Breeding

Question
How old do both the Female and the Male need to be before they can Mate?

Answer
Hello Diana,
In general, for a male its best to wait until he is a year old or older for breeding.  This way, he has a chance to mature and for him to produce a strong number of sperm.  
For a female, the ideal time to breed is around 2 yrs old or at least a 18 months.  This way, you give her body a chance to develop fully so that she is best able to carry her puppies to term.  Mothers younger than 18 months have a higher risk of losing the litter or of having puppies that are under or not fully developed.  
Also, by waiting until the dogs are a little older, you can see if they have any problems that didn't crop up before adulthood.  Some people are so eagar to breed that they breed their dogs early only to find later that once their dogs matured a bit they had some condition that was also passed on to the puppies.  

You should also be sure that both sire and dam have had pre breeding exams by their Vet to insure that both are healthy enough to reproduce and it is also advisable that you know ahead of time about any genetic issues that your dogs may have so that they won't pass these issues to their puppies.  

I hope this helps you some and if you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.  I have several years expirence breeding Poodles and if you have any questions about breeding and/or birthing puppies, I would be happy to help.  

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim