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OK. We talked about the canine gestation period. We know there is about a two month pregnancy. Then we add that puppies can’t leave until they are 8 weeks old…and we know there is a combined 4 month window between conception and leaving the nest.
Some breeders may take waitlists and reservations for a general time period, but I have to say…we tried this during the COVID era, and it got a little crazy…
The increased demand during COVID, and a slower year for us, resulted in crazy long waiting lists for every color/gender that got a bit chaotic. People would contact me about a yellow woman waiting for example and I would say… “well, I have x number of people currently waiting for a yellow woman right now… soooo it could be a year? maybe less depending on the number of yellow females born? »
And then on top of that, you take names upon names, and when you finally have a litter that they can expect, you call them and they tell you that they actually got a puppy somewhere else there. two weeks… or not actually this time isn’t it’s great.
We take reservations based on color/sex preferences and thus establish a picking order for each litter. So when you think of all the color combinations there can be…. black, chocolate, yellow… male and female… It is very difficult to predict how long it will take to produce x number of chocolate males for example.
So our method has always typically been this:
We will establish a waiting list for any planned litter, with designated picking orders for each color/sex expected in that litter. Once this litter is born, we will confirm with everyone if we have their colour/sex reserved, and adjust if necessary (maybe someone reserved a yellow female but there was an abundance of black females and they are open to color change).
If we have an officially planned litter, that means we need to have a breeding date and due date, in order to establish that 4 month window.
Now, moving beyond that established window we talked about regarding conception to recovery, you might be wondering, “Well, don’t you know when you’ll mate each female?” »
Oh, if only…
So, the next brief lesson is about a woman’s heat or estrous cycle. And we have another article that talks a bit about it (you can read here!)
Unfortunately, as with any species, conception cannot happen at any time. And when it comes to dogs, it’s less often than humans, and not every month.
female dogs can have their first heat cycle most often between 8 months and 14 months. Just like human women, they are all different! After this initial heat cycle, most will re-enter heat every 6-8 months. Again, all are different. We could therefore get an idea of the cycle of each female, whether she comes every 6 months, or 7 months, or 8 months… But it doesn’t stop there, and it’s not always a clock. Sometimes a woman who normally has a 6 month cycle may have one that feels more like 7 or 8 months. Maybe you look at a female for her warmth and she has a quiet warmth. Or, she goes into heat, you start hormone testing for breeding purposes, then she comes out and that’s what we call a “shared heat.” There are so many scenarios, and until the female has peaked in her cycle and you have a breeding date, you really can’t give anyone a definitive timeline.
And when you’re chatting with as many people as we do about breeding plans on a daily basis, it’s hard to keep every single person up to date on every potential breeding that hasn’t happened yet. And even though people say they’re flexible, they stick to an expected plan and get disappointed when that plan changes…and in what we do, plans change. Often.
This may be a much longer answer to this question of timing and planning than necessary, but it looks like it might be helpful to parents of potential puppies if they understand the why of how we do the things and the timing of everything. I often get emails from the fall about plans for the following spring or summer. And it’s really too far to have planned litters. So I always kindly ask people to contact us about four months before they hope to bring home a new puppy.
Even when taking reservations for a planned litter with breeding and a due date, there are always risks and uncertainties while waiting to see if the breeding was successful and the litter produced what you hoped for. So just a note to be aware as you embark on planning your future puppy that flexibility and patience are absolutely necessary. You may be hoping for a yellow female pup to bring home in June, but depending on the dog’s cycle and the timing of the pregnancy, that litter might not be ready until July. Or maybe it’s ready in May. Or maybe you’re waiting on that litter with a baited breath, and they were born but have NO yellow females, or not enough for where your spot was on the litter selection order. So you could wait for the next litter and cross your fingers for that one.
This is just a breeder disclaimer, try to be patient and flexible in your timing to some degree when planning a new puppy! We will do our best to work with you to bring home your new family member at the right time. 🙂
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