Breeding Myth?

[annie1]

I was out with my giddy girl thismorning. We bumped into another dog walker, who firstly commented on how lovely she was and then went on to tell me that having a litter would "calm her down a treat."

Now I have no intention of taking this advice, yes she is giddy when she's out, mainly due to her never having been outside or walked before I got her at six months old last December, but I'm interested to know if anyone has ever heard this\tried this before?

I have a friend who heard a similar thing about horses, and then put her very bonkers mare in foal which resulted in the most traumatoc eightenn months of her life 

[LynneB]

What a load of tosh...please don't take any notice of this idiot. Defo NOT a reason to breed

[Pudding]

What Rubbish.....     maybe thats what i need to calm me down 

[Clare B]

Yes I've heard this, a friend of mine who has two naughty fox terriers, advised the same to me when Flo was a norty pup, (and my friend is also very horsey)but I chose to ignore her advise as I knew Flo was just being a typical pup.  I think it's an old fashioned view that bitches need to have a litter of pups to be complete and settled.

[black taz]

growing up will calm her down a treat

[Sharon]

Rubbish, yes your girl 'may' be quieter during pregnancy, but once the pups are gone she'll go back to how she was pre-pregnancy.

[elaine.e]

Definitely a myth.

Last time I was at the vet surgery with William a woman came in with a young Viszla bitch and had a conversation with the head vet nurse about breeding. The woman wanted to breed a litter when the bitch had her first season because it would A. calm the bitch down and B. it would be a fun experience for all the family

The vet nurse was excellent. She told the woman that having a litter wouldn't calm the bitch down and that she shouldn't have a litter at her first season as she wouldn't be mature physically. She went on to explain the possible difficulties during labour and in raising puppies and pointed out the heartbreak and big vet bills that would then ensue. She also pointed out that Viszlas often have large litters and asked the woman if she would be able to find good homes for perhaps 12 puppies. Finally she asked if the woman had talked to the breeder of her Viszla about this (she hadn't) as she would need good advice from an experienced breeder to choose the right stud dog if she decided to go ahead after weighing everything up.

The Viszla owner left looking a bit glum but hopefully a lot wiser. Well done the vet nurse.

[annie1]

growing up will calm her down a treat

At about nine years old I've heard 

She's tucked up on the sofa with me now, snoring her head off.

85% of the time she's a lovely laid back dog, but put that lead on and she's an over excited, unable to keep still, whirl of black fur but she's gradually getting better, I've not had any nylon burns on my fingers from the lead recently.

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking it was nonsense 

[black taz]

just a thought - what food is she on?  When i first had Taz I fed him on Bakers (only because it was the only food my collie cross would eat).  I then changed him to a high quality food and he calmed down within days.

If you have time when going out for a walk, how about taking her lead off when she gets excited and treat when she is calm (either with food or putting her lead back on).  I found when Taz was younger if we set off for a walk and he was over-excited he was a pain the whole time, but if i made him be calm first the walk was much much better.

[minimoo]

growing up will calm her down a treat

At about nine years old I've heard  

She's tucked up on the sofa with me now, snoring her head off.

85% of the time she's a lovely laid back dog, but put that lead on and she's an over excited, unable to keep still, whirl of black fur but she's gradually getting better, I've not had any nylon burns on my fingers from the lead recently.

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking it was nonsense  

Absolute rubbish(breeding heri mean), a cocker is a cocker and they are excitable by nature and yes you are right she might calm down when she is about 9  

[supergirl]

Rubbish - Misha was a giddy pup and recently we bumped into someone that hadn't seen her for a few years and who couldn't believe that she was the same mad puppy running around at the stables.  She didn't need to have a litter to become calmer, she's just older and wiser 

[annie1]

just a thought - what food is she on?  When i first had Taz I fed him on Bakers (only because it was the only food my collie cross would eat).  I then changed him to a high quality food and he calmed down within days.

If you have time when going out for a walk, how about taking her lead off when she gets excited and treat when she is calm (either with food or putting her lead back on).  I found when Taz was younger if we set off for a walk and he was over-excited he was a pain the whole time, but if i made him be calm first the walk was much much better.

She's fed on butchers. She'll eat anything but my two olders dogs are a bit fussy, one cannot be given dry food so we stick to tinned.

She is better off the lead, but when something catches her eye she totally forgets all recall training. I am working with her on the lead , where we live there is a lot of open farmland which is all currently growing wheat, whilst the farmer is a lovely guy, he is getting a bit of trouble with irresponsible dog owners allowing their dogs to run across his crops, dig them up and chase his sheep  I don't want her to get into that habit. If I walk the other way theres a lovely little brook, which most of the time is lovely and shallow but is the outflow for the local pumping station and change become very fast  flowing very quickly.