# Question about number of litters



## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

This is just a question to satisfy my curiosity, but how many litters is standard practice for a female, bred by a reputable breeder, of course. When is a good mama able to retire and live out her days playing and sleeping on a nice couch? 
Thanks for any insight!


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Depends on her age when she has her first litter. If she is 4 then 2-3. If she is 2, then feasibly 4-6, depending on how often she is bred and if they ever do back to back breedings. I think a female should be retired around 6 or if very fit and an easy whelper than 7.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

I was going to estimate 3-5. I work for a service dog organization that breeds their own dogs. typically starting at 2yrs old, bred every other season, retired roughly at 6 but occasionally at 7 for reasons stated above. dams who produce too small of litters, very large litters or those requiring c sections are retired early as it's harder on the body.

I imagine for breeders that are working, showing and/or titling their dogs... there would be some variation as to when the dogs start and the frequency that they're bred.


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

Thank you for the responses!


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

DaisyDaws said:


> This is just a question to satisfy my curiosity, but how many litters is standard practice for a female, bred by a reputable breeder, of course. When is a good mama able to retire and live out her days playing and sleeping on a nice couch?
> Thanks for any insight!


You should ask, with a reputable breeder - one who's business is breeding dogs, how many retired females they keep around playing and sleeping on a nice couch. You may not like the real answer.....


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

What reputable breeder is in the "business" of breeding dogs? It would seem that one is almost mutually exclusive from the other.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

> how many retired females they keep around playing and sleeping on a nice couch. You may not like the real answer....


Breeders that will retire a bitch andthen placing the bitch in a loving home where it can sleep on a couch to live out her next chapter vs being crated/kenneled or rotated due to other bitches not getting along, I see nothing wrong with that. 
As long as she is placed as carefully as the breeder would place puppies. 
Karlo's mom(retired after two litters) is in service for a woman with cerebral palsy. She is a happy dog!


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

A local hobby breeder places her retired dogs, male and female, when they are retired. A friend of mine adopted one of her studs when he retired.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

Depends on the female - her repro history - her health - her ability to be a good mother....I had one female who had one litter (tried to repeat litter, male went sterile  ) She stayed long after spayed, but a friend really wanted to adopt her - another had 3 here, 2 in Belgium, she would have stayed here until she passed except for an accident and a puppy owner took her while I was laid up for 6 months, then wanted to keep her....my A-B litter mom stayed longer after spaying than I had her for pups...she passed at 13 nearly to a river of tears as I loved her tremendously....Csabre - 2 litters - spayed - is 12.5 and sleeps on my bed...I have ended up co-owning my younger females because of my older ones....and believe me that does not make financial sense! Lost big time on 2 of them, one imported, titled to breed to my own male but never got that done.... But it is about more than $$....

Lee


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Depends totally on the bitch, her health, her taste for motherhood. Jenna had her first litter at 4 years, and then was bred again at 5, 6, 7, and 8. She is currently retired with me, and stays with two female pups from her last litter, lounging on her chair, playing. She will be 11 in August. 

Nothing would have been served to retire her at six years old. She loves puppies, and is a superb dam in every respect. If she had her way, she would kick her daughter out of the whelping box, and take over for her without hesitation. 

While she produced puppies well, never lost a pup, fed and kept them clean, long after they were eating solid foods, it is her attitude about puppies that kept me breeding her. She loves them. She is tolerant to a fault. She plays with them. She finds having puppies interesting and fun. 

We are talking about 9 weeks of pregnancy, not 9 months. We are talking about 8 weeks of raising puppies, not 40 years. Ok, she sometimes has them for longer than 8 weeks -- because she LIKES being with her puppies. With her, she has fairly large litters: 10, 7, 8, 7, 7. With larger litter, the whelping is generally not that difficult -- a day's battle and then a few weeks of pretty much non-stop nursing and feeding. 

Babsy had 3 litters, 7 when she was 2, a litter of 3 at 5 or 6, and a litter of one about a year later. That one was hard to get out. So were the three. The singleton had to be helped by the vet -- no C-section, but a big headed puppy that had all the room and all the nourishment to grow. I retired her at that point and for that reason. 

It depends on the bitch.


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## DaisyDaws (Feb 28, 2015)

What interesting stories, thank you all for sharing. My male is only a year so we are not ready yet but I think about getting a female down the road and think it would be nice to get an older female rather than a puppy.


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