# How old before my male should mate



## slefferd

Typically how old should a GSD be before he mates with a female? I would assume he should be at least 18 months, but whats everyones opinion on the age?


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## Dr89

lots of questions coming your way.


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## onyx'girl

Age isn't as important as what the health tests, genetics, temperament bring to the match...18 months is still a pup, but can reproduce much younger(_though shouldn't_). 
Have you read this?
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...r/149386-should-i-breed-my-dog-flowchart.html


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## arycrest

Some of the health tests that your boy should have like OFA certification can't even be done until 2 years of age.


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## DharmasMom

18 months is too early. You need to have his hips and elbows OFA certified first and they need to be at least 2 before you can do that.

Also what is it about you male that makes him breed worthy? What titles have you put on him? He needs to have been shown or worked and have some titles to show that his temperament is sound and that he has qualities that are desirable to be passed on.

Also, what does is pedigree look like? You need to be able to provide a pedigree that goes back several generations.


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## slefferd

Before you all get too crazy, im only looking for an age here, not a million questions on "why I want to breed my dog" etc.


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## JakodaCD OA

well here's your answer. 2 years of age AFTER the dog is OFA'd hips/elbows, and titled.


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## DharmasMom

Sorry, but the title of this thread is "How old before my male should mate". Which directly implies you are planning to breed. That is a VERY hot topic on this board and people ARE going to ask questions.

People here are not going to help or support someone they feel is going to be irresponsible in breeding and bringing new puppies into this world. HOWEVER, if you are willing to prove that you are interested in being responsible and doing what is necessary to better the breed than you will find that people will be more than happy to help and VERY forthcoming with information.


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## onyx'girl

The thing is there are so many stud dogs available that are titled, amazing pedigree, no health concerns, etc. 
You have to make certain your dog is just as special or no-one will give him a second glance. 
Most importantly, he should provide a good match to the female. This comes with experience of the breeder knowing bloodlines.


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## slefferd

Dharmasmom- Thanks for the info. I 'm sure people come here a lot asking these types of questions, I see a lot of them myself. People are going to do what they want to do, all that we can do is educate, the decision is soley their own, weather they choose to do it the correct way or not. 
JakeodaCD- Thanks, but I only needed an age. 

This is a hot topic indeed, but no one really has and ideas what my plans are, yet they started jumping out of the wood works to give me that flow chart, and give me 100 reason why I shouldnt breed my dog. I guess there are a lot of high horses around here. 

Anyways, to make you all feel a little better, I do not have any plans to breed my dog. I wanted to know for other reasons. Ie; hip cert, neutering, buying a female partner etc.


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## slefferd

Onyx- I know, and have no intrest in becoming a breeder. Thqnk you for the info, I know I probably sound rude or like an a hole. I dont mean to, it just seemed like I was attacked with answers to questions I didnt ask.


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## onyx'girl

I think you should have worded your question differently then. The word "should" meant to me that you are planning on breeding him.


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## PaddyD

Dr89 said:


> lots of questions coming your way.


Big surprise. :crazy:

The OP hung the question out there like a big pinata. But came back with a good follow-up.


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## Lilie

slefferd said:


> Dharmasmom-
> This is a hot topic indeed, but no one really has and ideas what my plans are, yet they started jumping out of the wood works to give me that flow chart, and give me 100 reason why I shouldnt breed my dog.* I guess there are a lot of high horses around here. *


Do not confuse the love and concern for our breed with a person who looks down on you from their high horse. 

You've only started this thread for your amusement. You've been around long enough on this forum to know that it could become a hot topic. I certainly hope you aren't disappointed.


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## Liesje

Not enough info given. Your male should mate when he is mature. WHEN that is depends on the lines of your dog. We cannot tell you with no information about the dog, nor should you listen to us throw out some arbitrary number. One of my males is 3 years in a few months and he already has several titles plus OFA and all that yet I do not consider him fully mature and have not entertained breeding him.


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## DharmasMom

Honestly if you had been that upfront in your first post then this would have been easier. Male dogs become fertile around 6-8 months roughly. So if you are thinking of getting a female you would need to either neuter, wait on the female if you want to wait to get him neutered, or be EXTREMELY vigilant to prevent an accidental mating. 

And yes, people come here all the time wanting to breed their pretty dogs. But they do not want to be responsible in any way. It is not that people are on high horses, it's that there are way to many dogs dying in shelters every day. Great dogs who don't deserve the fate they are given. And too many people willing to just breed more. And there are a WHOLE lot of us that are just tired of seeing good dogs die. 

No one wants to hurt your feelings or make you mad, we really just want to protect the dogs.


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## PaddyD

DharmasMom said:


> Honestly if you had been that upfront in your first post then this would have been easier. Male dogs become fertile around 6-8 months roughly. So if you are thinking of getting a female you would need to either neuter, wait on the female if you want to wait to get him neutered, or be EXTREMELY vigilant to prevent an accidental mating.
> 
> And yes, people come here all the time wanting to breed their pretty dogs. But they do not want to be responsible in any way. It is not that people are on high horses, it's that there are way to many dogs dying in shelters every day. Great dogs who don't deserve the fate they are given. And too many people willing to just breed more. And there are a WHOLE lot of us that are just tired of seeing good dogs die.
> 
> No one wants to hurt your feelings or make you mad, we really just want to protect the dogs.


Well said, and not a high horse in sight.
A lot of people don't do the simple math that for every puppy they bring into
the world they are potentially taking the place of another puppy/dog on death row.


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## DharmasMom

Something everyone who just wants to breed "one litter" from their pretty dog for their "family and friends" should think about. This is from Heidi's Legacy's website





> In six years, one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs.


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## slefferd

Lilie said:


> You've only started this thread for your amusement. You've been around long enough on this forum to know that it could become a hot topic.


Again, Lilie, Thanks for telling me what I am doing, looking for, or what I am thinking and the motive behind my search for information. Although you provided me so eloquently with the aforementioned material, I did not ask "why I started the thread"


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## slefferd

Your right, there are not really stuck up people around here. Everyone is usually very nice. I mis spoke. 
I guess there are more mind readers and psychics than anything  anyhow, water under the bridge. I got the information I was looking for. Thanks all who answered my question


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## Lilie

slefferd said:


> Again, Lilie, Thanks for telling me what I am doing, looking for, or what I am thinking and the motive behind my search for information. Although you provided me so eloquently with the aforementioned material, I did not ask "why I started the thread"


You're welcome! Always glad to help.


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## Emoore

slefferd said:


> I do not have any plans to breed my dog. I wanted to know for other reasons. Ie; hip cert, neutering, *buying a female partner* etc.


This doesn't make any sense. You don't plan to breed your dog; you want to know how old he should be to mate so you can buy a female partner?

In the South we call this "crawfishing."


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## onyx'girl

Could be he _doesn't_ want an oops litter, so wants to know what age they are mature enough physically to reproduce? Wishful thinking on my part?


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## robinhuerta

To the OP...
Whether you choose to breed or not is solely your decision.
...IF you do consider to breed later....please consider doing the minimum of at least 2 small (but important) factors...

1) wait till at least 2 yrs old.
2) either OFA your dogs (male or female) in both hips and elbows.
*If not OFA...then the German A-stamp (which can be done for dogs over the age of 12mos old.)
...just my opinion...


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## slefferd

Emoore said:


> This doesn't make any sense. You don't plan to breed your dog; you want to know how old he should be to mate so you can buy a female partner?
> 
> In the South we call this "crawfishing."


First of all, who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn’t buy? Stop trying to impose your ideas on me. I never said I wanted to buy a female partner to mate. Since when is it given that a person with a male and a female dog have them solely for breeding purposes? Stop putting words in my mouth. I do believe I said I was not interested in mating them. God forbid I want a dog of each sex. There sure are some judgmental people around here. Don’t you have something better to worry about than what sex's of dogs I prefer? Why don’t you stay in the south and continue to sit around talking about who is or isn’t "crawfishing" as you call it. (actually, craw fishing is two words)

Regardless of what anyone here says, I as well as most of the others are going to ask for advice, take that information into account, and make our own decision and do what they please. You may think otherwise, but your opinion is just that, an opinion. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, it’s just an idea. I came here asking for facts, what I do with those facts isn’t any of your business.

To those of you that kept your personal beliefs to to yourself, thank you for a good information.


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## RazinKain

slefferd said:


> First of all, who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn’t buy? Stop trying to impose your ideas on me. I never said I wanted to buy a female partner to mate. Since when is it given that a person with a male and a female dog have them solely for breeding purposes? Stop putting words in my mouth. I do believe I said I was not interested in mating them. God forbid I want a dog of each sex. There sure are some judgmental people around here. Don’t you have something better to worry about than what sex's of dogs I prefer? Why don’t you stay in the south and continue to sit around talking about who is or isn’t "crawfishing" as you call it. *(actually, craw fishing is two words)*
> 
> Regardless of what anyone here says, I as well as most of the others are going to ask for advice, take that information into account, and make our own decision and do what they please. You may think otherwise, but your opinion is just that, an opinion. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, it’s just an idea. I came here asking for facts, what I do with those facts isn’t any of your business.
> 
> To those of you that kept your personal beliefs to to yourself, thank you for a good information.


actually, crawfishing is _one_ word, just as Emoore wrote it. But honestly, you've been here long enough to predict the type of responses you were gonna get with this post. For the record, I could care less what you do with your dog, but you're all bent out of shape because you poked at the beast and it snarled at you.


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## Dogaroo

Crawfishing? Or trolling?


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## slefferd

I may stud my dog out just to be spitefull


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## Jessiewessie99

This thread is a joke. You titled your thread "How old before my male should mate?"so when people read that, they assumed you were planning on breeding him. People gave you answers and you got defensive. You have been on this board long enough to know its a heated topic, and you still made this thread.


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## slefferd

Jessiewessie99 said:


> This thread is a joke. You titled your thread "How old before my male should mate?"so when people read that, they assumed you were planning on breeding him. People gave you answers and you got defensive. You have been on this board long enough to know its a heated topic, and you still made this thread.


Dont ever assume anything.

and btw, the previous post was a joke, so dont all of you go and get your panties or underwear (whichever you prefer) wadded up into a ball.


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## Lucy Dog

slefferd said:


> Dont ever assume anything.
> 
> and btw, the previous post was a joke, so dont all of you go and get your panties or underwear (whichever you prefer) wadded up into a ball.


So what was the point of your question? Did you honestly not expect people to react the way they did. You didn't become a member today, so you're not new. What exactly was the point of your question because I'm completely lost here..?


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## selzer

People use OFA as the reason that 2 would be the youngest. I disagree with this reason, as you can penn hip at one year. I believe the a-stamp is also 1 year or 18 months, not sure. 

I bred a dog too young, at a year old, and did not have any negative side-effects of doing so, though perhaps I was lucky. As you are asking opinions, I personally think you should wait until a dog has his adult/mature temperament set. For a first dog, or for a first time breeder, this can be really hard to gage. A dog may seem physically mature, and certainly sexually capable at ten months old, but rarely is a ten month old dog mature, as in having his adult temperament. 

I think this is why it is helpful to wait until a dog is titled, you can tell a lot about the dog's trainability, drives, aggression, mental state, in the process of training and trialing your dog. A veteran can probably determine overall character without going the distance with every single dog, but most people out there should probably have the dog titled in something. 

While you can manage this under two, I think the better breeders want to ensure that their dog is actually mature before breeding them. And dogs generally take 2.5 to 3 years to be there.


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## RazinKain

slefferd said:


> I may stud my dog out just to be spitefull


I'm sure you will, and that's your business. You've already gotten the information you were looking for but yet you continue to stoke the fire. There must not be anything good on Nickelodeon tonight.


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## Germanshepherdlova

*Joke on you*



Lucy Dog said:


> So what was the point of your question? Did you honestly not expect people to react the way they did. You didn't become a member today, so you're not new. What exactly was the point of your question because I'm completely lost here..?


You don't know what the point was? From reading through this thread it was quite obvious to me. It appears that the OP got exactly what he was looking for here. Let's just say...joke on you.


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## Lucy Dog

Germanshepherdlova said:


> You don't know what the point was? From reading through this thread it was quite obvious to me. It appears that the OP got exactly what he was looking for here. Let's just say...joke on you.


Yeah... that's probably the case. It was kind of a rhetorical question really, but I try to give someone the benefit of the doubt and explain them self. 

They started a thread that's a very hot topic and kind of got upset when people jumped on them. I figured I'd ask what the point of the question was if you say you don't want to breed. What the point of even asking if that's the case?


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## Catu

Though the initial question may have been a valid question poorly worded, now I can smell the trolling from here.


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## Emoore

slefferd said:


> Dont ever assume anything.


Stop assuming that people mean the words they type, darn it!


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN

I see a lot of people say "West German" (







1 2 3) 
slefferd

Helps to keep information together for people.


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## vomlittlehaus

I do believe the original question was geared toward knowing if his male was capable of reproducing if he brought a female home and she went into heat. I think the wording of the question was not the greatest. He was thinking about more than he typed. Several people made an assumption about his intentions, and then the assumption continued. 

His concern is valid, and he should be asking a vet/repro vet the question. Males sexually mature at a very young age. A male and female could be capable of producing a litter at 8 months of age. To answer your question.


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## RogueRed26

By reading this individuals other recent threads, it seems as if he is gathering information of how to properly go by breeding or studing out their dog - what lines, age of sexual maturity, basic health tests needed. At the end if the day, he can do what he wants with his dog, but to say that he is otherwise thinking about breeding seems quite false by his questions. Yes, its an assumption based on his words, but how else should it be perceived? He has been on this forum for a while now; he should know how majority feel about breeding questions or any question that may possibly fall into this category. I, for one, will not entertain this individual's questions, in order to avoid being a part of their future plans -whatever that may be.


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## slefferd

RogueRed26 said:


> By reading this individuals other recent threads, it seems as if he is gathering information of how to properly go by breeding or studing out their dog - what lines, age of sexual maturity, basic health tests needed. At the end if the day, he can do what he wants with his dog, but to say that he is otherwise thinking about breeding seems quite false by his questions. Yes, its an assumption based on his words, but how else should it be perceived? He has been on this forum for a while now; he should know how majority feel about breeding questions or any question that may possibly fall into this category. I, for one, will not entertain this individual's questions, in order to avoid being a part of their future plans -whatever that may be.


God forbid I want to get my dog checked out with basic health screens. What am I thinking?! It doesnt really matter how long I have been around here. It also doesnt matter what my plans are or arent because its really none of anybodies buisness. I asked this question for a reason, and have previously stated the reason. I got the answer to my question. so I for one am done beating a dead horse.


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## GSDGunner




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## BTorassa16

DharmasMom said:


> 18 months is too early. You need to have his hips and elbows OFA certified first and they need to be at least 2 before you can do that.
> 
> Also what is it about you male that makes him breed worthy? What titles have you put on him? He needs to have been shown or worked and have some titles to show that his temperament is sound and that he has qualities that are desirable to be passed on.
> 
> Also, what does is pedigree look like? You need to be able to provide a pedigree that goes back several generations.


Maybe if you're trying to breed working dogs or show dogs would this be important. If you're just trying to breed either for another for you to have as a pet or pets for others, all that info is irrelevant. Not everyone wants a show dog or a working dog.


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## David Winners

BTorassa16 said:


> Maybe if you're trying to breed working dogs or show dogs would this be important. If you're just trying to breed either for another for you to have as a pet or pets for others, all that info is irrelevant. Not everyone wants a show dog or a working dog.


This thread is over a decade old.

If you want to discuss being a back yard breeder, I suggest you start a new thread.


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