Speed Breeding, Is It Right For The Mudi?

I have heard from several Mudi people recently that canine reproduction specialists claim that breeding a bitch young, and on every heat, then retiring her early, is best for her health.  This is called speed breeding.

First I would like to know if there have been any studies done to prove this, as in scientific research published in a peer reviewed journal.  Or is this just the “feeling” these repro specialists have accumulated, what is it based on? What are the benefits for the bitch and are they good for all bitches or just a few? What are the downsides of this method? And really, how many repro specialists are of this opinion?

Second, think about the breeders and the breeds that most often use a repro specialist, it is certainly not common in the Mudi.  What do breeders use these repro vets for?

1) AI – artificial insemination: side by side (collected and implanted on site), fresh/chilled and shipped, frozen; (there are reasons these are used and that is not the purpose of this post, but none of them are commonly done in the Mudi, in any country)

2) Bitches being used are difficult to impregnate due to any number of reasons, age, infertility, disease, size, fragility, previous caesarian section or litter deaths, etc. (none of these are common in the Mudi and is breeding of “needy” bitches really good for a breed?)

3) A breed is rare, and every litter is important (while the Mudi is rare, it is not so rare this is a concern)

4) Stud is old and cannot mount the bitch, but can be collected (is it wise to use such a male?)

5) Collecting, assessing for viability and possibly freezing sperm for later use

6) Assessment of the bitch for breeding, most vets can do this, a specialist is not usually required

None of them apply very often to the Mudi.  We are very lucky this is the case!

This means repro vets are using their experience with a select group of clients to make a recommendation for all bitches and breeds.

Have these repro vets and breeders considered the harm this kind of breeding does to a breed?

1) Breeding immature bitches (before 2 years of age for the Mudi) is not a good idea, its like letting teenage humans become parents. They are neither physically, nor mentally ready for the challenges of pups/kids in most cases.

2) Most health tests for canines (ortho and eye) can only be done officially after the dog/Mudi is 2 years of age, breeding before these tests are done is certainly not a good idea, you have no idea what you are breeding.

3) If you breed on every heat, even starting from 2 years of age, you cannot assess what the parents have made, you will not have health, temperament or appearance results till those pups are 2 years of age. Meanwhile you have had 2-4 more litters from a parent that might not have been wise to have more than 1 litter with.

4) Epilepsy does not always appear in young Mudis, it can take up to 6-7 years, but most seizures appear by the age of 4.  Breeding lots of younger than 4 year old Mudis and breeding their pups, will not help to lessen the appearance of epilepsy in the breed, it will actually make it worse and will take out more Mudis from breeding in the long run. 

5) Generation time is important to the diversity in any breed and speed breeding is the enemy of generation time.

What is generation time and why is it important, especially for the Mudi?

The Mudi is lucky to not need the services of a repro vet or most any vet due to it being a rather healthy and easy to impregnate breed and this is due in large part to the diversity of its gene pool. Generation time directly affects the diversity of a gene pool.

Genetic losses occur in every new generation/litter of purebred dogs. The reasons are varied and not important for this discussion.  What this means is that the fewer generations there are between the foundation stock and the Mudi you want to breed with, there is more of the original gene set of the founders, than those Mudis that have more generations between.  For example, one Mudi has a 24 gen pedigree and another has 32.  The one with 32 is much farther from the gene set of the original founders, which means that Mudi has less genetic diversity and you should know that having a large set of diversification in your gene set is the key to health, not only for that dog, but for the whole breed.

It is therefore in the best interest of the breeder and the breed to maintain a high average generation time.

This is how you figure generation time for any litter - already born or planned: take the age of the sire at mating, add it to the age of the dam at mating, then divide by 2 (sire is 4 + dam is 2 = 6 ÷ by 2 = 3 is the gen time).  4 years is considered to be an appropriate minimum level, 5 or 6 is better.  Every breeder should keep track of their generation time for each litter and for their kennel as a whole and every puppy buyer should ask for it.

Breeding young dogs is breeding blindfolded. Genetic diseases and temperament problems often do not appear until 3-4 years of age. Maintaining a high average generation time gives a breeder a clear advantage to produce healthy pups and it makes breeding results more predictable, while minimizing loss of genetic diversity.

Reproductive rush, aka speed breeding, has three main consequences:

1) greatly accelerated rate of loss of genetic diversity

2) selection for early maturity which has an elevated risk of assorted orthopedic and health issues

3) lowering of average longevity

Speed breeding is the tool of puppy mills. Breed them as soon as possible, as much as possible, and when the bitch or stud is not producing enough, get rid of them and start with another. How has this method worked for the quality of what they produce?

-Is this method good for the Mudi?  

-What happens to those bitches in a speed breeding program when they are no longer needed? 

-Do we really need to pump out so many Mudi puppies?  Wouldn’t the breed be better with quality than quantity?  If you want to follow this method, you breed your bitch in rapid succession-on every heat, isn't this quantity breeding?

Every breeder has to decide how they want to breed.  Every bitch is unique, and a good breeder will do what works for her individually.  A prospective buyer can research how many litters a breeder has created and how close together the individual bitches are having them and then decide for themselves that this is a breeding style/breeder that is what they want to support or not.

In the end however, it comes down to not just the bitch’s welfare, but the breeds welfare.  Is the individual bitch more important than the breed?  What is truly the best method for the Mudi-not for any other breed, just the Mudi?  That is something all Mudi people have to decide for themselves and the decision we all make now, will affect the future of this breed, do not forget that, because you cannot go back and undo the pups you made with the wrong choice.