Dog Breeding Information

We recently bred our AKC mini dachshunds and just days before the new year, we were given four beautiful puppies.

In our search to know what better to expect from the whelping process, I noticed a severe lack of information. Most questions asked seemed to gather responses such as "Well if you don't know, you shouldn't breed" or "Get your dog spayed". This isn't helpful to new folks who breed for a reason! I am not a vet, this is simply what I've learned and encountered from folks willing to teach me!

Now, under no circumstances do I advocate breeding mutts. Breeding dogs isn't something you should do as a "learning experience", either for yourself or a child.

However, if you choose to breed your dog, here are a few things to expect.

In the Beginning:

So you want to breed! Your female will go in to heat for approximately three weeks. The second week of her heat cycle is considered to be the time when she has the greatest fertility. Dogs can begin their cycle as early as 6 months, though it does take some breeds much longer. Our dachshund female came in to season at 8 months and has an 8 month cycle. *NEVER breed your dog on her first heat!* You don't want "puppies having puppies", as my husband says.

So, your gal is at least a year old and in heat! Awesome. Now you need a suitable stud. Make sure to know about color problems in your breeds- for example, breeding a merle to a merle (or dapple to dapple, the markings are the same, but named differently in different breeds) can produce puppies with serious birth defects!

The dogs will "lock" or "tie" during the breeding. This can last from 2 minutes up to 30 or 45 depending on the dog. It is during this time that the male's sperm is actually released. Make sure to be around, some females freak out and will run, dragging the poor male along, which can cause serious injury to him- including ending his breeding career. The dogs will most likely end up "butt-to-butt" in this process, so don't panic, that's normal and not hurting the male!

If you own the stud, try to space breedings 24 hours apart for five days. This gives him time to rebuild his sperm and the five days helps ensure she'll take.

You won't know for a while if she actually has caught. We noticed an increase of appetite and slight behavior change in our girl. For instance, always the second to take her treat, she started snapping it out of the surprised jaws of our male!

We also noticed an increase in nipple size on our female, who had never been bred before. That was really the confirming factor for us, at least until she began showing.

Do increase the food intake of your female dog, but avoid fatty table scraps. The goal is to keep her at a healthy weight for her pregnancy. If she gets obese, it can lead to whelping complications. You may want to add a daily walk with her to your routine, or at least extra run around/play time.

Dog gestation is 58-63 days, so mark the week on your calendar. Then, don't make plans for a week after that! If you've bred your female multiple times, she has multiple due dates- she may not have conceived until the 5th day of breeding, throwing your time table off! Dogs have been known to go earlier and later than the range above, so try to have everything ready for her whelping a week in advance.

The Second hub will be concerned with actual whelping :).