Category: Companion Breeding

Is Your Dog What You Think?

Breeder Conversation Corner, Companion Breeding, Dog Issues

As a customer, I want to see pictures of the parents of my new puppy. As a breeder, I want my customers to see pictures of the parents of their potential new puppy.

Why?

Seeing what the parents look like, also known as the sire and the dam of the litter, is an additional way to ensure that you are getting the breed of dog you are wanting.

Last night, I was visiting with a friend who had recently adopted a new puppy.  She didn’t know what the puppy was before she had purchased it, but felt sure it was a Goldendoodle.  She showed me a picture of the female puppy, and sure enough, her puppy looked like a Goldendoodle.

In fact, her puppy looked very much like my new puppy Goldendoodle.  Then she told me she paid $75 to have the puppy’s DNA checked to find out if she was right.

What my friend learned will surprise you! We learned that she was 25% Bichon, 25% Shitzu, 25% poodle and 25% “don’t know”.  Makes one wonder – how did those turn out a puppy that looked like an apricot colored Goldendoodle?! Luckily, my friend was okay with this; although, a little disappointed.  She hadn’t received any assurance of her puppy’s breed when she purchased her because she was a rescue puppy, but hoped she was right about it being a Goldendoodle.

This story reminded me of another couple I know who purchased a Collie-Australian Shepherd Mix puppy.  She fell in love with her puppy right away, but was a little shocked to find out when the dog got older that it most likely (no DNA test with this one) was neither Collie nor Australian Shepherd.  Instead, her puppy grew up into something that actually looks like a mix between a Pitbull and a Boxer.  Obviously, she ended up with a breed much different from what was intended. They love their dog dearly nonetheless; but, they have a dog with different characteristics and behaviors than what they originally thought would be the best match.

This got me thinking about how many of us buy puppies from breeders without ever getting any reassurance (not even so much as a picture) of what the parents look like.

Have you ever noticed how many breeders don’t offer photos of the sire and dam? Often it can be because a breeder does not have the tools or desire to keep a website. In other cases, it can be because the website is not regularly updated. A really good breeder will go out of their way to make photos available to be seen by those interested in adopting whether they have a website or not. Photos can be sent via email, posted on their website, or posted to their Facebook page.  If photos are not made available, you can request to see a picture of the sire and dam before making your decision.

In the beginning, I had purchased “purebred” standard poodles 3 different times without ever being offered any visible proof of parentage. Yes, my poodles are all AKC registered, but I don’t believe that certificate of paper always guarantees as much as people would like to believe it does. None of those purchases were from breeders that had photos available of the sire and dam, but luckily my breeders were honest and my poodle puppies grew up into the adult Standard Poodles that I was intending to purchase.

Fast forward to today, now that I know better, and after hearing a number of mystery-puppy stories, I always ask to see pictures of the parents.  With persistence I get pictures!

This is why, as companion breeders, we will always try to have pictures posted of the sire and dam of our litters.  If you are paying for a purebred dog, I think you should get what you pay for.  I know that is what I would want!

Grooming My Dog is Making Us Sick

Companion Breeding, Grooming, Health Support, Healthy Dogs

Besides vaccines and bad diets, pet owners commonly use chemical shampoos on their animals without a thought as to the consequences to both their pets and themselves. Some of the shampoos contain chemicals that have been found to be dangerous to get on your skin. What does that mean? It means you shouldn’t pick up or hold your pet after the shampoo has been used on them.

These chemicals readily absorb into the animal’s system (and your hands). This is how chemicals  can cause lethargy, seizures, irritability, abnormal cell growth, and many other symptoms for the dogs. It may also take more than a simple bath to get the chemicals off of the animal as well. Because they get into his system, it may take days or weeks for them to be excreted from the body entirely. The next time you take one of your pets to a groomer, ask to see the label on the products they plan to use, or take a picture. Once home, look up the ingredients to make sure they are safe.

Here is an example of what can happen with the chemical shampoos:

I was talking with a friend who’s mother owned a shih tzu that went to a groomer on a regular basis. She knew I was interested in natural healthcare and asked to consult with me regarding her mom’s issue. It seems that both her mother and her mother’s dog had developed skin problems that were “unexplainable,” according to the doctor. The vet didn’t have any ideas either.

I was curious about the rash, so I asked, if it wasn’t too personal, could she tell me where it was located? It was on each palm, wrist, and forearm, the center of her chest, and at the top, front of her legs (just the front of her legs). Then she explained that she didn’t put anything different on these areas that would cause the rash or would explain why it would be located in just those places. Knowing her dog also had a skin problem, I asked where she commonly held her dog. “Well,” she said, “in my lap when I’m sitting and in my arms when I’m standing.”

As she answered the question, her eyes widened. “And,” she added as if an after thought, “he lays on my chest, or against it when I sleeps at night.” At this point, she had figured it out herself. The grooming chemicals were connected to the rash outbreaks on them both. Unfortunately, the groomer refused to hear about the chemicals in these products or make any changes to accommodate and keep clients. 

A few months later, I talked with another lady who had a similar issue. This dog owner decided to ask her groomer to change the shampoo she had been using on her dog to a non-toxic product. She was even willing to provide the natural product for the groomer. Sadly, the groomer’s response was also close-ended. The groomer said she was “unwilling to be responsible for the use of a product (the natural product) in case it might cause health problems on her dog.” Health problems? It couldn’t have been more opposite. Sometimes you just have to keep looking, until you have an open minded, more informed groomer. Personally, we groom our own dogs to ensure no toxic ingredients or chemicals are used.

Conversation Corner: Follow Up on Minerals & Diet

Breeder Conversation Corner, Companion Breeding, Nutrition, Pet Vaccines

Minerals to improve breeding ability – Last night I was talking with a long time breeder who had 2 females she bought for breeding that, although they were having heat cycles, had never managed to get pregnant. She also had a couple of males who, not for lack of trying, had never gotten a female pregnant. We did some testing on her dogs, and found a deep, long-standing mineral deficiency.  To remedy this situation, her husband went out and bought a 4# mineral block, typically used for livestock, and put it in a bucket, then poured water over it. After the water set for a few minutes in the bucket, he intended to pour it into the dogs’ water dishes. What happened though, was a complete surprise. He said he had never seen his dogs go after water like they did that water, and it was still in the bucket. One male dog drank half the bucket before he could even pour it in his dish.  The others, and there are several, were just as excited to drink the water.  We will see if this changes how they breed.  I am fully expecting them to have normal, productive heat cycles, as well as bigger, healthier litters. (posted August 2016)

Follow-up (as of Jan 2017)

A couple weeks ago I talked again with the breeder who’s dogs couldn’t conceive. I wanted to see if the minerals had helped any of them to be able to get pregnant. I initially thought there were only 2 females who couldn’t conceive, but learned there were really eight. All eight now currently have puppies. Wow, how are you taking care of that many litters at the same time I asked. She laughed, and said they were making due, but never expected this to happen. The 8 litters all came within 9 weeks of each other.  It was a surprise to have so many pregnant at the same time, and such a simple fix  – just the addition of minerals.  Its common to have this happen (simple fix) when there are no chemicals or vaccines in the way. It makes such a difference.  

Diet is everything – A few months ago I got a call from a breeder who inquired about using my male standard poodle as a stud for her female. She wanted to use him because she was familiar with his pedigree from her 40 years of breeding and showing poodles with the AKC. Her female is an older dog, and she thought maybe she could get 1-3 puppies out of her, and this would be her last breeding.  I asked her what she feeds her dog and suggested she increase her minerals and meat before trying to breed her. She was just getting kibble at the time, and really couldn’t afford anything else. When it was time, the dog came to my house and stayed with our stud a week to be bred. During that week, I fed her raw eggs, raw meat, bones, and healthy well water so she would get lots of minerals. Eight weeks later she whelped (gave birth) to 6 puppies.  Once again I asked the breeder about her dogs diet, and learned it was still just kibble. 

Diet/nutrients mean everything to the health of animals as well as humans.  If you want healthy puppies, healthy breastmilk for those puppies, and for them to be disease free, the best thing you can do is feed them a nutrient rich diet, free of chemicals, preservatives, and other toxins.  A week later I learned 2 of the puppies had died.  It breaks my heart.  This woman, well-meaning as she is, is the same mindset as many of the breeders I speak with, they are so used to losing puppies, even up to most of the litter that they think its normal. I will know in a few more weeks if any of them survive.

We have all heard the saying “In nature, the strong survive and the weak die”. I know this is true, and it’s because of the lack of appropriate food, water and shelter that this happens.  We, however, have the opportunity to change this when the animal is in our care.  All we have to do is make sure the mother is well-fed and cared for, and therefore all of the puppies have a good chance to be “strong.” (posted August 2016)

Follow-up (as of Jan 2017)

I feel like I was hasty when I said earlier that “diet and nutrients mean everything to the health of animals…”  I know its true, but I should have kept my focus more on God’s plan in all of this. I haven’t been breeding my dogs for very long, so I’m still a bit of an idealist.  I want to save all of the puppies that are born to my dogs.  But, watching the puppies grow, day after day (I do keep a close watch), I had missed the mother’s side of things.  After this last litter, which was a big one, eleven puppies, all whom survived, I have shifted my attention more to the mother’s health and well-being regarding the care of the puppies. The mother/dam of these eleven puppies was on a good diet of raw meat and eggs throughout the pregnancy and after their birth.  She did exceptionally well during the birth, having no problems whatsoever, even cleaned the puppies as they were coming out, and ate all of the placentas just as they were being delivered.  Amazing!  There was little to no mess at all from the birth.

She then diligently cleaned and cared for each of her puppies, and even went so far as to wrap herself around them to prevent anyone from seeing or touching them. I should add that, there were only two of us present, both of whom she trusts and adores. But, when it came to her puppies, we weren’t even  good enough to touch them. I take that to be a sign of a good mother.  

Fast forward a week and we noticed that some of the puppies were getting weak because they were unable to get to the nipples enough due to the bigger, more aggressive puppies, getting their first.  Even when they were able to latch onto a nipple, one of the bigger puppies would knock them off and take it over.  And, this was before their eyes were open!  For the less aggressive puppies to survive, it required help from a person to purposely remove the bigger puppies from the nipples after a few minutes of nursing and put the smaller ones on.  There was nothing the mother could do without help from a human. With help, all of the puppies gained the needed weight and were thriving.  Without help, at least these 4 would have died.

Week two- When the eyes of the puppies opened, and the mother went into the “nest” to nurse them, the more aggressive puppies were even more diligent about getting to the nipples first.  Taking them off the nipples after a few minutes wasn’t enough to allow the smaller, less aggressive puppies adequate time to nurse. They had to be moved further away from their mother, where it would take them longer to crawl back.  This had to be done with each nursing in order to give the littler ones enough time to nurse before they were once again knocked off the nipple.

Week three – All puppies were thriving well, but only with a lot of intervention to make sure each got an adequate amount of milk. By the end of the third week the puppies were able to have their diet of mother’s milk supplemented with goat’s milk. They not only loved it, but thrived on it. They would always be nursed first, to make sure they got as much of their mother’s milk as they could, then followed-up with a dish of goat’s milk.  

Week four –  The puppies were getting big enough that their size alone would allow only 4 puppies to nurse at a time. Without human intervention, I think we would have been down to just 4, maybe 5 puppies who survived. That means 6-7 would have died. This observation helped me to realize what “survival of the fittest really means” regarding dogs.  Although I am grateful we were there to help, intervene, and supplement as needed, it was a good lesson for me in animal husbandry. I had simplified the birth process to being about diet and the mother’s willingness to nurse their young. But there is so much more to it then that, including the natural law of survival of the fittest.  

Such is the Life of a Companion Breeder

Breeder Conversation Corner, Companion Breeding

When we bought our first female standard poodle, Molly, life was good. She was easy to train, and a fun companion. I planned to keep her in the house with me, frequently bathed, and yes, groomed with fufu cuts.

A year later we bought our male poodle so Molly could have a dog companion, too. And, maybe have puppies someday in the future. My plan was to also have the male poodle obedience trained, kept in the house, bathed frequently, and well-groomed.

The Inside-Outside Layout 

My husband is more of an out-door dog person. So he made the poodles a wonderful, fenced-in, brick patio/play area just for them. They even have their own gazebo, wooden dock area to lay on, and a long, covered rain porch that serves as shelter from both the rain and the sun.

Then there is the kiddy pool, which we have to replace every 3-4 weeks, because they like to chew up the sides and spring leaks. Actually, it’s our golden retriever that does that. When he’s not tearing up his toys, he’s tearing up the kiddy pool.

It’s now been three years since the purchase of our first standard poodle. We’ve had two litters of ten puppies each, and because the puppies were so adorable, we now have 5 dogs. Two males and three females. One of our males however, as I mentioned already, is a golden retriever. We got him in exchange for a poodle puppy.

The dogs are still bathed…on occasion, groomed when I get around to it, fairly obedient (it’s a work in progress), and yes, they are still in the house more than they are outside.  I consider myself a companion breeder because I am more of a companion dog owner than a breeder, but since I do let my dogs breed once in a while, that makes me a breeder too.

Life is so busy. I currently have 3 large kennels in my front room, all occupied. There are two more in the room I’m sleeping in. We have another family temporarily living with us, so there is no where else for me to sleep. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, our guests have 2 standard poodles as well! That brings us to a total of 7 dogs in my house. Big dogs! They aren’t Great Danes, or Irish Wolfhounds, but big nonetheless. Right now I’m sure they feel bigger to me than they are, though. I also forgot to mention, in case you were counting, besides the dogs sleeping in kennels, we have 2 others not in kennels. They are free to roam the house at will. Both are female, because we can’t let the males run loose. They pee on everything that has legs. The couch, the coffee table, the entertainment set. You get the picture.  

What is My Day Like?

At 5:30 each morning I wake up to the two youngest dogs barking at me wanting to go outside. That, of course, wakes up all of the others. By 7:00 a.m. they have eaten their first meal. 

It’s hot and humid here, so the dogs have to be rotated back and forth, inside and outside, so no one gets too hot. This happens every 2 hours on humid, hot days. In between, I do obedience work with at least 2 of them, and I get our golden retriever out to play ball in the yard. Nothing makes him more happy than chasing that ball!

That is a good day. Uneventful, yet full of excitement. Then there are the days like today. Like every other day, still half asleep, I got up and took the puppies out at 5:30 a.m. It was dark and quiet, so I went out in my pajamas and opened-toed shoes. I didn’t know it was raining until I stepped out into it. Now I was awake!

It rained off and on all day. The dogs now had that “wet-dog” smell that can make even the hardiest person gag, and my house smelled like a cross between wet-dog and poop (someone stepped in wet dog poop and brought it into the house on their paws). Needless to say, there is a lot of cleaning and washing of dog blankets, towels, etc, that goes on frequently in this house.

This evening, when I went out to get the dogs and bring them in for the night, I let one of our youngest females out to run for awhile. We have two acres that we let the more obedient dogs run on occasionally. This particular female is okay by herself or with the older two females, who keep her in check. She will stay within sight and comes when called. If, however, one of the males gets loose, as they occasionally do, she will run with them into the trees and only come back when they feel ready. 

Awhile later, I went out to play ball with our golden retriever,  forgetting I still had our young female loose. The golden retriever usually stays close to me, unless someone else is loose–that encourages him to run the land. That was tonight.

As soon as these two saw each other, they were off. Praise God we have plenty of land for them to run and chase wildlife without getting into trouble. Tonight they decided 30 minutes was enough and came back to the house.

My day wasn’t over yet.

After the two “runaways” came home, I put them inside in their kennels and let our oldest female out for her last time of the evening. She has become an avid rabbit hunter this year, and rather than going out just to relieve herself, she now routinely checks all of the prime spots for rabbit nests. When I stepped outside to call her in, it was getting a little dark and I noticed she had something that looked like a stick hanging out the side of her mouth, and dried grass on the front of her face. She is a black standard poodle so it was hard to see clearly what it was in the evening light.

She quickly trotted past me and into the house, with her head down as though she was avoiding me, I thought.

Then it hit me: that wasn’t a stick, it was a leg. And the “dried grass” wasn’t grass at all–it was rabbit fur.

I spun around and looked at her again, and sure enough, there was a dead rabbit about to drop on my living room floor. I immediately sent her back outside to get rid of the rabbit.

What a day. I remember reading a comment by a dog breeder a couple of years ago, that being a dog breeder was not for the faint of heart, that it’s a lot of hard work and more for the love of dogs than for any money that might be made. I now know what she meant. This is hard work, even when there aren’t puppies. It’s much like raising children. Then when the litters come, the work, as well as the joy and satisfaction, also increase.

I thoroughly enjoy our dogs, and can’t imagine my life without them as crazy as it is some days. I don’t even mind being referred to as “the dog lady” (my neighbor informed me this is what I am now being called). I trust God has a plan in everything we do, and this was definitely His plan. Never would I have thought I would have this lifestyle, yet here I am. 

Minerals to Improve Breeding Ability

Breeder Conversation Corner, Companion Breeding

Last night I was talking with a long time breeder who had 2 females she bought for breeding that, although they were having heat cycles, had never managed to get pregnant. She also had a couple of males who, not for lack of trying, had never gotten a female pregnant.

We did some testing on her dogs, and found a deep, long-standing mineral deficiency. To remedy this situation, her husband went out and bought a 4# livestock mineral block, and put it in a bucket, then poured water over it.

He intended to pour the water, after it set for a few minutes with the minerals in it, into their water dishes. What happened though, was a complete surprise.

He said he had never seen his dogs go after water like they did that water.

One male dog drank half the bucket before he could even pour it in his water dish. The others, and there are several, were just as excited to drink the water. We will see if this changes how they breed.

I am fully expecting them to have normal, productive heat cycles, as well as bigger, healthier litters.

Diet is Everything 

A few months ago I got a call from a breeder who inquired about using my male standard poodle as a stud for her female.

She wanted to use him because she was familiar with his pedigree from her 40 years of breeding and showing poodles with the AKC. She knew more then I did about his pedigree.

Her female is an older dog, and she thought maybe she could get 1-3 puppies out of her, and this would be her last breeding. I asked her what she feeds her dog and suggested she increase her minerals and meat before trying to breed her. She was just getting kibble at the time, and really couldn’t afford anything else.

When it was time, the dog came to my house and stayed with our stud a week to be bred. During that week, I fed her raw eggs, raw meat, bones, and healthy well water so she would get lots of minerals. Eight weeks later she whelped (gave birth) to 6 puppies.

Once again I asked the breeder about her dog’s diet, and learned that she was still just continuing to feed them all kibble.

Diet/nutrients mean everything to the health of animals as well as humans.

If you want healthy puppies, healthy breast milk for those puppies, and for them to be disease free, the best thing you can do is feed them a nutrient rich diet, free of chemicals, preservatives, and other toxins.

A week later I learned 2 of the puppies had died. It breaks my heart. This woman, well-meaning as she is, is of the same mindset as many of the breeders I speak with. They are all so used to losing puppies, even up to most of the litter and they think its normal. I will know in a few more weeks if any of them in that litter survive. 

We have all heard the saying “In nature, the strong survive and the weak die”. I know this is true, and it’s because of the lack of appropriate food, water and shelter that this tends to happen. We, however, have the opportunity to change this when the animal is in our care. We can change the stats quo.  All it takes is to make sure the mother is well-fed (meaning not just giving standard, processed american dog food) and cared for, and therefore all of the puppies have a good chance to be the “strong that survive”.