Margaret Johnson Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Hi everyone, was reading over the age rules for Nursery and could not be more confused. I have a male born 2/13/07 who is not ready this year, but may very well be ready next year. My understanding is that he is eligible for Nursery this year & next but not after the 2009 finals - Is this correct? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoofly Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Yes, that's correct. I have one born 7/21/2007 and he'll be eligible for 2009 and 2010 because he's after the 6/30/2007 cut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdarling Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Kind of an offshoot question - I know there's two schools of thought on the whole nursery class thing ... but I'd be interested to hear some thoughts from those who do run nursery. If you've got a nice female you want to breed, and it just so happens she comes into season in May and November. Would you breed her in May to have a just-after-the-nursery-cutoff litter, or would you wait till November? If you breed her in May, and she has the pups in July, assuming she doesn't wean the pups until August, the finals are in September ... are you able to sharpen her up for the finals? Would you not even dare try? Is it too much on the dog? Is this even a thought? Do you prefer to trial males for this reason? I am noticing the birth dates on some of the litters by the trialers in the area, and am noticing a bit of a trend to where the dogs they trial are males. Is there any validity to this thought process, or does it not even come into play and I am overthinking this? (I understand this is all very hypothetical ... so let's assume the starts and the moon and the sun lined up just right to make this all happen perfectly, and it's a respectable breeder, blah blah blah, k?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 A good healthy young bitch should be able to whelp and wean a summer litter and still be sound for the Nursery trials in September. Ray bred Sally in May of 1999, she whelped 7 healthy pups on 8/3/99, weaned them 4 1/2 weeks later just before they set out for Virginia. Sally won the Nursery Championship and was none the worse for wear. If she had her way, she would have left her pups at 2 weeks old and gone back to work then :-) I'm sure the UK shepherds who have real 'using' dogs and bitches don't have the luxury of giving them 6 months off for a whelp. YMMV, of course, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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