German Shepherd Breeding Question?

Question

We have a 2year old female German Shepherd (American bred) and a 1 year and 9 month old male German Shepherd we picked up as a puppy in Germany. We would love to have one set of puppies before we have our female neutered. She is in heat now but our Male (even so he is very interessted) does not exactly know the wheres and the hows. It is funny for us to watch but pretty frustrating for him. Our female is giving him a hart time as well, everytime he is almost there, she sits down or growls at him. We don't want to force it and just take it whenever it should happen, if it wouldl take another year or two that is fine with us as well.
However may be somebody has similar experience and figured out how to help out nicely. Thanks (:

Yes, both dogs have papers including pedegrees and are AKC registered. And no i don't want to show of become a breeder either.
We have a very old golden retriever (16 years old) and we thought it would be nice to have a puppy, so she can teach the puppy like she did with our Shepherds too.
And yes both had hipp and ellbow x rays which came out good.
Our dogs are family dogs and we are not showing and never will, we will not have a puppy mill either

Thanks you all so much for your answers, nobody sounds really encouraging and i for sure don't want to jepodize the health of my dogs at all. You guys might be right, it is a selfish thought. If nothing did happend already, i will have "Ghia" spayed" not neutered as soon as she is done with her current heat.

Answer 1

I assume you are asking how to be a responsible breeder. :-)

1. Contact a breed club for your breed. Ask for a mentor.
2. STUDY the breed standard. Learn about dog anatomy and ask your mentor to
clarify anything you don't understand.
3. Learn what genetic faults and diseases run in your breed and test for any
that can be tested for.
4. Show your dog in conformation events to see if it is of the proper
quality for breeding. Winning doesn't always mean a dog is breeding quality,
but being around so many others that know your breed and will talk to you
will do wonders for your self-education efforts!
5. Study the past history of great dogs in your breed. You will see how your
breed has improved and progressed since the beginning of the breed.
6. Study the breed standard some more! ;-)
7. Join any Yahoo groups about your breed.
8. Live, dream and study your breed.
9. Get a good book on canine reproduction, and educate yourself about the
pitfalls, problems, and proud moments of breeding. Learn about the
physiology of reproduction, such as heat cycles and venereal diseases in
dogs, potential for problems specific to your breed, and what you need to
expect at whelping.
10. Remember that whelping (giving birth) can kill your female. Being used
as a stud dog can encourage bad behaviors common in intact males such as
territorial marking, aggression, and desire to roam from home.
11. Prepare to be broke. Breeding properly is EXPENSIVE.
12. Line up potential homes for any puppies you produce and write up a
contract. Remember to include that you will be willing to take back your
puppies at any time in their lives that they might need you. If you bring
life into this world, it is your responsibility FOREVER.
13. Prepare to spend sleepless nights attending whelping females, caring for
fading puppies or puppies orphaned, and practice cleaning up after 24/7 poop
machines.

I'm sure there are many things I missed because being a responsible breeder
isn't just a job. It's a way of life. You will live dogs. 24/7/365. There
are lots of hard decisions. There is a lot of expense. There will be pain.
But, if you do your darndest to always keep the welfare of your dogs and the
future of any of their offspring, you can go to step 14.

14. Enjoy the love and success of a job well done.

Answer 2

you probably need to do some research on breeding. If your're breeding just to breed for pups, it may be more trouble than it's worth. If they are show quality with papers, then that's a different story. she will stand when she is ready, if she's snapping at him...it's not time. You only have like a 2-3 day window during the heat cylce for breeding even though she may be in heat for 2 weeks or so. You will also need to help him if he just doesn't get it. If you've never bred before, you may want to talk with your veterinarian about the risks that you are taking with your pets. You have to be prepared for lots of expendatures as well as any problems or complications that may arise. You sometimes even have to have c-sections, and there can even be death to your pups or the female. This may sound scary, but these are things that can happen to females. It's much healthier to spay then to have a litter.

Answer 3

Please reconsider. You have nothing to offer the future of the breed with such a poorly planned breeding. I didn't hear you mention ANY health testing done on either of the dogs, nor temperament or structural evaluations so likely this is just a pet to pet attempt by someone who doesn't sound like they know what they are doing in the first place. Spay your ***** - she doesn't NEED to be bred and the world sure doesn't need another litter of poorly bred, poorly placed dogs.

Do you KNOW the health issues associated with the GSD? Do you know the health issues behind both of your dogs? Do you know if they have good breed type and temperament at all? Seperate the two now before you get your male prostatitis or before they DO breed which is not adviseable at all. Learn about the breed - train both of these dogs and learn about temperament and structure - learn what the breed problems and assets are and find someone to help mentor you so that you aren't just another of the overabundance of back yard breeders that fill our shelters, rescue and body piles with unwanted and unplaceable dogs.

Answer 4

Uhmmm.. He is young.. If you just let him goof around.. you might find that he gets hurt.. And then he'll never want to breed girls.. Funny thing.. Males really don't like to get beat up by a girl.. It can make them funky if you want to breed them in the future.. so sit around and laugh and when someone gets hurt, you'll have learned your lesson.. He is still young yet.. Why don't you at least let him grow up.. You should do more research before you breed your dogs.. You don't even know that females are spayed not neutered.. and you can't figure out how to get 2 dogs to breed.. Good luck whelping a litter..

Opps what i meant to say

Don't worry about it. It's natural for them to breed.. Lock them in a room together.. music in, dimmed lights and just sit back and wait.. If you hear horrible screaming like she is killing him... It's probably part of the whole breeding process. Besides.. what could possibly happen, it's natural right???

Answer 5

Sure did, and had the male and female fixed because I didn't know any more about genetics of dogs and breeding than they did.

You really should do the same, you don't show the dogs, you haven't researched all the bloodlines, so why on earth would you even want to breed them.

Keep them safe by getting them altered - they're pets, not champions of the breed.

Answer 6

As a nation, we claim to love cats and dogs. Millions of households have pets, and billions of dollars are spent yearly on pet supplies and food. But as a nation, we should take a hard, sobering look at a different annual statistic: the millions of dogs and cats given up to shelters or left to die on the streets. And the numbers tell only half the story.

Every cat or dog who dies as a result of pet overpopulation—whether humanely in a shelter or by injury, disease, or neglect—is an animal who, more often than not, would have made a wonderful companion, if given the chance. Tremendous as the problem of pet overpopulation is, it can be solved if each of us takes just one small step, starting with not allowing our animals to breed.

5 million animals are left in shelters every year to die because they are not enough homes to house them. I hope you take a long look at all the animals left in shelters and then decide whether to breed or not. You may be just one person but if you dont breed your dog then you will already lower the population of dogs in shelters and have done your job.

Answer 7

Don't you mean 'spay' the female. I don't think they can take balls off a girl! Ha!

If you don't know that then you should do way more research on breeding dogs before breeding her.

Answer 8

Sure... how are your dog's and b*tch's hips? Do you have OFA numbers for hips/elbows? How about a CERF certificate as well as certification for normal heart and thyroid? Have you talked to your b*tch's breeder (breeders are usually pretty decent mentors)?

Have you done a smear on her to check for cornification?
Have you had both dogs been tested for brucellosis (a dog std)?

Can you share your OFA links with us? They look like this: http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=726924#animal

I'm always looking for well-bred dogs....

Answer 9

Sorry, but you have no business breeding dogs. Leave it to the those knowledgeable about the breed and committed to producing sound, sane quality OFAed, temperament tested GSDs!

Answer 10

We have experienced the same with may farm animals.....I will NOT give you a 14 bullets to try and give you a great answer. BUT think about it were you a pro the first time and were people watching you in judgment?
Have faith they will figure it out give them a good environment to work in leave them alone.

P.S. Also you don't neuter females.