10 month old toy poodle

Question
Hi Kim,
Well first of all, I have a 10 month apricot toy poodle, and well I was
wanting to get her a buddy to play with that's 1 1/2 yrs old.
But I want to know if the dogs were to  mate, would there be any harm
done to her?and I also want to know  it's a bad thing if they were able to
mate? And I'm not wanting to breed her a young age, I just want for her to
have a buddy.
Hope u could help!
Thanks

Answer
Hello Lori,
I think its a good thing for your girl to have a friend, but at her young age, its Not a good thing for her to have a mate.  If she were to get bred at her age, it could harm her and could compromise the puppies as well because she is too young right now.  

You should also know a bit more about the dogs first before you breed them.  Do you know what is in your females background or in the background of the male you are getting?  Everything that is in both the male and female will go into the puppies, so if one or both of your dogs has anything genetically off, so will the puppies.  Before even thinking about breeding your two dogs, you need to have both of them checked out by your Vet to insure that they are both healthy, and that they don't have anything that they could pass on to the puppies.  

You should also realize that with the economy the way it is right now, the puppy market is very high and not too many people are looking to buy a puppy right now.  If you really want to breed your dogs, please make sure that you have homes ready before you have puppies to insure that all your puppies will have homes waiting for them instead of you having to keep them or place them in a shelter.

If you do go ahead and get this male, its your responsibility to keep them apart when your female goes into heat.  Your male doesn't understand that your female is young and will breed her when she comes into heat.  You need to mark on your calendar when you first see blood, and know that 9-11 days after you first see blood, your female will be able to get pregnant.  She can get pregnant for about 2 weeks after that 9th day, so you will need to either crate her or the male for the duration of that time and only take him/her out to potty, then back in his/her crate.  

I think its a good idea for a dog to have a friend and it helps them have a buddy while you are at work or out, but be sure that you know how to keep them apart when your girl goes into heat.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim