What age does a male become fertile?

Question
My sister has a maltese male. He is only 8 months old, is he old enough to mate sucessfully or is he too young?
Thank you,
Amanda.

Answer
Hi Amanda:

On average, both male & female dogs are sexually mature around 6 months of age; however, just because they are able to breed doesn't mean it's a smart idea to do so. In this case, with the male being 8 months of age - he will likely have the ability to mate but he needs more time to become physically & emotionally mature. Much like a young teenage boy - just because he has the ability doesn't make him the ideal candidate for fatherhood. A young male may also have a bad experience if being bred at such a young age - a more experienced, dominant female may cause him emotional and/or physical trauma, which may cause him to resist even mounting a female in future. When he's a minimum of 18 months of age & provided he's given a thorough pre-breeding health screening & no physical health issues are found and he meets or exceeds the breed standard, only then would I consider breeding him. I'm sure you wouldn't want to pass along any health issues as yet unknown or undiscovered to any potential offspring. At an older age, he'll be more likely to behave properly when mating & you'll likely have an easier time of achieving a successful breeding as well as him having a higher quality sperm.

The AKC (American Kennel Club) has strict guidelines on the ages of dogs who are sire or dam of a litter. If these conditions are not met the litter won't be eligible for registration. Their guidelines state the sire of any litter must not be less than seven (7) months of age but for the reasons I stated above, I would still not allow a dog that young to breed. You can read more on the AKC guidelines via this link:

http://www.akc.org/about/faq.cfm?page=6

I'm including a few links on this subject for your review. I think you'll find most support my opinion. I hope this helps!

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/gscreen.html

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/br.html

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/articles.html

http://www.minschnauzer.com/breeding/index.html

http://www.minschnauzer.com/puppys/puppy%20owners.html