Palais
du Chateau. Holiday apartment in Nice, Old Port Lympia, Quartier
des Antiquaires. Near beach, Vieux Nice, City. Fabulous view on the Alps.
7th (top) floor with lift. Sleeps 3. € 375 - € 450 / week. Dogs welcome!
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You must
make sure the bitch and the stud both are free from brucellosis before
breeding them. Brucellosis causes eventual sterility in both sexes (sometimes
non-obviously) and can cause a litter of puppies to be aborted or die shortly
after birth. In addition, brucellosis is on occasion transmissible to humans
via the urine or feces of an affected dog. Between dogs, it is most commonly
passed in sexual intercourse, although an entire kennel can be infected
through contact with secretions.
The sire should be in
excellent general health. The dam must be in good health, to withstand
the stresses and rigors of a pregnancy. They must both be up to date on
their vaccinations.
Frequency of Breeding
Ideally, a bitch should
only be bred every other year and she should not be bred much before two
years of age. The season closest to the second birthday is a good one to
start with; certainly no earlier than this. In some breeds, you may need
to wait one more season before beginning. By this time, she is better prepared
mentally for having puppies than she would have been with her first few
seasons. Her physical growth is complete and pregnancy at this point won't
endanger her health, provided that she is healthy to begin with.
In breeds with Hip
Dysplasia, many people wait until after two years of age so that the parents
can be certified; however if you have sent in xrays to OFA for preliminary
evaluation and they came back as fine, many breeders consider it safe enough
to then breed on the season closest to the second year, which can wind
up being before the bitch is actually old enough to be certified. (And
when the bitch is old enough, she is, of course, duly certified.) But the
preliminary xrays must be examined by OFA, not by a local veterinarian.
There are many dysplastic dogs out there that had vets look at their xrays
and pronounce them "wonderful."
It's important, however,
to keep the frequency of breeding low. Even at maximum, you want to allow
at least one unbred season between breedings. This allows your bitch to
rest and regain her strength. A bitch that whelps too often will produce
weaker puppies more likely to die, and the repeated pregnancies are pretty
rough on her, too.
For dogs, they should
definitely have all their certifications necessary. For many breeds this
means that they should be over two years old. Since a dog can be bred at
any time, unlike bitches, waiting for two years is not a problem, whereas
a bitch often has a season just before two years of age and then has to
wait until 2.5 or three which sometimes presents problems in trying to
time her litters. But this does not apply to a stud dog, so he should definitely
have all of his checks and certifications before being bred. Frequency
is not generally a problem although some dogs have problems with sperm
production if they breed once a day for several days. They need top-quality
feeding and care if they are going to be bred often
Considerations for Stud
Dogs
First, remember that it
is extremely difficult to come up with a top quality stud dog that people
want to use. After all, they will look around and pick out the best male
they can find. So your dog has to be pretty impressive to be noticed in
the competition.
Your male should be
in top condition. He should be certified clear of joint problems (and in
many cases that means he has to be at least two years old). His eyes should
be checked annually. He should be clear of any abnormalities common to
his breed. No heart problems, no seizures, no thyroid problems, etc. He
should be clear of brucellosis. His temperament should be good, and appropriate
for his breed. If you have such a dog, you will need to get your dog well
known. This generally involves showing your dog (in show, field, or obedience)
and doing other work with him. An unproven dog (that has no previous puppies
or only puppies too young to evaluate) will command a much lower stud dog
fee than a proven dog (with a record of puppies to examine).
You must be prepared
to board the bitch. The common procedure is for the bitch to be shipped
out to stud, so you will need facilities to board bitches in heat. These
facilities should be adequate for up to a week of boarding and to prevent
any mismating. You might wind up with more than one bitch at a time --
can you board them all safely?
You must monitor the
mating and be ready to intervene if necessary. Not all dogs or bitches
understand what to do, especially if it is the first time for one or the
other. It can be disastrous if two dogs are left alone to mate. Additionally,
if the mating doesn't take, are you prepared to go through the whole thing
again the next time the bitch comes into season? Typical contracts call
for free repeat breeding in the case two or less puppies occur or the breeding
doesn't take.
You need to be able
to evalate the bitch's pedigree for compatibility with your dog's. Any
good points or bad points of the litter are (rightly or not) attributed
to the sire, so your dog's reputation is at stake with each litter he sires.
You should be reasonably confident that the proposed breeding will result
in good puppies.
If the owner of the
bitch is a novice, are you prepared to assist with advice on whelping and
puppy care? These people will expect you to have the answers. Sometimes
entire litters of puppies are dumped on the stud dog owner when the bitch's
owners can no longer cope with them because they didn't realize what a
responsibility caring for a litter involved. Are you ready to take care
of and place your dog's offspring if this should happen to you?
Are you prepared to
deal with cases where you are certain your dog is not the sire of the puppies
but the bitch's owner insists that he is? Or if the owner of the bitch
insists that you must have allowed a mismating to occur when she was boarded
with you? Disputes of this sort can become very ugly very quickly.
Prewhelping
preparations
You should have a sturdy,
clean, proper sized whelping box for the litter. It MUST include a "pig
rail" around the edge to prevent the bitch from laying on or smashing her
pups. It should be big enought to allow the bitch to turn around but small
enough to prevent the pups from being "lost" in the unused portions. About
six inches longer than she is, fore and aft, when laying prone (as in suckling
her puppies) and about a foot on either side length wise.
To get the whelping
box ready for your bitch, get a sheet of plastic, such as you would use
for painting a ceiling to protect the floor. Cut it up into several pieces
the size of the whelping box. Put one piece of plastic down, several layers
of newspaper, another piece of plastic, more layers of newspaper and so
on for four or five layers. Then when your bitch is whelping puppies, you
can roll off a layer when it gets messy -- and it will! -- and throw it
away to instantly clean the whelping box.
Care of the Pregnant or
Nursing Bitch
You should make sure the
bitch is up-to-date on all her vaccinations, medications, and shots before
she is bred.
She should be under
the care of a vet for any related problems. Dogs can have miscarriages.
Illnesses, diseases, or infestations that the bitch picks up during her
pregnancy can affect the puppies. Difficulties during whelping are entirely
possible, and the rule for some breeds. You must be prepared to get her
to the vet quickly in an emergency.
There are instances
of "mummy puppies" where you have a puppy whose development went awry,
but it was not aborted. Instead, it dries and shrivels up, and when born,
looks like a mummified puppy, blackened and ready to rot. Overbreeding
and inadequate care are usually the causes. It is quite likely that the
dam will come down with an infected uterus after such a puppy. "Water puppies"
are another type of problem in which the dead puppy appears to have never
properly developed a skeleton and appears to be full of gelatin. This seems
to be linked to a viral exposure.
Other congenital (but
not genetic) defects can include: no anus, cleft palates and hare lips.
These conditions require corrective surgery or the puppy will die.
Feeding
the Pregnant Bitch
It is not necessarily
required to change the food a Lab is eating should she become pregnant.
However, 4-5 weeks into the pregnancy the puppies will begin to undergo
the most rapid development and will begin drawing required nutrients from
the dam if the demands of their nutritional requirements exceed the level
of nutrients in her diet. One way to increase the dam's nutrient intake
is to increase the amount of food she is being fed. One drawback to this
is that the growing pups will be taking up more abdominal space, therefore,
excess food in her stomach may cause her discomfort and she may refuse
to eat. To prevent this, the total amount of food is increased but divided
into small portions and fed more frequently. Since many bitches also have
problems with upset stomach during the pregnancy due to increased stomach
acidity, the more frequent feedings will help to reduce this upset, as
well. We will increase by 1 to 2 cups per day between the 5th and 9th week
of the pregnancy (that's a total of 5 to 6 cups per day since our adults
get a total of 4 cups per day for a normal feeding). By the last two weeks
of the pregnancy, our bitches are usually eating about 8 times per day
(about 3/4 of a cup at a time). No vitamin supplementation or calcium supplementation
during pregnancy is required. Alternatively, some breeders will feed puppy-food
(which is higher in vitamins, protein, and calories) to the dam during
the pregnancy. In this way, the food content need not be increased.
Occassionally, as
whelping draws near, the dam may refuse solid food. This may be one indication
that whelping is imminent within the next 24-48 hours. However, if the
dam begins to refuse solid food prior to the last week of her pregnancy,
one can attempt to entice her to eat by grinding the solid food in a blender
and then mixing it with warm water to make a gruel. Though other foods
such as canned food, cat food, or table scraps may present a more palatable
temptation, gastrointestinal upset may occur as a result of substituting
these other foods and may only encourage her loss of appetite.
.
Delivery
The gestation period
(pregnancy) for dogs is approximately 63 days, plus or minus about 5 days.
Because there is such a wide margin for delivery and because most of the
deliveries here have begun during the early hours of the morning, during
the final week of the pregnancy we place a baby monitor beside the whelping
box at night so that we can hear any activity. Usually, our girls whelp
around day 60 but we look for other signs that whelping may be imminent,
as well. Such signs usually appear within twenty-four hours of delivery.
The mother-to-be will be restless and dig at the blankets in her whelping
box, or dig holes in the garden (nesting). She may refuse to eat or she
will vomit and have diarrhea. Additionally, her body temperature will drop
to about 99 degrees just prior to giving birth (normal temperature is about
101.8 degrees). Once labor begins, "mom" will pant and sometimes moan.
Eventually, moans will be replaced by grunts which coincide with uterine
contractions. These can be felt if one places his hands on the abdomen
of the bitch.
Puppies are born enclosed
in an amniotic sac. An umbilical cord is attached to the placenta which
in turn is attached to the uterine wall of the bitch. Usually, each puppy
will be associated with one placenta. Normally, puppies are born head-first
and each delivery will be followed by a placenta. Though many bitches are
perfectly capable of delivering without any assistance, we like to be standing
by just in case there may be complications. Even when present, however,
we will not usually assist until we think the bitch requires assistance.
For example, if she shows no interest in tearing open the sac or if we
feel it is taking too long then we will tear it open ourself. We do not
usually tie off cords, but we do "cut" cords. We will supervise the bitch
as she crushes and tears the cord to ensure that she does not accidently
injure the pup. Usually we will hold the puppy and grasp the cord providing
a counter pull to prevent potential hernia. If the bitch is unable to crush
and tear the cord, then we will cut it ourself. If the cord is accidently
severed too close to the pup then we will tie it off with a little bit
of suture material or embroidery thread to prevent bleeding. Additionally,
we do stimulate my bitches to eat the placentas, at least two or three
of them. It is, however, important to keep count of all the placentas to
ensure that none have been retained. Once the puppy is born, we will assess
its condition. If it is screeching and indignant, then we will allow the
bitch to clean it herself. If, however, it appears sluggish, weak, or lifeless
then we will attempt to resuscitate the puppy. First, we will rub it vigorously
with a towel. If there appears to be mucus or fluid in its nose and mouth,
we will hold the puppy, belly up, in a towel above our head and then swing
it in a downward arc so that centrifugal force causes the fluid to be expelled.
If the puppy is still not breathing, then we will lightly blow air into
its nostrils.
The duration of the
whelping is dependent on many factors including the number and size of
puppies. In a normal delivery without complications, puppies can be delivered
anywhere from 10 minutes or as much as 2 hours apart. The uterus of the
canine is Y-shaped, with the tail of the "Y" forming the cervix and the
V-shaped portion of the "Y" forming the two horns of the uterus extending
along either side of the abdomen. Usually, the puppies occupying one horn
of the uterus will be delivered first then puppies occupying the other
horn will follow. As a result of this, there may be an interlude where
the bitch will not deliver any puppies for up to 2 hours. This actually
allows the new "mom" a brief reprieve where she can have a drink of water
and be allowed outside to relieve herself. Walking the bitch may also help
in speeding up contractions of the second uterine horn, as well. When walking
our girls during labor, we will bring a towel and a flashlight (if it's
dark outside) in case a pup happens to be born outside.
In between deliveries,
newborns are allowed to nurse. This is important for two reasons: first,
it is essential that each puppy ingest "colostrum" which is secreted from
the mammary glands immediately after birth and which is rich in maternal
antibodies and will protect the pups from infection until they develop
their own immunity, and second, nursing increases uterine contractions
and helps to speed up delivery. Once contractions start to come closer
together indicating that another puppy is on its way into the world, we
remove the newborns from the whelping box, put them in a laundry basket
lined with towels, and place the laundry basket close to the whelping box.
This prevents the newborns from getting stepped on when "mom" stretches
out or moves around while having the contractions.
Puppies cannot hear
or see at birth, however, they are born with a strong "rooting" instinct
to latch-on and nurse. Time of eye opening is usually 10 to 14 days following
birth but can be as late as 16 days, particularly in litters born prematurely.
Birth weight is also dependent on many factors and varies widely from litter
to litter with weights ranging from 5 ounces to greater than 16 ounces
in some cases.
Unlike the black puppies
which are born with black skin pigment, the yellow puppies in a litter
are born without any skin pigment and as a result have pink noses, pads,
and bellies. Black pigment gradually begins to appear within 3-7 days following
birth. Some yellows take up to 14 weeks to acquire complete pigmentation.
Postwhelping
After the puppies are
born, there are many strategies for lining the whelping box. Some people
continue to use newspapers, but puppies get pretty dirty from both newspaper
print and feces. Other people have had success with synthetic materials
on top of absorbent materials: the synthetic material provides secure footing,
but the urine and other liquids pass through it to leave it dry. Other
people use pine shavings (about six inches deep). You will do a lot of
laundering to keep things clean no matter what you use. You will also have
to clean the feces out of the whelping box after your bitch decides that's
no longer her job.
Newborn puppies MUST
be kept warm. The temperature in the whelping box at birth should be 90
F. The temperature can then be decreased 2 degrees every other day. NEVER
FEED A CHILLED PUPPY!!! If a puppy becomes chilled it will cry continually
and it will tuck its tail between its little legs. A healthy, happy, litter
will "purr" like a swarm of bees and when feeding their tails will be straight
out from their bodies. Warm any chilled puppy by putting the puppy under
your shirt and under your armpit. The best method of warming a puppy is
to use a special whelping box heating pad with a towel over it to prevent
soiling the pad. Make sure the temerature does not go too high. Heating
lamps are ok but puppies can become dehydrated. If the litter clumps together
and cries, they are too cold; if they separate and try to hide under shade,
they are too hot.
Large litters will
require supplemental feedings if you want all the puppies to survive. Your
bitch may not be able to care for a very large litter. You will need to
get the pups rotating on shifts. For the first two weeks you may have to
supplement as much as every four hours. Use a good prepared milk-supplement
especially formulated for puppies. If you get in a bind you can use a goat-milk
recipe available in most books about breeding and whelping pups. Never
tube feed pups that will not suckle from a bottle! If you have a purebred
litter, you must record the date of birth and all of the pups in your record
book. Then you will need to fill out and send in your litter registration
form. You want to do this as soon as possible, since many registries can
take up to 6 weeks to return the forms for individual registration to you
(which you will want to give to your puppy buyers later).
You will have to keep
the whelping box clean. For the first two weeks the bitch will keep the
pups pretty clean, but the bedding should be changed twice a day at minimum.
Starting week three, the pups start to eliminate some on their own, then
you will need to clean much more often!
At four weeks, the
pups usually become very active and it this time may require a larger area
then the welping box...you will need a large ex-pen or some way of confining
them safely. You do have a place to keep them that they are safe in and
can't destroy? Puppies at this stage can devastate a room or garage in
hours.
At week four or five
you will probably want to introduce the pups to weaning food. Usually you
will have to mush up the dry puppy food for the pups to be able to eat
it. Use warm water and let the food stand in a bowl for about 2 hours.
At week six you should
vaccination and worm the pups, and have them checked for heartmurmers,
hernias, males for testicles (yes you should be able to feel them at 6
weeks!), deafness, and eye problems.
You should be socializing
now too... And are you going to do any puppy testing for temperaments?
At seven weeks you should be calling up those people with deposits on your
pups and getting your paper work all sorted out. How about pictures of
the pups for your clients?
And this is just if
everything goes perfectly! What happens if one of the pups has a heart
murmer, or a hernia? What about a deaf puppy? What if your whole litter
gets parvo or distemper? What happens if one of the pups is affected with
"swimmer-puppy"
syndrome? What about fading-puppy
syndrome? What happens if your bitch gets an infection or mastitis?
What if she dies?
