Canine reproduction Flashcards
How big of a decision is breeding?
big
Avoid ____ mating
indiscriminate
Raise puppies only if ____
if there is a demand
define spay
removal of ivories and uterus
define neuter
removal of testicles
Benefits of spaying
- No pups
- No heat cycles
- No uterine cancer
- No uterine infections (pyometra)*
- Reduced risk of mammary tumors
- Decreased roaming
- Reduced strays attracted to bitch during estrus
- Bitch won’t try to escape to be b
Benefits to neutering
- No pups
- No testicular cancer
- Decreased urine marking
- Decreased roaming
- (Maybe less aggression and dominance behaviors) (?)
- Debatable
- Aggression is often not correlated
Negative aspects in spaying/neutering
- Risks of surgery
- Slight changes in conformation
- Increase in orthopedic problems
- Bladder incontinence
- May be increases in some cancer rates
- Decreased activity level
- Obesity (?)
Best age for canine reproduction
- debatable
- back then: 6 months of age
- depends on breed/size
- smaller breeds: 6 months may be okay
- larger breeds: 1 year or older can be better
Breeding the bitch
- Should wait until at least second cycle
- Make sure bitch is healthy, dewormed, etc.
Why is it important to make sure both is health, dewormed, etc…
- Successfully carry pregnancy
- Won’t pass pathogens on to puppies (*maybe?)
- May be more difficult to treat when pregnant
Selecting a sire
- choose wisely
- can be a complicated choice
Options for breeding
- live cover
- artificial insemination
define live cover
natural breeding
define artificial insemination
- semen: fresh, chilled, frozen
- insemination: vaginal, transcervical, surgical
how common is it to see dogs mate?
not super common unless dogs aren’t spayed or neutered.
What is unique about dog penis
has bone inside, called “os penis”
Live cover breeding
- tend to be cheapest and simplest
- mate daily over a 4-day period, ideally
Artificial semination
- minimized the number of breedings
- locate an experienced vet or breeding specialist
- can use fresh, chilled or frozen
Benefits of chilled and frozen semen
- No transportation of dogs
- Shipping semen is cheaper than shipping animals
- Shipping internationally possible
- Frozen lasts indefinitely
- Frozen when dog is young and in prime
- Minimizes contact between dogs
Nays of chilled or frozen semen
- Timing is critical and adds cost
- Overnight shipping adds cost –
- Insemination requires trained experts
- Frozen semen insemination – surgical, adds risk to
bitch
Indications of heat
Canine Estrous Cycle (a review)
- Sexual heat in female (6-12 months of age)
- Bloody discharge (designates day 1- proestrus) – not
menstruation - Pronounced swelling of vulva
- Sexual desire intensifies (days 10-14 enter estrus)
- will receive male
- very difficult to control dog at this time
- Cycle time about 21 days (variable)
- Long anestrous period
Canine fertility
- often inappropriate timing
Female
* Testing requires expensive hormone testing
and histology
Male
* Semen Evaluation: count, motility,
morphology
* Considerably easier to test
Gestation
*63 days from breeding
*Detection
*Mammary glands swell last 3 weeks
*Milk appears during last week
*Body weight may increase 20-55%
* Be careful they don’t put on too much fat
Pseudopregnancy
- Not uncommon in canines
*Every appearance of being
bred
*No pups - ReproCHEK
Metabolizable Energy Requirement of Bitch
- First 30 days of gestation - 100%
normal for breed and size - Day 30 to day 63 - 150%
- Lactation day 1 to 14 - 200%
- Lactation day 14 to 35 - 300%
- By weaning, back to 125%
A place to whelp
- Provide location three
weeks prior to whelping - Whelping box
- warm
- quiet
- secluded (from dogs,
cats and people)
Care of Bitch and Puppies at Whelping
- For most bitches, a suitable environment is the only
requirement - if all is going well stay away
- instinct is adequate for great success
What to expect for whelping
*Signs of whelping
*temperature drop from 102 to 99 F
*great restlessness
*desire for seclusion
*Active labor (first puppy within 20 min)
The newborn pup
Enclosed in membrane sac (placenta)
- bitch will break membrane with teeth
- release liquid inside
- Special attention bull dogs and boxers
- breathing should start
- keep new puppy warm
- make sure they nurse
- handle as little as possible until eyes are open
Difficulties that may arise
- No interest in pups
- must break membrane; tie and cut cord
- If pup is caught in birth canal may need to grasp
with dry towel and assist. - May retain last pup (should settle down within two
hours of last pup) - call veterinarian
- Mastitis - breast swelling and fever
- Systemic treatment with antibiotics
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Newborn puppy care
- Eyes will open in about 12-15 days
- Ears open about 14-17 days
- Start to crawl at about 7-14 days, walk by 16
- Teeth will come in in about 2-4 weeks
- Weight should double in 7-10 days
Early training
Expose them to many things
* Noises
* Handling
* May be able to start housebreaking (litter training)
Don’t let them bite you
Early Training
- Expose them to many things
- Noises
- Handling
- May be able to start housebreaking (litter training)
- Don’t let them bite you
Pup Nutrition
*Colostrum
*Feeding
- Start eating and drinking around 3 weeks
- Weaning at 6-8 weeks
*8-12 weeks good time to separate from litter
optional procedures
- Dock tail
- Dewclaw removal
