breeding age

[haven1279]

I have a male that is nine months old.At what age is a male old enough to breed?I am new to the board.I hope ya'll have a merry Christmas.

[Windkist]

I have a male that is nine months old.At what age is a male old enough to breed?I am new to the board.I hope ya'll have a merry Christmas.

You can breed them as soon as they will do it and AKC recognizes litters by males 7months and older but, why? There are plenty of older proven dogs to use. I see no reason to use a 9 month old puppy. You don't even know what he has to offer at this point.

JMHO,

Leah

[mybeagles]

I here time after time that people would not breed to a young male as its not proven yet? I have a few thoughts on that.

1. A dogs proven performance of 3 years in the field does not ensure he is a producer either. Its a plus but not a sure thing.

2. Breeding them young allows you to look at a whole litter with no stud fee etc. and get an idea if a young dog is going to be a producer.

3. Its free, so you dont have to pay someone $300 for a shot in the dark.

4. I would breed to a dog 7mo before I would a dog 11 years old. Just like in humans or any other animal, with extreme age the chance of retarted or genetically defective pups goes way up.

5. With your own dog you know the bloodline and have an idea what it will throw.

There are so many bad breedings taking place anymore that breeding to a young stud is the least of the problems. With all the father/daughter brother/sister crosses being made I question if bettering the breed is
even considered among most breeders. Not to get off topic, but does anyone out there really believe they are bettering the breed?

Merry Christmas all, and remember the reason for the season!

[wvduece]

i never done this myself but have read on here about guys breeding young females sooooo whats the difference most of the time its a shot in the dark anyways anytime ya breed if i have a female n take her to a world champ i havnt a clue if the cross will nick or not soooooo i say breed the best ya got to the best ya can use what gets me is guys talking about inbreeding they say ya gotta cull real hard well i cull real hard on any breeding it does not matter if its a proven cross as all litters wont be the same i have bred the same dogs before and the litters will all be different and if ya do a out cross wow ya talk about being different ya havent a clue what ya gonna get still gotta culll hard jb

[Larry G]

I here time after time that people would not breed to a young male as its not proven yet? I have a few thoughts on that.

1. A dogs proven performance of 3 years in the field does not ensure he is a producer either. Its a plus but not a sure thing.

2. Breeding them young allows you to look at a whole litter with no stud fee etc. and get an idea if a young dog is going to be a producer.

3. Its free, so you dont have to pay someone $300 for a shot in the dark.

4. I would breed to a dog 7mo before I would a dog 11 years old. Just like in humans or any other animal, with extreme age the chance of retarted or genetically defective pups goes way up.

5. With your own dog you know the bloodline and have an idea what it will throw.

There are so many bad breedings taking place anymore that breeding to a young stud is the least of the problems. With all the father/daughter brother/sister crosses being made I question if bettering the breed is
even considered among most breeders. Not to get off topic, but does anyone out there really believe they are bettering the breed?

Merry Christmas all, and remember the reason for the season!

You ain't gonna make it on here... show too much common sense, logic, etc. etc..... SORRY! Heheheh, have a lovely Christmas.

[SouthernBeagles]

Common sense like..............I will breed my dog with a double hernia cause my vet says it won't kill her???

This is a great post for you guys that wonder why there are so many beagles for sale and why the animal shelters stay full of them (sigh). But HEY!! If ya breed a male pup, you get a free breeding!!!!!

[mybeagles]

Yes, I bet this guy thinking about breeding his young male is considering how much money he can make.........and the ones he cant sell will surely end up in a shelter......

OR

because he doesnt have $300 into the breeding he might give a pup or so to a young hunter that lives close by. Might even keep the litter and cull them out like I prefer to do.

Dont know the guy, but Im guessing he has only bred a couple litters in his life time. Probly not the source of all the excess beagles in the world.

You dont have to be a mental giant to scan these boards and see whose producing 10+ litters a year in hopes of making some money.

[Larry G]

People are always coming on message boards asking the the eternal question of these sages of dogdom....CAN I BREED MY DOG?? The answer is always....

NO!!!!! YOURS AREN'T G0OD ENOUGH!!! Buy mine, and with a limited registration, and a spay and neuter contract.... because when you own them, they become just like all the rest... unworthy.... don't listen to some yo yo, know-nothing vet.... listen to ME!!! I read a book on genetics so I am the last word in dog breeding.

The fact is that most posters on this board have a limited, if any knowledge of genetics or any branch of science. You want a qualified opinion you need to go to a qualified disinterested, not a puppy hawker. Your vet will be glad to tell you if your dog merits breeding or not.

[fulcount]

the fellow that started this thread sounds like a neophyte and asked a
legit question
we should'nt be breeding from a PUPPIE and a 7 month old is just that!
until a dog has proven itself in the field under the gun to be a good hound
we shouldn't be breeding from it either male or female good to mean do YOU like the hound not to mean How many puppies can i sell from the litter! will it fit into my breeding program? if we have a program!
Breed for ourselves first !
No one will get rich from breeding beagles if they are ligit!

John O

[Larry G]

And if you are a used car salesman you sure hate to see another lot open up right across the street. That guy probably doesn't know enough to be selling used cars anyway.

Haha my point here is that coming on here and asking if you can breed your dogs is about like asking that used car salesman if it's a good idea for you to open a lot across the street... he will always tell you what a bad idea that would be, and there's no money in it, and he's going broke, and he is only doing it so people can have transportation.

[Rabbithoundjb]

I personally prefer not to breed a dog until I feel good that the dog is an absolutely broke rabbit dog in the wild under the gun. Turning down all off game. Having said that sometimes circumstances will force your hand so do what you feel you have to do.

[wvduece]

hmmmmmmmmm i have seen soooooooooo many dogs bred to these world beaters with sooooo many titles in front of their names ya can hardly figure them out n the pups will be nothing but junk dogs i have seen guys go miles n breed to a big time champion stud n the pups are wortthless they end up giving most of them away after they have burned all their buddies they keep dropping the price i have seen them drop price 50 to 150 dollars just to get rid of the pups sooo they can make room for more litters just watch the pups for sale just on this web site who knows how many more on the 100 other sites n theres no money in beagles bet i worked for 15 different coal companys n everyone of them was going broke everyday to hear them tell it but putting new mines in every where they could sink a hole in the ground jb

[Briarhoppers]

Larry G - how is a vet suppose to tell me if a hunting dog is breeding material? I understand he could give an evalutation of health and confirmation, but I wouldn't be interested in breeding the healthiest, and best built dog if that dog wouldn't hunt or displayed faults such as being shy, trashy, mouthy, backtracking, lazy, stupid, etc.

The vet is the last person I would ask if I were trying to breed better rabbit hounds. That is unless he was an avid rabbit hunter and had watched my dogs go.

I am not a breeder, I've bred two beagle litters in my life and they were primarily b/c I wanted some pups and my family members wanted some pups. I am happy to report all that I've kept in touch w/ have turned out well and the ones I have I am very pleased with.

I do agree there are way too many pups for sale....and many of them less than average. If you are not breeding pups that are consistently better than their parents, you do not need to be breeding. Spend the $150 and just buy a pup if you need another one.

Also, I wouldn't even think about breeding a litter unless 3 - 4 of the pups are claimed prior to the breeding. If you have a dog worthy of breeding, you will know it b/c your hunting buddies will be trying to buy that dog or will be requesting the opportunity to buy pups from you....even before they are bred.

-pete

[WhiteRock Ken]

Just my 2 cents, but I think too much attention is paid toward the stud dog and not the female. You may have the best male on this side of the Mississippi river, but if the female ain't worth a hoot ,you probally don't get the results you wanted. And on the flip of the coin if you do own that awesome female it might not matter what you breed to to get a good batch of pups.

In my opinion the female contributes 60% to the litter. I've seen it come out of my own kennel and more times than it seems, I have kept the wrong one!!!!

All in all ,the guy asked a simple question about age of a dog for breeding and it got blowed out of proportion again!!!!!!!!!

[Larry G]

Larry G - how is a vet suppose to tell me if a hunting dog is breeding material? I understand he could give an evalutation of health and confirmation, but I wouldn't be interested in breeding the healthiest, and best built dog if that dog wouldn't hunt or displayed faults such as being shy, trashy, mouthy, backtracking, lazy, stupid, etc.

The vet is the last person I would ask if I were trying to breed better rabbit hounds. That is unless he was an avid rabbit hunter and had watched my dogs go.

I am not a breeder, I've bred two beagle litters in my life and they were primarily b/c I wanted some pups and my family members wanted some pups. I am happy to report all that I've kept in touch w/ have turned out well and the ones I have I am very pleased with.

I do agree there are way too many pups for sale....and many of them less than average. If you are not breeding pups that are consistently better than their parents, you do not need to be breeding. Spend the $150 and just buy a pup if you need another one.

Also, I wouldn't even think about breeding a litter unless 3 - 4 of the pups are claimed prior to the breeding. If you have a dog worthy of breeding, you will know it b/c your hunting buddies will be trying to buy that dog or will be requesting the opportunity to buy pups from you....even before they are bred.

-pete

Pete, you are right, the vet knows nothing of hunting, usually. I was talking about soundness, temperament, and issues not apparent to the untrained eye. Also the market demand, or lack of it, locally, for the puppies. He usually knows what will sell, and what won't.

In the case of my bitch with bilateral inguinal heria, we (the vet and I) discussed the risks we were taking and what we would do in a worst case scenario. I was afraid she might not have a normal pregnancy and delivery. He agreed and gave her a 50/50 chance... also said I might lose her but it was not likely. I have lost bitches before when it was not at all expected. Breeding is always a bit of a gamble.

She whelped and raised the pups with no trouble. She is still a fine performer. We are not blind to the fact that her pups carry an undesirable recessive gene. We also know that none of them are physically unsound.
They are using dogs and won't be sold as breeding stock.

People who try to tell you they have "purified" their gene pool by close inbreeding and culling are full of $hit and know nothing about the breeding of animals. I really don't care though, so if one wants to breed mother to son, brother to sister, father to daughter and so on ad infinitum and are prepared to deal with the consequences, have at it. It's perfectly legal.

As to the question of has a dog "proved himself" worthy of breeding, that argument does have some merit... the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. But as Deuce warned, it is no guarantee.... excellent phenotype is not always accompanied by excellent genotype. You can't see genotype by watching the dog run rabbits, or having a judge or a vet examine him.... you have to breed him or her to something. Then, by the time the dog proves to be a producer, he or she is starting to age on out as mentioned above, so that becomes a factor. And if you are thinking "frozen semen" yes I have owned dogs produced that way and bred to dogs produced that way. I just don't know enough about it to say it is the way to go. Maybe somebody on here does.