Minimum stud age

I saw a topic the other day regarding minimum age of breeding your St Bernard bitch. And I can understand that the general age was around 22-24 months, as a bitch will go through the physical thing of bearing puppies and giving birth. Thus need to be mature.

But what about stud? In SA there is no minimum age. The sperm can be viable at around 12-18 months alreaddy, so what is considered the 'norm'. And why?

Would it thus be 'irrisponsible' to use a 14month old on stud? If it's a physical thing, would it be ok to use his semen and do AI on a bitch?

What's the feeling out there?

I'm not a breeder and this opinion is just me saying what I would do, but I would wait until the same time frame as a bitch to use a male as a stud- around 2 years. It would give a longer amount of time for genetic problems or physical problems to show up, and I know my vet didn't even recommend checking our saints' hips until he was 2 years old to be sure that he was fully grown.

Just because boys have sperm doesn't mean they should be doing the deed!



I'm curious as to what others think though.

i know dogs who have been used from 10months old

not something i can do as you can hip score until they are a year old , so for me it cant be done, however i dont see a problem with using a one year old dog at all

cheri

I personally wouldnt use a dog until after 18 months, We Hip and Elbow score in our kennel after the age of 18 months when the bones have fully formed.

we were always told to hip score at a year old asap !?

i suppose its more variable with dogs than bitches,

i think vets have a much tighter age f when you can breed a bitch than a dog

infact i remember a vet asking why i hadnt used diesel when he was 9 months old!? i told him we were waiting for hips heart and eye tests first

is it a vet telling you that sandra? or a breeder - its amazing what differnt people think!

cheri

No we have always done this Cheri and I even asked some of my friends who are breed specialists and they say the same thing. Hip and elbow scoring at 1 year doesnt give a correct reading as the bones dont fully form until 18 months. I then asked my vet and he said the same thing.
We Heart test and eye test at a year old and then every year after that and then Hip & Elbow score at 18 months

Cheri, I think if you phone the BVA they actually advised that the closer to 12months for hip/elbow scoring the better. I used to use a orthopaedic specialist years ago who also advised me the same.

There is also the PennHip tests that can be done on much younger dogs to see what the probably likely hood of problems could be, google it, very interesting reading that comes from experts in the field of genetics & Orthopaedics. Heather has done a bit of research on it

In the US, you have to wait until your dog is 24 months to be able to have definitive hip scores. There are other tests that can be done, but the OFA scores tend to be most popular and most widely accepted here. Our vet told us to wait until Ben was 2 to check his hips, but once he knew we weren't interested in breeding, he told us he can do an x-ray whenever we want just so we would have some answers. I know that you can't even get your dog's hip/elbow scores registered with OFA unless they are 24 months or older. From their website/application:

"Only dogs that are 24 months of age, to the day, or older at the time of radiography can qualify for an OFA hip number. In general hip joint status of younger dogs will be evaluated but only a consultation report will be issued. For toy and small breeds interested in the Legg-Calve-Perthes Database the animal has to be 12 months of age or older. The dog’s registration certificate or copy of this information should be available at the time of radiography."

It's interesting that it's different in the US, but from large dog breeders and vets I've known here, most agree that 2 years is the age to breed and fully test at since large dogs and small dogs have different growth rates, and most large/giant breed dogs aren't fully mature until 18 months to 2 years old. Same reason they don't recommend over-exercising your large breed dog under the age of 2- it can stress out their developing bones/joints and cause permanent damage or arthritis.