Hey Folks,
New to breeding. Thought I would pick the brains of all you experienced folks out there.
Do you feel your bitch's personality changed after her first litter? Or was that just a function of getting older? For those that have bred a bitch older for the first time( over age 3) any thoughts?
I am talking about energy level, drive, working ability.
Thanks loads.
Newbee
I am talking about energy level, drive, working ability
If these are the specific areas that you are asking about changes - I would say no. Some girls are ready to go even when their pups are young - fetch, heel - whatever is asked of them - you know Labs love their "job". But some turn and stay more maternal - at least while pups are young. But in my experience - they will return soon to their pre pregnant personalities.
At least one of my girls seemed to become more self-confident and responsible after having a litter, but that might have been just because she got older. She was washed out by a pro for field work as a young dog. I tried training her myself and found that she just wouldn't focus on retrieving. I stopped training her, showed her to a championship, let her have several litters, and then tried training her again and found that I had a different dog. I sent her back to the same pro, and was asked "What did you do?" So it wasn't just me that noticed the difference. She finished her JH in four straight tests after a NQ that was at least partly my fault. We then went on the get her RN. RA, and CD with good scores.
I didn't notice a change in any of those areas at all. My girl had 3 litters, is now 8 years old and still acts like a 2-year old. She does get bummed when I get the obedience training bag or the field training bag out and she discovers she's not the one going. When she does get to go ~ stand back! I've been training her and her daughters in Rally and she's in heaven and ready to go show-off!
I never said my girl liked being left at home! In fact, we started on the Rally because she was giving me such guilt trips about not getting to go to the shows and hunt tests when I took her kids and other youngsters. I thought, OK here is something we can do. The problem now is that at age 11 I'm not jumping her anymore, and she has all the non-jumping titles. So she is retired for good now. She seems to accept it better than she did several years ago. She still sleeps on the bed, after all.
Peggy,
My older guy is in the same boat. He loves to go but can't do the jumps. He has his CD, RN and RA. Now I take him to matches and show him in Rally Novice there for exhibition. He loves it - he gets to go, and everyone oooohhs and aahhhs because he's so good at it now! It's a good solution for us, for him. It makes him happy and he loves to be in the spotlight! Just wish there were more matches...
I've finished several advanced titles after whelping (though I do like to have a head start on them beforehand too). Just depends on the dog. Don't expect miracle turn arounds either, but it shouldn't ruin them either. My girl w/ 9 wk old litter enthusiastically did an Open obed run thru today. I scratched my head asking why I didn't enter HER in the upcoming trials.... sometimes a break in training is just what they needed. Anne
