Tell us about yourself: I love Shepherds- German, Dutch and Belgian. I recently lost my 16.5 y/o GSD mix and was hoping to find a GSD or DS mix. I totally lucked out in finding Grendel, a DS/GSD mix at 9.5 weeks old. She was filthy and flea-ridden, but still the cutest, craziest thing ever. She's going to live up to her name! First dog I've had that I've actually seen the parents and definitely know what she is!
I'm trying to figure out if it's possible that Grendel's brother could also be her father (and therefore her half brother. )
I believe I was told that the older brother at the property was born in March of 2015. Grendel was born in November, 2015. I got her January 31, 2016 at 9.5 weeks. If I am correct about the age of the brother (who appeared to be nearly full grown), than I'm guessing he is NOT the father.
But wondering at what age males can/do mate and how long females are pregnant.
If those dates are correct, is it possible that the brother could have impregnated the mother?!
I mean to write on this a while ago but forget what section it was on. Dog gestation is roughly 60 days, give or take a few days. I know some male dogs can sire a litter around 5 months, but it depends on hormones and breed. It is a possibility, but as for how much of one really depends on if he was capable of producing sperm at 8 months, which is not out of the realm of possibility.
As for line breeding, there is nothing inherently wrong or worrisome with a mother/son or father/daughter combo. It is a common practice in line breeding to enhance and strengthen characteristics in a line. That being said, it should be used with knowledge and a sparse hand, and generally is, as too much inbreeding can be detrimental to developing a line/characteristics. Not saying that this was the plan for your dog's litter, but as far as genetics go, unless the son/mother shared more than recent genetics (as in the grandparents were a mother/son, father/daughter combo, and so were the great grandparents, and the great great grandparents, etc), there isn't as much stigma around a breeding like this as there would be with humans.
Kay, H, and The SO
(Pepper's Look-A-Like)
(Tyson's Soul Twin)
Tell us about yourself: I love Shepherds- German, Dutch and Belgian. I recently lost my 16.5 y/o GSD mix and was hoping to find a GSD or DS mix. I totally lucked out in finding Grendel, a DS/GSD mix at 9.5 weeks old. She was filthy and flea-ridden, but still the cutest, craziest thing ever. She's going to live up to her name! First dog I've had that I've actually seen the parents and definitely know what she is!
Ah! Good to know. I wrote to a vet about the situation and they thought it was a very remote possibility that the brother would have mated or been sexually mature at that young of an age. So I'll just assume that Grendel's dad is the dog I was shown. Grendel looks so much like her older brother (makes sense!), though she sadly doesn't have his beautiful golden eyes. At least maybe I can sort of assume that she is going to grow quite a bit more, since her brother was definitely 50+ lbs and not yet full grown.
Facebook page.
) 