Advice on breeding poodles?

Question

My co-worker has a 2 year old female poodle and I have a 9 year old male poodle/pomeranian mix. We want to breed them. But we're both new to this and were wondering if there were any other factors that we should consider (we've already factored health, costs, homes, size, and temper). Any advice is appreciated.

To everyone answering, I`m asking for advice, please! Not opinions. My co-worker and I plan on keeping most if not all of the puppies. Yes, I have the time and money to do so. Yes, I plan to have both parents tested. Yes, I will take every precaution in case something may go wrong. Advice, PLEASE! How do I introduce them? How long does the pregnency last? When can i handle pups? Etc. Thank You

Answer 1

You also want to be sure the male is fertile, because he is getting into an age group where infertility can be a problem. You may also want to ask the vet about artificial insemination because getting two dogs together often isn't as easy as you expect. You can try for hours to achieve a breeding, only to have the male not aim right, or have the female start hopping around right when the male seems to have his act together etc. (And all the time, you will be saying why is it, if your dog met a mutt in the street, there would be no problem, but since its a breeding you want, the two cant get it together?) This is the time when artificial insemination can be a lifesaver if you want puppies. Generally a female goes into heat, and for the first 11 to 13 days, has a light red bloody discharge. As she gets closer to the 11th to 13th day, the color usually becomes more clear, the vulva swells and becomes soft, and the female will start "flagging" (putting her tail to the side and showing her vulva to the male). Most breeders try on the 11th day, 13th, 15th etc, whichever day the two first actually tie or an AI is done, and then a second breeding two days later. The ***** may stay in receptive heat up to the 17th day, and then as she goes out of heat, her discharge turns dark red and she starts getting grouchy if the male tries to mess with her. The entire length of an average heat cycle is 21 days. However, the vet can also do vaginal smears jof a ***** in heat and look at the smear under a microscope and tell you how close she is to ovulating. Heat cycles do vary from average. I had one ***** who always accepted a male on the 15th day for the first time, and I had one that would accept on 11th day but two days later, wouldn't. Sometimes one can double cycle, come into a light heat, where they have the light red discharge and then it quits in a few days and then a couple of weeks to a month later, they come into a regular cycle.
Average gestation is 63 days for a dog, from the day of the first breeding. Puppies can be born as early as 58 days fron first breeding, or as late as 72, although the latest I ever had with German Shepherds was 65. Large litters tend to be born earlier, small litters tend to be born later. Between the 24th and 28th day after the first mating, an experienced vet can palpate the female and feel the puppies in the uterus, if she is pregnant. At this stage they are large enough to feel, and solid enough to feel. In later pregnancy an xray can tell if the female is in whelp or not, if she isn't obviously pregnant (meaning an enlarged uterus). A ***** can have all the symptoms of pregnancy except the enlarging uterus, and be going through false pregnancy, and even make milk. Thats why, sometimes a breeder will have a vet check a female in late pregnancy that doesn't show uterine enlargement. The vet can often feel the skeleton of a one or two puppy litter and if theres doubt, then an xray can be taken to determine if theres a pregnancy or false pregnancy.
You should assist the female when she whelps and handle the pups from the first. Some females are good mothers, others don't know what to do, and the puppy needs to get the sac off its face and be stimulated into breathing when its born. Also, the pups need to be kept on a heating pad on a towel on low, or some other source of warmth as newborn pups cannot control their own body temperature and if they can get chilled, can easily die. A first time mother often will shove pups into corners of the whelping box, etc, when feeling contractions for the next birth, and if unattended, those pups would likely just die from chilling. Many breeders remove the pups as they are born, when the mother starts showing contractions for the next pup, and puts them in a small crate sitting on a heating pad, to keep them warm and out of the way until the mother has finished whelping. Newspaper is the best bedding for a whelping pen, being cheap, absorbent, and having antibacterial properties in the newsprint. After the mother has finished whelping, change the papers and put down new ones, the papers will be soaked from all the fluids of births anyway, and then settle mom and new babies in the whelping pen. If she curls around them, good, if not then you may want to hang a brooder lamp that is made for using with baby chicks (sold at most agricultural stores) over the whelping pen (be sure you have it hung high enough to keep them from getting too hot but low enough to keep them warm), or else put a heating pad under a side of the whelping box, set on low. Check the pups often to make sure the mother is keeping them by her body and warm. Warmth is so vital for a newborn puppy, and its so easy for a new mother to get a puppy shoved in a corner, stuck behind her, etc, when she gets up and turns around, etc. A healthy newborn puppy feels firm and wiggly, a puppy with a health problem will usally feel limp. Healthy newborns have a pink tongue, and pups with problems will have more of a grayish pink look to the tongue. The first 24 hours, healthy newborns are usually a little noisy, making little whimpers as they nurse. After that, they usually are very quiet for the next couple of weeks, eating, sleeping, and sometimes protesting when their mother cleans their rears (for the first few weeks of life a puppy doesn't urinate or defecate until the mother cleans them, which is natures way of keeping the nest clean). After the pups are born, you will want the vet to check the mother to be sure she hasn't retained a placenta and that her uterus is shrinking down as it should. Retained placentas can cause a life threatening uterine infection. These things are all covered in detail, in the book below.

A great book to get is Dog Owners Home Veterinary Handbook by Carlson and Giffin. It has an excellent section on mating, whelping, care of puppies, and things such as how to tie cords if the puppy has a bleeding cord, etc, as well as a ton of other good info on all sorts of dogs medical conditions. It has a good illustration of how to tube feed puppies and much more, and I would recommend you get that book and have it handy, because it tells you how to do so many things, in a clear and easy to understand way!

Answer 2

It's best to take the female to the male on his territory. He will not feel comfortable away from his turf and the female my not get bred. I would bring her over a few days after she has started bleeding and leave her there for about two weeks to make sure the job is done. Just like humans they ovulate at different times and it's better to have them breed too soon then too late. Feed the dog high quality puppy food throughout the pregnancy, she needs the extra calories. The pregnancy will last just over two months, and it can depend on the size of the breed as well. At around 7 weeks gestation it's advisable to have her x-rayed to see how many pups there are so you know how many to expect. That late in the pregnancy the radiation will not harm the pups any. When the female is close to the end moniter her temp, you will notice a significant drop when she's close to delivery. When she does deliver make sure the puppies are out of the sack, their noses are clear, and dip the cord in iodine and tie it about half an inch from the body to make sure it doesn't get infected. I've heard dental floss works well. You can and should handle the pups daily to make sure they are of healthy weight and do not have any obvious problems. In a large litter you may have to supplement the runt. Dew claws if you wish to have them removed must be done before they are 3 days old. The vet will do it for around 5 dollars a pup. They must be wormed at 4 and 6 weeks and should have their first shots at 6 weeks. Introduce solids around 3 weeks soaked in water or puppy formula. Any other questions feel free to e-mail me.

Answer 3

What precisely is the objective? Are you no longer quickly decrease than the impression that breeding the two will magically bring about each and all of the doggies inheriting purely the poodle coat? Genetics do no longer artwork that way, and confident, even an experienced, respected breeder (who could in no way purposefully breed mutts) could be waiting to do little or no longer something to help her whelp. Vet care is in no way an option, fairly no longer in such an sick-recommended experience, yet there is little your vet could be waiting to do to help the two. a ethical vet could recommend a promptly emergency spay. What distinction does it make what share doggies she must be donning? If she will't carry them to term (odds are particularly low), you ought to have a clutter of untimely doggies which will die presently while they are born. what's it as we talk that each and every physique feels they must reproduce their pets at any value?

Answer 4

You should be reading books and asking your veterinarian. You shouldn't be breeding these dogs. Even if you PLAN on keeping MOST of the puppies. Want another dog-check out your local shelter or go to petfinder.org and look at the thousands that will never have homes. AKC website has some info on breeding-but if you are breeding-the person you should look to first is the veterinarian. If you do it right-you will have spent several hundred dollars before you get anywhere.

Answer 5

First - Why more mutts.

Second - nine years??

Third - Ask your self to reflect on all the championship shows these dogs won to make it profitable to breed them. Not just profitable monitarily but to improve the quality of dogs in society. I

Oh - no awards. Don't breed. Take a walk with your coworker to the shelter at lunch bet you don't eat or you regurgitate.

Fourth - If you truly insist on breeding go to a dog show and talk to the dog owners of the real "TOP QUALITY" dogs that need to breed to keep the breed alive. So many are breeding and destroying the quality of breeds. LITERALLY DESTROYING THE QUALITY!!!

Answer 6

Why take up backyard breeding with a 9 year old MIX????

Advice....spay and neuter. Especially the boy. If she desires to bree...she ought to find a POODLE and one that is younger than 9.

Another bit of advice....this is NOT the place to get that kind of information!!!! Do some research on your own. Read,look at websites,talk to breeders,talk to your vet. That way you have a better chance of getting GOOD information.......not just crap from other backyard breeders.

Answer 7

I know you do not want opinions but I giving mine. Don't. You have a mutt, which means the pups can't be sold or showed. And I highly doubt you two will keep all eight or so of the pups.

They will just end up in a shelter.