# Help! How do I keep her healthy?



## kenzie14 (Feb 18, 2015)

Hi guys,

I just got a female mpoo as a companion and mate for George. Niether of them are fixed due to the fact that I am hoping to breed them when Ginger (the new puppy) is old enough. 

So I am wondering how I am supposed to keep her from getting pregnant before she is at least a year old. I did some research and fond that a mini poodle can go into her first heat as early as four months old. I also found out that she shouldn't get pregnant until at least her third heat. I'm sure that I'm not the only person out there who keeps both, a male and a female dog that are intact, but I couldn't find any info on how to keep her from getting pregnant.

I'm sorry if this is hard to understand, but if you could help me, that would be great.

B.T.W Ginger is 11 weeks old, so I still have a little bit of time to figure things out.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

op:op:op:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

kenzie14, get yourself a breeder mentor ASAP! Don't undertake this without expert advise. PoodleForum is a great community but not the place to learn all that is needed to be a good and responsible breeder.

Here are things you need to think about:
1. Are either of your dogs good enough representations of the breed and clean on appropriate health checks to be worthy to be bred?
2. How do you plan to "prove" the quality of your dogs? Conformation titles? Performance sports? Both?
3. How will you find homes for your puppies? Please don't do something like Cragislist! What are your criteria for a puppy home?
4. What will you do if you don't find worthy homes for all of your puppies? Can you afford to have four or five dogs instead of two?

After the fact of bringing home a puppy wasn't exactly the best time to start researching things like when to breed and how to prevent oops breedings.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Since George is a poodle cross, most of us on PF will not be onboard with you breeding him at all. Neuter him and have the puppy evaluated as she grows to see if she has the right confirmation and temperament to be bred. The Poodle Club of America has health tests recommended for each of our poodle sizes. I am sure that George and Ginger will be great friends and encourage you to be happy with that.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

You know, honestly, there are enough dogs dying at the shelter every every year without bringing more mutts into the world.

Unless you have dogs that are very worthy of breeding, dogs that are true, proven and healthy representatives of the breed, then you’re just contributing to the overpopulation of pets in our society.

Spay and neuter both of them. Sorry to be harsh.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

First I would never breed a poodle mixed with a full poodle. Why are you considering breeding? How many litter do you plan on having at one time? Do you have a mentor breeder who can show you the ropes to beeding? I just wander as I have had 8 toys and the thought of breeding never entered my mind, I guess cause I never had children I did not want to put them through the pain, as I hear it is, LOL


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Simple advice: don't. Companion, playmate, sibling, yes. Mate and puppies, no. Why do you want to breed? It risks your girl's health, requires a massive amount of your time, energy and money even if all goes well, and if it goes badly think emergency cesarian, weeks of two hourly puppy feeding, dead pups, possibly dead dog, all for puppies that you may not be able to home, let alone sell. 

If you absolutely insist on going ahead, be prepared for several weeks at a time of maximum security, separate rooms, locked doors and crates, separate walks, and even then there is a considerable risk of an accidental litter.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

From the other posts I've read I gather that your male is a mix. That said I would neuter him now while Ginger is a baby. Using a stud dog with a mentor breeder is relatively easy to do and probably a better option. Your male will start marking in your house if you decided to breed him. I an tell you over 30 years ago I wanted to breed dogs. Dogs have been forever my passion. So I purchased a mini schnauzer from a reputable breeder with all champion lines. The feeder decided she would mentor me if the pup turned out breed worthy, which she should. She did and I had her bred 2 times. It is a lot of work and doesn't always go as planned. All my puppies were sold with the help of the mentor..all were tested by an optomologist before being sold, ears were also cropped. They were groomed and ready before going to their new homes. There was much $ spent before they could even be sold. That being said selling app is not fun either at times. I had one person tell me the pup was vicious, can you imagine a 10 week old puppy being vicious. I took the puppy back, returned the mans money and later placed him another home. I just had a baby and decided after this last litter that it was just too much work and took too much time to do it right. That was the end of my wanting to breed. My mentor and I became good friends and whenever I got the urge I would go visit her and her dogs and dabbled some in showing one of my puppies that I kept. Then life happened and I became a mom and just a lover of dogs. Good luck in your decisions.


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

Kenzie. No doubt you love your dogs, and it sounds like fun to produce puppies. But breeding a mixed breed to a purebred poodle - why would you do that? You can't register the puppies. Have you health tested both dogs? You said you would breed at one year? To me that is a little young. And you also have another puppy that will need time for training.

I raised 3 litters of (purebred poodles) when I was younger. It was a lot of work and cleanup, and to do a good job there is much time needed to train and socialize the puppies before they leave for their new homes. Poodle breeders like to keep the puppies for about 10 weeks. You don't just leave them in a cage until the new owner takes them. People want healthy dogs and it is expensive to health test. For a mixed breed, since you can't register them, people are not going to want to pay a lot of money for that but they still will expect health information.
When I had my unspayed female poodle, my husband had a German Shepherd police dog and a St Bernard (neither neutered). When my girl went into heat I had 3 weeks of howling, crying and very restless dogs. At least we did not keep them all in the same areas. I can't imagine how hard it would have been if they all had been in the same house and were of the same size.
You would be doing a kindness to all your dogs if you would have them spayed or neutered. (Wait until after the first heat for your girls - it is much better for them healthwise)


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

From what I understand breeders keep the males and females are kept apart as in different homes until ready to be bred. And your female shouldn't been bred until she's fully grown about 2 years old. 
What if your George and Ginger are not genetically sound? Most folks won't do what I did and spend $8K out of pocket to get a dog's knees fixed, if the dog is lucky they end up in a rescue the worst they are either crippled for life or euthanized.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Oh dear I hadn't looked at your profile when I posted last night. I didn't realize George was a mix. PLEASE neuter him ASAP.


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

You've received lots of good advice here on why planning to breed these two at all is ill-advised. So I'll focus on your original question, about preventing accidental breedings when she is in season. 

The short answer is secure doors and crates and keeping them separated at ALL TIMES for about three weeks during her season. I rotate my dog and bitch out of rooms and crates so that each has an opportunity to be outside or hanging out with me, but never together. You should also be aware that dogs have been known to breed through a crate. Absent-minded husbands and children are responsible for a great majority of oops breedings, so you'll need to think about how to husband-proof your security plan. 

Another option that some breeders use is to board the male with somebody else while the bitch is in season (most friends aren't willing to board a bitch in season!). 

Be aware that your male may howl, mark, and go off his food while your girl is in season, and generally make everybody miserable. I've been fortunate--I seem to have this libido-killing effect on everybody.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Verve I am really glad you wrote here to help the OP (and others in similar situations) to understand how to avoid oops litters. One of the major reasons I had Lily desexed early was to avoid any remote semblance of sexual chaos in our household with Peeves intact.


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## kenzie14 (Feb 18, 2015)

Thank you everybody for your help. As I'm sure you probably guessed, I hadn't really known what I was getting into. I know that that I was being irresponsible. I really appreciate all this info. 

I knew that most people on this forum would not have approved of me breeding George because he is a mix, but my excuse had been that he is an angel. My thought process was that there are plenty of people out there who want a really good dog as a pet and are not really interested in showing them.

I have read that the parents have to have a good temperament to make good puppies, and I had figured that George has an amazing temperament.


I don't know if what I just wrote makes any sense to you guys, but I do really appreciate your help.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Actually it does make sense to me and I am glad you came back to talk about this further. Clearly your intentions were not bad, but they were poorly informed. I hope this means that you will keep your George as your sweet little companion and that he may already have been neutered. If your girl turns out to be worthy of breeding then find a mentor who will help you with that. Enjoy them both above all else.

As others have said there are lots of really great dogs in shelters and rescues, no need to make more mixes just because one has a dog they think is nice.


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