Thread: Dog Breeding

Hey team,
We are thinking about breeding our Springer Spaniel Doug. I have a few questions...
What age is old enough to start? He is 18mths old.
What tests would you recommend we get done on him?
He seems to go really well just held back by my lack of knowledge.

Ayejay Im am sure many can answer this but Kawhia has breed many dogs and would give very good advice to you

Awesome thanks
Note: I'm based in Hamilton

It can be fun and can be exciting but you won't make money from it and finding good homes does your head in

We bred huskies for a while and even though I now love my bird dogs have no intentions of ever breading them again,

We found most buyers either straight out lied or bent the truth re fencing etc etc (very important for Huskies).


I would say Hips and Eys tested at a minimum.

As stated Kawhia would be the best placed to offer advise.

my knowledge on springers is not that great in regards to heath testing, if he's from good lines I wouldn't be too worried other than an eye test, dna or just a check by the right vet............hips scores in working spaniels can be a waste of time unless a problem is known to warrant it and both parents are done.
18mths old he should fine, just get ya mating days right.

hopefully you have done ya homework and hope to improve on what you have and have a few homes lined up.

Originally Posted by kawhia

hopefully you have done ya homework and hope to improve on what you have

The ultimate goal, well said

Thanks guys.
How are the responsibilities of the litter generally shared between the owners of the sire in comparison to the owners of the dam?
How often would you do the eye tests?

normal pratice is the sire owners gets pick of litter or a stud fee, normally the stud fee is the price of one pup... the bitch owner carries the cost and risk of the litter.
of course there are many other arrangements both paries can agree too, one i would be asking to be made clear is wot happens if only a few pups are born and wot you both agree on in regards to a litter, i don't regard 2 or less pups as a litter so the stud fee would have to be neg if the sires owner still wanted a pup... overseas you pay the stud fee regardless at time of mating, no pups and a return mating is normally offered.
dna eye test is for life so done only once, an eye check is only good on the day.

At 18 months old the chances are that the dog has yet to prove itself and on that basis you are unlikely to have people asking you to use your dog. If you are that keen to breed from him you may well end up having to buy a bitch yourself.

I'd be leaving him a while longer, at least till two. Then if your down here I've got a bitch or two (hunting NOT pure breeds) that would look good with him on top.

A bit of southern rough ya reckon Wirehunt

Thanks for the help! Going to put more training into both of us and play it by ear at this stage.