Breeding

The Estonian French Herding and Guardian Dog Club has established recommended breeding requirements for Iberian mountain dogs to promote responsible breeding:

Avoid breeding dogs with allergies, dental defects, hypothyroidism, or aggressive/overly timid behavior.
Do not breed dogs diagnosed with hereditary eye diseases such as PRA, kae, entropium, or ectropium.
Female dogs should give birth for the first time before reaching 5 years of age and have their last calving before 8 years of age.
Do not breed female dogs that have previously had a litter born by caesarean section.
Avoid breeding dogs diagnosed with cruciate ligament rupture, patellar luxation, or OCD (osteochondritis dissecans).
Ensure that hip dysplasia results are categorized as A, B, or C. (A dog with C hips can only be mated with a dog with A hips.)
Elbow dysplasia test results should be 0.
Knee examination results should be 0.
Eye examination should show a "clean" result, indicating no signs of PRA, HC, or RD.
The dog should have a minimum show grade of "excellent" from an official show, which should be obtained when the dog is at least 19 months old.
Use females for breeding from the age of 24 months and males from the age of 18 months.

Prior to pairing, it is necessary to complete the recommended examinations. As per FCI rules, the hip joints of large and giant breeds should be examined at a minimum age of 18 months.

FYI

The puppy owner cannot issue a pedigree certificate afterwards.
The cost of a breed certificate at the Estonian Kennel Union is only 15 euros per puppy (price list).
Breed certificate is issued by Estonian Kennel Club, certainly not breed associations or breeders. Read what documents are needed to register the litter.
To obtain breed certificates, the owner of the female dog submits (breeder) completed application and other necessary documents Estonian Kennel Union.

Furthermore, breeding must adhere to the regulations outlined in the EKL studbook, which state:

Female dogs between 18 months and 9 years of age can be used for breeding. Male dogs can be used for breeding from the age of 10 months.
A female dog can be bred again if the previous litter is at least 8 months old.
The same combination of parents can be used for breeding up to three times.

What else should you know?

Excessive use of popular male dogs should be avoided. The number of offspring from one dog should not exceed 10% of the total number of puppies born in two consecutive years or 5% in four consecutive years.
To maintain and increase the participation of the breed as herding dogs.
If the male dog has not participated in exhibitions, a veterinarian's certificate confirming normal testicular development is required.
Preference should be given to dogs that have no difficulties with mating or whelping during breeding.

Genetic tests are voluntary but can greatly assist in making informed breeding decisions. These tests help identify and mitigate the risk of various serious health issues.

Recommended genetic tests for Pyrenean Mountain Dogs: Degenerative Myelopathy - DM, Multifocal Retinopathy - CMR1, Canine Thrombopathy- Bleeding Disease, Neuronal Degeneration - NDG

Many of these genetic conditions may only become apparent as the dog ages, making it difficult to determine the health status of a puppy based on appearance alone.

Inheritance: For a disease to manifest, the puppy must inherit a mutated gene from both parents. Parent combinations that are considered dangerous or undesirable are indicated with a red background in the table below.

Clear/Normal– clean, no mutated gene is found
Carrier– carrier, has a mutated gene
Affected– sick, has two mutated genes