How often should a female dog be bred?

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I noticed on my breeders website that Sophies mom is going to have another litter of puppies in July or August. Sophie was born on December 25, 2010. Isn't it too soon to breed her again? Just wondering...

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

My breeder breeds one litter a year.  But I don't know what is best practice. Hopefully some of the breeders will chip in here and tell us?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think a lot depends on your definition of "best". Best for the dog, or best for the breeder's pocketbook?

You would be hard-pressed to find a breeder here who only breeds one litter a year. (Carol excepted, but Carol doesn't breed doodles.)

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

Do you mean one litter total for a breeder per year or one litter per year per particular dog?

To the original poster, this looks like a back to back breeding. There are opinions on both sides of this decision and without more information you can't draw much of a conclusion from the dates alone. If you were considering adopting a puppy from this new litter I would ask their reasons for the back to back to make sure they had some logical ones, otherwise, to each their own.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I mean per dog. I'm thinking it isn't healthy for a dog to deliver two litters in under a year. I know she did at least one litter earlier on in 2010. I'm not considering another puppy, I just like to stalk her website to look at puppy pics ;-)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Funny! At least you are an honest stalker, but I totally agree with you.

[F, Calla & Luca]

There are debates about whether back to back breeding is bad. My concerns center more about how many litters in total should be considered reasonable. I like to look at breeder sites and have some concerns that some females are being bred at least 5 times and possibly more. That seems excessive  to me.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

I have always thought that one litter a year is acceptable ....this is not the case with most. The only thing I am actually proud that my breeder did was breed hers once per year.

[RIDOODLES]

The big question should be at what age should a female start being bred and at what age should she retire? Does she get fed top grade human natural and delicious food, is she provided room to run,walk,excersie and have fun, how many hours does her breeder spend with her each week. Is she kept clean, up to date on Vet Checks, has she been tested to ensure sound & healthy pups, is she a good mom, does she have issues with giving birth to pups...there are many more questions that can be asked to judge and spot a good breeder.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Those are good points. I agree all of those factors are really important considerations too.

But as I understand  it, women are supposed to wait at least 1 year between pregnancies, because their bodies need to fully recover, otherwise, they could experience difficulties.... So I'm wondering if the same principal applies to dogs.

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

The anatomy (size of the birth canal and the passenger) of human and canine partuition is very different. Our babies large heads and the nature of the pelvic floor since we walk upright make it a very different experience. Relatively, dogs have it much easier.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Our breeder only lets the females have three litters total, Then she has them fixed. All of her dogs either live with her or live in a guardian home. After they have three litters, they are spayed and they get to stay in their guardian home or they become the breeders own personal dogs.

 

The males I see have been bred numerous times over and over, but I don't think that is harmful since all they are doing is something fun...

 

I actually was disappointed that she only let them breed three times, I would have loved a full sibling for Jack.

 

I know my breeder at least skips at least one heat in between allowing them to get pregnant, maybe more and max is three times.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Actually, a lot of the males are not having all that much fun. Many owners don't realize that a lot of breedings are done through AI... artifical insemination. This is especially true when there is a large size disparity, as in F1 mini-doodles. In real life, it would be extremely difficult for a 12 lb. poodle to mate with a full-size Golden Retriever or Labrador mom, which is the parentage you often see in the first generation minis.

(I know this doesn't apply to your comment, Jennifer, but while we're on the subject...)

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that if a breeding couldn't or wouldn't occur naturally, it's probably not a good idea for it to occur artificially, either. This is not the proper way to "downsize" a breed, and I also think it leads to some orthopedic problems. These comments probably belong in the other discussion about breeding health problems into doodles, but there are instances where both parent dogs' hips were tested and found to be fine, but the offspring had HD and other problems. In my mind, this could be the result of combining genes from two dogs of such extremely different sizes that maybe they shouldn't have been combined in the first place.