Will a litter of puppies calm my dog down?

[CGDUKES]

I have a lab/giant schnauzer mix. She is about a year and a half old. I was told be her breeder that schnauzers are a very stubborn and are a hyper breed. We haven't spayed her yet because my wife wants her to have puppies. But now since we adopted a puppy we are kind of second guessing that a bit if it won't calm her down. I've always heard that having puppies calms some dogs down..anyone know anything about that?

[Corinthian]

NO. A litter will not calm her down.

Having a litter can get expensive. Assuming all goes well and that you won't require a vet for the pregnancy or birthing, What you will get is 6-12 puppies that will require vaccinations, deworming, and at least 3 feedings per day after they are weaned, also constant cleaning of their whelping box and more attention than most people are willing to provide.

She'll calm down with age, exercise and training. Spay her now. It will be the cheapest and best decision you could make.

[colliecrazy]

NO it won't calm her down. Get her spayed ASAP. :( :( :(

[kiya]

I have a lab/giant schnauzer mix. She is about a year and a half old. I was told be her breeder that schnauzers are a very stubborn and are a hyper breed. We haven't spayed her yet because my wife wants her to have puppies. But now since we adopted a puppy we are kind of second guessing that a bit if it won't calm her down. I've always heard that having puppies calms some dogs down..anyone know anything about that?

no it wont calm her down.

but if your planning on breeding her, is it required that you need to get the puppys needles, if not it could be cheap to breed them,

as my dogs are having puppys, and have already had one litter,
all i do is worm them, then sell the puppys cheaper,an tell the new owner to get the needles,

i bought both my dogs, an they never had there needles, i got the needles,
but if your going to have puppys, make sure you read up about everything, an expect some hard work lol,

xx :)

[6dogmom]

I agree with everyone else and know from experience, unless you are truely ready to handle all that comes with breeding and puppies.
I just had my first litter, I had to be home all the time, if I couldn't be home someone stayed with my babies. My female got very sick for a short time after the pups. I had vet bills out the ears, in one month it was $750.
Then another $450 to get them all ready to be sold. That was just to get their health certificates and shots.
It is very hard work, then you have to decide what you will do if you have a puppy with a health problem, you can't sell it so will you be ready to keep it and also handle those medical bills for the dogs life.
I just wanted to share some of the things I have learned during this journey of mine.
If you want calm and you worry about your female being calm get her fixed, it did wonders for my deaf dog. By all means having pups is not the way to make CALM in your home. I am lucky I even know the meaning of the word, LOL

[BetterDog4U]

Yes, schnauzers can be stubborn and Yes, they are a hyper breed. They get very hyper b/c they need a job to do.

ABOUT THE BREED:
They were originally bred to be a working dog. His principal vocation was that of rat catcher, yard dog, and guard. Before World War I in Germany, over ninety percent of these dogs were used to guard the carts of farm produce in the marketplaces, when the farmers rested themselves and their teams at the inns. The Schnauzer was used b/c of there fearlessness. It was said of these dogs that they were: "dogs with the human brain" and were used by the army during the war as dispatch carriers and Red Cross aides; they were also employed in Germany in police work.

In the US and England they were used mainly as personal guards and companions, for which purpose their devotion and bravery, coupled with an uncanny perception of approaching danger, made them most suitable. They are good water dogs and are easily taught to retrieve; and, on at least one western sheep ranch, Schnauzers have proved themselves the most efficient of various breeds tried as protection for the flocks against marauding coyotes.

SO, The only way to CALM them down is thru Excersize, Excersize, Excersize .... and then give it clear rules to follow in the house or wherever you want him to be calm.

Showing STRONG leadership skills combined with a lot of excersize will be much more effective.

Spay and nutered dog's are much more calm also.

[snazyminis]

Labs and Giants are both super breeds and easy to live with IF they get enough exercise and mental stimulation!! They need to use their brain! I have a 10 year old giant who is still full of it and has her mad moments, so don't expect any change in her calming down through age alone.

These breeds can have over 10 puppies - that is a lot of puppies to be chasing after, cleaning up after and a huge cost to feed and raise correctly and that is if everything goes right and they have homes to go to at 8 weeks - Ask yourself, who would want a mongrel puppy whose mother is seen to be hyper?? Could you cope with several left over pups at 5 or 6 months of age when they all need individual training and time??

A litter does not calm down a bitch, at least none I have ever bred from!

The best thing you can do for your bitch is get her spayed and get her to training classes (as well as your pup) and give her brain a workout - that does calm them down!

[Jr_K9_Expert]

I agree with everyone else, just get her spayed. Besides why would you want to breed mutts? There's already enough of them in shelters and pounds, so don't make the problem worse.

Being intact hasn't nothing to do with energy level, just means that she will make certain hormones at certain times. Besides right after a litter she'll just go into the same cycle, so how is breeding her supposed to "calm her down"?

Not to mention the diseases you are risking your dog to get if you breed her improperly. Breeding takes alot of time and consideration, and its quite expensive.

Like some members suggested just get her spayed, and do more stimulating activities with her. Agility is a great idea!

[dobetaztic]

i agree with every one else a litter will not calm her down but training, exercise and mental stimulation.

[Momto3]

Gotta agree with everyone else - Spay her! I did allow one of mine to have one litter of pups and it was way more work and cost than I got out of selling those purebred puppers. Never again...there's too many pooches out there who need good homes.

[Nikki1]

No it will not calm your dog down!, and you never breed a dog under two years old. You would be risking your female. Please think about this and research further. Having puppies dosn't calm dogs down. I am a breeder, and I love it when my girls bounce back to being puppies again!

[LoveMyLabs]

No, a litter will definitely not calm any dog down.

1. She's a mix and doesn't need to be bred. There is no reason to do it.
2. You don't know what kind of temperament, traits or health she could pass on (not from her necessarily, but parents on back).
3. Would you have people to take the pups? People that would provide good quality homes and not get rid of them because they were hyper or something.
4. Could you afford the sleepless nights, the 2 months of aniticipation, waiting for pups, check ups, ultrasounds/x-rays to verify how many, c-section (if needed), loss of pups, bottle feeding (if needed), or possibly the loss of your own girl???

Go ahead and get her spayed. She won't get "lazy and fat" either. Take her out more often, get her in some training classes and let her play with other dogs. She'll wear herself out and keep her mind busy and shouldn't be so hyper afterwards.

[dogsrme]

A litter will not calm your dog down at all. If anything it will cause you more trouble. You will have to pay a lot of vet bills to have the dog examined and health screened then you have to keep getting the dog checked during the pregnancy. Once the pups come there is no telling how many there will be and you have to make sure the mother is taking care of her pups by letting them drink her milk. Once the puppies get older they all have to be taken to a vet and given shots. Go to the vet to make sure the mother is okay and everything is good with her. Puppies can't be sold till they are 8 weeks old and selling a mutt will be harder to do then a purebred. So not only will you have that dilemma but the big bill you will rack up at the vets.

I think it is ridiculous to think that something like that would calm your dog down. Plus it would give you the name BYB, which I am sure you wouldn't want that. If you want your dog to calm down, you have to give your dog attention and play with it. Let it get its energy out in the yard or on a walk. There are other ways and you have to think outside the box.