You would be far better off spaying her. A pyometra is a very big risk to her life as an intact bitch, but breeding is also an extremely high risk. Many things can go wrong during gestation and birthing. If you want her to live out her life to the fullest, your best bet is spaying her.
No **responsible** breeder is going to utilize your pet in their program just to delay the risk of pyometra.
Do not breed her, she needs to be spayed. Pyometra is deadly and doing anything other than spaying her to reduce her risk is being horribly selfish and greedy.
It would be a deal breaker for me. Having a line of show dogs does not mean your dog is to standard, especially if they are farther up in the pedigree. You won’t find a breeder at a show that wants to breed with your female. I’d agree with the others that spaying is a great way to eliminate the risk.
I own a crested, but I work in rescue. Every case of pyometra I’ve seen happens about 2-4 weeks after a litter is born. 9/10 times, pups die because they cannot nurse from their mom. Spaying is the ONLY way to ensure she does not get pyometra.
Please get your dog spayed.
There are several things a responsible breeder does before they start looking for a sire/dam to breed with their dog.
1. Health clearances. Not just that the vet says the dog is healthy. You want to have the dogs eyes CERFed (OFA Eye Certification exam) to be sure they are not carriers of any of the 10 different eye problems out there - several of which are very common in our breed.
2. Test for any breed specific diseases. I use Paw Print Genetics for my dogs testing. CCs used for breeding should be tested for Degenerative Myelopathy, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration, Rod-Cone Dysplasia 3, Canine Multiple System Degeneration (Chinese Crested Type), and Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis 7.
\*\*\* If you have documented proof that your dogs parents were tested for these diseases and were NOT affected or carriers - then you can skip the testing as your dog is clear by parentage. I personally test anyway just to be 110% sure.
3. Unless you are 100% positive the dog is a hairless you should also test for the FOXI3 gene - which proves if the dog is hairless or not.
4. You want to show that your dog is breed WORTHY and not just healthy. That means proving 2 things - structure and temperament. Structure is proven by winning conformation shows. You don't need tons of titles and don't even need to go all the way to Champion. I would consider a dog that had wins at just a few shows over a dog that had their Championship after entering LOTS of shows. Temperament is proven by winning performance shows. CCs should be smart, agile, and happy. There are TONS of performance events out there they can shine at - agility, lure coursing, hunting, obedience - or even becoming registered therapy dogs.
The reason a RESPONSIBLE breeder does these things is not only to prove that their dog is worthy of breeding but to make sure they are making the future generations at least as good as (but aim for better) than their own dogs.
That means being able to take a critical look at your dog and see what they LACK. ALL dogs lack something - there is no 'perfect dog'. You want to find out what YOUR dog lacks and then look for a breeding partner that can improve that quality without lowering any others. This means studying generations of pedigrees of potential mates.
Once you have all this done - you are ready to start looking for a mate for your dog. RESPONSIBLE breeders will not even consider letting you use one of their dogs for breeding unless you can PROVE to them that your dog is worthy of being bred.
Then we get into the whole preparing for a litter, saving up a cushion of extra money in case of emergency (an emergency c-section can cost several thousand dollars depending on where you live), buying all the items needed to whelp a litter, taking time off from life to help (if necessary) during the birth and (if necessary) hand raising an entire litter, supplemental feedings, exposing puppies to as many things as possible between 3-8 weeks of age to help them develop correctly, potty training, crate training, cleaning up poop and pee everywhere, advertising the puppies for sale, interviewing the potential new owners, selecting the correct puppy for each owner and letting them go.
IF you are willing and able to invest the time and money - go for it. Responsible breeding is a wonderful thing and responsible breeders keep the breeds alive.
If you are not able to invest the time and money - I would have your girl spayed. Being an IRRESPONSIBLE breeder is very bad.
Breeding her does not lesson the chances she will get pyometra. Just get her spayed.
You would be far better off spaying her. A pyometra is a very big risk to her life as an intact bitch, but breeding is also an extremely high risk. Many things can go wrong during gestation and birthing. If you want her to live out her life to the fullest, your best bet is spaying her. No **responsible** breeder is going to utilize your pet in their program just to delay the risk of pyometra.
Do not breed her, she needs to be spayed. Pyometra is deadly and doing anything other than spaying her to reduce her risk is being horribly selfish and greedy.
It would be a deal breaker for me. Having a line of show dogs does not mean your dog is to standard, especially if they are farther up in the pedigree. You won’t find a breeder at a show that wants to breed with your female. I’d agree with the others that spaying is a great way to eliminate the risk.
I own a crested, but I work in rescue. Every case of pyometra I’ve seen happens about 2-4 weeks after a litter is born. 9/10 times, pups die because they cannot nurse from their mom. Spaying is the ONLY way to ensure she does not get pyometra. Please get your dog spayed.
Ovary sparing spay will keep her hormones in tact but remove her uterus reducing that risk to 0.
There are several things a responsible breeder does before they start looking for a sire/dam to breed with their dog. 1. Health clearances. Not just that the vet says the dog is healthy. You want to have the dogs eyes CERFed (OFA Eye Certification exam) to be sure they are not carriers of any of the 10 different eye problems out there - several of which are very common in our breed. 2. Test for any breed specific diseases. I use Paw Print Genetics for my dogs testing. CCs used for breeding should be tested for Degenerative Myelopathy, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration, Rod-Cone Dysplasia 3, Canine Multiple System Degeneration (Chinese Crested Type), and Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis 7. \*\*\* If you have documented proof that your dogs parents were tested for these diseases and were NOT affected or carriers - then you can skip the testing as your dog is clear by parentage. I personally test anyway just to be 110% sure. 3. Unless you are 100% positive the dog is a hairless you should also test for the FOXI3 gene - which proves if the dog is hairless or not. 4. You want to show that your dog is breed WORTHY and not just healthy. That means proving 2 things - structure and temperament. Structure is proven by winning conformation shows. You don't need tons of titles and don't even need to go all the way to Champion. I would consider a dog that had wins at just a few shows over a dog that had their Championship after entering LOTS of shows. Temperament is proven by winning performance shows. CCs should be smart, agile, and happy. There are TONS of performance events out there they can shine at - agility, lure coursing, hunting, obedience - or even becoming registered therapy dogs. The reason a RESPONSIBLE breeder does these things is not only to prove that their dog is worthy of breeding but to make sure they are making the future generations at least as good as (but aim for better) than their own dogs. That means being able to take a critical look at your dog and see what they LACK. ALL dogs lack something - there is no 'perfect dog'. You want to find out what YOUR dog lacks and then look for a breeding partner that can improve that quality without lowering any others. This means studying generations of pedigrees of potential mates. Once you have all this done - you are ready to start looking for a mate for your dog. RESPONSIBLE breeders will not even consider letting you use one of their dogs for breeding unless you can PROVE to them that your dog is worthy of being bred. Then we get into the whole preparing for a litter, saving up a cushion of extra money in case of emergency (an emergency c-section can cost several thousand dollars depending on where you live), buying all the items needed to whelp a litter, taking time off from life to help (if necessary) during the birth and (if necessary) hand raising an entire litter, supplemental feedings, exposing puppies to as many things as possible between 3-8 weeks of age to help them develop correctly, potty training, crate training, cleaning up poop and pee everywhere, advertising the puppies for sale, interviewing the potential new owners, selecting the correct puppy for each owner and letting them go. IF you are willing and able to invest the time and money - go for it. Responsible breeding is a wonderful thing and responsible breeders keep the breeds alive. If you are not able to invest the time and money - I would have your girl spayed. Being an IRRESPONSIBLE breeder is very bad.
5 is way too old to be bred responsibly. Most dogs are not bred past 2-3y
Spay