The reason for this page is to give you, the visitor, hopefully some answers to questions we receive often. Should you have further questions to which you would like answers and/or advice to, feel free to contact us any time.
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Q: I am sending you the pedigree of a female I own. Also attached the pedigree of a male I would like to breed her to. The pedigree program I have, gives this mating “x” percent blood of “so and so” dog. Do you think this would be a good match?
A: This is the type of questions we get very, very often. Breeding a good dog, involves a whole lot more than looking at one pedigree, looking at another, and decide the match is good. If that were the case, we’d all have top notch dogs…but we don’t! First of all, one HAS to look at the individual dogs. One has to know what are the traits in the male and female you would like to see improved (remember, no perfect dog (or human) has ever been, or ever will be born). One has to be honest and straight forward, and not be kennel blind. Then you have to determine if there are certain imperfections you can live with, and which ones you cannot. Staying within a bloodline is a good thing. It gives you more predictability of certain traits, if that is what you are looking for. When I look at a pedigree, and it is a “mish mash” of everything under the sun, I know the predictability will be very questionable.
Q: I have a female in heat and would like to breed her to stud “so and so”. What should I be looking for?
A: First of all, when your female is already in heat and you haven’t decided what to breed her to, might be too late. Breeding decisions need to be made well in advance, particularly if you are planning to breed to a stud not yours. When breeding to a stud not owned by yourself, you should always do the following:
- Phone the owner and or the breeder to find out if he’s available.
- Know your female, and ask the right questions of the stud owner to see if the stud is actually compatible with your bitch.
- If he’s close by, go see the dog in advance. If it’s a younger stud, or a dog in good shape, ask to see him run. If the stud is far away, ask for references on his offspring. A true breeder should be willing to spend some time with you and discuss your options. It may well be the stud you thought about is not the right one.
- Ask the owner what are the weak points in the dog both in running style, and physically. If the answer is that the stud doesn’t have any, stay away from breeding to him.
- Make sure the stud is checked regularly for brucellosis. Not only should the female be checked, studs should also be checked. We check all our studs regularly.
Q: How old does a female have to be before I can breed her?
A: Lately I notice quite a few people breeding their bitches to have pups very, very young. Even as young as 1 year, even as young at 18 months. One word for that: greed! The reproductive tract of the female isn’t entirely developed until she is approximately 2 years of age. This means, she could be bred around 18 – 22 months of age, to have pups around 2. We like to see our good bitches have their first litter from 2 – 3 years of age. Then the birth canal widens, and she won’t have problems later on having pups. Whereas if she doesn’t have her first litter till 5, you may be looking at problems. That is only the physical aspect. You cannot really judge a female so young, to see how good she really is. She just hasn’t developed enough. Again, those who breed unproven dogs, and breed them so young, only have dollar signs in front of them.
Q: My bitch is going on 10 years of age, and I’d like to get one more litter out of her. Is she too old?
A: If she has been bred a lot (as in nearly every heat) yes, she’s too old. No female should be bred every heat. First of all, all bitches are born with a limited number of eggs in their ovaries. The older they get, the fewer the eggs released which is the reason the litters get very small in old bitches. Secondly, every female deserves to recover a full year from having pups. Those who breed their bitches every heat, have the same problem as those who breed them at 12 months of age. If your bitch has had at least 1 year off, if your bitch is in good physical and mental health, you should be able to breed her. Be aware that often an old females’ milk is not such a good quality anymore than that of a young bitch.
Q: I have a very good young male, around 1-1/2 years of age, and would like to breed him. Do you think this is advisable?
A: A male would have to be outstanding at that age, and not many are. Usually, if the male is good, his sire is good too. If the sire is still around, why not breed to the sire. That way the younger one can develop and stay good, get better, and the next year you can breed to him. Some people also find that breeding a young male they are trialling loose their focus on the running, and look for bitches. Occasionally we’ll breed a younger male we think a lot of, but tend to keep the entire litter.
Q: My friend has a blueticked pup. Neither of the parents of the pup are blue. How can this be?
A: Bluetick pups have to have at least one of the parents blueticked.
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Q: My dog is getting very fat, even though we walk him regularly. What are we doing wrong?
A: You are probably “killing him” with kindness. Beagles and labs are notorious for their love of food. This means one has to be very, very strict with the amount of dog food they get, and the amount of treats you give. For a relatively sedentary dog (99% of all pets) an adult dog food should have approximately 21% protein, and approximately 10% fat. Meat does not have to be the first ingredient in that case. As treats we recommend air dried liver: Cook the liver in salted water. When you prick your fork into it, and no more blood comes out, the liver is cooked. Drain. Once it has cooled off, cut it in tiny pieces the size of a fingernail. Let the pieces air dry on your kitchen counter. When dried, put them in small sandwich bags in your freezer. That way you can take a bit at the time, and they won’t go bad. A dog in good condition is a dog whose ribs you can feel easily when you go over them, but you cannot see the ribs (should be same for humans, but we all know how hard that is).
Q: My dog is getting skinny. I run my dog on rabbits every day, or several times a week for 8 hour stretches. Any advice?
A: Make sure your dog is on a regular deworming program. We deworm our dogs regularly without even checking their stools. We know they’ll have worms of some sort. Dogs that are run hard, should be on a dog food that has the following:
- #1 ingredient should be meat ( chicken).
- The protein level should be around 28 – 30%.
- The fat level should be around 20%.
- Crude fibre should be no more than 4-5%.
- Do not be fooled by the packaging. Look at the ingredients and analysis. Just because the package is fancy, that doesn’t make the food inside fancy. A good dog food will have the dog recover from hard work within 48 hours.
Contact me for advice on certain types of dog food
Q: My puppy is a great guy. He gives us lots of joy and fun, but…he has one trait we cannot stomach. He eats his poop. What can you do about that?
A: This is a very common problem with all breeds. Not only beagles. And no one really knows why dogs do this. Theories enough ranging from boredom to undigested nutrients in the dog food Who knows why they do it. They certainly aren’t able to tell us...yet!
When it happens in a pet, clean up is the name of the game. Also, you can try sprinkling the hottest hot pepper you can find, or Tabasco sauce, on the stool. Next time the pup eats it, it won’t be as tasty. However, I have heard of some cases where the dog got to like the Tabasco sauce! There are some products you have to add to the food, but they don’t seem to work very well. We have found that if you let your dog have some RAW meat bones and let them chew hard on those, even if they are bit spoilt and smelly, the dogs do not have the need to either eat poop. If you really really hate it, and want to correct your dog, and are willing to spend some money, purchase the Tri-Tronics collar set. You can then correct your dog with a small jolt, and for sure this will work.
Q: My dog just loves to roll around in some dead animal or something very stinky. What causes this, and what can we do about it?
A: You’ll never see farm dogs do this, dogs that are loose on the farm, and can eat whatever they want ( i.e. horse/cow manure). Our theory is that there are some enzymes missing in commercial dog food, which is why they love stinky, smelly stuff to eat and roll in. Again, give your dog some nice big raw meat bone. Let it get smelly and let him chew on it in your backyard. He won’t roll in “dead stuff” after that, for whichever reason. We regularly let all our dogs have big meat bones, especially the knuckle bones. It also helps in cleaning their teeth. Warning though: do not let your dog have chicken or pork bones. Don’t give him too many bones, there are cases where dogs get so many bones they “plug up”. Once a week a good bone is good enough.
Q: My dog is very finicky in what he likes to eat. We have to add hamburger or canned food to his kibble, and have to keep changing it otherwise he loses interest. Is there something wrong with him?
A: No, he’s got YOU trained very, very well. I always say, give him to me for a week, and when you pick him up he’ll eat shoe leather, if need be. Kidding aside: give him only his kibble, and absolutely nothing else. No treats either. Let him get hungry and after a couple of days, he’ll eat what he’s given. As long as he has fresh water, he can go without food for a week. Just be very, very persistent and do not get “softened” up by his beautiful brown eyes! |
