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Breeding age

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  greenkouki 
#1 ·
Is seven too old to breed a healthy bitch?
 
#3 ·
I think it's for good reason, whether you're in Canada or not. I'm a little surprised it's not addressed in the DPCA CoE.

From the Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada Code of Ethics:

11. No bitch shall knowingly be bred after the age of six (6) years without a veterinarian’s certificate certifying her general health and ability to support a litter of puppies. Under no conditions shall a bitch be bred after she reaches seven (7) years of age, nor will a bitch be bred more than four (4) times in her lifetime.
 
#4 ·
I do know of a working line breeder who bred a 7 year old bitch to a 9 year old stud without issue and had 9 healthy puppies from it. But that's an exception rather than the rule, and there is going to be a definite difference in fitness and vitality between most typical show/performance dogs and dogs who are active in work or working sports. Core muscle tone, stamina, flexibility and the ability to physically bounce back will vary a lot based on individual dogs as well as the type of life they have led prior to and during pregnancy.
Pregnancy, whelping and lactation in particular can be very hard on the body, and the body's ability to recover naturally decreases with age, regardless of how healthy and physically fit the individual might be.

A 7 year old doberman is more or less equivalent to a 55 year old human being. To answer your question: how many 50 year old women do you know carrying and birthing children?
 
#6 ·
There's plenty of people who do it. I wouldn't personally, but I think there can be extenuating circumstances. Fifi would be a good example. There's a popular stud dog who's 11 that just live covered a bitch last week. I don't think we should chastise people for breeding older dogs but they ought to be doing it for a compelling reason, not just 'to have one last litter'. Do older healthy dogs not deserve to produce offspring and pass on possible longevity which our breed needs?
 
#7 ·
Hey GK, I don’t think it’s about “deserving” or longevity- the point is that a 7 year old Doberman bitch having puppies is like a close to 50 year old woman having a child. It’s not in the best interest of the bitch. You can use the longevity of that line in other ways than the physical hardship of an older bitch raising puppies. It is very taxing on their physical health in many ways.
 
#9 ·
I agree for what it's worth, I don't think males are comparable to females in this case. An older male can be collected and do side by side AI, and I'd argue that if they're still in good enough shape to do a live cover, even better.
But the act of breeding simply cannot be compared to pregnancy, whelping and lactating.
 
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