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last puppy was born. She's been cleaned up and is in her whelping box enjoying a much needed rest. 2 boys and 3 girls The sire of this litter is the "Judge" and he's the puppy in the border. He's all grown up now and you can see him here |
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The miracle of life is one of the greatest gifts of God. To | |
be a witness to this miracle is an experience never to be | |
forgotten. But breeding is a huge responsibility and must | |
be done with complete dedication to the breed. Anything | |
less would be completely irresponsible. | |
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I'm sure I don't have to tell any of you how many unwanted | |
and uncared for animals there are in the world. Too many | |
are being put to sleep every day because of irresponsible | |
breeders who are only looking at the dollar signs flashing | |
in front of their eyes. I've been breeding for 35 years and | |
I have yet to make a dime. Oh I make money when I sell | |
my pups, but after I deduct the cost of food, bedding, toys, | |
shampoos and conditioners etc., show fees (food, lodging, | |
gas, entry fees), and the vet bill ( the most horrendous of | |
all), I come out in the hole every year. | |
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Ok, I'm going to tell you how I birth puppies. Yes, I said | |
birth! I'm from Louisiana and here we birth them. You can | |
whelp them if you want to. :))) The same applies here as | |
in all my articles. This is my way and what works for me. | |
By all means follow your vets advice over mine. I'm not | |
responsible for "your" bitch and "your" puppies. | |
"YOU ARE." And I sincerely hope you take this | |
responsibility seriously. The health and happiness of your | |
beloved pet lies solely in your hands. | |
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I'm writing this for those of you who think they want to be | |
a breeder and really have no idea what they're getting into. | |
Puppies are not just born, at least they aren't in my house. | |
Here they're delivered by ME.... and my vet if necessary. | |
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First of all, you have to be prepared to lose the mom, her | |
puppies or both. This is something that no breeder ever | |
likes to think about but, ... the reality is, there is always a | |
chance of something going wrong. | |
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Once you make the decision to breed, then you have to do | |
everything possible to insure the health of the mom and | |
pups. A through vet check is first on the list. If you are | |
breeding to a male outside of your home, a brucellosis test | |
is a must for both the male and female. If either of the | |
dogs being bred have brucellosis, you endanger infecting the | |
dog you are breeding with and take the chance of loosing | |
the whole litter. It can sweep through your home and infect | |
everyone in it..... including "you". Yes, it is contagious to | |
humans. I'd also have a culture done on both dogs. | |
Here is a link to someone else's web site that has some good | |
information on Brucellosis.
The Threat of Canine Brucellosis: Myth or Menace? |
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Second is deciding which male you're going to breed your | |
bitch to. You should have been thinking and researching | |
this for months prier to her breeding season. I look at all | |
the dogs in the pedigree and do an imaginary pedigree | |
on paper. I pick out as many dogs as I know and see if they | |
will compliment each other. For instance if I'm breeding a | |
bitch with a weaker front and I want to strengthen the fronts | |
of the puppies, I'll breed her to a male with a strong front. | |
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Or suppose her ears are large and I want smaller ears, | |
then I'll breed to a dog with small ears. These are just | |
examples. You don't always get what you want either. But | |
by keeping a puppy with that gene and then breeding them | |
back to small ears or a good front again, your chances are | |
increased that the next generation will have more of what | |
you're looking for. Good breeders always try to breed the | |
perfect Yorkie and that's what my breeding program is all | |
about. | |
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Once you've decided on which stud you're going to use, | |
then you have to plan your schedule. Figure about when | |
you'll be doing the breeding and when the puppies will be | |
due. If you work, you'll need to take your vacation for that | |
week. If you're home all the time, that's the best. I never | |
leave my moms to have the puppies on their own. Each life | |
is precious to me and too many things can go wrong. | |
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Here's just a few. The mom chews the cord too short and the | |
puppy's guts spill out. It's a breach birth and the head gets | |
stuck in the canal and the puppy drowns. The mom is lazy | |
and after she expels the puppy she doesn't take it out of | |
the sack and the puppy drowns. The mom decides that | |
while she's eating the sack to get the puppy out, that the | |
puppy taste good too and eats it as well; or maybe chew's | |
off a leg or two. Terrible huh? But all these things can | |
and do happen. | |
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Now I'm going to tell you what to do for the mom to be. How |
to take care of her during her gestation period, etc. |
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The gestation period of a bitch is 63 days. The first day you |
breed her, you mark it on your calendar and count 63 days |
from then, and that's the first due date of your puppies. |
Sperm lives for approximately 48 hours. So when you breed |
your bitch, she can conceive anytime during the 48 hours. |
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If you breed her every other day for 3 days, that means the |
puppies could be born any time from the 63 day to as much |
as 7 days later. Then sometimes they come early. I've had |
them as early as day 57. |
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I no longer breed my bitches that long. I breed them 2 days |
in a row on their 11th and 12th day. The reason I don't breed |
them that long anymore is, I don't want puppies that are |
born just to die because they were not fully developed. If |
your bitch conceives one puppy on day one and another on |
day 6, that's 6 days less the last puppy conceived had |
to grow and develop and it usually dies. Once I cared for a |
pup like that night and day, one drop of milk at a time and |
it lived a week before it went to Rainbow bridge. I cried my |
heart out for that puppy. From that day on I made a promise |
to myself that I'd never let it happen again. I've had them |
die since, but not because of my breeding practice. I'd |
rather my bitch not take at all, then to lose one puppy. |
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From the day I breed my mom to be, I start giving her pet |
tabs. I don't give extra calcium, just what's in the vitamin. |
I make sure she eats well every day and has a good stool. |
When she starts showing signs that she's PG, I feed her |
Hills Science Diet Growth food. It's in a green and white |
can. This is puppy food and richer than her regular |
maintenance food. I make sure she eats everyday. This is |
important for strong healthy puppies. |
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Ten days before her first due date, I start taking her |
temperature. 101 is the normal temperature for a bitch. I |
check it once every day till it starts to drop, then I check it |
twice a day till it gets down to around 99. That's when you |
know her delivery time is very close. This is when my mom |
to be is with me every minute. |
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You'll need a birthin' box for your mom to deliver her pups |
in. I'll tell you what I use and then you can go from there |
and either make it like mine or design your own. My moms |
are confined in a 3 foot by 3 foot cage. I'm not having them |
drag puppies all over the house..... which they will do. |
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In the cage I use a 1- 1/2 foot by 3 foot plastic box. I get |
them at Walmart. They're made to go under the bed for |
storage. I get carpet remnants and cut them to the size of |
the box. Then I use a large bath towel, cover the carpet |
with it and secure it with baby diaper pins on the underside. |
New mom's like to dig and if there is loose bedding she |
will bury the pups and possibly suffocate them. |
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Under one half of the carpet I put the heating pad. This |
should not be too hot nor too cool. I press my hand firmly |
on the top of the towel covered carpet and it should feel |
just nice and warm. You don't want it completely under |
all the carpet because if the pups get too warm, they need |
to be able to crawl off. Also, mom needs a place to be |
near her babies and not get overheated. |
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On the next page I'm going to tell you how I deliver a normal |
litter and what you'll need in your birthin' or whelping kit. |
I didn't want to put it all on one page because all this would |
be too much for you to print out if you wanted to keep a |
copy of it. I felt though that I should give you some idea |
first of what you're up against and the care of the new |
mother. |
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I sincerely hope that you will consider carefully all the |
pro's and con's before you breed and consider carefully the |
quality of the pups you are bringing into this world. You also |
have the responsibility of placing these pups in a good and |
loving home. You'll have to face it, you will be responsible |
for these pups the rest of their lives if you intend to be a |
good breeder. Responsibility doesn't end when a pup is sold. |
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One last thing... Never breed unless you have at least $500. |
in the bank. You'll need at least that much for the vet visits |
and in case your bitch needs a C-section. If you still want |
to breed, go on to Birthin' Puppies Part 2. |
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Birthin' Puppies Part 2 |
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WHAT IS A BREEDER? Author unknown A Breeder (with a capital B) is one who thirsts
for knowledge and never really
A Breeder is one who sacrifices personal interests,
finances, time, friendships,
The Breeder goes without sleep (but never without
coffee!) in hours spent
The Breeder skips dinner parties because that
litter is due or the babies have
A Breeders lap is a marvelous place where generations
of proud and noble
A Breeders back and knees are usually arthritic
from stooping, bending, and
A Breeders shoulders are stooped and often
heaped with abuse from
A Breeders arms are always able to wield a
mop, support an armful of puppies,
A Breeders ears are wondrous things, sometimes
red (from being talked about)
A Breeders eyes are blurred from pedigree research
and sometimes blind to
A Breeders brain is foggy on faces, but it
can recall pedigrees faster than an
The Breeders heart is often broken, but it
beats strongly with hope everlasting...
Oh, yes, there are breeders, and then, there are BREEDERS!!! |
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Items needed....
Boil shot glass for 10 min to kill germs and wash your hands! I use a sterile tube and syringe and throw them away after I'm finished breeding that bitch. In-between breedings, I resterilize the syringe and tube as well as the shot glass. After it's sterile, I put the shot glass where it will stay body temperature while ejaculating the male. Hold male at the base of his penis, as far up as you can get, with just your thumb and index finger. Gently squeeze while going in an up and down motion. Not too fast, just a nice steady slow pace. Have someone else hold the bitch's rear to his nose for the scent. I even let him jump the bitch if he wants to. Once he's ejaculating, don't let go of his penis, but slip the glass under it to make the collection. Stop stimulating him, just hold the top of his penis firmly. If he stops ejaculating, stimulate him a little to get him started again. I don't collect the first few seconds as that's clean out, but after about 10 seconds then start collecting. Once you have an ounce, or if he's a good stud and you get a couple of cc's you can stop collecting. I don't let him go for more than 5 min as the sperm will get cold. Put him outside or in his crate to finish. Have someone hold the bitch's rear up by holding her under her back legs. You don't have to have her feet touching the ceiling, just hold her rear about 6 inches off the floor. You want her legs completely relaxed. Suck the sperm up in the syringe and then attach the tube. Squirt the sperm so it's at the bottom of the tube and the air is removed in the tube. A bitch has two holes. You want to insert the tube in the upper hole (the hole closest to her tail). The bottom hole is for urinating. You don't need to put the tube in very far. It has to go up and over a slight hump so make sure the tube is aiming a little up when inserting. When the bitch is really ready, I hardly feel the hump. Once it's past that, an inch or so, then slowly start injecting the semen. You don't want to kill it. Once the sperm is injected pull the tube out, but don't lower the bitch. There's a way to stimulate the bitch to make her draw the sperm up which she would do if the male's penis was in her. I use my thumb and pointer finger and gently squeeze her vulva from the back to the front. Start back pretty far, close to her tail, and slowly pull toward her vulva. As you get to the front, she should draw back. If not, you can use a piece of ice and just dab her vulva with that and she will usually draw. You want to get her to draw at least 10 times. After 15 or 20 min, let her down and crate her for a couple of hours so she stays really quiet. Then 63 days later you have a litter of 6 healthy girls..... hopefully..... LOL |
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All rights reserved. Please do not remove anything off these pages without permission. |
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If you've decided not to breed then: BACK TO HOME PAGE. |
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