Dog Breeding, Whelping and Puppy Care

Gary England

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780470673133
• eBook ISBN: 9781118414354
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Veterinary Medicine

A practical and up-to-date guide to canine reproduction for dog breeders, veterinary students and veterinary surgeons. Written in an easy-to-use style and presented in a practically useful format with clear illustrations.  The information is supported by references from the author's published work and his wealth of clinical experience to form the important authoritative text in this field.  A vital aid to those seeking an understanding of normal and abnormal reproduction as well as common reproductive techniques.

Section 1
Breeding, Reproduction and Care of the Normal Animal

1

Care of the Juvenile, Genetics and Planning of Breeding

Puppies are most commonly weaned from their dam at approximately 6 weeks of age and will then be placed into a new home.

• the exact time of homing will depend upon the opinion of the breeder and the availability of a new home; early placement at 6 weeks has many advantages relating to behavioural development of the pup, but attention needs to be paid to health care and preventative treatments
• whilst pups may arrive in a new home ‘fully weaned’, there are substantial physiological changes in the gastrointestinal tract which are not complete until several months of age; these put the pup at risk of gastrointestinal upset following minor dietary change

1.1 BEHAVIOURAL DEVELOPMENT

• there are several important phases of behavioural development, including (1) the neonatal period, (2) the transitional period, and (3) the socialization period (Figure 1.1)
• on arrival at a new home, pups will have passed through the neonatal and transitional periods (these are discussed later in 15.2) and will be within the socialization period which is probably one of the most important phases of its life

Figure 1.1 Schematic representation of attraction and fear scores for pups demonstrating the ‘critical period’ in relation to the neonatal, transitional and socialization periods.

Socialization Period

• this period classically starts at 3–4 weeks of age and is complete at approximately 12 weeks
• during this time pups should be learning to live as part of the pack (or household)
• the period starts with a general acceptance by the pup that anything experienced is not harmful, therefore the pup will not be frightened by exposure to something new; in the wild exposure to new things at an early age would be regulated by the dam and therefore can be considered safe
• the period ends with the pup responding to new stimuli with a fear response; in the wild as the pup roams from the nest it is more likely to meet hostile situations and these things should first be treated as dangerous
• as the pup moves through the socialization period it starts to learn what is safe, what is dangerous and how to interact with others in the social hierarchy
• a ‘critical period’ between 5 and 7 weeks of age has been identified and this is the time when the pup should be exposed to as many stimuli as possible so that the pup will accept these as normal and will not be fearful of them
• for appropriate socialization of the pup into the human household it is imperative that the new owner recognizes the importance of the socialization period and provides a rich, stimulating and social environment:

(a) early exposure of pups to new environments, people, noises, stimuli etc will be accepted as non-threatening and will normally result in a life-long benefit. As examples pups who have their ears cleaned and examined at 4 weeks of age are likely to accept this as a normal event; pups that are exposed to a vacuum cleaner will accept it as not threatening

(b) late exposure will result in a fear response that may take multiple exposures in a very controlled environment to overcome. As examples, pups exposed to a vacuum cleaner at 14 weeks of age may be fearful and it may take many months to overcome the fear

• for appropriate socialization owners should:

(a) make sure that pups are used to being touched all over including opening the mouth and ears

(b) establish that it is normal for a human to remove the pups’ food

(c) establish basic training commands

(d) expose the pups to all manner of different environments (cars, buses, shopping centres, crowds etc)

(e) expose the pups to as many different noises as possible (fireworks, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, gunshots etc); specific tape recordings are useful for this task

(f) ensure the pup is exposed to people of different ages, sexes and to those wearing different types of clothing, uniforms (e.g. postmen) and hats

(g) expose the pup in a controlled environment to other animal species (e.g. cats, sheep) so that a chase response does not develop

(h) correct all inappropriate behaviours quickly

1.2 HEALTH CARE

There is substantial alignment of the socialization period with the immune system of the pup; early in the socialization period the pup has acceptance of new stimuli (at this time the pup will have protective immunity from the dam’s colostrum) whilst later new stimuli are met with a fear response (maternally derived antibodies will be waning and the pup may not be protected).

• a variety of routine preventative health care measures should be implemented and due consideration should be given to dietary requirements

Dietary Requirements

• it initially appears complex to understand the dietary requirements of a developing pup, however much research has been undertaken and the use of commercially available preparations is scientifically sensible and safe in terms of nutrient requirement and bacterial contamination (many home-prepared diets do not meet the same standards for nutrients or bacteriological safety)
• the nutrient requirement will be based upon the size of the pup, the likely size at maturity (the expected growth rate) and the stage of development
• the volume of food to be fed relates to the density of the food and its nutritional value
• owners normally feed to an expected volume of food in the feeding bowl and forget that total weight of food fed is important
• overfeeding of pups is common and may result in increased tendency to obesity throughout life because of setting an expectation of a particular appetite as well as the nature of fatty tissue that is developed
• the balance between energy intake, protein and calcium is important and will differ between breeds and body size of the dog and varies at the different stages of development; it is important either to recognize the variable amounts required if feeding home-prepared diets or to use commercially available preparations appropriate for the stage of development (age) of the pup
• it is important to recognize that commercially available complete diets for pups should never be supplemented with additional minerals as this will result in dietary imbalance and can result in skeletal deformity

Vaccinations

• vaccination regimes are designed to stimulate the body to produce an immune reaction to particular organisms
• pups will have received some antibodies from their dam (these are called maternally derived antibodies)
• maternal antibodies are not permanent but generally persist in the pup until 6 or 8 weeks of age but this varies from one infectious disease to another
• if vaccination is performed when there are high levels of maternal antibodies it is possible that vaccination will not be as successful as expected and therefore the timing of vaccination is important
• vaccinations are normally given for distemper, infectious hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, leptospirosis and Bordetella
• most primary vaccination courses include two doses at approximately 10 and 12 weeks of age although an early vaccination may be given at 6 weeks in some cases
• a later last vaccine dose may be required for canine parvovirus (e.g. at 14 or 16 weeks) because maternal derived antibody persists in the pups
• local veterinary surgeons are best placed to advise on suitable regimes since the prevalence of disease varies from one location to another

Deworming

• many breeders will have either treated a bitch for endoparasites during pregnancy, and/or treated the pups when they were in the nest
• establishing what regimes have been followed can be important and this will influence which preventative treatments are given during puppy development
• treatment is required for many different forms of internal parasites

Roundworms

• Toxocara is a roundworm that is most commonly seen in young pups and may cause respiratory disease (because of larvae passing through the lungs) or gastrointestinal disease
• if bitches have been infected before pregnancy larvae may remain dormant but become re-activated in the last third of pregnancy and then pass to the pups; pups are born infected and may produce many eggs themselves within a few weeks of birth
• Toxocara is a potential zoonotic disease and regular de-worming is therefore imperative and should...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Preface
• Section 1: Breeding, Reproduction and Care of the Normal Animal
• Section 2: Abnormalities of Reproduction and the Perinatal Period
• Section 3: Control of Reproduction and Reproductive Technologies
• Index