cost of retired breeding bitch - Page 2

Age six is not too old to breed or do Schutzund, but she's no spring chicken either.
Your right, so much depends on health and over all physical and mental ability at six.
You must wonder how many litters she produced.
I would not pay a high price for a dog such as you describe either.

Depends on the dog I guess.

I have a little fenced cemetary  for my breeding stock ,with a little head stone for each dog that passes away.
My breeding dogs stay with me till they die.
I CONCIDER THEM PART OF MY FAMILY.

I will not breed a female older then 7 years.

I love my older dogs. I want to be there when they pass away to comfort them.
After all,they have loved me,and been loyal to me all their lives.

gouda

I find great homes for my females when they are retired from breeding, usually they are 8 years  old and perfectly sound for some fun and easy schutzhund work, which they do enjoy and look forward to, great to keep them in shape and great for someone to learn the sport from a dog with some training and experience.  Too old for competition though, and I would keep the jumps lower etc - but not too old to have some fun with the sport and get some good exercise doing so (for both owner and dog).  My girls are spayed and given away when they retire, but only to a great "forever after" home where they will be "top dog" and live in the house, get all or most of the attention and be spoiled for the remainder of their lives.  If I can't find such a home (usually with friends or family) then they stay here.  They are never for sale.

molly
Eichenluft
http://workinggermanshepherd.com

PRICELESS

...... in the right breeders eyes (and pocketbook) there should be no monitary value on ANY bitch that has served you well and done her job. Anything less than a loveing home is worthless!

My fondest memory is of a ScH3 bitch that we bought on a "deal" that we would breed her one more time and return a pup to the seller to make up for the reduced price that we paid.

One thing or another, we decided not to breed,. We called him to ask, "hey, how much money do we have to pay you to not breed her again? His answer was zero. To me, thats class!  He was happy his bitch had a great retirement home and was not concerned with "how much money he could make" ( by the way, it was John Paver at Schafer Lake Kennels back in 2000}.

I

I cant fathem a retired bitch being worth any money at all....They are simply pricless.......or so it should be..

JoAnn

We all know that it costs more to provide proper care for a dog than to buy the dog. The price is significant in ensuring the sincerity of the buyer, as well as helping to defray the plentiful costs of caring for dogs. If you purchase (or breed) a female, raise her up, train, title, show, breed survey, feed, health care, etc for 6 years, you have spent several thousand dollars. Ideally you would seek to at least break even on ot of pocket expenses by selling her pups, and maybe realize a modest return when you retire her to a good home. You will never be compensated monetarily for all the time and attention you devoted to the dog, but you ALSO benefitted from that. A buyer can clearly see and appreciate the tremendous value of such a dog as a family companion, jogging partner, etc. Most dogs are not (and SHOULD NOT be) bred, regardless of what outrageous price they happen to command. When a person buys a retired breeding female they are in many cases getting a far better dog than they could afford as a young breeding/ show candidate, and the hard work has been done, the bills paid, and for the average pet owner a 6 year old bitch is probably a much better match than a young dog just brimming with energy, and needing a much greater commitment. I would even consider a 5-6 year old female an excellent investment for a small breeder to get high quality at a manageable price. Depending upon quality, health, age, etc, you might pay anywhere from O- 3500. Jonah 

Some "breeders" never hold back puppies and usually sell everything in the litter. These kind of people should rightfully provide a great retirement home for their females and take that under consideration when acquiring the next "breeding stock".
Other dedicated people have a small hobby kennel where they breed with the goal to produce keepers and therefore, can't afford to keep all dogs. It is not fair to the dogs either. Especially older dogs deserve quality time and lots of attention. We always have one senior female in our house. But if two are the same age, we try to find a retirement home for one. We never charge anything but we stipulate that the female has to be spayed (if not already done) and withhold paperwork until done. I also have the right to take this female back if for some reason the forever home did not work out, just to make sure that none of our girls will face any uncertainties. Unless I know the new caretaker personally, I will only consider somebody within driving distance, so  I can can check up on this, if needed.
As to when to retire a female: That depends on the individual dog, health and ability to whelp. For some females, it is feasable to have several litters close together when young and then retire at middle age (6 years or so), and with others who only produce a litter every 12 to 18 months, they can be bred until 8 years or so. I used to believe in the second option, but during the last two or so years, I read that it is better to breed females often and then retire at 6 or latest 7 years for health reasons. Unlike humans, the reproductive organs of a female degenerate with every heat cycle, especially when left empty.
My female Vila had her last litter the month she turned 6 years old. She lives with my close friend and her 10 year old son as a house dog. Her last heat cycle was extremely long and when she finally stopped bleeding, we had her spayed (now at age 7), and sure enough, there was a big cyst. I suspect the same with my other girl, now 8 year old Gibsie who is retired with us. Her last offspring was 2 years old in November (we kept two and both are already titled and breed surveyed) and poor Gibsie is just now also recuperating from heavy bleeding which seemed to have gone on forever. She too will be spayed soon.
On the other hand, all of our old dogs are usually very healthy and live to a ripe old age. We lost one last year at almost 15 years of age.