I know this has been discussed before and if I am violating any rules my appologies but I am serioulsy lost.

I am so confused when & if to spay my dog. I have made 2 apts and cancelled them. The first was her going into heat and the 2nd she ingested something and is under the weather. She will be 1 yr old 9/5. Her last heat ended July 1st. I am going on a 7 day cruise Sept 24th and putting her in the kennel where the area police depts board their dogs. Is it too soon for her to come into heat again? I was hoping to spay her b4 my trip so she would be recovered and everything and not go into heat @ the kennel. My co-worker, recently promoted k9 officer, who had to retire his k9, wants to breed his k9 with mine after her 2nd heat. The reason to breed, to pass on the breed with good lines, which both our dogs have. He says they would be kick ass dogs and I agree. I am torn. This is my first pure breed puppy and she is so high engergy. Im now told spaying will have no effect on her energy level and may increase her aggression twds females. I would spay her after that litter if I agree to it. She would be fully grown and she wouldn't have to be sequestered again. Oh, he also said having a litter may actually calm her. Is that true? I have zero knowledge whelping puppies and would seek help from either the vet down the street or my breeder friend (who is totally against breeding her). The Sgt keeps telling me just wait, don't spay her.
Thank you for any point of view to help me with this decision of when to spay and if to breed.

and ..... he would take any puppies that were not sold past the 12 week stage. It seems his friends and our co workers are waiting patiently for his puppies. His dog is Czech and mine is german/czech.

 Quote:

......My co-worker, recently promoted k9 officer, who had to retire his k9, wants to breed his k9 with mine after her 2nd heat. The reason to breed, to pass on the breed with good lines, which both our dogs have. He says they would be kick ass dogs and I agree. I am torn....

So everything else aside, neither owner is a breeder and neither knows anything about breeding.

Here's an article to read:
http://www.dogstuff.info/to_breed_or_not.html

Breeding is a huge expense, a really huge investment of time & effort, and a SUPER huge responsibilty, just for starters...

Best advice: spay your bitch ASAP.

having puppies is a huge commitment and expense. it's a decision that should be made by an experienced breeder. what does you dog's breeder think?

if your dog's breeder thinks your dog is good breeding material, then see if she/he would consider fostering the dog and her puppies until they are old enough to go to their new homes.

i am assuming here that the breeder is knowledgeable and experienced.

really, if you do not know what is behind your dog or your seargeant's dog, you have no business breeding these two dogs. you don't know what you are perpetuating.

odds are 99 percent that you should just spay her.

oops, i just reread your post and you say your breeder friend is totally against breeding her?

listen to your friend. spay the dog.

 Quote:

....or my breeder friend (who is totally against breeding her).

That should answer your question.
By the by from what I heard at the club a number of K9 units don't have the pedigrees for there K9s and don't care so any dogs that are from the two would be considered "mixed" and would be difficult to find good homes for, and if homed with an inexperience or lazy owner you could easily have a dangerous dog that will hurt somebody just "playing" We don't need our GSDs and other working dogs to go the way of the APBT.

Spay your dog! the risk out way the good in this case. Many breeders have seen a puppy get stuck and have to do a pull or c-section which by the way is costly specially if it happens like most do at 11pm-6 AM. Are you willing to put your female in harms way over this guy wanting a puppy? I have seen dogs die on the table due to problem birthing NOT PRETTY and not worth lossing a female over if you are going to spay her anyways. Put your dog first!!!

Definitely spay her. There are just too many red flags here including the fact that the breeder obviously feels she is not breeding material for whatever reason.

My question is towards your breeder. If she did not want the dog bred then why was she not put on a spayed contract? I think it should be a must if the puppy is not of breeding worth. But I know at 8 weeks old you can not always tell but still put it on a contract that at the age of 12 months if not showing signs of breeding worth dog must be spayed. And since the new owner is new to breeding any and all breeding should be under her supervision /co-owned if she is breeding worth JMO

My breeder friend breeds akc cairn terriers and now airdales. He is against it because of the lack of AKC stuff.
2nd I was wondering if 12 months was too early to spay her because I have read she should be full grown but I see that according to you all it's not an issue w/my dog. There is no way she would get knocked up w/out it being intentional. She's not allowed to roam free and is never out of my site. For the record, I wanted to be talked out of it (breeding her). It's so easy to get caught up in breeding 2 beautiful dogs. I felt I had to clarify the breeder thing. He's my oldest friend of 38 yrs and has nothing to do with working dogs or GSD. I call him an AKC snob. If I should have waited til she was full grown well b4 her spay, my bad for not going with my gut instinct.

Why would I post if not intending on reading the replies? Honestly sometimes I wonder. I am a new GSD owner and I would think soliciting advice would imply I'm not an idiot, but naive.

The vet's estimate for this spay is $500 = that seems pretty high to me, any thoughts? I live in a small city Alameda, next to SF & Oakland CA if that matters. There are 3 here and this one is a block away from my house.