Male Dogs,

[chickensrock]

I have fallen in love with a dog that we dog sit, he is an unneutered black lab, I think he is around 10, and that made me think what age do dogs stop mating?

[Buenchico]

Dog breeders often get rid of males at around 4 years of age. (My friend bought a beautiful English Setter, who had won many regional dog shows and had been exhibited at Crufts, from a lady who regarded him as surplus to her requirements for breeding purposes when he was about 4 years old).

However male dogs will keep on trying to mate for as long as they're quick enough to catch a bitch!

[chickensrock]

I don't think this old dog could mate, I was just curious, thanks buenchico, did you ever find the cat you fostered from a neighbour that moved?

[woofgang]

10 isn't old.

[DaisyNonna]

Not that different from men then

[tonyav]

LOL.

[lankeela]

Depends on the breed, and is aligned to the ages that they live. Smaller breeds can live well into their teens and will continue to show interest in the girls most of their lives. The bigger breeds don't tend to live as long and are usually less physically capable. The Kennel Club has a rule about dogs being bred by artificial insemination, this cannot be done if the dog is still alive apart from Irish Wolfhounds who can be bred using AI if the dog is over eight and a half years old due to the physical strain on them trying to mate a bitch. I don't know many breeders who get rid of their stud dogs if they are still capable of producing decent offspring. I have a young dog who is going on a short holiday to Finland next month to meet some Finnish ladies!

[woofgang]

lankeela, I think in some breeds, limited breeding from successful sires is done in an attempt to maintain as wide a gene pool as possible...there is also the issue of having a better dog coming on...

[Sycamore3House]

I adopted a 5 year old yellow Labrador from the Labrador rescue trust and he was still intact shall we say. Unfortunately he had a bit of a problem in this region and the vet advised neutering. The vet also told me that all that male dogs want to do is mate with a bitch and as my lab was old to be neutered he would still have dog tendencies. He did to a point. He would smell a bitch chase her and then forget what he was supposed to do next. It was quite funny to watch him. He lived until he was 15. Bless him. Still miss him.

[Buenchico]

>>>did you ever find the cat you fostered from a neighbour that moved?

Thanks for your enquiry, Chickensrock.

I had a new feline friend ('Patches') move in last October:
http://oi39.tinypic.com/69j4u1.jpg
She just walked in one day, helped herself to a meal and curled up on my knee (and then slept on my bed that same night). Nobody knew where she'd come from, or had seen her around here before, and I didn't see any 'missing cat' posters anywhere.

She's currently sleeping in her cat house (a furry kennel type of thing) on my desk right next to me as I type, along with the four beautiful kittens she gave birth to this morning!
;-)

[chickensrock]

Well this very loving, noisy couch potato, ( I think I may have to cut the gravy bones down) is adorable, we are sitting 2 dogs, I was just curious why they did not mate, nancy the female is a 5 year old posh whippety thing, thanks all,

[seekeerz]

You won't know until nancy comes in season, but then you'll probably find the sweet old couch potato is up for anything ..pardon the pun !!

[seekeerz]

Hey Chris I see congratulations are in order, did you know this happy event was about to take place ? And could we have piccies please.

Always thought that little minx Patches looked a bit too smug !

[Buenchico]

>>>did you know this happy event was about to take place?

It was rather obvious, given the size that Patches had grown to Seekerz!
She actually had five kittens but one, although fully formed, was unfortunately still-born. Either that or the poor thing had been suffocated before I found it. However the other four seem fine. (One's tabby all over, one's tabby with some white bits, one's ginger and one's black and white).

I'll probably try to get some piccies in the next few days but I'm trying to minimise the disturbance to one very-exhausted cat at the moment.

[Sycamore3House]

Buenchico, your lady cat reads like she has found the perfect home. Keep us updated on progress on the little ones.

[anneasquith]

congratulations patches.

[woofgang]

chickensrock, I am slightly worried that you dog sit for other people and don't seem to know that un neutered female dogs have seasons and are usually only receptive and interesting to male dogs when they are in season. Perhaps so general reading about dogs and their care might be in order?

[lankeela]

Maybe the bitch has been spayed?

[chickensrock]

General reading....... woof I look after 2 dogs 3 monthly, my 3 dogs are all neutered, both there owners dogs and mine get on really well,

[chickensrock]

Both there dogs are un neutered, I have found out he is 14, she is 6, and have never mated, my question was, what age do dogs stop mating?