Want a german shepherd pup 8 month, is it do able?

[RoystonVaseySmegHead]

My Friends rehoming her dog because she's not well, and has mobility problems. The dog is a german shepherd pup and is 8 months old. He's good with babies and cats. ( which is good because we have one) I work 10 minutes from home and am out from half 8-12 (come back for an hour lunch) then out again 1 til 4.
What I was hoping to do is see him on a morning for an hour (get up at 7/ half past then leave at half 8) come home and walk him in my dinner break, then take him for a better walk when me and ds are home and then would obviously see him all night until I go to bed at 11 ish. I'd be with him all day Thursday, Friday afternoon and all weekend. Would that be too long for him to be alone? Financially wed be ok with him, it's just making me worry we won't have time for him during the day, advice please?

cornflake they'll be seeing how many pips she has and if it is a big litter they'll probably terminate it, and if there are only 2 or 3 they'll probably keep them for themselves/ friends and family.

Unless by some miracle both parents are fully health tested (and the coefficient of inbreeding is suitably low) then it's highly irresponsible to allow to the pregnancy to continue.

A responsible breeder of Staffies would have had an annual BVA eye test done on their bitch as well as DNA tests for hereditary cataracts and L-2-HGA. They may also have their bitch hip scored. They would use a similarly tested stud dog (with good conformation which compliments that of their bitch) and also have the litter checked for persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous under the BVA eye scheme.

It may seem unlikely that both parents would be carriers for the same genetic disorders but breeding without health testing does sometimes result in affected puppies.

My DDog2 is a mongrel whose parents were both Staffy crosses and potentially not even first crosses. Unfortunately they both carried the recessive gene for HC and DDog2 was unlucky enough to inherit that recessive gene from both parents meaning she was affected and lot her sight when she was barely more than a puppy. The DNA test costs less than £50 per dog. The bilateral cataracts surgery cost over £5000 and that's just the money side of things. It was traumatic for her, upsetting for us and she still only has ok vision.

If they want to produce a litter they should be doing it properly, making every effort to ensure the puppies will be healthy, sound and of good temperament, not just taking advantage of an "accidental" mating.

Interesting post Cornflake, thanks. We've just had our gsd pup done so he can't get our older dog "into trouble". I have to confess I had dreamt wistfully of the beautiful pups they would produce but our girl is older and narrow hipped and a bit of a loon anyway. It's good to hear a bit about why careful breeding is so important, reminds me it's not so easy as pretty dogs = pretty puppies, and reinforces right decision made!

cornflake they've purposely bred their other dog so they know the ins and outs of breeding. If the vet says it's not a good idea then they'll obviously not continue but there's really not much I can do to make the decision for them. It'd their dog after all..

It was more a suggestion that it's not a great idea to get a puppy from someone who decides to go ahead with an "accidental" litter regardless of health testing/COI/etc., particularly in a breed with easily avoidable health conditions.

The fact they've purposefully bred before but now haven't kept their other bitch safe whilst in season and are considering going ahead with the litter regardless isn't really painting them in a very good light.

Obviously a bit of a moot point if you go ahead with the GSD but if you're happy to take a punt on a puppy from a less than ideal breeding situation then are plenty available in rescues.

Well they're wanting 250 (MATES RATES!!!) so I'd rather adopt a puppy from a local rescue for the same price, the bitch has only been there a month by the way and they were told she was spayed, so it's either a phantom pregnancy or her old owners lied :(