Breeding Your Dog

These are the points that you should be able to check off with a tick. This is a quick guide for what you should look for before you breed, and is not all inclusive. Further input is welcome:

Is your bitch:

1. show quality
2. a champion
3. have both parents and grand parents that are champions
4. free from hereditary disease
5. parents and grand parents tested and free from hip dysplasia
6. mature enough to breed

7. tested today as free from brucellosis

Is your dog:

1. show quality
2. a champion
3. have both parents and grand parents that are champions
4. free from hereditary disease
5. parents and grand parents tested and free from hip dysplasia
6. mature enough to breed

7. tested today as free from brucellosis

And you need to meet ALL of the following criteria:

1. you are have homes already for all pups - before the mating
2. you have found a dog that meets all the points in the section above relating to the requirements of the bitch
3. you are prepared to offer a lifetime guarantee (or at least two years) for the health of the pups
4. if, during the lifetime of the pups, any need to be returned for whatever reason, you take that pup (now adult dog) back and find a home for him/her.
5. all non-show quality pups are sold with a spay/neuter agreement
6. all prospective buyers have been fully screened by you
7. you are going to offer support and advice to your puppy buyers for the life of the pup
8. you have the money to cover a stud fee, possible c-section and complications, vaccinations, and still get no income from the sale of any pups.
9. have you consented with the breeder of your bitch/dog and sought their advice?

Now that's just a starting point. If you can't or won't meet these criteria, perhaps breeding at this time is not the best thing for you or your dog.

The Female Heat Cycle

Unspayed female Pit Bulls usually come into seasons (heat) twice a year at roughly six-month intervals. They start when they are between six and twelve months old and continue all their lives. The heat usually lasts from eighteen to twenty-one days, and its first sign is a noticeable swelling of the vulva, followed by bleeding (showing color). Males attracted to a female at this early stage, but she usually wants nothing to do with them and either sits down when they try to mount her or fights them off. After seven to nine days, the bloody discharges, too, and she may become friendly and inviting toward males. It is during this stage, which usually lasts from the tenth to the fifteenth day, that the female is ovulating and can become pregnant. The final stage of the heat often continues until the twenty-first day or longer. During this period the female is still attractive to males, but she usually wants nothing more to do with them.

When a female is in season, it is impossible to be careful. Not every female’s cycle or behavior is the same, and some may be agreeable to breeding much earlier or much later than the norm. Since males are attracted to your door from the first swelling of the vulva until nature washes the scent of season from your yard, it is important to keep your female securely confined during her entire heat cycle.

If you breed your female on purpose, it’s still necessary to confine her. Female dogs can give birth to puppies from two or more sires in one litter. You have bred Maria to the best American Pit Bull Terrier you could find, but if Champion Boxer climbed your fence, some of Maria’s puppies may be pure Pit Bulls while others may be mongrels or Pit Boxers!!!

Sexual Characteristics of the Male

            From the time a male Pit Bull is around eight months old, until he is too old to stand up without help, he will probably be willing to breed a female in heat. But stud dogs should never be expected to “perform” outside on hot, muggy days, because even if they succeed, they may still fail because extreme heat kills sperm. It’s best to keep a stud dog in the shade, or even in air conditioning, for several hours before he is used, as well as during the actual mating.

            Although Pit Bulls of both sexes should be certified clear of heredity defects before they are used to breeding, a defect called orchidism is seen only in the male and can be easily detected by the owner. Orchidism means the dog’s testicle(s) did not descend in the scrotum. It is called cryptorchidism when it affects one. Some dogs with orchidism are capable of feathering puppies, but they should never be allowed to do so as they often pass the defect to their young. In fact, dogs with this defect should always neutered because the undescended testicle(s) may become cancerous.

            If you have a young male puppy with undescended testicles, don’t panic too soon. Sometimes puppies testicles do not fully descend until the dog reaches four to five months of age. Also, when the testicles begin to descend, one or both of them may appear one day and disappear the next, only to emerge for good a few days later.

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