# at what age is too old?



## Shalva (Jul 16, 2008)

There is no one right answer to this.... it all depends on the girl... I generally don't breed a girl after age 6... meaning she may have a litter at 6, I was tempted with a girl I have here now to breed at 7... it depends on the girl... her activity level... how OLD she is (not in years) but in how she acts, her health, etc etc. I know someone who bred at 9 while it is not something I would do, this was a reputable breeder and the girl was in great shape for a 9 year old... there is not one right answer it depends on the individual girl... and the reasons for breeding at that age.


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## SunGold (Feb 27, 2007)

Shalva said:


> There is no one right answer to this.... it all depends on the girl... I generally don't breed a girl after age 6... meaning she may have a litter at 6, I was tempted with a girl I have here now to breed at 7... it depends on the girl... her activity level... how OLD she is (not in years) but in how she acts, her health, etc etc. I know someone who bred at 9 while it is not something I would do, this was a reputable breeder and the girl was in great shape for a 9 year old... there is not one right answer it depends on the individual girl... and the reasons for breeding at that age.


Totally agree.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

An 8-9 year old dog is considered a senior. Personally, I think it's abhorrent to breed a senior dog, regardless of the activity level or health. To me it's no different than breeding a dog that's less than a year old.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Shalva said:


> There is no one right answer to this.... it all depends on the girl... I generally don't breed a girl after age 6... meaning she may have a litter at 6, I was tempted with a girl I have here now to breed at 7... it depends on the girl... her activity level... how OLD she is (not in years) but in how she acts, her health, etc etc. I know someone who bred at 9 while it is not something I would do, this was a reputable breeder and the girl was in great shape for a 9 year old... there is not one right answer it depends on the individual girl... and the reasons for breeding at that age.


Totally agree as well.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

While I think 8 or 9 is rarely (if ever) okay to breed a Golden the other thing to take into account would be how often does the bitch come into season. Some cycle every 6 months others can go 15 months between cycles. So the uterus of a 9 y/o who cycles twice a year would theoretically be more than twice as "old" as 1 9 year old who cycles every 15 months.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

AmbikaGR said:


> While I think 8 or 9 is rarely (if ever) okay to breed a Golden the other thing to take into account would be how often does the bitch come into season. Some cycle every 6 months others can go 15 months between cycles. *So the uterus of a 9 y/o who cycles twice a year would theoretically be more than twice as "old" as 1 9 year old who cycles every 15 months.*


I don't understand why this (*in bold) *would be true. Because the uterus has hormonally prepared itself for implantation of fertilized eggs more often, it is "older"? How is that so?
PS I am not saying any 8-9 year old should be bred, just wondering about this part of what you said.


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