My boyfriend rescued an american bulldog who was bred alot before we had her. We have not bred her once since we have had her. We was told she was two years old when we had her. But when we had her she was like a pup and we do believe we was told she was that age because she was bred to much. There was other problems due to her being mistreated like under weight, cuts all over her, loss of fur on back legs due to mites and fleas. We have owned her for three years now she is all healthy and well weighing 6 stone. I have not bred her due to the ammount of time she was bred before. She keeps having phantom pregnancies this is her third one. I dont know if she is going through this because this is what she is used to. She has a lovely temprement shes a really clever dog and brilliant genes. I dont know what to do whether i should let her have a litter or not. I think its cruel seeing her like this. she got lovely genes i would love to see them get passed down but i dont know what to do.
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You need to get her spayed, her hormones are all over the place and will cause tumors, etc.
I have a gorgeous mini dachshund that I showed in AKC sanctioned matches for several years, she loved it and did quite well. I would never breed a dog as I rescue and have seen all too much damage with breeder dogs and homeless dogs in general.
When my dog was 6, she started with the phantom heats, got worse and worse, so I had her spayed and she's 13 now and doing just fine.
Get the dog spayed before she develops all sorts of hormone related problems - you most certainly should not breed her again - she's had enough and deserves to be a loved pet.
False pregnancies are not brought on by breeding. In fact breeding prevents them for that breeding cycle. Letting her have one litter will not stop the process except for that time that she is pregnant. The only way to prevent false pregnancies is to spay the dog. I had a dog that had never been bred but had a phantom pregnancy after every heat cycle until she was spayed at five years old. I was going to use her for breeding because she came from some of the top lines in the country and had her CHIC. However life circumstances changed all of that.
Personally, I feel that rescues should not be bred. sounds like you do not have much history on her since you really do not know her true age or breeding history. You are only going on what others are telling you.
Your husband obviously has no idea what hard work having a litter is! Bullmastiffs are big, they have big litters of rapidly growing pups. 2 young children, a small flat is definitely not the environment where you can have a litter and stay sane! They also cost a lot of money, by the time you've paid for hip scoring, stud fees, & food & vet treatment for the pups, you're into 4 figures - and that's assuming nothing goes wrong. Having a litter will make no difference as to whether or not she has phantoms. The only way you can be sure of that is to have her spayed, but the vet may not operate on her while she is having a phantom - you'd better check before you take her.
You NEVER EVER breed a rescue dog. You haven't got a clue about her genetics.
American Bulldogs are not easy dogs as well and finding GOOD homes for pups without paperwork is very difficult.. in fact virtually impossible.
There is one sensible and totally correct way out of this and it is GET HER SPAYED.
She is way too young to have been bred A LOT, as they shouldn't even have one litter before 2 yrs old, let alone a lot. She would still continue to go through phantoms even if you allow her to have one more litter.
As for being lovely and passing down genes. Her genetic make-up will make up a very small part of her puppies. Grandparents / G.grandparents plus sires and his g.parents make up a lot also.
Absolutely DO NOT BREED but spay instead.
"brilliant genes" ? huh? "lovely genes"? huh, again.
She had been over breed & you should not breed her. Get her spayed. She was a brood b*tch & is now a pet. spay her.
You got her from an ignorant BYBer cause she was bred to death & these so called "brilliant genes & lovely genes" is a Phrase. They don't know sh*t from a gene & absolutely nothing about genetics. That is why BYBed dogs are so low low low in quality. about 95% of registered dogs are so full of faults that all they are in reality are just mutts. Genetics are so screwed up.
You saved her & finish the job & get her spayed.
Spay it, problem solved
"She has a lovely temprement shes a really clever dog and brilliant genes. "
This is no reason at all to be a BYBer. The dog has clear genetic and health issues, spay it dont be another BYBer. Your dog has terrible genes that do not breed to be passed on. You clearly care so little for the dog you want to breed it out of greed
Get her spayed, she done enough before she was even two years old, and now she's at least 5? Time to get her spayed and let her settle down to the good life of being a pampered pet.
She needs to be spayed - halfway between her last and the next season. If she's having false pregnancies, her hormones are all screwed up in any case and repeated false pregnancies are bound to be pulling her down.
Forget about her brilliant genes - even Champions don't always reproduce themselves.
You would be better off getting her spayed, Don't you think she already has been bred enough over the years of her abuse? Why put her through that again,? She is well past breeding anyway.
Please spay her & love her as a pet.... her "pup pimping" days should be put on permanent hiatus.
Even the most reputable of breeders have 3 litters max and only from 2 - 5 yrs. of age.