Just like other living organisms, dogs also have an age at which they can breed.
How Old Does a Dog Have to Be to Breed?- Whether it is male or female, the perfect age of a dog depends on the type of breed they belong to and the age at which it attains full sexual maturity.
Dog owners look for steps regarding how old a dog must be to breed and take proper measurements as per their needs.
You should let your dogs breed when they attain sexual maturity. The perfect age for a female dog to breed is when it turns 18 months. Whereas a male dog can start to multiply within the sixth to the twelfth month of its age.
Everything that is going to give you a specific idea about the correct age of dogs to breed will be discussed in this article. Keep reading the article to get the information.
Why Does a Dog Have to Breed?
We all are aware of the fact that to produce a younger organism of a particular species, the parent organisms of that species have to breed.
All mammals perform a sexual mode of reproduction for the generation of the younger ones. But for this purpose, organisms of the opposite sex have to mate with each other.
Hence, we can say that the breeding of dogs is necessary to maintain the continuity of the species in the environment.
How Old Does a Dog Have to be to Breed?
Dogs have different stages of attaining sexual maturity. For instance, male dogs attain maturity a lot earlier than that females. Without knowing the right age for them to mate, it might have adverse consequences on their health.
For Female Dogs
All the dog owners of female dogs must have to take care of the age of their canine friends during their breeding stage.
As per research, an owner should never let his female dog breed during the first estrous cycle. This is because the first estrous cycle doesn’t mean that it has attained sexual maturity ultimately. A female dog is not ready to mate during the first estrous cycle as it is still reaching sexual maturity.
The fertility of a female dog’s body depends on the hormonal cycle of its body. That’s why a female dog shall be allowed to mate a little later.
Whereas, as per the research done on the anatomy of dogs, the perfect age for a female dog to breed is when it turns 18 months.
This is because, during the 18th month of a female, the hormones responsible for reproduction named estrogen and progesterone are at their peak,
because of which the dog can get pregnant after mating with a male dog and along with this the other the benefit is if the female mates after its 18th month then it will not suffer from litter issues and other health-related issues.
For Male Dogs
Like female dogs, the breeding age of a male dog also varies from breed to breed. But as per research, male dogs attain sexual maturity earlier than females.
A male dog can start to breed within the sixth to the twelfth month of its age because up to this age, they attain sexual maturity.
But as we have mentioned, it can depend upon the type of breed and the size of dogs. The dogs belonging to smaller breeds can attain sexual maturity earlier, that is, in the fifth month.
Whereas in the case of a dog belonging to an extensive breed, it may also happen that it will not be able to attain fertility up to the age of 2 years.
It is the responsibility of the dog owners to take care of the dog’s health condition when allowing him to mate and to ensure that the dog has attained its fertility or not.
This will prevent the dog from getting affected by any STDs after mating.
A male dog should never be allowed to mate before the age of 1 year because a dog under the age of 1 year still needs time to attain complete sexual maturity.
What are the Signs to Identify the Perfect Stage of Breeding in Female Dogs?
As we have discussed above, a female dog shouldn’t be allowed to breed during its first heat cycle. But when it is sexually matured, it gives some bodily signs that the dog owner can notice to let the dog mate with another male dog for reproduction.
The signs which indicate that the female dog is ready to mate are discussed below:
- The vaginal bleeding of a dog in the estrous cycle is a sign that she is ready to mate.
- The swelling of the vulva is also an indication of the female dog being ready to get fertile.
- The female dog will get more attracted to the male dogs for mating and controlling its extreme hormonal regulation.
- Aggressive behavior of the female dog during the ongoing estrous cycle is also a sign.
If the owner wants the female dog to perform reproduction for the production of a younger one, then the above-discussed signs were effective to go with for identifying the correct age for the dog to mate.
At What Stage the Female Dog Should be Stopped from Breed?
As much as a dog owner needs to know the perfect breeding age for a dog, knowing the age at which the dog should be stopped from breeding is also far more critical than this to prevent the pet from getting any medical issues.
Humans get menopause after reaching a particular stage of their life which signifies that humans can’t breed anymore.
But in the case of dogs, they don’t get any menopause in their estrous cycle because of which most dog owners get confused about when they should stop their dog from breeding.
As per research, a dog owner should stop their dog from breeding before it reaches the 8th year of its life.
This is because dogs allowed to breed at an older age can suffer from various health-related issues like life-threatening genetic defects, crippling hip dysplasia, deafness, weakening of the bones supporting the urinary tract, and many others.
How Many Times Does a Female Dog Have to Mate to Get Pregnant?
If you want your dog to get pregnant, you might become aware that for how many times it should mate with a male dog to produce the younger ones.
The tendency of a dog to get pregnant mostly depends upon the nature of the female when they accept the male dog to mate. After the female gets familiar with the male dog to mate, the female requires almost three rounds of mating.
This is because, after two to three rounds, the sperm getting released from the genital tract of the male gets to flow within the ovary of the female and get attached to the finger-like structure named the fallopian tube.
As per research, the dog should mate within consecutive days as the daily mating of dogs can reduce the chances of the female getting pregnant. The female dog gets difficulty adapting herself to dogs during daily mating.
How Much Should You Wait to Breed a Dog Again?
A dog needs to maintain a preferred gap in the mating stages because its entire cycle gets disrupted once a dog becomes a mom.
As per the research done by the scientific authorities on dogs’ lifestyles, the safest gap to maintain between the breeding stages of a dog is 18 months to 2 years.
This is because the dog’s body needs this much time to make the uterus strong enough to carry babies again by controlling the excessive release of the hormones like estrogen and progesterone to neutralize the entire system.
Is it Safe to Let Your Male Puppy Mate with a Female Dog?
As we know, male dogs attain sexual maturity at six months, but they don’t get complete fertility up to this age. So, we can say that if we let a puppy of 6 months mate with a female dog, it will be able to impregnate the female dog, but it can cause some health issues to the puppy.
Factors Indicating the Perfect Time for Dog Breeding
Rather than all the above-discussed things, a dog owner can still get to know the perfect age of the pet to breed by depending upon some factors which were discussed below.
Dog’s Size
A dog owner can quickly identify the correct age of their dog to mate by looking at size. This is because small dogs always tend to mature faster than large dogs, whereas if a dog is large, it will take almost 2-3 years to mature sexually.
The Health of the Dog
Along with the specific age of the dog’s breed, the owner should also take care of the dog’s health condition,
whether it is a male or a female. This will prevent the dog from any further health issues. The owner should first take the pet to a vet for a proper medical checkup to ensure a good medical condition.
Genetic Disposition
If the owner notices that the dog has a genetic temperament, then it’s not a good idea to let a dog breed at this stage. So it’s better to get the pet first treated for the genetic disorders.
A dog owner should especially take care of these factors mentioned above while letting their dog breed to avoid any further health issues of the dog.
So that’s the end of the article, and we hope that you got satisfied with our research and that all your doubts regarding how old a dog has to be to breed are cleared.
