore the shelter dogs and go buy a puppy. It is NOT the breeders fault they do this. Think about it.

All the screaming in the world will not convince someone to go to a shelter to get their puppy. Sorry. It won't work.

One more thing....a lot of you talk about how a breeder should take a puppy back from a buyer, if it doesn't work out. I for one....would be very careful in taking a puppy back. I did it w/o hesitation ONE time....and lost 19 puppies to Parvo. The only place it could have come in was on that puppy that had been owned by the first owners....it had been exposed, I took it back....I lost a lot of puppies. So taking them back is not always a good idea....helping them rehome it is better.

I recently saw documentary on shelter dogs being taken to some prisons and trained for handicapped....or protection. NOW there is the perfect solution. It is good for the incarcerated and good for the shelter population.......extremely good. WHY don't some of you get on your soap boxes about that solution?. It is PERFECT. It would work. There are hundreds of people in prison who could benefit from this work, and therefore hundreds of rescues who could be saved.

THE PRISONS HOLD THE ANSWER.....LOBBY FOR IT. GET IT DONE.

Two years old is the minimum because many health tests are not valid until past her second birthday. By then you will have either had her compared to other potential breeding stock in dog shows or you will have had her evaluated by a least three unbiased, experienced, experts in the breed standards. If she is judged to be good breeding stock with genetic that will contribute to the breed, then the health tests that are recommended for her breed need to be done. If she checks out genetically healthy and not a carrier for anything, then you will need to find a stud whose characteristics complement hers. You should have developed a relationship with an experienced breeder by then who can help you find the best stud. Also, you should be checking with your vet about artificial insemination. Not all vets are able to do the procedure. Since the best stud may be on the show circuit or a thousand miles away, AI is very common.

Of course, if you just have her to make a few bucks, then disregard all this and put your baby-maker to work without caring about the breed or her health or ethics. You got her from backyard breeders. Maybe that's all she will ever be to you.

After she is 18 months old (according to the Havanese Club of America Code of Ethics). Clearly you got her from a disreputable breeder if they are breeding their ******* as one year of age. It's like allowing a 13 year old to have a baby- possible, but not healthy. Besides, you have plenty of time. Moste reputable breeders only allow their girls to have three or four litters and havanese have long life spans. There is also genetic testing that needs to be completed before she can be bred (Juvenile Cataracts, PRA, heart disease). If you are serious about breeding her, join the HCA or at least read their site over and see what they consider to be a reasonable, reputable breeder. http://www.havanese.org/about/ethics

Not knowing such a basic bit of breeding ifno means that you shouldn't breed until you have done this kind of research, and I don't mean going to YA and asking, I mean reading, studying, getting a breeding mentor. Your dog needs to be shown or entered into working trials for the breed to prove that he is good enough to breed. Stud males (especially a popular breed like GSD) are a dime a dozen and the best is a champion special, so female owners have a very large pot to pull from and reputable breeders want the best--a champion, not some backyard family pet. It also needs to be certified for hips and eyes and any other genetic problem GSDs get.

2 years is best, at that time any appropriate health testing/screening can be completed. If there are no genetic issues and you find a suitable male with no genetic issues and both your girl and the male met the breed standard, and you have researched and studied and spoken at length with your vet, purchased all you need to set up a nursery, and have an extra $3000.00 available in case of emergencies and intend on taking any of your pups back when ever one you sell can not stay in their home anymore for any reason at anytime during their entire life, after all that if you still want to proceed with breeding then by all means go ahead. I can recommend a good book you should get, as it is very hard to find good info out there, and it sounds like the breeder you purchased from isn't really waiting til her dogs are even mature enough to be whelping litters. I mean 1 year old is not old enough, for many reasons, and it sounds like you have a better idea of what would be proper. So here's the book. It's worth the investment now, and that will give you plenty of time to get ready and it will also show you all that cna and does go wrong when whelping a litter, like what to do when the Mother dog dies and pups need to be hand reared what to do when pups are born with defects and need to be culled, what to do when pups are born dead and what to watch for so you are ready to handle any emergency that may crop up and so many things that can and do go wrong. It's called "Successful Dog Breeding The Complete Handbook of Canine Midwifery 2nd Edition" By Chris Walkowicz and Bonnie Wilcox, D.V.M

You obviously bought this pup from a back yard breeder or puppy mill because a reputable breeder would never breed a dog under 2 years of age. Reputable breeders breed only the best dogs and breed to improve the breed. The other kind of breeder breeds dogs only for money, irrespective if the dog is a good representative of the breed or not.

If your dog is not registered with your canine council (I bet she isn't) she is not of breeding quality and no dog should be bred until they have all the appropriate health certificates for the breed and has been at least a couple of titles.

I don't get why people who buy a female pups think they need to breed them. There are tens of thousands of dogs killed every week in the pounds because there are too many dogs and not enough homes. Don't add to the problem.

ADDED: agree that anyone who refers to a bit*ches seasons as periods doesn't know enough about dogs to be breeding them.

Sigh. You bought her from bad breeders. Good breeders don't breed until at least two years of age. You need to find a GOOD breeding mentor through the AKC/Havanese Club. You also need to show her and get her titled. She's got to have genetic testing as well (which will cost a pretty penny - heart, lungs, eyes, hips, etc.). You need to wait until you have all that done and she is two years old before you even consider breeding her. She is AKC registered, isn't she? If not, then scratch everything I said above and just get her fixed.

Out of curiousity, why do you want to breed her? I'm always curious what people's reasons are.

Check with her breeder when you take her back to be assessed, and to have her Non Breeding endorsement lifted - I assume there is one on your puppy. If not, chances are she didn't come from a reputable breeder, and probably isn't of good enough quality to be producing puppies.

lol you bought a poorly bred dog if the "breeder" you got yours from bred the ***** when she was only a year old. Don't breed your poorly bred dog, the world has enough crap already.

You cannot do proper genetic health tests until the age of 24 months. Even if she has reached her adult height, she is still maturing, mentally and physically.

Unless you plan to SHOW your dog, earn her CH title, find a breeding mentor, and do proper health tests.. then do not breed. Breeding should only be done to improove and preserve the breed.

ADDED

Anyone who thinks that dogs have "periods" should not be breeding, because they obviously know nothing about the reproduction cycle of the dog.