How to get 2 English Springer Spaniels to get along?

[wyoDreamer]

Honestly what the grandparents are doing have no holding whatsoever on wether you should breed or not. Unless they themselves have the ribbons and the trial titles etc they aren't breeding stock. Good genes help in making that leap easier, but breeding quality is dependent on they themselves getting these achievements.

Alot of people don't look at it this way.

We bought our Irish Setter from a breeder who didn't show and since her husband died, didn't field trial the dogs. The lineage of her dogs was almost solid field trial champians for generations, imported from Ireland and England mostly, but the parents were not titled. They were used for recreational hunting only.
We had to board our pup occasionally, and we were lucky to have a local breeder/trainer of a different hunting breed who also boarded dogs. He wanted to field trial our pup so bad as the natural instincts were there and we were told he probably would have taken titles easily. We just weren't up to the time requirements of this lifestyle.

That being said, we didn't buy our pup for show or for field trials. He was a pet and loved to go bird hunting with us. Some of his siblings went on to win filed trials and she had repeat buyers for her pups that regularly used them for this. So a skip in a generation for field trial and showing titles does not mean the pups are worthless.

 

[Fly 2006]

I hear that it's good for any female animal to have at least 1 litter/baby in their lifetime and that it calms them down a bit. If you wanted the girl to have puppies why don't you talk to your son about fixing the boy, most of the time it takes away their male hormones, and they become more docile. (when I mean most of the time there are exceptions... like my dog)

It is just an old wives tale that dogs benefit from having a litter of pups, the health benefits for a dog being speyed are what people should be thinking about unless of course you are responsibly breeding from a dog and you know you will find good homes for the pups!

 

[Doubleyolker]

What I would suggest is to get all your health testing done. If their hips and eyes don't pass doesn't matter what their pedigee looks like. Then stand back take a unbiased look at these dogs as breeding stock...not as your pets that you love. If you don't know what you need to be looking for ask a respected breeder. Not every dog needs to be bred nor should they be.
I disagree that a dog should be bred once to settle them down . Training and age will do that. A tired dog is a good dog. Jmho

 

[Doubleyolker]

just as a footnote,,,,, Just because you have a male and a female doesnt mean those TWO should be bred together. You need to breed her to a male that will help correct her faults ( and she has faults, all dogs do, there isnt a perfect dog) . He could be just the ticket OR totally wrong. Ask someone who knows and loves the breed to help you.

I've bred some good dogs and I have spent lots of money trying to make the puppies better than their parents. I almost NEVER bred to a male that lived anywhere close. LOL . Seems the dog my girl needed happened to live in California.... or New York... road trip!!!

BUT..... One of my girls ( She was a champion, had a field title and Obedience degree) was the number one producing ***** ( produced more champions, etc ) in the country for 2 yrs... One of her sons took Best Of Breed at Westminster kennel club at Madison Square Garden.... which for an breeder, owner, handler is a pretty big honor. My daughter showed him

I spent a TON of money importing a ***** from Portugal and we were blessed with a litter that made us proud. All went on to do something good for their breed, either they became Champions, got their working titles and one went on to be a sar dog who was outstanding for detecting bodies in water. ( I know,, but its a job someone has to do) I also was the first one to export a pwd to Australia... what a nightmare!

Climbing down off my soap box...... sorry but this is my passion and I take it very seriously

 

[Doubleyolker]

Guess the correct word for a female dog isnt allowed here LOL... so ***** equals... girl dog LOL sorry

 

[Fly 2006]

Guess the correct word for a female dog isnt allowed here LOL... so ***** equals... girl dog LOL sorry

I've made the girl dog mistake on here too LOL!!

 

[20736]

ain't that a *****.

 

[FlaRocky]

I agree. They're both valuable as breeding dogs b/c their 4 parents all have ribbons & medals, etc. The female's sire just won the National Field Dog title recently. I would especially like to see her have puppies.

The male belongs to our son. Don't know what he wants to do. Would be so much easier if we only had 1 dog. 

Sorry if I offend you. But, does your female have any wins or titles to her name. Are you going to trial her, so she stands on her own merrit? Or, are you just going off the sire and dam pedigree? I have been a breeder of both dogs and horses. And all of mine that I used for breeding had to be proven with wins and titles on their own. I always health test before I ever think about breeding. I have my test results in hand along with championshps before I ever even think about breeding. Be it a dog or horse. Just because a pet dog is from champions doesn't mean it needs to be bred. I have gelded an International Grand Champion that I could of sold for a ton of money/ made a ton off of stud fees. Just because I DID NOT LIKE HIS TEMPERMENT. No regrets, sold him as a trail/ show gelding for a lot less. He did not fit the breed standard on temperment 100% of the time, for me.
I have also done the same with some of my dogs. Had field trial pointers as a kid with my dad. We spade and nutered a lot of dogs we sold. Some of them Champions. Also have done the same with my working dogs that I sold. Search and Rescue, Cadaver Recovery,Police K-9, Personal Protection Dogs.
I am not trying to make you mad. But I will say, some of the BEST dogs I EVER HAD where altered.

Just somthing to think about,

Maye

 

[FlaRocky]

Sorry some reason ot double posted.

 

[dainerra]

even if the dogs aren't trialed in a competition, if they are worked in real life, then I can see the point of breeding them. After all, they are doing the work - real life just doesn't have ribbons or embossed sheets of paper.

However, if the dog is "just a pet" (and I know that is actually a big job!) then, no, I wouldn't breed them. Why? Because there are no shortage of dogs of any breed. In every litter, there will be a range of dogs - top of the line conformation champions, hunting experts, and "just pets" However, if you start breeding the "just pets" then the bell curve is going to start falling - instead of several "contender" pups, you might have 1 and the rest "just pets" Breed "just pets" for another generation or so, suddenly you have 1 or 2 dogs that are going to make good pets and a few dogs in the litter who are going to be, honestly, genetic nightmares.
Why? Because every dog carries good and bad genes. By not carefully selecting the best genes, you are by default selecting the bad genes.