A Question on breeding

[tinkerbell2008]

I own a Chihuahua that will be 5 months old this month and I was wondering if any one could help me with some things.. I have never bred a dog before so I was wondering what age I should breed her and when is the best time and how to tell when she is in heat?

[aslan]

tinkerbell this is a pro spay and neuter site so be prepared this question isn't going to be received well. Personally if you don't know anything about breeding you shouldn't. Too many things can go wrong, and their are shelters overflowing with dogs looking for homes.

[LavenderRott]

Please - before you decide for sure whether you want to breed your dog or not - do ALL of your homework. You need to know what genetic issues the breed is prone to and how to make sure that you don't pass any of these along to puppies. You also need to be sure that you know every complication that could happen during pregnancy and delivery.

Please be aware that whelping puppies from bitches of the small breeds (like chihuahuas) is not always simple and it is not uncommon to lose puppies and bitches during delivery.

[kathryn]

Aww that reminds me of just a little earlier today I was at the shelter and there were some adorable little Chihuahua puppies waiting to get adopted!

What age should you breed your dog? Never. Get her spayed!
Millions of dogs are already being euthanized in shelters every year because of 'over population'. When you breed a dog just for the heck of it (as in, not for showing with groups like the AKC) you are basically sentencing some puppy somewhere to death. Every animal born just takes another home away for a different animal. It's a never ending cycle.

Gone but not forgotten
http://www.spaldingcountyanimalshelter.com/dogs1.htm

Oh and here is a lovely little Chihuahua (looks like a mix?)

A-9 URGENT!

Breed: Chihuahua
Sex: Female
Age: Adult
Size: Small
ID: 007862 Coweta AC
PLEASE CONTACT COWETA COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL TO ADOPT THIS PET: 770-254-3735. The address is 91 Selt Road, Newnan, GA.
Can you open your heart and home? Poor "Ali's" family moved and LEFT HER BEHIND! She is so very scared, confused and concerned about her situation. Please hurry! This sweetie will be avail. for adoption, rescue OR CAN BE EUTHANIZED 9/2!
NOTE: CCAC CANNOT ADOPT ONLINE OR OVER THE PHONE. ADOPTIONS MUST BE DONE IN PERSON.

Oh, looks like she might already be dead. What a shame.

Just examples of pet over population.


Oh and breeding little dogs requires an extreme amount of experience. The chances of something going wrong is MUCH higher! Considering you have never bred a dog before, starting with a mini breed dog is a terrible idea!

http://spayusa.org/

[Gypsyhick]

Howdy;

A great article that goes through some points to consider before breeding is here: http://www.nopuppymillscanada.ca/breeding.pdf

Often breeding is much more of an obligation than it initially appears - both financially and emotionally. Please consider the health of your pup, the epidemic of pet overpopulation and the items in the article before continuing your quest to breed your dog.

[aslan]

i would really like it if you could read these and see just what could happen.


http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder2.html

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder3.html

[JennieV]

First of all, please please please read the information given in the previous posts. As it was mentioned, this is a pro-neutering/spaying forum.

After reading the info, if you still are interested in breeding your dog (which I personally would not understand ) you should get professional opinion from your vet, because:
1. your dog is still a puppy herself and nowhere near being ready to breed
2. if you don't even know how to tell if the dog is in heat - you should not be thinking about such complex issues. Breeding is very very very complicated and has so many different issues involved, that you may seriously harm or even kill your dog by doing so blindly. Its not just letting the dogs "have fun". There is no fun in emergencies, trust me.