"Dogs are not our whole lives, but they help make our lives whole."
-Roger Caras

Copyright Notice

How often to breed?

When we first began raising puppies, it seemed like all I did was feed dogs, clean up after dogs, build better facilities for the dogs/puppies, and research how to do this right.  For years, I learned how to do better. Then, found out I was doing it wrong STILL.

So, again I changed. Learned. Learned a better way, over and over again.

One thing I didn't think much about was how often we let our mother dogs ("bitches" is the proper term) have puppies. I had read that they shouldn't be bred until they were at least two years old, and only have puppies once every OTHER cycle. It seemed logical. Human mothers like a break between having babies, so why shouldn't dogs have a break, right?

I was wrong.  :-/

After over ten years of raising puppies, a small animal specialist admonished me for breeding every other cycle. He said that if a bitch was not spayed, she should be bred every time she was in heat unless she had a tough delivery the time before. He said there were years and years of research supporting why this is the healthiest thing for the females AND the health of their puppies. 

In studies, females (bitches) were not spayed, and were allowed to reach a certain age before spaying that was well into the prime years or after.

• Some of those were bred every cycle.

• The others were not. 

After spaying, the uteruses that were removed during the spay were examined.

***The females that had been bred every cycle had healthier uteruses.***

So not only were their uteruses in better shape, but those healthier uteruses were able to produce healthy puppies because of the better condition of the uterus.

In addition, females that are not spayed are at risk of developing a potentially deadly illness called pyometra.

https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/reproductive/c_multi_pyometra_hyperplasia

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/pyometra-in-dogs

How often do WE breed our females?

While we have not jumped completely on the "every heat cycle" bandwagon, we are breeding our girls back to back (consecutively) at times to reduce the opportunity for pyometra.

We HAVE had females get pyometra (see above links) in years past, but didn't know that this happens when females are NOT pregnant and were not bred when they were in heat.

Now that we know, we are breeding more often and spaying our girls if we aren't going to breed them again, so pyometra is not an option for them.

Click here for information about spaying and neutering.