Hi, I have been thinking of breeding dogs for a while, and I have been doing a lot of reading online but have had trouble getting a couple questions answered, so thought I would try online. I have a senior dog, and probably will adopt another senior at some point when this one is gone. I was curious if both adopting seniors and breeding would be a bad combination for health or even compatability issues? I obviously would only bring home a fixed senior dog. Are there any breeds that would be better for an arrangement like that? I wouldn't adopt a senior that wasn't known to be good with other dogs, the one I have now is a big couch potato, but would a pregnant dog be temperamental or anything? They would all be kept in the house.
@GsdSlave Cole does say the senior would be 'fixed', which I took to mean neutered, and this dog and the breeding stock are to live in the house together. I always had a mix of show age and veterans living together, and only once had a problem with an entire male and his son. However, just wanting to breed does sound a bit vague, and without knowing which breed, I would be a bit reluctant to just say go ahead. I believe you should have a real passion for a particular breed to be a good breeder. You need a lot of background knowledge - which usually stems from your own experience in a serious canine activity, and the guidance of a mentor. You also need a fair bit of money to buy the best foundation stock that you can afford, and also to carry out whatever health tests are recommended by your breed club. Not least, you need real staying power to cope with all the lack of sleep and disappointments that are an inevitable part of being the best type of dog breeder.
It's good that you are doing your research. Senior dogs are wonderful. There should be no problem breeding dogs while having senior dogs in the home. Many breeders have older dogs in the home that no longer are used for breeding. I might suggest breeds that are very dog friendly, such as Airedale Terriers, American Eskimo Dogs, Australian Cattle Dogs, Australian Shepherds, Basset Hound, Beagle, Bichon Frise, Black and Tan Coonhound, Boston Terrier, Brittany, Bull Terrier, Bullmastiff, Cairn Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Cockapoo, Cocker Spaniel, Collie, Coton de Tulear, Dalmatian, English Springer Spaniel, French Bulldog, German Shorthaired Pointer, Goldador, Golden Retriever, Goldendoodle, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Havanese, Irish Setter, Jack Russell Terrier, Keeshond, Labradoodle, Labrador Retriever, Maltese, Maltipoo, Newfoundland, Norwegian Elkhound, Papillon, Peekapoo, Poodle, Portuguese Water Dog, Pug, Puggle, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Scottish Terrier, Shetland Sheepdog, Shih Tzu, Siberian Husky, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Tibetan Mastiff, Vizsla, West Highland White Terrier, etc. Pregnancy effects each dog individually, but breeding dogs that are from a breed that are known to be dog friendly is your best choice. I'm glad you will be keeping your dogs in the house and not a kennel.
Thanks a lot for the input everyone, still have a lot of thinking to do. I haven't decided on a breed for if I did decide to go through with it, outside of a Greyhound all of my dogs have been mutts (Chow Chow mixes) and I know those can be temperamental so it doesn't sound like a good place to start. I don't have a particular breed I'm passionate about, nor do I have a mentor or experience with serious canine activity, so this may not he for me.
@Boerboel I would not call Puggles, Crossipoo's and the like Breeds. No pedigrees, no breed clubs, no health tests - unless you have different arrangements in the US. High energy breeds such as ASD's and ACD's need serious consideration as to their needs, especially if being bred in a home environment. One breed I would NOT recommend as being dog friendly would be Tibetan Mastiffs! I would say that working breed expertise is definitely needed here. Some interesting suggestions, what do others think?
I believe that certain breeds are more prone to dog aggression than others but the most determining factor will be the personalities/ temperaments of the individual dogs involved, irrespective of breed.
The first thing I would do if find yourself a breed you like and can live with, buy from a reputable breeder who conducts all health tests on their dogs, and if you can find a breeder who does not endorse their pups, thats your first step, then live with said breed for a number of years, meet and speak to others in the breed, find all information i.e health temperament and types you like, then after a number of years you can then search for a breeder who may be willing to allow you use of their stud dogs.
