Old English Mastiff's

Dear Boditosa,  thank you so much for your kind words and the answers to my questions.  I think my husband and I have decided against breeding her.  She has such a wonderful disposition about her and I really wouldn't want that to change.  You sound like a very loving person to your pets, I am very sorry for the loss of your mastiff.  Hope you can enjoy your newest addition as much as you did with your first.  Thank you again. 

Hi there thefreires!  I'm glad to see you back here on the forum.  This really is a good forum to hang out at, so please don't get discouraged by one or two posts on here.  I can tell that you love your dog very much and only have her best interests at heart.  A good friend of mine just bought a Mastiff puppy over the winter, they're beautiful dogs!

thefrieres,
 
I would like to say welcome to the board.  As a first time dog owner, this board has been a HUGE help.  They can answer any question you may ever think of and many you'd never think of but someone else did and it is relevant to you.  If you stick around, you'll find you make many "friends" and even care about their personal lives even though you will never meet.  However, I will warn you that breeding and nutrition are VERY touchy subjects.  So, if you go into those topics, put on a hard hat.  Otherwise, everyone is as helpful as you can imagine.
 
Welcome to the board, stick around, and post lots of pics of your doggie .
 

Remali,
 I am a breeder...I'm also all about educating which is why MY post was so informative.
 
Being a newer member you haven't seen the influx of people coming here with no clue, but they want to jump feet first into breeding...who suffers? Most of the times its the dogs due to neglect of having a mentor, not having the first clue about a dogs heat cycle and worse yet not knowing the signs of labor. Education, health, temperament, soundness, structure and simple knowledge of the breed you *think* you want to breed should be first on the list before any breeding thoughts should be in your mind. I've been in Am Staffs since 1994, I show, I health test. Frenchies are my second breed I've been owned by them for 7 years, I had my first litter 2 years ago and my second litter 6 weeks ago...I took the time to learn all about the breed, healthe test my dogs and finish her championship prior to doing all of this.
 I spent many hours with other breeders picking their brains regarding their dogs, talked to judges and went to seminars for both of my breeds to be sure I knew what I was getting into way before a thought of breeding entered my head, not 5 months after I got my first bitch...theres a lot to learn and as I also offered my own help IF this person was interested in doing it RIGHT
 
Many people come here with no knowledge and want validation, I'm sorry I won't do that. If they are truely dedicated to the breed, for the betterment of the breed I will help anyone in any breed learn and find a mentor.
 
This forum is for helping, I also now read the OP and her husband are having second thoughts. I think second thoughts are good because they can now discuss if they have the time to take off of work and basically stop their lives for the first two weeks of these little babies lives to make sure momma doesn't lay on one because of her size she would never know her babie was dying under her. Would they recognize the warning signs of fadding puppies? What if momma goes into labor and there is a pup stuck? would they know?
 Some times letting nature take it's course doesn't prove to be the things to do...recently a woman I know wanted to breed a litter of Bulldogs, I spoke with her and offered what needed to be done, they did not heed my suggestions, they "THOUGHT" momma was in labor as she has "mucus" when she peed so they rushed her to the vet early for her c-section. None of the pups lived past 24 hours becaue someone wanted to breed...a perfect waste of life IMO...stories like this make me offer spaying/neutering to people unless they want to hear my lessons of breedings and thurst for knowledge and still want to persue breeding even knowing the heart aches that come along with it.
 I could fill up pages and pages on this forum of breedings/litters gone bad of my own experiences and other breeders I know. Just last week another frenchie breeder whos been breeding about 10 years had her bitch in for her C-section...she came home with two pups and no momma because she dies through complications because of the scar tissue from her previous litter...yeah, horror stories, things to break your heart...it5's ALL reality when you decide you want to breed your dog...people need to know it isn't all smiles and puppy breath...all that aside from the over population

ORIGINAL: thefreires

OK, now that everyone has pretty much blasted me, no one has still answered any of my questions.  We haven't decided if we are going to breed her or not, just in the asking questions stage, I really thought these forums were for help not hurt.

 
 
People really were trying to help in the way of education. Your post honestly came across as very irresponsible..... Your only questions were what age bitches come into heat and what age you should breed her.

I love my dog very much, she's very spoiled, and loved by all family members.  I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my questions.

 
The fact that your dog is loved and a good pet is NOT reason to breed her. No one was offended, just trying to educate on how much more there is to responsible breeding.

And in my opinon it's a little rude that you didn't even acknowledge Amstaffys VERY informative post that was also NICE. She didn't attack you in anyway, just went out of her way to give you a ton of useful information.

The first heat can be as early as 5 months, or as late as a year or more.
 
I've found that with shepherds, it tends to be around 10 months.....so larger breeds may just be a bit later than the smaller ones.  Average is 6 months, however, ask the breeder when MOMMA had her first season....it can be famila and that'll give you a better idea what to expect and when....and the cycle is actually about 3 weeks and they are MOST fertile after the bleeding STOPS so you still have to be EXTREMELY careful with her.
 
With all of the above in mind, a bitch should not be breed before 2 years of age.