Reproductive Veterinary Recommendations
Most, if not all, reproductive veterinary specialists now recommend doing back to back breeding as long as the mama recovered quickly and easily from the previous litter. Then they recommend retiring a dog early.
A dog goes through the exact same hormonal changes and their uterus wears out with every cycle. It doesn’t matter whether you breed her or not. This is why many dogs experience what is commonly called false pregnancies. Older un-spayed dogs become more and more at risk for a common but dangerous infection of the uterus call Pyometra the more heats they have, whether bred or not.
Summer Brook’s Philosophy
My philosophy will be to breed each of my girls once they are of breeding age every season with a few exceptions. I won’t breed a dog if breeding her causes me to have more than two litters here at a time. (Having multiple dogs in season is very common with breeders, as girls who live together all tend to come into heat at the same time). I won’t breed a mom who isn’t in excellent health. And lastly I won’t breed a girl if I have plans to show her during the time that she would be pregnant, nursing, or out of coat after weening. My goal is to breed my girls as frequently as possible once they are old enough and then to retire them early and place them with forever families.
We did not make this decision quickly. Other experienced breeder friends across the country have reproductive vets saying the same thing. Breeding back to back and breeding dogs young is what is best for the dogs. It goes against human nature to breed back to back. However, God designed dogs to reproduce this way and this is how dogs breed naturally.
For answers to other questions you might have on our breeding program, see our FAQ page.