What age to stud

S

sheltielynne23

Forums Novice
I have a beautiful boy tri-colour at 7mths old and I've been asked if I could use him for a stud dog in the future. How old doe he have to be before he is ready for a mate?
 
Its a bit different with males than it is with females. Females you want to wait at least till the second heat cycle which can be about 1.5-2 years old. I'd wait that long on him just to be certain. And make sure to get him vwd, thyroid, and hip tested before you breed him.
 
Is your dog a show quality dog? Is he structurally sound, and of good breed type?
Breeding him just to have a litter of puppies should never be the main reason to breed. Breeding to better the breed should be.
He will need to have all of his testing done prior to breeding... hips, eyes, thyroid, and vwd at a minimum. CEA, MDR1, and heart are other tests that can be done. Testing is not cheap. Depending on your area and vet, you're probably looking at investing at least $500 in testing alone. You can have prelims done on his hips prior to 2, but you can't have them done as permanent and listed on OFA until he's 2.
Similarly, the bitch needs to have all of her testing done as well, and also should be of good breed type, and structurally correct.
 
I have to agree with Stacey. Please make sure you are supporting the breed when you breed him.

I am hoping to breed Deja in about a year. Before I do, I have been entering her in conformations. This puts her against local bitches intended to be bred. If she does well in the next couple shows I will start getting her tested in the fall. I am also taking her to local breeders for hands on opinions. I figure that her hardest critics are the people that do this for a living.

My DW and I have talked about this in debth. We are making a commitment in money and time because we feel that Deja is an amazing example of the breed that will inhance the local sheltie gene pool. What could keep me from breeding her;
1) Any of the genetic testing failing,
2) Too many flaws as she matures. She is high in the rear still..

What are the chances we will breed her? I'm guessing 50/50 right now.. She is still too young to know for sure how she will compare to the standard as an adult.

I think the last point is that DW and I have agreed to make a long term commitment to her puppies should we decide to breed. The puppies will go mainly to friends and family with the uderstanding that if they can't keep the dog for any reason, they will return him/her to us.
 
Not to stray off topic

But should I get these tests done on my pup. he will just be my house dog ..(no breeding or showing). MY pup was a gift so I dont know if these were done..... he has "papers" would that give me info on if they were done or at least contact info to see if he had these tests... (i dont have the papers) or I would just look instead of asking... (the relative who bought me him still has the papers).
 
SheltieGuy said:
But should I get these tests done on my pup. he will just be my house dog ..(no breeding or showing). MY pup was a gift so I dont know if these were done..... he has "papers" would that give me info on if they were done or at least contact info to see if he had these tests... (i dont have the papers) or I would just look instead of asking... (the relative who bought me him still has the papers).
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. If you are going to be doing agility, hip x-rays never hurt, but are not mandated. The only other thing I do on my dogs regardless of whether they are being bred or not is MDR-1. This is a mutation that can cause sensitivity to many drugs/chemicals. It causes some drugs to not be efficiently processed out of the blood-brain barrier.

My Shelties are all normal, but my Collie is mutant/mutant. That is what started me looking at more natural ways to do things. She can't have ivermectin (well, technically she can have low doses, but I choose to not risk it), Immodium, Acepromazine (used to sedate dogs for surgery), some heart meds, many anti-cancer meds, and the list keeps growing. I took the results to my vet, and she was happy to see the list and told me where to find all of these drugs. Many veterinary oncologists are requiring the test before they start treatment on affected breeds.

As to VwD, if your dog had it, you would know by now. Eating regular kibble or a rawhide and having the gums bleed and not stop would have been a sign. I know one VwD affected dog, and he has cost his owners an SUV worth in vet bills and clotting drugs.

So no, you don't have to do all this testing on your dog, unless you are nosy like me and just want to know. :smile2:
 
You can check into if your dogs parents testing was done, so long as you know the registered names of the parents. Go to http://www.offa.org and do a search for the parents names. If nothing comes up, it means that they weren't tested.
 
Fyi

testing for the MDR-1 gene is pretty cheap and easy.
It's Washington State that does it (other may, don't know). You get a kit, swab the dog's gums, send it back, and a few weeks later get a letter. I think it was $60 when I did it. Gavin is normal/normal :D But I like knowing so I don't have to worry about avoiding the drugs mentioned previously. Funny thing is, it's easier and cheaper for me to have my dog tested for a genetic abnormality than it is for me to get tested for one that may save my life or tell my doctor if certain drugs won't work.

Cindy

<http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/>
 
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