<p>Hello. Most breeds of dogs are ok to be bred when they are starting their second heat cycle. I am also of the opinion that IF you are going to breed a dog, you want to do it before the bones set hard as this allows for more flexability of the pelvis for birthing.</p>
<p>This is of course dependant of the rate of maturity for your dog and the over-all health and wellness of your dog. It is a good idea to discuss with your vet your desire to breed so that you can start having test done to ensure that your dog does not have any genetic defects before you decide if your dog should be bred at all. You should also study, in depth, the Daschund Breed Description to ensure your dog is correct and is a good example of the breed. This type of over-all evaluation should not be decided until your dog has reached a full maturity within the specifications of your breed. I "judge" dogs for breeding on or about their 1st birthday. If there is something that I am questionable about, I wait until the dog reaches about 18 months or until such time that I believe the dog has fully matured in one direction or another before I determine if a dog is suitable for passing on its traits.</p>
<p>Another thing to study up on is the genetic diversity of your breed. If your breed has already been too closely bred, you will reduce the gene pool by breeding to dogs that are too closely related. This is the primary cause of genetic defects and some types of cancer. (More reasons why you have the testing done at your vets office.)</p>
<p>Once you determine your dog is healthy enough, correct enough, and has a desirable personality... Now you have to select a Mate for your dog based on everything you have learned if you did some studying before deciding to breed your dog. This can be very difficult because every single dog owner sees their dog as "One of the Best" (Loving a dog and the amount of money spent on a dog both contribute to this behaviour) and will tell you all sorts of reasons why you should choose their dog. Good Luck on this part as it is 50% of the information that will go "in to the Pot" for making your potential puppies.</p>
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<p>http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/pet_overpopulation_and_ownership_statistics/hsus_pet_overpopulation_estimates.html</p>
<p>Above is a link with more accurate numbers of pets who have some sort of interaction with the Humane Society of the United States. It shows the percent of dogs that are euthanized by the Humane Society and other shelters. It also shows the percentage of all Purebred animals who go through any type of shelter. This includes Breed Specific Only Shelters where dogs are commonly surrendered by Senior Citizens who can no longer keep their pets for various changes in their health conditions. I think if you study the numbers that you will find that PureBred dogs are not very common occurrances in most shelters. The more common problem is Cross bred animals and there are various reasons for this if you care to study up on the actual statistics. This site also dictates the average puppy litter as being 6 - 10. I have bred Chihuahuas since 1980 and in my experience, I have come to expect 2 to 5 puppies per litter on average.</p>
<p> http://www.canine-genetics.com/ As a starting place to start understanding why genetics are an important responsibility of any breeder, (and yes, one litter makes you a breeder by most state laws.) I recommend reading the various articals you will find on this site. I would encourage you to research other sources of information as this can really make a difference in the health of any puppies you may be responsible for producing.</p>
<p>Breeding dogs correctly is a large responsibility and of course, dogs can not always tell us when something is wrong so if your dog should have any complications during her pregnency or birthing process... you may not even know she is in trouble and she could very well die. There are thousands of people who have posted their stories on the internet about their dogs that died while they were pregnent or while birthing. Some who are lucky enough to get their dogs to the vet in time to do surgery (c-section) are still not lucky enough to get to take their dog or any of the puppies home... all they get is a great big vet bill and a broken heart. You should discuss this part with your vet too.</p>
<p>I also agree, if all you want is a puppy... adopt or buy a puppy. Breeding is a lot of work and responsibilities and some states have laws which make you guarantee the health of the puppy for a specific period of time. Are you prepared to take responsibility for the risk of losing your beloved dog and for the health of any puppies you will ask her to produce for the life of the puppies? If so... Welcome to dog breeding. If not... Please think really hard before you do something that you are not prepared to deal with.</p>
<p>Good Luck with your decision. My hope of writing this was to give a better idea of what you should think about... not to rant and ramble (although, I did a good job of that too *smiles*)</p>
<p>Give your Girly some good belly scratches from me.</p>