Interesting Questions
 

from 21st Century Animal Resource & Education Services

If you can't answer 90% of these, don't even bother attempting to breed until you can: Without the ability to answer 90% of these questions, you are our biggest problem with overpopulation, poor quality pups and homes that are not properly prepared for the care of these animals.

Setting yourself up right
What does dog conformation refer to?
How can you test if my dog has the correct conformation?

What important points should be considered on a dog's pedigree?
How many championships should be listed in a pedigree prior to breeding?

The beginning of the season
When will a bitch first come into season?
Should a bitch be bred on her first season?
How old should a bitch be before breeding commences?
On what grounds should a bitch not be bred from?
On what days is a bitch fertile?
How long is a bitch's season?

Breeding the dogs
On what day's should a bitch be bred?
What is a studmaster and when should they be used?
On what attributes is a stud dog selected?
What health testing should both the dam and dog have prior to breeding?
How old should a dog be before he is used at stud?
What are the responsibilities of a stud dog owner?
What are the important contract items to have in a breeding contract?
On what grounds should a dog be neutered?
What diseases can a dog get while being bred?
When should a dog be allowed near an in season bitch?
How does the breeding actually take place?
Does there need to be a tie for a breeding to have taken place?
What is AI and when should it be conducted?
Who should conduct the AI and what specific precautions should be taken?
Why is the stud dog turned during a breeding?
How many times should a bitch be bred?
Can a litter have more than one father?
Where must a bitch be kept while she is in season?

Gestation
How long is a bitch's gestation?
What special diet should the bitch be fed while in season, and while pregnant?
Under what special circumstances should additional calcium be fed to a pregnant bitch?

Whelping
What are the signs that a bitch is going into labour?
What is the best type of whelping box arrangements?
Where should the bitch be when she whelps?
What are the signs that the whelping is going well?
What are the signs that there are problems developing?
When should a c-section be performed?
What is primary inertia and the implications?
What is secondary inertia and the implications?
What is oxytocin?
When should the vet be called for help?
Should calcium be administered during whelping?
What does green fluid indicate?
How long should it take for a bitch to whelp?
What is the incidence of puppy deaths in each litter?
What is a breach birth, how often does it happen, and what are the problems that can result?
What are the implications for a pup born out of the sac?
How do you ensure that each placenta is accounted for, and what do you do if they are not?
What should be done with the placenta?
How do you resuscitate a dead puppy?
How do you clear fluid from a puppy's lungs?
How many extra set of hands should you have at a c-section?
When should oxygen be administered to puppies?
When should puppies first fed from the dam?
How do you check for cleft palate?
How are puppies who are deformed managed?

Caring for the mother
What should the dam be fed while she is looking after puppies?
What are the signs of infection in the bitch?

Caring for puppies
What are the signs that the puppies are progressing well?
What are the signs that the puppies are in trouble?
What is mastisis and how is it treated?
What do you do if the dam's milk does not come in?
How do you bottle feed a puppy, and what do you use?
How do you tube feed a puppy?
How can you tell if a puppy is feeding well?
How can you tell if a pup has received enough milk?
How can you check to see if a pup is dehydrated?
What is fading puppy syndrome and how do you rescue a puppy from it?
What are the common problems to be aware of when raising the puppies?
When do you introduce "real food" to puppies?
Why should puppies never be given "baby food"?
Why should puppies not be given grains to eat?
Should puppies be vaccinated?
Should puppies be wormed?
Under what conditions should a puppy be culled and how?
Under what conditions should a puppy be wormed and/or vaccinated?

Placing puppies
How do you choose puppy buyers?

What responsibilities do you have as a breeder for those pups?

What sort of guarantees are you going to offer the buyers?

How do you ensure your puppy buyers are going to look after the puppies?

When and how do you temperament test puppies?

How do you match the right puppy with the right person?

When do you remove the dam from the puppies?

When should the puppies be totally weaned?

How are puppies house trained?

When are puppies first socialized and how?

What sort of puppy pack information are you going to provide to the buyers?

When do you start training the puppies?

What breeder support are you offering once the puppies have gone?

Your posts are always so great and informative Stacy. We are so lucky to have you on this board with your plethora of information (did I spell that right?)

:thumbup: :thumbup: great post

WOW! All great queastions! Hopefully after reading this, it will deter people from breeding their pet just because its cute, or they want one puppy from the litter.

I wish more breeders were ethical like you and as knowledgable!

I appreciate the article. To be 100% honest, there were a few questions that I did not know the answers to, but now I can research it.

Nice to see someone so honest ! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

That was interesting and just showed me reading just doesn't cut it :p :p you have to go way beyond that to be a good breeder

Thanks.

With me, I hope that there is always something new to learn so I can keep improving my program. If someone told me they knew everything there is to know about it, I'd be very afraid...

Wow ... this is a lot of info to digest. Excellent post. :thumbup: I could only answer about 5 of those questions. :p :p But I am not a breeder and I never plan on breeding my babies (they are spayed/neutered). Great post. :thumbup: I hope anyone who ever considers breeding takes a look at this thread first.

MAybe the admin could make those list of questions a sticky in the breeding section...I think that would help out soo many people who want to breed.

Great idea.

When people would approach me and ask if I would breed Phoebe my answer was always the same NO!
I have always told people that I do not want the responsibility that I feel a good breeder has. That post is exactly what I am talking about. In my opinion you are pretty much devoting your life to breeding and it should not be taken lightly.

Was this directed at me???:thumbdown

Okay.....anyone who wants to be a Breeder after reading THAT novel raise you hand! :D







Francie

P.S. Do they sell Cliff Notes?

I have that same saying or close to it in my favorites i've had it for a year or two. Thanks for the post

breeding
 

After 35 yrs if I do not know each answer I should quietly crawl away..BUT the term "studmaster" did throw me. I thought I was the stud master or mistress as it were..LOL but is it a stud who is an outstanding representation of the breed? I know the term "prepotent stud"..that is a stud who passes on his best genetic traits over and over..and his prepotent genes tend to over ride the bitches faults...otherwise I have no clue what a stud master is...

Great info, Stac...However, unlike Francie...I will need this on tape!!!

studmaster
 

What do you know..I was right, a stud master is a human, not a dog....LOL

This list was the first time I had heard that particular usage.I guess you'd be a Studmistress Pat...lol!

always trying to learn more here....

Well is anyone going to post the answers to these questions? and can anyone here actually answer all of them?

I think there is a lot of cases where people are judging other people for breeding their yorkies or other types of breeds without really knowing them or their reasons for breeding.

Oh and for the mutt comments I have been reading, I don't believe mixing of two pure breeds qualifies them as a mutt. A mutt is a mix of SEVERAL breeds, not just two and usually a mutt can't be determined as to what they are mixed with. IMO that is the true definition of mutt.

I completely agree 100%!!! Especially on that last part about the mutts. I consider something like a Yorkie/Maltese or a Yorkie/Poodle a mix. A mutt usually has many different breeds in their ancestry...making it so that you really have no idea exactly what kind of dog it is.

I took the liberty of searching the definition of a mutt on dictionary.com and here is what I found:

Mutt: A mongrel dog.

That definition didn't explain much so I looked up the definition of mongrel.

Mongrel: An animal or a plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog of mixed or undetermined breed.

JMHO

I don't think people think of all these types of questions when they're having a skin baby! Get pregnant, then worry about it. :rolleyes:

I will disagree because anything other than a purebred is a mutt. Here's the definition I pulled up...

A mixed breed dog (also called a mutt, crossbreed, mongrel, tyke, cur, or random-bred dog, often depending on the circumstances of its breeding) is a dog that is a mixture of two or more breeds. Mixed-breed dogs vary in size, shape, and color, making them hard to classify physically.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutt_(dog)

See, there's one problem in your definition. It starts off with "A mixed breed dof is..." That indicates it is the definition of "A Mixed Breed Dog" Although "mutt" is listed as one of the synonyms, that does not mean that EXACT definition defines that word. Understand me?

I looked up the word "mutt" in another source: The Britannica Online Dictionary/Thesaurus/Encyclopedia and got:

Mutt: A mongrel dog

So, once again I looked up mongrel and got:

Mongrel: an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds or strains; especially : one of unknown ancestry

Now you see, when say a Yorkie is bred with a Poodle, you can always tell that the mix came from a Yorkie and a Poodle. Same with a Yorkie/Maltese, etc. When a dog is a mutt, you cannot tell what breeds the parents were, because there are too many. Comprendes?

JMHO

I now nor ever will have an interest in BREEDING!!

Thank you for that info

questions
 

Yes, I can answer all of them and so can a couple others that come to mine on YT AND dozens of breeder friends.. I will be happy to do it, but it would take pages of posting...take one at a time if you like...

This is not bragging, it is what it is....the hard questions would be quoting pedigrees, the standard word for word, what judge likes what, what type is shown in different parts of the country and world...what REALLY causes liver shunt and how it is passed in the genes, early history is a puzzler for me, I get dogs mixed up, who sired who, what names are the foundation for the breed, both human and canine, kennel prefixes mix me up ..try putting names to lines...on and on...

Thank you! I didn't think it would be bragging. I just wanted to know that it could be done LOL thank you!

questions
 

If you read each question, you will see they are very basic dog breeding questons and anyone who has bred a short should be able to answer 100%..they may not have had hands on experince to each issue, but they should have learned from someone who has...many are opinions with a number of acceptable answers and different ways to get the same results...seriously alot of the hard stuff is not on the list...scary HUH?

I think it is a terrific list, should be copied and each question answered and kept in a notebook by the breeder. :thumbup:

I was able to answer several of them but some of them threw me. I am working on looking up the answers to all of them. A great way to learn! And I would have to honestly say that I am STILL learning and I believe we all continue to learn.

questions
 

Like I said many are up for debate...look at the champion pedigee question.

How many champions should be in a pedigree before breeding..? Are we looking at a 3 gen ped or a 10 gen ped? Some do not breed unless the dog/bitch is a champion, others are good with nice champs in 3 gens..others go further..is there one correct answer..NO.

The question about fading puppy syndrome..can not be answered. The exact cause of FPS is like Sudden Infant death..there are speculations, but when a pup starts to fade there is not always "seeable cause"..even with an autopsy.

How long is gestation...no "one" answer..some come at 56 others at 65, but 63 is what we base it on..
No doubt many of the questions that gave you thought are open to opinion...and averages.