Our question this week was:We just recently bought a female Airedale. She is going on 6 months old and I'm concerned about her going into heat. I've never owned a female dog before so don't know what to do at all. We plan on breeding her when she's 2 years old as the person we bought her from said that we should allow her to "mature" before her first litter. Is there a book or site I could read about raising a female and breeding, etc.
Thanks,
Ron C. - Arvada, COAnswerHi – thanks for your email. I appreciate that you are being a responsible dog owner and wanting to learn about breeding early on.
You are right on about her potentially coming into heat. Many dogs have their first heat cycle sometime between 6 months and 1 year of age.
As far as resources, I can direct you to the free content on Petplace, which I think may answer many of your questions.
I'll just list out some articles and insert links that I think might be helpful:
Should You Breed Your Dog?
Pros and Cons of Spaying and Neutering in DogsUnderstanding the Canine Reproductive CycleDoggy Dads: Picking the Best BreederThe Basics of Dog BreedingPregnancy in DogsNormal Labor and Delivery in the DogPregnancy, Birthing and Newborn Puppy CareBest of luck!
Dr. Jon
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