Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 6:56 pm Post subject: Breeding or Spaying?
I am in two minds as to wether I am going to breed or spay my bitch Pepper. She has a wonderful blood line and would make a beautiful mother. She is nowhere near ready yet, but if I decide to spay her that would obviously happen sooner than if I decided to breed her.
I do not want to do it for the money, as I know that allowing a bitch to have a litter is very often more costly than not. She is fantastically devoted to my 6month son and is very maternal, so I feel it would be nice for her to have a litter, even if it is only one.
I understand that there could be complications and also the expense. The battle that is going through my head is ... If I let her have a litter, what if something happened to her? And if I spayed her, would I feel bad as she's so loving?
Labradors have the highest number of litters, by far, registered with the Kennel Club each quarter. There are far too many litters bred from poor quality and unhealth tested dogs.
Please reconsider breeding from your girl and enjoy your life with her. Your son will have a wonderful companion to grow up with.
____________ Hamish McHaggis aka Cricklecreek Caribou At Dunnabbey
Your bitch won't be deprived of her motherly nature if you decide to spay her. There is no benefit to her for allowing her to breed a litter.She won't mind if you don't! I am currently on my second litter from Asha and it's been an emotional rollercoaster. I bred to keep a puppy for myself both times and aslo because I had a waiting list in place to home the pups. I had her healthtested, and then searched for months to find a suitable FTCh sire. She had 12 pups the first time and fortunately all survived but that wasn't without me sleeping with them for the first 3 weeks because Asha was growling at them and also squashing them when she laid down. 3 got very ill and I had to nurse them round the clock. It was very stressful and sickening for us all. She had 10 pups on Monday, one was stillborn and after a day and night of nursing another fading pup, I lost puppy number 2 at 1am today. Devestating. I haven't slept in my own bed for 5 nights, my back is aching, I feel like a zombie. I've got 2 weeks off work, but I'm housebound and it's long days and lonely nights. So far I have shelled out over £1100 with more in reserve for extra supplies, KC registrations and the chance of vets bills. It is stressful but it is also rewarding. I would definitely say you need to health test your bitch before doing anything else.
I have had 2 bitches left entire, the first one had to have a full mammory strip. The 2nd had pymetra. Both were speyed afterwards. I must admit it is nice not to have the mess around the house from a bitch in season and we can take them out 52 weeks of the year. So if I were you I would take a long hard look at the reason why you might want to breed from your girl and read the links in a previous post about breeding.
Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: Breeding or Spaying?
Helen-S wrote:
Sorry to put it blunt but if the only motive is "it would be nice for her to have litter" it is definitely a very wrong motive to breed from her.
Couldn't agree with you more on this point. That is the reason why there are so many litters of labradors. Hopefully the OP will come back in and see these posts and make the right choice.
____________ Hamish McHaggis aka Cricklecreek Caribou At Dunnabbey
Have you arranged for her to be hip and elbow scored and eye tested (as a minimum)?
Don't breed from her just because you might think it would be "nice" for her to become a mum. The way I look at it is that dogs do not anticipate parenthood the way we do. That is ascribing far too much human emotion to them. Some can be surprised and scared when they start giving birth to pups.
Breeding would not be for me. Too much heartache if things go wrong, exhaustion and very hard work, not to mention very expensive too. That is just my opinion, and therefore, I would spay.
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 8:49 am Post subject: breed or spay
Hi there
Quote:
I am in two minds as to wether I am going to breed or spay my bitch Pepper
These are really two separate issues and it might help you to make your decision if you consider them entirely independently.
You do not need to spay your bitch just because you decide not to breed from her, and you do not need to breed from her if you decide not to have her spayed.
If you want to spay your bitch to protect her from cancer, this needs to be done before her second season. Spaying after the bitch has had her second season confers no significant benefits in terms of reducing the risk of cancer, so if that is your concern and your bitch has already had her second season, there is no hurry to decide whether or not to spay for that reason.
Having a litter is, as I am sure you realise, a huge commitment and a lot of work, never mind the expense. You need to know exactly why you are doing it, what the risks are, and what you hope to get out of it. You might find it helpful to write out all the pros and cons, as well as reading all the articles and posts on the subject that you can get your hands on.
The important thing, whether you are looking at having your bitch spayed, or considering whether or not to breed from her, is to do your research and ask lots of questions.
That way you will have all the information you need to make the right decision.
This decision needs to be looked at in an entirely logical way not with a humanised viewpoint. She is a dog. I totally agree with molly99 that the decision to spay or breed are very seperate decisions.
Having a litter as others have said is expensive. Without the experience that I now have, I still spent a £800 on the first litter to ensure they were raised to the best of my ability, then having learnt an awful lot of lessons I spent a further £1600 this time around on my recent litter. These costs were ALL without emergency vet visits. I totally *shudder* at the idea of any vet bills on the top of these expenses.
It can very easily go horribly wrong - For example: the most recent being the two very new litters to this forum have lost puppies in each of their litters. How terribly gutting for these breeders who have put years of planning into those litters.
Having done it myself I would be a hypocrite to say outright dont do it. BUT what I will say is please do think very long and hard about it. Do your research, read up on all the tests, have an understanding of what the tests are actually for (ie dont just do it blindly - understand the implications of the results). Having a litter is hardwork. The labour can be very worrying when you dont know what to expect, once the pups are born you then worry about the health of the pups alongside the health of your bitch. It is a stressful time particularly when you are having to watch the puppies like a hawk, to ensure they dont get squashed. The expense if done properly or if emergency costs are added can outweigh the money you sell the pups for. It is a full time job caring and rearing the puppies and ensuring the bitch has all the extra meals she needs to sustain her nutrtional requirements for feeding the puppies.
Just as importantly (as the reasearch and health tests....) can you offer full support to the dogs you bring into the world - once they have left your home? So often pups go to their new homes it is all lovely until the new owner thinks what the hell have they done - then that poor pup ends up in a dogs home unless the breeder takes them back. If you dont "feel" responsible for those pups once they have left your house then you really shouldnt do it. If you do feel you can offer an aftercare package then *maybe* it is for you.
Good luck in your decision and please ask lots of questions as there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum. (you will need them if you go through with it).
Heidi
(edited to change figures - I spent £1600 this time around! not the £1300 I had originally put!)
edited a second time for poor grammar - so re-tweeked a bit!
Last edited by Marchstone on Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:17 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 9:53 am Post subject: Re: Breeding or Spaying?
Robisa666 wrote:
And if I spayed her, would I feel bad as she's so loving?
in answer to this question.
in a word "NO" !!
Her loving abilities will not be effected in the slightest by being spayed! If anything will improve as her hormones will settle down.
I find Molly gets quite grumpy for the week before she has a season then I feel tied down by keeping her confined whilst in season.
good luck with your decision - I have just noted you are a new member and have used up all of your posts - if you do go through with the breeding then I would 100% reccommend you become a member! it is worth the £10.
Heidi
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Breeding or Spaying?
