Well..........it's a little difficult to bring up the subject of heat cycle, and a wandering dog, yet not expect spaying to be brought up.

Heat cycles vary and with some dogs it can be difficult to tell they're in heat. Are you planning on breeding her? If so, then you need to keep her closer to home and watch where she roams. Even tho there are no people for miles, it doesn't mean there aren't dogs. There are always strays and hounds love to roam. My DS's outdoor dog came into heat (they saw no obvious signs) and a wandering hound paid her a visit. They knew this by the breed of puppies she had 2 months later.

Dogs may first come in season between 5 and 12 months of age.

Spaying is not controversial - it's common sense and the responsible thing to do unless the dog is an EXCELLENT example of the breed and the owner is going to select the perfect EXCELLENT mate. A farm dog doesn't meet at least one of those criteria.

She could potentially get pregnant, before she ever shows physical signs of a heat cycle....

Once she is past the age of 5 months she should always be supervised / contained...

Your dog can come into heat without any obvious signs for you to tell by. And if you let her just wander around without any supervision, then you're going to end up with a litter of puppies on your hands. *boggles at the irresponsibility*

GO GET YOUR DOG FIXED - or assume the responsibility of finding homes for all those puppies in this current economy when literally thousands of dogs are being dropped off daily to the animal shelters or being abandoned in homes in which the owners have moved out due to the mortgage situation. In California we have had to enact a new law just because of all of the abandoned pets left behind when home owners vacated.
Im a bit taken aback by your writing how you are worried about calling back your dog for "no reason" do you train your dog at all???
As far as your plea for people to not respond to your choice not to spay - that is like saying you dont want anyone to remark on your choice not to be socially responsible while you blatantly ignore the homeless pet issue.
Did you know a uncut male dog will do ANYTHING to mate with an intact female, they will travel for days in order to procreate, and since your dog is driven by hormones (which is why she is wandering farther and farther from home) I bet it wont be long before she is pregnant and you have a litter of puppies on your hands. WAKE UP educate yourself on the homeless population and realize in the current economy where 700 thousand people have lost their jobs in the last six months and at least 100 thousand animals have become homeless adding to the thousands already on the streets and in the over- populated shelters you are CHOOSING to add to the problem - you need to take responsibility for that choice - whether you like it or not.

Bravo Mazer and everyone else. On "Its me or the Dog" there was another woman who refused to get her dog fixed. That is until the host showed her with colored balls what the effects of that would be. IE....thousands of more dogs looking for homes or being killed due to the lack of a family. If you love animals then do the right thing. I love my bully and think she is the sweetest, cutest thing in the world, and while I want more bullies, I got her fixed. When we are ready for more dogs we will be adopting, probably getting a dog someone else irresponsibly bred.

Labs mature slowly mentally, but physically she could go into heat any time now. It depends not only on the age of the dog and the breed, but also the time of year. I haven't spayed too many animals NOT in heat lately- it must be that time of year. Which makes sense, the puppies will be due in early spring, when there is plenty of food around.

Are you ready for puppies?

No, we are not ready for puppies until she is two years old when we will have her bred. I think she hasn't gone into heat yet but appreciate the answers about what to look for.

I have to ask why you think it is a good idea to breed your dog? Do you not care about the overpopulation of animals and the thousands who already have no homes? Do you have people that you can give puppies to or did you not think that far ahead? Do you even care who the puppies go to or are you just trying to make money? Do you plan on keeping them all and having them all roam all over your neighborhood?

We don't live in a 'neighborhood' and would definitely keep any we couldn't find good homes for. Thanks again all.

I'm sorry, You obviously live close enough to other people for your dog to roam with a pack and for her to able to attack other dogs. I am just hoping this thread has given you something to consider and think about. Until pet stores are out of business for good and puppies are in high demand with none in shelters I think it is highly irresponsible for anyone other than a breeder to breed their pet. You just can't expect to go on a pet forum and not have animal lovers really resent what you are doing.

Oh, for pete's sake. Unless your dog is an outstanding example of the breed which you intend to show in conformation, or you have an enormous farm and you intend to be working all of those animals (which labs are lovely dogs, but really not working farm animals), you should NOT be breeding your animal.

It's quite clear from this thread that as of a few months ago, you didn't know the first thing about dog breeding, and with the plethora of threads you've been posting about your dog, you also don't know much about puppies or dogs in general. And now you suddenly want to become a breeder? Why in the world would you want to do that?

Is your dog an AKC or UKC champion? Does she have a special characteristic that would blend well with another champion? Those are about the only two reasons one would breed a dog.

I know of plenty of champions who are never bred also. IN fact I have one. I have a champion show dog that, even though a great dog, the breeder felt there other champions more suited for breeding. So not only is there a plethera of mutts out there, there is a plethera of champion show dogs too. They had her spayed and then offered her to me for adoption.

Get her spayed, she will be happier and so will you. What makes a pet special isn't necessarily her blood lines.

I agree. My dog is also AKC and BCA registered. She comes from a long line of show dogs. Her breeder even suggested that we start showing her as she would be great in agility (I know weird for a bully :-))As soon as we adopted her we got her fixed. I had another dog (who died in Oct)and thought I would breed her because she was so perfect....luckily I wised up before I did the unthinkable...all it took was some research. We did go through a couple heat cycles with her though and let me tell you trying to keep an inside dog clean as well as your house when it is bleeding is not pleasant. Please don't look at these post as people picking on you. But you are obviously new to dog ownership and the people on here are animal lovers...who want to see whats best for all animals not just their own.

And keep in mind Labs can have as many as 12 pups in one litter. Ask yourself if you're ready for the financial burden of vaccinations, food, and any vet expenses that may occur with that many pups?
Please don't think you'll make money by breeding her. Breeders of quality dogs are now having to reduce their prices due to the economy and if you don't have a champion name to go with the pups you'll have a difficult time selling them. You'll discover you can't even give them away.

I find it ironic that it was easier for my 5th grade daughter to really truly 'get' the reason for spaying/neutering than to get this poster to discuss it realistically.

After reading the other link, one can only surmise that annz's assumption is correct, and that these folks think they can perhaps make money with this puppy.

All it took for my daughter to really understand it was to volunteer to assist our neighbor who fosters dumped baby kittens/puppies every spring. The sheer number boggles the mind, and the sight of these helpless 5 day old animals being hand-fed and hand-expressed, plus the mountain of work she does to get them adopted out after they are weaned, drives the point home real fast.

My dog roams in a pack and attacks other dogs????? Huh? I haven't seen a stay (or owned) dog on our property other than our own in the 15 years we have owned this farm.

I don't believe for a minute that a champion show dog is the only kind that should be allowed to procreate -- in fact, most of them probably shouldn't.

And FYI, I have had dogs all my life and am not new to pet ownership or finding great homes for pups.

But in light of the animals filling shelters, why do it?

I would like to understand that.

Sorry I was thinking of another thread.

You can not force people to care. Some people never get it.
Even if the OP does find homes for all her dogs puppies that does not mean that the homes they go to will remain stable, or those pet owners will be responsible and have their pets fixed. IF she found homes for half her puppies, you can assume from the OPs attitude that at least one more litter will come from her home, that is another 6 to 8 puppies, and if just half the puppies found homes and half of those dogs were fixed that still leaves 3 puppies intact, which in one year from her litter being raised potentially brings over 30 puppies into the world in one year. Take half of those puppies which will probably end up in a shelter of homeless that is 15 more puppies euthanized in two years time and potantially 125 puppies in three years time. Currently over one thousand dogs are in shelters, estimates put one thousand dogs homeless, living on the street and abondoned, and just one in tact bred dog in three years could add over 100 dogs to those stats. Fact is no matter how careful you are, nobody can predict the future, and without disposable income those beloved puppies will fall to harm. This does not even include the potential harm to come to those puppies due to bad breeding or breed specific health problems such as epilepsy, cancer and hip dysplaysia etc....Backyard breeders - ya just gotta love em. Not

Question to the group: Don't reputable breeders require customers to sign a contract not to breed the dogs they buy? Therefore if you breed, you don't know the lineage, and could be breeding in dysplasia and other inherited traits?

Thats exactly why only breeders should breed. A good breeder takes all those things into account. Backyard breeders have no idea what they are doing which is why they should not breed. My breeder actually took my dog to get fixed. The puppies you see in pet store are all from puppy mills which generally have the same requirements of backyard breeders to breed...IE none. Thats why pet store dogs are usually less healthy in the long run than breeder dogs. Dont get me wrong all puppies are cute...but when they get older the difference show.

Natural balance has grains, which are fillers- cats/dogs can't digest grains- cats more so.

These are the ingredients in Natural Balance cat food. Dick Van Patten created/endorses this food. Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see grains listed as an ingredient.

INGREDIENT LISTING
Chicken Meal, Chicken, Brown Rice, Duck Meal, Barley, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Potatoes, Carrots, Lamb Meal, Salmon Meal, Canola Oil, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg, Brewers Yeast, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberries, L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ingredients in Natural Balance cat food

Rice, Barley, Oats are grains.

But seeing how chicken meal, chicken, duck meal, are listed in the top four ingredients, it sounds like a pretty good food to me.

The ingredients are listed in order, by weight, from most to least.

A bad dog food will have more grains than meats listed in the top 5 ingredients....like this example from Purina Beneful: Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Wheat Flour, Animal Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols (Form of Vitamin E), Soy Protein Concentrate, Soybean Meal, Pearled Barley, Brewers Rice, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sugar, Water, Animal Digest, Sorbitol, Pho...

not much meat in there...

Anyhoo, back on topic...

carmen, I really hope you'll take some of the comments here to heart. Breeding a dog should really only be done by people who know what they're doing, and that have a good reason for doing it. It's people like you that contribute to the overwhelming homeless pet population...please, please reconsider doing this, and get your pet spayed.

You're right, joepyeweed, about rice, barley, and oats being grains. I was multi-tasking at work while trying to eat lunch, while trying to type this message. One thing at a time!

What I don't understand is all those"whole grains" could be used for a more vegan like species- us- instead its wasted in pet food. I say use grains in people food not cat/dog food... if its whole and human quality, if not just bury it or something.

Spay your dog, if you want the mircle of birth just adopt/foster a pregnent stray, and help re home the puppies.

Puppies are also ALOT of work...from what I hear. Never had a real baby before but even the 12 weeks old ones take ALOT of care...especially if they are going to be good pets. Crate training, feeding, playtime...not to mention if they have any problems.

Pups are better for our planet then baby's- with 6- 1/2 to 7 billion humans- its unwise to add more. Enjoy your adult life the best you can, thats my advice.

Dogs don't live as long and they don't really have "issues" after you fix um. It IS like having a child though... dogs are N..E...E...D..Y! I like cats personally, we have a dog, she's my moms.

I agree with you there on the population problems of humans too ....hubby and I have already decided we don't want kids....although in my post when I said babies I meant puppies :-)

Oh.. I get it... my two cats are my babies too.

In our tiny little town, we euthanized over 200 dogs last year. The larger muncipality of which we are a suburb killed over 1000. Over half were labs or lab mixes. They quite literally litter the planet and are nothing special---except to a human who loves them. 60 of those were puppies, because we just didn't have the space during puppy season. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hold a beautiful wiggly frightened puppy and have then first injected with a sedative, and then injected straight into the heart to stop it? Do you think that it's enjoyable and that's why millions of shelter dogs followed their brethren into dumps or into crematoriaums last year?

Do you have ANY idea of how many of these disposable animals were the product of back yard breeders or folks who are going to "breed just one litter"? Well, they ALL were.

Because responsible pet owners DO NOT BREED THEIR ANIMALS! They have them fixed, so they don't add any more corpses to that number.

Take a look at your girl that I assume that you love. You probably plan on loving any pups she might have, right? Well, imagine that you've spent 12 weeks loving on those 8 cute pups (after paying for all of the testing of your girl and the expenses of whelping) and that 4 of those pups end up dead? The odds are actually worse. In this economy, we're seeing more than twice the number of surrencdered animals as we saw last year, and last year was bad. Even people who thought that they'd provide a forever home for their adopted animals are losing their jobs and their homes and trying to have a last ditch hope of someone else taking their animals by turning then into the shelter. Everyone is overcrowded. We have kennels doubled and tripled up, and still must make daily decisions as to who lives and who dies.

I also volunteer at a low cost spay neuter clinic where it'd cost you maybe $60 to have your girl spayed, and there's another organization providing grants to anyone on government assistance so all they pay is $10. Help is out there for people who want to do the right thing.

I want to ask you to find your local shelter and take a tour. Get on the volunteer list and work there for at least a month. Help those homeless animals find homes. Grow attached to the ones that are suddenly just "not there" the next day and a new face is now in the kennel. Grow attached to that one. Watch that one be replaced. Know that at least if they had to die that there was someone there that cared enough to be with then and pet them and love them until they took their last breath. Because someone irresponsible bred them and didn't care what happened to them after that.

Back yard breeders are dog murderers.

Well said.

Agree..... There's are just too many dogs in this world. Breeding from a pet is so narrow-minded.

elly_nj, your brought up an interesting question and yes you are right. All reputable breeders sell pups with a limited registration. The only time they will sell with a full registration is to another well known breeder and then it usually a Co-own.
To the OP I certainly hope you are having your female checked for the multiple problems that plague the breed. Plus as stated hips and elbows should be Xrayed and OFA. CERF for eyes. (Having the OFA and CERF number of a few of generations would be good.