When is the appropiate time for my golden retriever to become pregnant?

Question

I have a couple of golden retrievers. The male is 4 years old and the female is not yet one year old (like 8 months). I want them to make puppies, but I don't know when would be an appropiate time for tasha (the female) to become pregnant. Of course, considering that the puppies should be healthy and that she would not be in danger.
Thank you for your comments.

Answer 1

The correct answer is "YES" if both of your dogs are
1. Your dog is registered with the Kennel Club of your country, and you have in your possession a five generation (minimal requirement) pedigree. You have personally seen at least the parents (and preferably several generations of relatives of your dog and know that they are true representatives of the breed.
2. The pedigree of your dog contains numerous champions in conformation, obedience and/or field work. This means at least 50- 75 percent of dogs named in the pedigree contain the abbreviation Ch. or OTCH. or Fld Ch. or CD, CDX, UD, TD in the dog's name. In addition, your dog has completed a championship in some recognized AKC/CKC or other recognized kennel club events. This proves your dog is a reasonable representative of the breed, and fits the conformational standard for your breed, making offspring produced by your dog an asset to future generations.
3.The pedigree of your dog is not in-bred or too closely line-bred. Common ancestors in the first and second generations is an example of in-breeding, in the third and further back generations, common ancestors indicate line-breeding, which is an accepted and desirable part of most top bloodline pedigrees.
4.Your dog is in excellent physical condition, suffers from no health problems, has good skin condition, is not allergic to anything, and is not obese or anorexic. You have kept your dog's vaccinations current and boosters of all vaccines have been given in the past four-to-eight months. Your dog has been examined by a qualified veterinarian in the past two-to-six months. Your female is at least two years of age (but not over six years of age), and has had at least two heat seasons. Your male is at least 12 months of age and not over 12 years of age.
5.You have researched the previous generations in your dog's pedigree and know what health problems have been seen in related animals. There is no history of hip or disc disease in the immediate relatives of your dog. There is no history of PRA or other eye diseases in the pedigree of your dog. You know that vWD and other immune mediated diseases are not a problem in the dogs in your dog's pedigree.
6.You have more than a few people wanting puppies from your dogs. This means deposits of cash to confirm a reservation on a puppy. It is amazing how, once the puppies are born, that Aunt Mabel is no longer able to have a puppy, or your neighbor bought a Schnauzer instead! Labrador litters can range from one to thirteen puppies. Common size of litters is eigth-to-eleven puppies. Litters of ten to thirteen are not unusual. You are prepared to keep the puppies for as long as it takes to find the perfect home for them, and you are also prepared that if at any time, one of the puppies you bred no longer has a home, you will take it back until you can find it a new home. You are also prepared to guarantee your puppies are sound and healthy and offer a minimum two-year hereditary defect guarantee. This means if the puppy you produced should fall seriously ill or die from a genetic or hereditary defect, you will give a full refund and/or pay the vet bills. You are also offering a 72 hour contagious disease guarantee.
7.You have the financial wherewithal to pay for any and all veterinary expenses. This means pre-breeding vet checks, vaccinations, worming updates, recommended health certifications like vWD and PRA, OFA, and so on. You will be vaccinating all the puppies with whatever vaccinations your veterinarian advises until they are sold to new homes. (This could mean four shots at some $30 to $50 per shot, per puppy.) You can afford to pay for a Caesarian-section ($600 to $1000) if a whelping goes wrong. You can afford to feed mom and the pups the top of the line premium dog foods. You realize that mom will eat three-to-four times her normal ration while lactating and puppies will consume vast quantities of food. You are able to stay home for up to a week during the due-date time and to be there for the entire whelping to help mom if needed. You are also prepared for supplementing the pup's food by bottle feeding every two-to-four hours, round the clock, if mom should be unable to feed them, or worse yet, die during whelping. (Yes, this is a risky thing to breed your female. They can and do suffer major complications in whelping.)
8.You have researched the pedigree of both parents to determine that the pedigrees are complimenting each other. The sire you choose for your female dog is chosen for his bloodlines and breed traits, rather than for his close proximity or free stud service! This means that desirable breed traits will be seen in both parents and undesirable breed traits will not be duplicated when breeding these two dogs together. If both parents are oversize, then expect the puppies to be too. If one or both parents have roaching toplines, or bad teeth alignment, or bad temperament, then expect the same in the puppies.
9.Both parents have proper Labrador temperament. No shyness, not aggressive to people or other dogs. They are happy and friendly to strangers and people they know alike. Your dog is a well adjusted member of your family without undesirable temperament traits that would be passed on to the offspring.
10.Your dog closely as possible fits the AKC/CKC Standard of conformation for the breed, is not over or undersize, and has correct coat, color and markings, level topline, good bite (teeth alignment, not the ability to gnaw on things!) proper front and rear structure, pleasing appearance and 'breed type.' The breeding of this dog will add valuable genes to the breed, and the resulting puppies will be an asset to future generations.

If you can not answer yes than please don't breed! There are countless unwanted animals, including purebred Labradors, ending up in shelters and rescue organizations because of irresponsible breeding.

Answer 2

first if you are asking this question, you are not ready to be the breeder of puppies; making puppies is more than just that; you have 2 dogs already, get ready to open your wallet for the mom and puppies; deworming; vaccinations, vet if something goes wrong; c section; just b/c your dog is female does not mean she will be a good mom; are you ready to eye dropper feed babies 24 x 7 if need be; have you checked out the horror stories here in yahoo answers of people asking why their puppies are dying or the mom had to have a c section; not to move on; how long has it been since you had many many puppies in the house? are you going to train them or sell them as is? are you going to advertise ? that costs money; people promise to take a puppy and then get ready for excuses; are you going to turn down people and screen them to give your puppies a great start? are you going to keep a pup or two if there are defects or problems? are you going to wait so the pups would be born when they there is the best advantage for them, spring; your female is 8 months , way to young; she isn't even an adult yet; best time after 2 yrs old ; her growth will be stunted if breeding too early and not healthy for puppies; do you like your grass? forget it if you have puppies, are you ready to give your entire time for 9 weeks to the puppy; clean their area several times a day; take them out, feed them, take them to the vet, nurture them so they will be use to being handled and loved? give them the time with Mom to learn ; ever had 9 puppies in the house running around; fine for first couple of weeks then look out; what if something happens to your female? There is no money in breeding if you do it right! Think this through or you could be like the other person who wanted to know why her 3 1/2 week old puppies were dying; there are a lot of nuts out there , look at the dog pound and shelters, they were all once loved puppies now look what happened to want to make puppies.

Answer 3

Well, you should wait until they are at least two. Three would be even better.

As for the over population of dogs, it is very sad. But look at the dogs that are in the shelters. They are mutts that no one wants. I know it's sad, I really do. But people do look for pedigree dogs. So we rely on breeders. If there aren't people breeding, we won't have genuine full bred dogs. So just be sensible about it. Each female should be bred no more than 3 times. After that, she needs to be retired. Keep all the dogs healthy.

Answer 4

If you know roughly the day on which they mated then you need to count 63 days from then and that is when she will have the puppies. You do not need to increase her food until she is 6 weeks into whelp and then you should give her a High protein Puppy Food (the same food on to which the puppies will be weaned when they are old enough) Her daily intake needs to be increased by one third - the best way to do this is to give her an extra meal in the middle of the day. As the pregnancy progresses she may need four to five meals per day - give her smaller quantities when she feels ready for food. Regular meal times need not be adhered to as it will not be unusual for her to refuse food for some part of the day due to discomfort from pressure on her abdomen organs by the enlarging uterus. In her last week of pregnancy she may refuse to eat anything. You have no need to worry about this - it is completely normal. Good luck. I hope all goes well with the whelping.

Answer 5

DON'T DO IT. DON'T DO IT. DON'T DO IT. DON'T DO IT.

With the homeless pet population being such a problem, I still cannot get over the fact that there are so many people out there (idiots) who want to breed their dogs just for fun. I honestly cannot believe the stupidity of these people. Are you honestly NOT aware that the shelters are crammed as it is? And you would probably only be adding more?

Why can't people get this through their thick skulls....don't breed. Spay or neuter your pets. You have no business even thinking about breeding, as you obviously know NOTHING about it....I mean, you don't even know WHEN your dog should get pregnant, doesn't that tell you something!!?? It tells me you have no knowledge or thought to animal welfare!!!!!!!!!!

Criminy!!!! All of these people wanting to have puppies are unbelievable!!!!!

Answer 6

1. She needs to be at least 3 years old so she is fully mature and grown herself.

2. After you have had her "health tested" for hip, eye and other breed specific problems that may arise. And she has to pass these.

3. If she is registered, AKC, etc.

4. If she is titled in show, agility, etc.

5. If she meets the breed standard. This all applies to your male as well.

You really should not breed her. Do a search for the breed on http://www.petfinder.com and see just a small number of them for adoption. Thousands more are killed each year.

If you breed her once, her and her puppies will potentially add thousands of dogs to death row, just from the ones they will produce.

Get them both fixed by purchasing an affordable spay/neuter certificate from http://www.friendsofanimals.org

Visit your local shelter, animal control, pound, etc to see all of the unwanted dogs, including retrievers as well as other breeds and mixes...

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 7

This question has already been answered far more skillfully than I had intended, but the answers are all the same. Please spay and neuter your Goldens and enjoy them as cherished family members. Don't risk their health and well-being for a few puppies that will only add to the unwanted pet population.

Answer 8

Please dont breed her we already have way too many animals out there in the world as it is and our local shelters and rescues are proof of that . Why add to it ? go work one day at shelter or rescue and come back and tell us that you still want to breed your dog . I think you will change your mind real quick. good luck and god bless and happy holidays.

Answer 9

Not before she is at least 2 years old,
Not before they BOTH have had and passed health testing such as OFA/PennHip on hips & elbows, CERF/PRA on eyes, thyroid, etc
Not before they both have been shown and pointed or earned their championship or have been evalauted by at least 3 unbiased knowledgable people/judges in the breed to insure they meet the breed standard,
Not unless they have impeccable pedigrees,
Not before you learn as much as possible about breeding, whelping, newborn care, etc

Answer 10

if you just cus breeding don't do it there is already such an overpopulation of dogs foster some puppies instead but if you've already paided stud two years is sufficient but a bit younger is also fine

Answer 11

at least! 2 years of age for sure. A 2 year old dog would be like an 18 year old girl.