A female dog approaches sexual maturity at around 7 months to a year of age, and up to 18 months in some breeds. Males are generally a little earlier. Breeding is not undertaken before 2 years of age, and no later than 5 years for a first-time mother.

Female dogs usually come into season twice a year. The first time, it may be brief and hard to notice, but after that it lasts three weeks, with white and bloody discharge. A female is generally fertile between the 7th and 10th day — but the only rule is that there are exceptions!

The bleeding is heavy and often calls for some form of protection. Walking her on the lead, and the discipline of never leaving her alone in the garden, are absolutely essential precautions.

A female can go on breeding up to 7–8 years of age if she has had litters before. She will never go through the menopause, so it is strongly recommended that she be spayed once her breeding ‘career’ is over.

Mating is not always so simple, even though the males show plenty of willing. When it succeeds, the two dogs stay locked together for at least half an hour. On no account try to separate them. A bucket of cold water is a good idea before mating itself, to head off an unwanted attempt — but it is thoroughly unadvisable afterwards!

Pregnancy lasts 63 days on average. It can be confirmed by ultrasound from 21 days, or by a blood test between the 26th and 29th day. The foetuses are visible on X-ray from the 42nd day. There can be a good many of them, up to 9 or 10 depending on the breed.

Puppies are born quite undeveloped; they open their eyes after 10 to 14 days. Weaning takes place at two months.

But…

The decision to take up dog breeding must be very carefully thought through. A breeding programme that means to be taken seriously has to meet a great many conditions:

  1. The parents must be recognised by the cynological society through the breed club. Depending on the breed, this means examinations of certain joints (hips, elbows, possibly others), of kneecap stability, of the eyes, and so on. So you should reckon on some veterinary costs for these tests. Certain genetic defects must not, after all, be passed on to the offspring. On top of that, you will need to take part in a few shows.
  2. The parents must have a kind, sociable temperament, and must not be fearful.
  3. A pregnancy and a whelping can hold surprises, some of them sadly unhappy ones.
  4. Raising the puppies calls for enormous availability and responsibility. It is the breeder and the puppies’ mother who are largely responsible for the puppies’ first weeks of socialisation. It takes time, a good knowledge of dogs, technical aids (a CD of noises, for instance), and so on. Too large a litter needs two adult females to raise it.
  5. The law requires the breeder to have the puppies microchipped and registered before they are placed or sold. What is more, anyone whose dog has a litter must notify their cantonal veterinary office.
  6. Medically speaking, worming is needed from the very first weeks of life, and vaccinations then begin at around 8 weeks.

So you can see that breeding dogs is no small matter, but rather a real waking-up to one’s responsibilities. It is generally best left to serious professionals, so as to avoid the amateur, poorly socialised litters that lie behind the aggressive problems which led our canton to bring in measures that are hard to enforce and highly controversial.

Breeding represents a cost in money, in time and in availability. A breeder also stays on hand to give new owners all sorts of advice. It is a job — perhaps a part-time one, but work in the true sense of the word.

The lure of profit, too, must stay firmly in the background, since it is above all the wish for, and interest in, this kind of nurturing work that should drive the decision to take up breeding — even if it is just the once!