Breeding your dogs can be a very rewarding experience but to make it a joyous event, you need to be familiar with what is involved and what you can do to make it so. This section of my web site is dedicated to help you learn more about breeding dogs.
By no means is it meant to replace veterinarian advice, nor will I, the author, be held responsible for any loss or if things do not turn out as planned. The advice offered here is based on my own knowledge, study, and research, and is meant as a guideline.
Before you consider breeding your bitch, I advise that she is in optimum condition, free of internal and external parasites, has been fed a well balanced diet, has been exercised outdoors in fresh air and sunshine, and has received the necessary vitamins. Your bitch should not be overweight nor too thin. If you are unsure if your bitch is in breeding condition, it is a good idea to take her for a medical examination to your vet. Ask him to perform some simple, less expensive tests, such as testing stools for parasites or protozoans.
Bitches generally come into season for the first time under twelve months of age, but I do not recommend breeding at that heat. I breed Toy breeds, and find it is best to breed them at their second or even third heat, but no later than this for a first breeding. Larger breeds of dogs, may be left until later. It all depends on how quickly the breed matures.
Thereafter, bitches will come into season between four and six months after their last season, with a little variation. Even if they were bred and had a litter before, they will still come into season four to six months after their season, not when they had given birth.
This is how I have been breeding dogs successfully and if you feel you would like to follow what I do, I can tell you, I have had good success following these methods.
All my dogs are given a huge area to exercise all year round outdoors, elsewhere on this web site, this is explained in more detail. I believe that dogs need to live stress free lives as much as they need to eat a well balanced diet. To keep them in their perfect condition they need to run and play, interact with other dogs in the same household, and the more room they have to do all this, the better the condition, muscles are well built and strong, and we have to remember, after all, the uterus is also a muscle.
I do not allow my dogs to interact with strange dogs at all. There is very good reasons for this and that is, no matter how healthy the other dogs may outwardly appear to be, they still may be carriers of a disease they themselves have built an immunity to, but my dogs have not. I do not take any unnecessary risks.
Once a bitch has been bred and is completely out of season, I return her to her familiar surroundings and normal way of life. I do not do anything differently.
What are the signs to watch out for indicating pregnancy? Often times a bitch may show little signs at first. However, some do have enlarged mammary glands which are also a darker pink in colour, a slight , clear, sticky discharge, and some have personality changes as well. Some may want to eat more, others eat less and generally the vulva does not return to it's normal pre-mating size. It remains slightly enlarged. By the time the bitch is 8 weeks pregnant, the whelps can be felt moving internally and with the use of a stethoscope, the fetal heartbeats can be heard. I can generally feel if there is more than one pup by the movements.
An experienced vet, or experienced breeder, may be able to palpitate the uterus and feel that it has thickened by the fourth week post mating and feel the developing embryos which at this stage would feel like hard, spherical lumps. It is often hard to determine how many embryos, but to feel even one is a good indication of pregnancy.
If you are anxious to determine if your bitch is definitely pregnant or not, an ultra sound can be performed by an experienced veterinarian, but remember, it is only as accurate as the vet reading it.
Mostly, patience is the key and soon enough by her developing uterus, pregnancy will become very apparent. However, in the case of one small puppy, it may not be the case, so if you are still in doubt by the time your bitch is in her seventh to eighth week, an ultra sound would be indicated or even an x-ray.
Size of pups, cannot be accurately determined by either ultrasound or x-ray, nor can accurate position of the puppies, and in some cases, mainly where there is multiple whelps, it is not possible to accurately count exactly how many.
Do not over feed your bitch because she is pregnant. Feed her as you normally would. Creating an obese bitch during pregnancy is not going to help her come delivery time. Plus, there is an indication that overfeeding can sometimes lead to overly large whelps which again, are not easy on a bitch to deliver. The size of a pup at whelping does not indicate the size it will mature to. Hence, a small pup at birth may grow up to be a normal or larger dog at maturity, and equally, a large whelp at birth, may grow up to be of normal size or small at maturity.
If you have bred a healthy bitch, as should be the case, then additional vitamin supplements, with the exclusion of vitamin C and Folic Acid, are not needed during pregnancy. Folic Acid can help to prevent some birthing defects such as cleft palate and vitamin C boosts the immune system and also helps with having an easier labour and healthy puppies.
Finally, with double coated breeds, bitches will lose all of their coat at some time after the puppies are weaned. Some will lose it all and be quite naked for awhile until their new coat grows back. It is a hormonal occurrence which causes this. On the up side, the new coat that grows back is thicker and longer than before. And most all bitches body up well after having a litter.
Expect your bitch to lose some discharge post whelping. It should not be an excessive amount, nor should it be offensive in odour. The colour is usually a dark, red, to dark brown.
If you feel you need more answers and have not found them on this web site, you are welcome to email me any time and expect a response back almost immediately.
Written by
Anne Roditis-Muscat
Author of the book
"Let's Talk Dogs"
available for sale from this web site.
(c) copyright 2007.
By no means is it meant to replace veterinarian advice, nor will I, the author, be held responsible for any loss or if things do not turn out as planned. The advice offered here is based on my own knowledge, study, and research, and is meant as a guideline.
Before you consider breeding your bitch, I advise that she is in optimum condition, free of internal and external parasites, has been fed a well balanced diet, has been exercised outdoors in fresh air and sunshine, and has received the necessary vitamins. Your bitch should not be overweight nor too thin. If you are unsure if your bitch is in breeding condition, it is a good idea to take her for a medical examination to your vet. Ask him to perform some simple, less expensive tests, such as testing stools for parasites or protozoans.
Bitches generally come into season for the first time under twelve months of age, but I do not recommend breeding at that heat. I breed Toy breeds, and find it is best to breed them at their second or even third heat, but no later than this for a first breeding. Larger breeds of dogs, may be left until later. It all depends on how quickly the breed matures.
Thereafter, bitches will come into season between four and six months after their last season, with a little variation. Even if they were bred and had a litter before, they will still come into season four to six months after their season, not when they had given birth.
This is how I have been breeding dogs successfully and if you feel you would like to follow what I do, I can tell you, I have had good success following these methods.
All my dogs are given a huge area to exercise all year round outdoors, elsewhere on this web site, this is explained in more detail. I believe that dogs need to live stress free lives as much as they need to eat a well balanced diet. To keep them in their perfect condition they need to run and play, interact with other dogs in the same household, and the more room they have to do all this, the better the condition, muscles are well built and strong, and we have to remember, after all, the uterus is also a muscle.
I do not allow my dogs to interact with strange dogs at all. There is very good reasons for this and that is, no matter how healthy the other dogs may outwardly appear to be, they still may be carriers of a disease they themselves have built an immunity to, but my dogs have not. I do not take any unnecessary risks.
Once a bitch has been bred and is completely out of season, I return her to her familiar surroundings and normal way of life. I do not do anything differently.
What are the signs to watch out for indicating pregnancy? Often times a bitch may show little signs at first. However, some do have enlarged mammary glands which are also a darker pink in colour, a slight , clear, sticky discharge, and some have personality changes as well. Some may want to eat more, others eat less and generally the vulva does not return to it's normal pre-mating size. It remains slightly enlarged. By the time the bitch is 8 weeks pregnant, the whelps can be felt moving internally and with the use of a stethoscope, the fetal heartbeats can be heard. I can generally feel if there is more than one pup by the movements.
An experienced vet, or experienced breeder, may be able to palpitate the uterus and feel that it has thickened by the fourth week post mating and feel the developing embryos which at this stage would feel like hard, spherical lumps. It is often hard to determine how many embryos, but to feel even one is a good indication of pregnancy.
If you are anxious to determine if your bitch is definitely pregnant or not, an ultra sound can be performed by an experienced veterinarian, but remember, it is only as accurate as the vet reading it.
Mostly, patience is the key and soon enough by her developing uterus, pregnancy will become very apparent. However, in the case of one small puppy, it may not be the case, so if you are still in doubt by the time your bitch is in her seventh to eighth week, an ultra sound would be indicated or even an x-ray.
Size of pups, cannot be accurately determined by either ultrasound or x-ray, nor can accurate position of the puppies, and in some cases, mainly where there is multiple whelps, it is not possible to accurately count exactly how many.
Do not over feed your bitch because she is pregnant. Feed her as you normally would. Creating an obese bitch during pregnancy is not going to help her come delivery time. Plus, there is an indication that overfeeding can sometimes lead to overly large whelps which again, are not easy on a bitch to deliver. The size of a pup at whelping does not indicate the size it will mature to. Hence, a small pup at birth may grow up to be a normal or larger dog at maturity, and equally, a large whelp at birth, may grow up to be of normal size or small at maturity.
If you have bred a healthy bitch, as should be the case, then additional vitamin supplements, with the exclusion of vitamin C and Folic Acid, are not needed during pregnancy. Folic Acid can help to prevent some birthing defects such as cleft palate and vitamin C boosts the immune system and also helps with having an easier labour and healthy puppies.
Finally, with double coated breeds, bitches will lose all of their coat at some time after the puppies are weaned. Some will lose it all and be quite naked for awhile until their new coat grows back. It is a hormonal occurrence which causes this. On the up side, the new coat that grows back is thicker and longer than before. And most all bitches body up well after having a litter.
Expect your bitch to lose some discharge post whelping. It should not be an excessive amount, nor should it be offensive in odour. The colour is usually a dark, red, to dark brown.
If you feel you need more answers and have not found them on this web site, you are welcome to email me any time and expect a response back almost immediately.
Written by
Anne Roditis-Muscat
Author of the book
"Let's Talk Dogs"
available for sale from this web site.
(c) copyright 2007.
