Anyone have experience with the mother shunning one of her pups and trying to keep the pup alive? I've heard how the mother can tell if somethings wrong and she'll just set it away from the rest of the litter. but this one just seems to be more of a runt than the rest. when i try to set her up to nurse with the rest she tries to nudge her way up there, but can't compete with the bigger pups. Any ideas/advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
saving the runt of the litter
brett k.
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Sorry to hear this brett.....
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I have a female who does not fit the norm for breeding going by progesterones to get a large litter. I have read about this. Being bred by the classic 2 and 4 days past ovulation she has 3-5 pups. Then one time she had a cycle that appeared to start on a certain day (she is a house dog when she is not in heat), but on day 6 the boys said she was ready. I went down to do a progesterone figuring she was starting her rise but not ready and she was at 13.4 and because of logistics with the stud, was bred the next day and had 9 pups. The next time she had a more normal cycle and was bred the classic way and had three. I believe Terry had one like that-that bred a week after the progesgterone said she ovulated and there was a big litter. It's something to be aware of. Breeding a bitch over 2 days only does not work for all bitches. Sometimes you want the coverage. Obviously this stud's semen was not holding out long either.
As far as the puppy goes, it is a shock when you lose one like that, but they are not all born perfect. There probably was nothing you could have done.
As far as the puppy goes, it is a shock when you lose one like that, but they are not all born perfect. There probably was nothing you could have done.
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sounds like you were using the in-house lab test..... ;-)
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No Susan, all progesterones were quantitative in house progesterones. Granted, sometimes they are off a little, but I believe I had multiple progesterones and they whelped on time except for the first one which was a c-section. She is just different. I am going to have a different game plan next time. Terry's were also in house quantitative. I remember him writing me. In fact, I think that the bitch owner was a vet. I have seen it happen several times. According to the study I read, some bitches just need to be at 15 or higher when they are bred.
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Uhhhh ... Nancy. I was kidding you. You said
The stats I have from Terry were more than one bitch... they are about the last year of Joe's breedings...
Very interesting stuff. You can always have the one that doesn't fit within the norm, and that's why there's an art to this stuff they deem "science."
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In the old days pre-progesterone, we went by the studs and targeted certain days, but I think through the use of progesterones, we are able to breed bitches that came up empty before, but there are still outliers, or maybe liars that are a challenge. Maybe this one needs a fertility dance.
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I have a bitch that never read the Canine Reproductive Handbook, too. Every time we tried to breed her using progesterone testing, she missed. Took her to one of Nancy's boys for live cover, no progesterone, and she had ten healthy puppies...at eight and a half years old.
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Ben hasn't read the stud book. He's Mr where there is a will there is a way. With my own females he has bred them at 1.4 when I'm told he shouldn't be able to, and a week after their optimum period. They have to be kept trim to do that because they have to be able to get that hip action going.
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We had a similar experience with a litter about a year ago. The litter was born on day 57 after the only tie. We had 9 pups, all fairly small. Seems like the largest one was only 10 ounces. We had one little tiny girl that only weighed 4.5 ounces. Didn't think she had a snowball's chance in hell of making it. Her hair was very thin on her head and legs. She just LOOKED premature. The litter was in the house. We kept her warm and made sure she was nursing often. She was strong just so tiny didn't take much for her to get full. Little bit made it though. Was about half the size of the rest of the litter all along and did everything a couple of days after the rest of them - opening her eyes and walking and such. She was completely spoiled because she was so darn cute. Turned out normal size for this dam's female pups. About 50 pounds now. We see her every now and then and she's perfectly normal. Still spoiled though;-).
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They say that about people too, but they still breed. I keep the dogs trim because it's healthier for them period.
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