Thursday, July 28, 2011

Things you should know about dogs.. part 2


So here's the continuation of my previous blog "Thing you should know about dogs..". http://4cloverleaf.blogspot.com/2011/07/things-you-should-know-about-dogs.html

  • Keep your dog free or unleash as much as possible, if you can. Some owner prefer their dogs tied or locked in a dog cage, these may result some problems like you dog may get bored being in just one place all the time or your dog will have a bad temper that maybe difficult for other people to play or pet them. These are actually the main reason why some dogs bite, especially to other people except their master. So if you want our dog to be a friendly, I suggest you keep them free.
  • Dogs need to be appreciated too like humans. Imagine how loyal a dog can be. When you wake up in the morning and left your house for work or something, all they will do all day is sit in front of your house door and wait for you to come back. Even your gone for days, they will surely greet you happily each time they see you at your doorstep, with or without any treat from you. So return the favor, pet them, appreciate them and give time to show that they are important too. 
  • If your dog is a girl and want her to multiply, here some of my tips and information that I can share base on my experiences. 
    • When her period starts (which usually happens twice a year only) better prepare your dog for possible pregnancy. Like, make sure she already have her usual shots yearly base on her doctors schedule, she is healthy and already 2 years old to 4 years old (max 5 years old) this is the safe age for your dog to get pregnant to avoid miscarriages and risk for the mother and for the puppies too.  
    • Look for a partner you want for your dog. You can search it on net where you can paid for stud service. Make sure to interview owners first and check the dog status before hiring them. Ask and take note on some details like;
      • how much? (check first the market price of its services online, just for you to have the idea what is the reasonable price for the service you want to avail.)
      • is the dog registered? (don't get dogs who are not registered.You can't register your puppies if the father is not registered. If you will sell your puppies later on, some customers want puppies with papers and you can surely sell them at the right market price unlike puppies without papers)
      • how many red marks the dog have? (red marks is an indication that the dog is smart because it has a good bloodline that your puppy may inherit to avoid weak puppies) 
      • is the dog healthy and has a complete boosters from the veterinarian? (because some dogs may be sick or have a virus that he can pass on to your puppies or to your dog upon mating)
      • how many times do they mate? (I suggest, look for a service that gives 2 or 3 times mating, just to make sure that your dog will get pregnant and also have the possibility that your dog will bare more puppies. There will be a day interval every mating just for your dog to rest every after mating.)
      • what other perks they give? (Good perks will be free smear test, (smear test is a test that will give you the idea if the dog is really fertile or not or if your dog is on her peak of fertilization, just to be sure that your dog really have the chance to be pregnant after mating) and free shooter (shooter is a person that will help the dogs to mate and will make sure that the sperm of the male dog will surely be inside the female dog.) Some  give a home service, easier for you and more comfortable for your dog. And some can give free food and accommodation if you want your dog to stay with them but I think there is no need for this, I am sure your dog will not be comfortable living with other people's house even for a while. And there's a chance that your dog will bring home more ticks and fleas if the other dog have especially if the owner have other dogs too in their house. Perks like this are sometime have additional fees, so if you can find one who can give these services for free, it would be much cheaper and better for you too. :)
    • When you already found a male dog, set the schedules of mating. Best day will be the 9th day from the first menstrual period of your female dog. So better take note of the day. Having a smear test will be best, because sometimes the dog licks their blood so there will be a chance that when you first notice she is having her period, maybe she already has it for a few days already. If you don't have time for a smear test, just to be safe, you can schedule your dog for mating on her fifth day of menstrual period. 
    • On the mating day, just make sure your dog is rested before their mating time, especially if it is her first time. After mating, avoid pressing her tummy and try to keep her feet up for a while to avoid the sperm from spilling. Do this every time they mate.
    • You will know if your dog is pregnant only after a month or 30 days at least. Mostly, they start counting from the last mating date. Symptoms will be her tummy will start to swell already after 30days, her nipple will start to get a bit bigger and her appetite will increase. Some dogs, they say, may also experience morning sickness like human and will vomit once in a while but Mia didn't experience this. There is no need for any vitamins at this time but letting your dog start to eat puppy food on day one is best. Puppy food they say is more complete and good for the pregnant dogs. By the way, dogs pregnancy period is around 59 - 63 days. For first timers sometimes gave birth a week earlier. 
    • From day one, avoid you dog to be active, if you can cage her, much better. Avoid her to run and jump. Avoid her going up and down from stairs. Avoid pressing her tummy. And never agitate or stress her. Pamper her in short. 
    • On her fifth week, bring your dog to the veterinarian for a Doppler test and ask for vitamins for the dog to take. From the Doppler test, you will know if your dog is really pregnant base on the puppies heartbeat and how many puppies are inside. Don't get discourage if the doctor says that they don't hear any heartbeat yet or they are still not sure maybe because the heartbeat is still faint. Because from the first day of pregnancy up to week 6, puppies grows slowly. They rapidly grows on the last 2 weeks, so there are still some chances that there are still puppies to grow inside up to the last day. Because from our experiences, when we bring Mia to the doctor for a Doppler test, the doctor can only hear one very faint heartbeat and still not sure if it is really a puppy's heartbeat. They asked us to come back after a week but the result is still the same. So all along, we thought, Mia is only expecting one puppy. But on the big day, 3 puppies came out. :) 
    • Give all the vitamins and calcium your doctor advise you to give to your dog for her healthy pregnancy and puppies. 
    • If your dog experience unusual bleeding or discharge before her due date. Bring her to the clinic as soon as possible.
    • On her last week, be vigilant already for signs that your dog is ready to give birth. If you can see some discharge and your dogs is digging everywhere and having a contractions every few minutes or seconds, your dog is on labor already and ready to give birth. Bring her to the clinic already for whelping assistance. Actually, you can do it at your house. Dogs they say instinctively know what to do. There are other sites you can find on net who can give instructions on how to prepare yourself and your dog for this. On what you need and what to do. I can't share this one because I brought Mia to the clinic and asked her doctor for whelping assistance. First because it is my first time to experience this and so is Mia. Luckily we do bring her to the clinic because it turned out Mia don't have enough strength to do the normal procedure so she underwent Cesarean operation. Main reason maybe because Mia is already 5 years old, too old and weak already to push the puppies out and also because the puppies is a bit bigger than usual. But first the doctor tried and helped Mia to push the babies out and just perform everything in normal procedure but time is important too. It takes them hours already waiting and helping her and still puppies didn't go out. Doctor check puppies heartbeat thru a Doppler test again and heard that the one of the puppy's heartbeat is so weak already. That's when the doctor's perform at once a Cesarean operation on Mia just to save her and all the puppies. 
... to be continued



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