Question about breeding old male dogs.

Mmkay, so I understand why it is dangerous/not nice to breed old females (risk of pyometria, probably spelled wrong, the physical burden of carrying/birthing/raising a litter of puppies, etc.), but on another forum I belong to there is a thread bashing a breeder for using an old male dog. Nothing to do with the individual dog, just the age.

I was just wondering if it is generally considered bad breeding practices by most people to breed an old male dog? If so, why?
I mean, it doesn't seem like the actual act would be all that stressful or bad for them, but I do know a lot of people collect sperm and then neuter the dog.

Just wonderin...

TIA

How old is "old?"

umm... my three year old's daddy just turned 13 in january. they will only AI him but his last litter was born in jan. vet OK'd it, collected him, said he's still more than viable, and bred the female... we just saw him in feb and aside from being quite grey, missing some of his teeth, and being a bit bent out of shape over not being allowed to hunt in extreme cold or heat, he seems fine to me... lol.

Then again I've also heard of like 10 year old females having a litter, and while the care seems to be a bit more, they've seemed no worse for the wear - the biggest thing I've noticed is that the litter size is more like 1-3 pups. Which, to me, would be all I wanted anyway

Nope, not bad breeding practices.

Father of my puppy is 12 I think. When the genetic test for PRA came about he was tested as having the gene that would cause him to have PRA. His breeder loves him and he's a very nice dog. Conformation,obedience, herding titles. He was a very talented herder in his day. His breeder didn't own any genetically clear bitches to breed him to, but she kept him intact. She went and bought a bitch who she liked, that tested clear for PRA. She does not carry the gene. All other health testing on both were clear as well. Now, I have Zen. He's considered an obligate carrier of PRA. He will never get PRA, but he carries a gene for it. He can safely be bred to any non-carrier.

As long as the dog doesn't spend his whole life breeding and breeding, (as in @ a puppy mill) I don't have a problem with it. It isn't unhealthy to keep a dog intact that long. They can develop testicular cancer and/or prostate problems, but those can be caught and taken care of quickly if the dog is given a good once-over and watched regularly. It's the same thing as collecting the dog a lot and then neutering him. It's less expensive and risky too.

No, the danger isn't in the act. If they're interested at that age, they can perform. There is the possibility of degeneration of the sperm.

According to the AKC

Part of this is because people would often use the registration info on an old retired male to register the litter, but use a different stud as the actual sire. It's conceivable that a male could/would be sterile after 12 yrs of age, although we all know it's not a guarantee!!

Okay, thanks guys!
That's what I was thinking as well, I just wanted to make sure as it's never something I had given any thought to before.

I could see people being all put off by it if the dog was like, freaking geriatric. But I know lots of 10, 12, 13 year old dogs that aren't really "old" you know? But if somebody told me they had, like, a 17 year old sheltie and wanted to breed him I'd be like "...WTF?" LOL

Smudge's sire was 11. Meant I knew that side of his lines had longevity and health on top of having proven in conformation and hunting. I have no issue using older dogs. I'd like to know especially that health and temperament prevails.

Yes, it seems to me that it is much better to use an older stud that has had no health problems of his own than one that is too young to know what will crop up. Certainly human makes have children late in life, and the fine racehorse Vindication came out of Seattle Slew's last or second to last crop of foals. He was an ill starred horse, but certainly fast.,

I see nothing wrong with using a old boy. As long as the vet OK'd it for live. Other wise it may be to stressfull on the boy. Some breeders dont just because they dont want to put the boy under that stress.

My aunt has a corgi x schnauzer.... schnauzer was 13 years old, everybody - including the vet - thought the old boy was sterile!

(She's an interesting dog - both her parents are champions, just not the same breed!)

Depending on the dog itself, I rather like seeing an older sire being used. The sire for the Aussie litter I'm waiting on is 13 and still working on a daily basis. This tells me so much about that dog and the lines, all good.

Riley's daddy is 13.