> Laura, I am certainly no expert but I would think breeding any bitch at age 6 > or over would be stressful and possibly dangerous. I tend to even think 5 > may be getting a bit too old. What do you think?
Most of my dogs have had their last litter at age 7 since most of them are still clear past breeding age. I have noticed no difference in number, size or vigor of their puppies at that age and had no complications due to the age of the bitch. None of the dogs I've kept has ever gone into congestive heart failure so none ever needed heart medication and all have lived past age 14. I showed my Prudence in the regular classes at age 10--the judge was floored when I told her how old she was--she thought she was only 3 or 4. It certainly doesn't seem to have harmed them at all. Of course they are all quite *young* looking as compared to many other Cavaliers I've seen around. I saw several 5-7 year olds at the National who looked older than my almost 13 year old! You really do have to go by the condition of each particular dog. As someone else said some probably should not be bred even at age 2 while others can be bred until age 7 or even later. If they have those good genes--they are the ones that probably should be bred! I also had my last *litter* at age 40 and I don't think it harmed me physically either. Laura Lang ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
