How far in to a bitch's pregnancy is it safe to train, run hunt test? Thanks
Training and Pregnancy
tide pond
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I would only do light work until the pregnancy is confirmed (about 21-28 days) , and then place the bitch in quarantine where she is not exposed to any dogs that are new to the property or traveling off the property.
Contagious diseases suck, and one of the worst is Herpes virus. It's more or less everywhere and if the bitch catches it 3 weeks before whelping up to 3 weeks after whelping it can kill your entire litter rapidly. It happened to me. When my bitch was quarantined. We lost the litter at 10 days. Now I am an OCD freak about germs when I have a litter.
As for the bitch she should self exercise - walking is ok, but I would avoid a lot of running, jumping etc once the pregnancy is confirmed.
I hope that helps.
Contagious diseases suck, and one of the worst is Herpes virus. It's more or less everywhere and if the bitch catches it 3 weeks before whelping up to 3 weeks after whelping it can kill your entire litter rapidly. It happened to me. When my bitch was quarantined. We lost the litter at 10 days. Now I am an OCD freak about germs when I have a litter.
As for the bitch she should self exercise - walking is ok, but I would avoid a lot of running, jumping etc once the pregnancy is confirmed.
I hope that helps.
Wow that really sucks, how were you able to determine to was herpes? I was worried about it years ago with a litter that at 5 days stopped gaining, seemed to get less active and had diarrhea. Fortunately it turned out the bitch was feeding them too much and the milk went thru undigested, once we restricted her feeding a bit and they started walking and burning more energy, it cleaned up fast. Sorry to hear about your litter but would like to know more about the details of what you saw, and how it was diagnosed. I always keep non-family people away till they are 4 weeks old, then let select people in to help with socialization, but like you I am a stickler for sanitation.
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So My girl has been pregnant 3 times, but she has only had 2 litters the first one reabsorbed. The first one also was the only one where I actively kept training (e-collar, standards, pushing) and running the dog; wanted to qualify for this wanted to finish that. The reabsorbed litter was also the most expensive litter, in terms of stud fee, implantation etc. so really sucked to loose out on it. For the other 2 litters while using the same methods implantation etc., the e-collar went on to the bench and she was allowed to run-train-hunt however much she was comfortable with at the time (which honestly is probably more than I should've let her, had to put the brakes on it as the pregnancy progressed). Still everything was her choice, completely laxed, no stress; ended up with 2 nice litters. Breeding is expensive, there's never any guarantee, except that you lose time (many months). So If your more concerned with training-running do that and wait until there's a time when you aren't as possessed. A dog should be kept in shape, helps them deliver easier; but keep the (physical and mental) stress down; sure it might not affect your dog; but trust me if your pushing and you lose a litter; as you have been taxing the dog, whelp pretty easy to put the blame right where it most likely belong directly on yourself 
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1,303 Posts
I still train. Day 18 post ovulation is implantation. So generally day 17-20 it's light work or none. The Bitch usually slows down herself the last three weeks. Most times for my girls it's the last week or two due to boob size. I don't push them. But they still want to work so I do. No forcing or stress. A fit Bitch whelps easier.
Hope that helps. Sue Puff
Hope that helps. Sue Puff
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Here's my HO...once your bitch gets bred confirmed or not...pull out of whatever you are doing and put her in a safe place....you'll have plenty of time to "train" after a healthy litter.
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Actually I just learned recently that implantation happens much earlier--day 11-14. I have always been told 17-19 but a whelping expert just clarified this for me. Interestingly, I have two females who bleed a little at implantation, one is always day 12-14.
Meredith
Meredith
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The pups stopped gaining and had a weaker suckle for about 12 hours, then had nasal discharge, then went into respiratory distress as their lungs filled with fluid. They died 1 by 1 each passing about 24 hours after they weakened their suckle. Over a week and none of the warming, force feeding, drugs, oxygen supplementation changed anything. We sent the second pup to die for necropsy and culture and she was positive for herpes and mycoplasma. It was devastating and costly.
With my next litter this past fall, one of my dogs got out of the house/yard right after my litter was born. I put him in boarding for 3 weeks because I didn't want to risk the litter at all. I would take quarantine that serious. I saw the original poster is already on board with keeping her girl quiet, just make sure there isn't any exposure to other dogs coming into the house either - including on your clothes/shoes, or anyone coming to visit.
Good luck!
Lisa
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I totally disagree that a pregnant retriever needs to stop exercising due to implantation or any other reason other than if there is risk of abdominal trauma. Physical activity becomes self-limiting later in gestation, anyway as the bitch increases in size. Now the concern for infectious diseases is another issue. I have never worried about it until puppies are born, but I'm listening to what Dr. Lisa is saying. What are other steps to prevent infection during pregnancy as well as after whelping?
Johnny G
Johnny G
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Timely post with plans to go to a club training day Sunday, train with a pro Monday with my 6 week pregnant girl, decided to pull her from not so much the activity, but the exposure to new dogs/grounds. She's always been active and is still enjoying training so we'll just keep our training at home.
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After losing a battle with herpes, I worry about infectious diseases. Physically, I think it's best to keep the bitch in shape, but it's hard to keep them in shape and quarantined at the same time.
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Herpes is as horrible as Lisa says and I can understand after going through it quarantining. There is also a component that deals with keeping the pups warm. I have never had Herpes, but I had visitors going from place to place looking at puppies, bring in some virus where 4 1/2 weeks old pups ate at 5 and they started collapsing at 1030p and I lost 4 pups from 2 litters in a couple of days. Since then, I at least wait until their first vaccination. However, I have never stopped going training with other dogs. You have to evaluate your risk and how much you want to isolate yourself. I feel people going place to place are far more worrisome than adult training dogs that don't come in direct contact with the bred females.
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Passed a double SH test at day 43 and 44. Whelped 12 healthy pups.
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