No, I am not breeding her this heat cycle. See See is only 16 months old and has not been x-rayed yet. She must be 2 years old in order to get certified by OFA, greatly reducing the likelihood of having puppies with bad hips or elbows.
The household is in upheaval. Having 3 intact males in the house is crazy. I am grateful that Winston and Clyde get along so well. Johnny cannot be in the same room with them, so he gets to stay with his mother and sister, Nellie and Jane, who are both spayed.
Last night, no one was sleeping. I was desperate for sleep as I hadn’t slept well for the past few nights. I gave all three boys Benadryl, and took some myself. I could still hear them clawing at the doors. (My doors are a mess! If I ever sell this house, I have to replace the doors.) Finally, I turned on the TV in my bedroom to just drown out the noise. The tv station played a test emergency signal at 11am that awakened me. I slept a few hours at least.
Turns out, the Benadryl had a delayed effect on Johnny. He is still sleepy. He ate very little yesterday, and nothing so far today. Here he is, sacked out on the futon.
Intact males and females have very strong instincts to mate, and keeping them intact indefinitely is causes a great deal of stress unless they are bred. And allowing them to breed without concern for what happens to all the puppies is just cruel.
Please get your dog spayed or neutered. Remember, that for the health of your purebred GSD, wait until your dog is two years of age. This will prevent bone development problems. GSDs are the only breed with this recommendation to delay spaying and neutering until age 2 years.
Sunday, I participated in a Rescue “leg” of a journey from Alabama to Maine. I transported 7 lab mix puppies and their mother from Richmond to Springfield VA, just south of DC. They were going to less crowded shelters where they had a better chance of being adopted. This is just a drop in the bucket of all the efforts that volunteers went through to keep these and many other dogs and puppies from being euthanized. Please be responsible and kind to your pet by spaying and neutering.
If you would like to overnight dogs or puppies or transport them along interstate 95, contact Doris at 678-468-2524. She is the amazing coordinator for the rescue/transport group.
Shepherd Sight 