CANINE GENETICS & HEREDITY.

CANINE GENETICS & HEREDITY. Its important to understand the parents'influence on any litter and canine genetics and heredity are what makes everything possible.Genetics are the foundation of all heredity and if you want to replicate or remove specific traits from dogs, you have to understand the mechanisms behind genetics and heredity in dogs. Selective dog breeding is supervised by humans and can be the best way to improve a breed.

How to take care of new born pups.

How to take care of new born pups. Initially, for the first three weeks the mother and the pups are one unit. The mother ends up doing everything for her litter; keeping them warm, feeding them, stimulating them so they can defecate and even cleaning their feces. In the first few hours after their delivery, the puppies will be fed by their mother every two hours or so. Never interrupt that as these first milk feeding sessions will deliver the puppies with what is called colostrum. The Crucial points to note include: 1)Nutrition & Hydration Of The Mother. 2)Hygiene Of The Whelping Box & The Whelps. 3)Weighing Of Each Puppy Daily. 4)Keep The Room Temperature At 30°C (or 86°F). 5)Balanced Nutrition Of The Growing Puppies. 6)Stimulation Of The Puppies For Sanitation. At three weeks, puppies should start to accept solid foods that are moist and fine-textured and by the fifth week, they should be completely weaned. Puppies have a fragile and weak immune system during their first weeks. Their only defense comes from the colostrum delivered by the mom during the first hours after delivery. First parasites to eliminate are worms,and a vaccination course is recommended to prevent a particular illness.

DOG BREEDING TECHNIQUES.

DOG BREEDING TECHNIQUES.Although there is no absolute best way of breeding, there is a breeding style that is more suitable at a certain time for a certain goal that you have. The following are breeding techniques of note; 1) Linebreeding incorporates and passes on specific traits on a continuous basis to the next generations. 2)Inbreeding will set those characteristics and traits in stone by increasing homozygosity of recessive genes to uniformize litters. 3)Back-breeding is a form of inbreeding where one dog mates with another dog to then mate with the strongest from that litter. 4) Outcrossing introduces new characteristics in your bloodline that will then have to be improved and reinforced. 5)Grading up allows you to start with an average stock and gradually improve your dogs by bringing quality external blood. 6) Outbreeding is mainly used to breed hybrid dogs and crosses such as Labradoodle, Cockapoo, and so on Having a deep understanding of your program, your dogs and their characteristics is crucial so you can then use the most appropriate breeding styles to see improvements over the very next generations. A reputable dog breeder never breeds two dogs because of intuition. Instead, it is a long period filled with studies of dozens and dozens of bloodlines and pedigrees of potential matches. Pedigree analysis means the thorough research of the ancestors of a given dog in order to establish their weaknesses, strengths, and whether or not we can spot a pattern or repetition of desirable or undesirable traits and characteristics. Because we don’t have access to the potential matches’ genome, we must study each dog’s ancestors one by one and go back to as many generations as possible. Some traits are recessive and can be carried over each generation without showing. If you only study one generation, you can be tricked; but if you study ten generations, you will see the defect or pattern at some point. DNA screening tests have helped breeders breed defects out of the breed way more easily than in the past.

How to choose dog clipper blades.

How to choose dog clipper blades. When's the last time you changed your dog clippers' blade? probably never right? this will help you make the right choice. Most dog owners and breeders do not even know they can remove, clean, and change, the blades in their dog hair clipper. It's very easy but when buying a new one, the variety of choice can be a little overwhelming. The blades come in several considerations such as 1)Steel or ceramic blades. 2)Carbon coated or titanium. 3) Which number for which length. 4)Fine tooth or skip tooth clipper blades. 6)Strength of the blades versus smoothness of the cut. Different Types of Blades For Dog Clippers If you thought searching the best dog clipper blade was easy, you are sorely mistaken. Blades for dog clippers come in different sizes (length), shapes (tooth spacing), materials (steel or ceramic) and designs . Fine Tooth vs Skip Tooth Blades This is the spacing between two teeth and it is extremely important to understand so you make the right choice. If you pick the wrong one, you may face difficulties clipping your dog’s hair. Fine-tooth blades are marked with the letter F after the blade’s number, for example size #7F, or 3F. Fine-tooth blades are used on clean and smooth coats; they offer an even and very polished look whilst giving the dog’s hair a very soft touch. Fine-tooth blades won’t work on thick fur, dirty hair, and matted coats. Skip-tooth blades have a wider space in between two teeth in order to allow more hair to feed into the blade. Such blades are very common and tend to be used either for thicker or dirtier coats, but also for bulky trims. The end result is more layered and perhaps less visually appealing, but that finishing work can be done with a fine-tooth blade. There is no right or wrong here; it depends on your dog’s coat and what is your use case. Some quiet dog clippers may have different blades that favor a cooler-for-longer cut.

Veterinary practice requires canine influenza vaccination before boarding.

Veterinary practice requires canine influenza vaccination before boarding.Canine influenza isn't in the Billings area just yet but according to local veterinarians, there have been cases reported across the state. One Billings animal hospital is asking dog owners to be proactive about the disease. Best Friends Animal Hospital is requiring all dogs to be vaccinated before being boarded with them this holiday season. Veterinarian Lisa Galvin at Best Friends Animal Hospital says the influenza presents itself like kennel cough but also features a fever. The canine influenza is spread through the air by close contact, such as dogs coughing. Any dogs that go to the groomers, dog parks, dog shows, or live with or in close contact to dogs are at risk.

How to Socialize Your Puppy.

How to Socialize Your Puppy.Socialization is probably the single most important consideration when you get a new puppy. This video offers some general information on the topic and provides some examples on how to do it so that you can set your puppy up for success.

Assessing the risk of parvovirus infection in puppies attending socialization classes.

Assessing the risk of parvovirus infection in puppies attending socialization classes.The best time to begin socialization training in young dogs is between 4 and 16 weeks of age, yet sequestering puppies until their full course of vaccines is completed is often recommended.

 In this study, the authors sought to determine if puppies ≤ 16 weeks of age that attended puppy socialization classes were at increased risk of contracting canine parvovirus (CPV) infection compared with dogs that did not.

 Researchers gathered data from 21 clinics in the United States, including clinics in both high- and low-income areas as well as from four cities with distinct seasonal patterns.


Information was gathered on puppies examined between birth and 16 weeks of age with respect to signalment, CPV vaccination status, whether the puppy was suspected of or confirmed as having CPV infection, and whether the puppy had attended socialization classes.

 In addition, dog trainers in the same four cities were contacted to participate if they taught puppy classes with enrollees that were predominantly < 20 weeks of age and that had at least one CPV vaccine before starting the first class.

Information about these puppies included signalment, vaccine history, and whether the puppy was suspected by the trainer as having CPV infection before or while attending classes. These cases were followed up further with the owners to determine whether CPV infection had been diagnosed. 

Information collected from participating clinics included data on 1,012 puppies, and of these 48 (4.7%) attended puppy socialization classes and 876 (86.6%) did not. Class history of the remaining 88 dogs was unknown.

CPV infection was diagnosed in 14 dogs that did not attend socialization classes and was not diagnosed in any of the dogs that did. In addition, information on 231 puppies from 24 dog trainers was evaluated.

CPV infection was not suspected by the trainers in any of these dogs. The result shows that puppies ≤ 16 weeks of age that attended socialization classes are at no greater risk of developing CPV infection than those that do not attend these classes.


 The authors caution, however, that this population was not a random sample and that these results are not generalized for all geographic areas. Assessing the risk of parvovirus infection in puppies attending socialization classes.