How many litters should a bitch have? And from what age to what age (if you know what I mean)
Depends on the bitch herself, personnally my girls are 2 and a half as per the Club guidelines and with clear heart and eye certs etc before I breed from them.
Some bitches are fantastic Mums and others are not so maternal, some give birth easily whilst others have a tough time of it.
Club guidelines also recommend no bitch to be allowed more than 2 Cesarian Sections in her lifetime.
So based on the above my girls have their first litter at 2 and a half, then if they give birth easily and are good attentive Mum's they will have a second litter 12-18 months later, followed by a third and final litter another 12- 18 months after that.
Other things that can affect my decision on when/if to breed from them is size of previous litters, a bitch who has had say 2-3 pups in a litter will not have had as much taken out of her as a bitch who has reared 5-7 pups. Giving birth puts a huge strain on their hearts too, this should also be taken into consideration. Some bitches will do what I call "Feeding off their backs" whereby they give EVERYTHING to their pups and lose a lot of condition themselves, these are the bitches who need a longer rest period between litters.
I have had a bitch who had a litter of 7, she was rested for 2 years before being mated again, low and behold another litter of 7! She was duly retired as I felt she had given me enough, on the other end of the scale a Tri girl of mine has also had 2 litters, 3 pups in the first litter sadly one was still born, then just 1 puppy in her second litter, BOTH litters were C-Sections, so she is now retired now and doing a fine job of looking beautiful on the sofa! :lotsaluv:
Basically they are all individual and should be judged on their own merits, my own girls start at 2 and half and I prefer for them to retire at aged 5, 6 at the latest. There are exceptions too, such as a successful show bitch who has her first litter later in life, but as I said, each should be judged on their own merits, ease of dellivery, good mothering skills, litter size etc, etc are all factors that should be taken in account!
Hope this helps??