How old is too old for first litter?

Just asking because I was talking to a man with some Borzois lately and he was mating one of his bitches for the first time at age seven. A while ago I was talking to Rio and Dan's breeder about planned litters and she was intending to mate a four year old bitch before it was too late for her to have a first litter. So...just wondering, how old is too old?

IMHO, I wouldn't breed a bitch over 4/5 years for her first litter.

I agree with Kel here, I think that's far too old at 7, and I do remember my vet saying to me once that if I wanted to breed from Cassie I should do it now, and she would have been about 3/4 then, but of course I didn't want to.

In saying that I mean that is the absolute max for me, ideally 2-3 years is best. Again JMO.

Personally , no later than 5

No later than 3 max.

I think if you look on the KC website the minimum age for a female is 12 months and the max for a first litter is 4 years. That is what we adhere to, in fact the minimum age should really be 18 months to 2 years for large breed dogs, they are not physically or mentally mature before then really. Breeding a female for the first time at 7 years??? Why on earth did he not breed her before?? She could have horrendous problems whelping and also later on as it could cause problems with ovarian cysts for example.

I would say in my breed no later than 5 for a first litter. Loona will be 4 next month and I am planning to breed from her at her next season, up until now I have felt that she wasn't mature enough either physically or mentally.
I definately would say that 18 months is still far too young for a large or slow maturing breed.

he could be in the same boat as me, ...not enough people on a waiting list.

hi
i think a bitch should not have her first litter at seven,myself i would never advise breeding a bitch until she is 3.i would have a bitch of 7 spayed.but thats my personal opinion