At least after 12 months after all health tests have been done, which is very expensive in a lot of cases. In some breeds only after 2.5 yrs

__________________

SOMETIMES YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR IS MERELY AN IDIOT WRAPPED IN TINFOIL

it will change him. he may leave his sent around your house and its not a nice smeall. he can sometimes get a bit snappy towards other dogs once he has had a bitch. i think it makes them feel the master.

they can still be lovely family dogs though.

errrmmm... Yes it does CO$T more, as at the very **minimum** U need blood-work to check for Brucellosis,
and if U are a half-way competent + ethical breeder, U also do dog-generic tests - CERF-certificates are annual -
NOT once in a lifetime; OFA /Penn-HIP for joints, etc - and breed-specific tests, which may be DNA, rads, blood, skin-punches,
or other screening.

if OTOH U are an unethical moron, then breeding won;t co$t YOU a dam*ed thing -
it will co$t the owners of the F if she gets a k9-STD, and the eventual puppy-owners, if the pups are such trash
as are likely to result from such profit-minded and careless, even slipshod practices.
i do hope theres a Pup-Lemon-Law where U live - and that puppy-buyers USE * IT to gouge money
from the conscienceless slime-molds impersonating humans, who are engaging in such unethical breeding.

sometimes hitting them in the wallet is the only way to make them cry.
go get em, say i.
--- terry

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

I am wondering if anyone can give me information about studding my rottweiler or wether i can. He is 3 years old, he is pedigree with papers however he is not KC registered. What kind of things would i need to look at or need to ensure i do if i am thinking of studding him? Is there certain requirements that people look for in rottweilers i.e height, weight, certain physical features?
Iw ould be grateful of any information anyone can provide me?

hey, amie! :--)
what registry is his pedigree under? FCI? a German registry?
if it is a VANITY registry, which does not keep studbooks or offer judged shows for conformation, forget it -
it is not worth the price of the paper it is printed on.

the Q really is not 'can i breed my dog?' - it is should i breed my dog?
has he been shown in the conformation ring? does he have a KC bronze, silver or gold for behavior?
is he friendly to visitors + in public, with ppl who are both like + UNlike his family - older, younger, disabled, color,
diet, gait, speech, with a cane, mirrored sunglasses, hats, loud, shy...?
does he have ALLERGIES or Auto-Immune problems - foods, pollen, etc?
have his hips + knees been radiographed + scored?

here is a copy of a post of mine from yesterday - someone asked about amateurs as breeders:
i will post breed-specific genetic-screening for Rotts in the next post, and let U digest this -
--- terry

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

breed-specific conditions known to affect Rotts -
CERF Certificate exam items in blue
joint OFA or Penn-HIP radiographs in red
blood-tests, EX: thyroid-panel, in purple

that may not be an exhaustive list - it is from the LINK in the prior post.
each # represents a specific heritable problem, listed by number on that website.

9a. Addison's disease (hypoadrenocorticism):
a disease characterized by inadequate secretion of cortisone from the adrenal glands. More common in Old English sheepdogs, standard poodles and bearded collies. (See #159a.)

27. Behavioral abnormalities:
a whole range of abnormal behavior patterns, such as aggression, panic disorders, etc.

42. Cataract:
as in humans, a change in structure of the lens of the eye leading to cloudiness and usually to blindness.

85. Diabetes mellitus:
a metabolic disease caused by insulin deficiency and characterized by the inability to utilize sugars normally.

88. Distichiasis:
abnormally growing eyelashes.

94. Ectropion:
an abnormal rolling out of the eyelids.

95. Elbow dysplasia:
an abnormal development of the elbow joint.

103. Entropion:
an abnormal rolling in of the eyelid.

105. Eosinophilic panosteitis:
a painful inflammatory bone disease of young, rapidly growing dogs, often characterized by increased eosinophils in the blood. (See #231.)

129. Folliculitis:
an infection of the hair follicles.

129a. Fragmented coronoid process:
osteochondrosis of the elbow joint. (See #221a.)

146. Hemolytic anemia:
anemia caused by the destruction of the red blood cells by an autoimmune process. Particularly common in cocker spaniels and Old English sheepdogs, as well as several other breeds.

152. Hip dysplasia:
a developmental malformation or subluxation of the hip joints.

159a. Hypoadrenocorticism:
a disease where autoimmune or other causes of destruction of the adrenal glands produces a deficiency of corticosteroids. (See #9a.)

161. Hypopigmentation, lips and nose:
a condition where an animal lacks pigment (color) in areas where it is usually present. (See #328.)

166. Hypothyroidism:
a common endocrine disease where the body produces an abnormally low amount of thyroid hormones. An autoimmune destruction of the thyroid gland which affects more than 50 dog breeds. (See #192, 312.)

172. Intestinal malabsorption:
...the intestinal tract does not absorb nutrients properly. AKA protein-losing enteropathy as a consequence of inflammatory bowel disease. [edit: IBS] In Irish setters there is also a wheat-sensitive enteropathy.

192. Lymphocytic thyroiditis:
an autoimmune disease causing inflammation and destruction of the thyroid gland, which becomes infiltrated with lymphocytes (white blood cells) and leads to hypothyroidism. This is the most common endocrine disease of the dog and has an inherited predisposition. (See #166, 312.)

231. Panosteitis: (See #105.)

245. Persistent pupillary membrane:
a developmental abnormality where the membrane forming the iris does not form properly.



256. Progressive retinal atrophy:
a disease where the retina slowly deteriorates, producing night blindness.
[EDIT: it begins as low-light vision loss, BUT generally progresses to total blindness even by daylight.]

269. Retinal detachment:
where the retina is unattached to the back of the eye.

270. Retinal dysplasia:
a condition where the retina is malformed.

300. Subaortic stenosis:
a tightening of the outflow opening for blood [exiting] the heart into the aorta. Common in golden retrievers and Newfoundlands. [EDIT: stenosis = narrowing]

311a. Thrombocytopenia:
a reduced number of platelets in the blood which causes pinpoint hemorrhages in the skin and mucosa.
Often accompanies #146 as an autoimmune syndrome called Evans syndrome. (See #249.)

312. Thyroiditis:
an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the thyroid gland. (See #166, 192.)

326. Vasculitis:
an inflammatory condition of the blood vessels.

328. Vitiligo:
a lack of pigment in the skin (called vitiligo in man and hypopigmentation in nonhuman animals). Common in Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Old English sheepdogs and dachshunds. (See #161.)

330. von Willebrand's disease:
a type of bleeding disorder caused by defective blood platelet function. Occurs in 59 dog breeds but most often in Doberman Pinschers. An autosomal trait affecting both sexes.


so - at a minimum, he needs
* Brucella test [blood]
* CERF certificate or the UK-equiv
* OFA, Penn-HIP or UK-equiv on hips, knees + elbows [multiple radiographs for more than one view of the joints]
* vWD test [blood, sent to Univ of Michigan vet-lab in the USA
* 5-way thyroid-panel - T3 + T4, free-T3 and free-T4, and TSH -
also sent to Univ of Mich vet-lab for best results - they have the world's largest breed-specific database

about GENETIC SCREENING via cheek-swab or blood -

there may be genetic screens for other conditions specific to Rotts; i would find an ethical breeder with experience
in testing their dogs, and ask - OptiGen + VetGen are the 2 largest DNA-screening companies.

a Q U can answer by looking at Ur dog -
does he have ROUND open nostrils, a relatively box-muzzle and no wrinkle in front of his eyes?
or does he have vertical slits for nostrils, seen from the front - with or without an upturned muzzle,
or a crease or wrinkle in front of his eyes?
if he has slit-nostrils he has stenotic nares - which do not just affect his looks, the outside nostril is only a hint
of the narrowing of his sinuses, affecting his ability to breathe, cool effectively, remove dust, pollen, viruses
and other infectious or irritating debris + microbes, and more.
the only 'cure' for stenotic nares is surgery - which is expensive, but makes life so much better!
however, such dogs should not be bred - stenotic nares are highly heritable.

dogs who SNORE while sleeping often have stenotic nares -
an extended soft-palate can be commonly associated with stenotic nares in brachycephalic breeds, and can also be
shortened when the nares + sinuses are widened, greatly easing their breathing, exercise tolerance, etc,
and can extend their lifespan by years.
EDIT to add: of course, such surgery does not mean the dog will throw pups who can breathe properly -
it is to improve his own quality of life.

stenotic nares in a French Bulldog - note the facial creases -
http://www.greatdogsite.com/admin/up...ch_bulldog.jpg

open nares in a Rott:
http://img.blogcu.com/uploads/petcare_rottweiler_tn.jpg

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Hi LeashedForLife

Just curious to know why you would only advocate using a dog at stud that is under the age of 7? I am a believer in using older dogs - they have had the chance to prove their worth and I think it is really important to see that the dog is still healthy when it is older. I have used dogs of 8 and 9 on more than one occasion.

hey, RL! :--)

sperm-quality starts to deteriorate in Ms as they age -
more defective sperm [2 heads, 2 tails, etc], % of motile-sperm decline, sperm-#s per volume of ejaculate fall.
just like human-Ms, the odds of siring offspring with mental or physical or emotional flaws, increases.

that does not mean we cannot use such proven older-Ms - just use sperm from their youth, banked for the purpose.
U get the proven-healthy older-dog in his younger edition; more sperm per volume, fewer malformed sperm,
better motility, and a lower-chance of age-associated damage to his progeny.

'natural breedings' in another domestic-species
breeders of Thoroughbreds in the USA insist upon a quote, 'natural breeding', which is a real joke:
2 or 3 men handling each horse, the mare is HOBBLED on her fore till the last minute which is extremely-dangerous,
to prevent her possibly kicking + injuring him - but she cannot support his weight on 'one foreleg', so somebody
has to *remove* that bloody hobble before she is mashed to the ground by the stud, mounting, and herself hurt;
in the case of Northern Dancer and his line, he was a homicidal maniac whose nickname when he was in training
and racing was The Hammer because he rose up to strike at ppl and horses alike!
personally, i don't care if he could outrace light across a landscape - he was an insanely-aggressive animal who should not
IMO have been bred; but he was of course, by building a mounting-chute into the outer-fence of his pasture -
other than intromission, he never made contact with the mare, his body was supported to prevent BITEs,
he screamed, threatened, reared, made his sperm-deposit, and ran off.

wouldn't it have been simpler and safer to breed such a psychotic stud, if U insisted upon doing so, with AI?
artificial insemination would have meant the poor mare would not be terrified by this crazy display of equine
threats of murder and rape, but would be teased by a non-threatening pony into a receptive mood,
and bred simply by inserting sperm from the stomping, rearing, screaming sire, whom she need never meet -
and in the case of normal studs, who do NOT want to attack mares but woo them, it still eliminates kick injuries,
bites, falls, human-handlers getting tread on in the excitement, uterine infection from bacteria introduced,
etc, etc.

breeding at pasture with studs and mares at liberty is natural -
the highly-choreographed + hazardous halter-and-lead version is highly artificial, does not deserve the term,
IMO, and confers few if any advantages over a nice, quiet AI-insertion to a calm mare, in a clean setting.

in all species, AI can give progeny to outstanding proven sires who are elderly, or even dead for years -
litters have been born to k9-sires dead for decades, or neutered after they retired from the show-ring,
but who had frozen sperm for such future breedings - the dog's longevity is known, but we do not need to use
senior-sperm, we have nice young, healthy, active sperm from his prime.

food for thought,
--- terry

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

"that does not mean we cannot use such proven older-Ms - just use sperm from their youth, banked for the purpose.
U get the proven-healthy older-dog in his younger edition; more sperm per volume, fewer malformed sperm,
better motility, and a lower-chance of age-associated damage to his progeny. "

Actually, in the UK, we are not allowed to use semen from a dog that is alive and resides here (unless it's an Irish Wolfhound over the age of 8), so this is not a viable option for us.

why not, RL?
it is used [among other things] in the USA, for multiple-sire litters from exceptional b*tches -
and microchipping and DNA-profiles of sires and progeny clearly ID each one accurately, there is no falsification
of sires, which is easy with only a paper-trail and hand-breeding - even being on-site to witness the breeding
cannot guarantee that the stud-owner or b*tch-owner has the dog named on the pedigree, in the flesh.

since b*tches can have very-few litters in a lifetime, multi-sire litters allow the breeder to get far-more diversity
into their line, without breeding to one sire - and if one of the sires in a multi-sire litter makes exceptional pups
with a particular F, such a breeding can be repeated. extraordinary Fs are pearls of rare value, and should be
genetically cherished and not limited to 2 or 3 sires, or even ONE sire breeding 2 or 3 litters, in their lives.

the problem of pedigrees
pedigrees are only as reliable as the ethics of the person filling them out -
cross-checked parentage via chips on sires and dams, or better yet, DNA-profiles of chipped parents
and all progeny [also chipped], are the sterling-standard of parentage, which is crucial to limit inbreeding
and equally important, to track heritable conditions: PRA, joint-problems, cardiac malformities, and so on.

the stud-owner is required to chip their dog; the vet must scan, verify the chip and SIGN that it was verified,
and only then can the vet harvest sperm; the sperm are evaluated, diluted, labeled, + frozen, or chilled + shipped.
the F must also be chipped, and her ID verified by scanning with a signature by the vet, before the AI procedure
can be done; if it is a multiple-sire litter, every pup is also DNA-profiled.


the UKC was an early-adopter -
United Kennel Club: DNA-P and DNA-VIP Profile Program
the AKC was a relatively-late adopter -
American Kennel Club - DNA and the AKC
i am puzzled as to why the KC thinks artificial-insemination is a bad idea -
it is often safer, less-likely to transmit infection, and in the case of exceptional-Fs, greatly extends
their breeding potential, as opposed to the single-stud litters and 2 to 3 max of most Fs over their lifespan -
WITHOUT breeding her a dozen times, U can have pups from 12 sires in 3 litters.

is there an opinion piece somewhere that explains their concerns?
--- terry

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007