Late breeding

I was going to keep out of this one, but i wont.......

how good of a pet is your dog that you dont even know if its bred yet?!?!?
You seem very into all the awards and places, all the competitions to be won, and how the puppies will be 'showable'. you seem very concerned with the certificates. so much perhaps that you have lost sight of why you brought the dog?

I am a firm believer that dogs are for pets, if they are good at something in particular, take them to a show, see how they do, but dont have a dog especially to breed and show. Most people who do show their dogs get very into it, and then their dogs pay the price, many are mistreated, i hope this is not the case.

I have 4 dogs, 3 are girls, and ALL of them have bred. Each time i knew exactly when and where, and how far into their seasion they were when they had sex. I looked after the puppies with my family, they were brought up in a home where they were happy, loved, and were used to children, and other animals. One of my dogs came from a breeder, from living with her i realise the very noticable diffrences in her, and other dogs that i have had from breeders. In my opinion they do not make as good pets as the ones that come from breeders because they have not experienced the love from a home like the ones brouyght up with both parents, and people to really CARE for them.

I hope this is not the case this time, but i fear that it is seeing as you do not know if your dog will be breeding before her next season. I hope i haven't caused offence, but i cant help but be worried.

Fi xxx

 

How am I supposed to know if a dog has been bred when it is 12 hours away from me? If you read the update, my dog bred weeks ago, she bred with the male several times and I've had her back for a week now.

I have not lost sight of why I got Visa. I got her because I fell in love with her. I do not mistreat her, she is fed a prey-model RAW diet, I take her to work with me, she is my SERVICE DOG on days when my medication just isn't enough, she runs beside my bike with me almost everywhere I go, I take her to the beach several days a week, she's groomed every 2-3 weeks, I spend over $100 a week on toys and supplies alone, and hundreds on food each month. I am not a large breeder, she is my only dog (besides the female I am waiting out right now and fosters), and I will never have more than 4-5 dogs. I titer, I take her to a holistic vet, I spend 30 minutes to an hour training each day, I have agility equipment in my backyard and we still go to the agility field a couple of times a week. She goes on sleepovers at her breeder's house to play with the dogs. She is an inside dog. There is no way she is mistreated, she is my entire life. I am a dog groomer, I am treasurer of the local kennel club, I am a member of several canine associations, I know how to take care of my dog. The puppies are going to be born and raised until 8 weeks at Visa's breeder's house because my house is too quiet --- her house has 2 adult males, 2 adult females, 2 children, 2 cats, 4 dogs, and other pets and things for them to get used to. I understand the general temperment of my breed and know how important socialisation is, and just because they will stay with a "breeder" does not mean that they won't be cared for.

I am not too concerned about competing --- Visa is a competition dog. If you had a dog with the drive of a malinois, you would know that she could not live without sport. She would be a very unhappy dog. Think I enjoy going to agility class? Hell, no! I hate it; after working for 10 hours, the last thing I want to do is bike to a field and run around like a madwoman. But I do it because Visa loves it so much. I'm not concered at all about titles, as titles don't prove anything. Basically they are just fun to get. People do see them as a credential, which I don't believe in, but because they do I sport them as such.

I never got Visa with the intention to breed, in fact after her first litter (which is mandatory as it's in the contract) I was to spay her. However, I've been meeting more Belgians, hearing what people say about them, and realising that this is a breed in trouble. That is why I am going to dedicate my life to breeding wonderful Belgians and rescuing the ones in shelters.

BadBlackDog,
I am curious since your dogs have so much Johnsondale behind them like Candy --- She is definatly going through an ugly phase lol. Just wondering if she'll grow out of it? She has NO BONE, she is tiny, only 20.5 inches at 9 months. Her nose is waaay longer than her forehead and her head is quite flat and unparallel to her nose (though you can't tell that when her ears are up). Otherwise she is quite lovely, she has great movement. Did your dogs take a long time to get bone, and did you find that their planes changed quite a bit?

Here are some pictures of her.


See her planes here...

And Visa's size compared to her. I remember Visa's niece at 9 months was already as tall as her, just not so filled out. But Candy is 2 inches shorter.

Any advice?

 

Wow Fi I think you might want to educate yourself a bit more on responsible breeding of dogs. Responsible breeding often includes studying pedigrees and breeding to males which don't live with you. In doing such you may not know the exact moment your dog "had sex". You say dogs coming from "breeders" don't make as good of pets? As good of pets as what? Dogs coming from the wild? Anyone who produces a litter of puppies is a breeder so some dogs from breeders must make ok pets

Catahoula - Candy looks a lot like my Zette typewise. I was concerned Zette would be undersize for a long time. At 6-7 months I know she was still under as was Belle, Cherry and Jagger. I'm not sure in the 8-9 month range on height though. I know one of Cherry's siblings I measured at 20"ish at 9 months old but I haven't seen her since to say of she's grown or not.

Zette matured at just around 22" - so she's on the small side. Both of her parents are Sabree grandkids so she's tighly linebred there (and Jagger was already linebred). All of my girl dogs are under 50lbs and the tallest is 23". Boy Dog Jagger is 24.5" and 56lbs. Belle has quite a bit of substance for her height - she's quite a bit heavier boned than the others. The rest are fairly fine boned and "pointy".

My guess is on the size question as far as bone goes she is a totally different "type" than what you are used to. She will never have the bone Visa does IMO. She looks to have a slight Roman nose - not uncommon in the line (Belle is a bit that way too). The lines DO tend to be slow maturing so she by far isn't done growing and will still change. I think you really should wait and see what you like of her after she's more mature (maybe after she's been in season and isn't growning much any more?).

I have some pictures of my guys at different ages if you'd like to compare notes feel free to email me (don't want to have to DL them all to photibucket and make everyone here have to look at them all LOL). I'm AgileGSD@aol.com

BTW I'm assuming you've seen this but if not it has pictures of some of Candy's relatives! http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/8760/index.htm

Couple more "relatives" off the top of my faves list:

One of Jagger's sisters: http://www.signaturebsd.com/keera/Keera.html

Candy's father "Cash" (as a very hairy young dog LOL) and grandfather "Stormy".

 

Your dogs are soooo beautiful and obviously cared for and loved and appreciated.

It sure took a while for all the whining anti-breeders to appear. This thread has been up for like 2 months.

 

Okay, First, im very very glad to hear that you spend so much time with her, you seem very dedicated to your dog. Im sorry that i judged you. I think its fantastic that you realise your breeds needs and take her to agility classes and dont get carried away with the awards, which are fun to get, but i do know people who get very carried away, then breed their pets simply so they can win awards aswell, and they do mistreat their dogs. Shutting them in cages for most of the day. Im also very pleased that you have dedicated so much to helping a clearly troubled breed.

BadBlackDog, i was not saying there is anything wrong with dogs that come from 'breeders' as all dogs came from dogs that were bred. My point was simply that i have been to places where the dogs are shut in cages, again for long hours of the day, The puppies are seperated from the dad and are not given the appropriate socialisation that they require, do you see my point now? i just prefer dogs that come from breeders that have kept good care of them, and dont do it purely for the money.

P.S Visa looks lovely, well looked after, you should be very very proud, shes a fine dog.

 

okay, im sorry again if ive offended anyone, ive seen those crappy breedinh homes and theyre not good, and i worry. I hate to see dogs that are unhappy, which visa clearly is very happy