I am just curious. On your females how old do you retire them. Do you base this on health or do you just retire them when they hit a certain age. Just curious to see what everybody does.
Her health is most important, as is how many litters she's had previously and whether or not they were natural deliveries. The older they get, the more I seriously consider everything. I draw the line at age 7 - 8. Your vet might advise. She MUST be in perfect healthy and FIT!!! If she's not, or if she's had sections, then I wouldn't chance it.
I agree with Nancy. I don't think there is a magic number for age or number of litters. Some dogs just are not great producers and some are not good mothers or whelpers. I would tend to retire a dog that is not producing well vs. another girl who is a consistant producer and is a fabulous mother and whelper.
As with anything in this hobby...common sense is key. Look at the big picture and take into consideration all of the information you know. There is nothing black and white in dog breeding.
I agree with no magic numbers. It depends on the bitch and her ease of whelp in the past and her health.
Our very first bitch was spayed after her first litter because the whelp (natural) took too much out of her and we felt it was enough and her health came first.
