Canine reproduction Flashcards
(36 cards)
How big of a decision is breeding?
big
Avoid ____ mating
indiscriminate
Raise puppies only if ____
if there is a demand
define spay
removal of ivories and uterus
define neuter
removal of testicles
Benefits of spaying
- No pups
- No heat cycles
- No uterine cancer
- No uterine infections (pyometra)*
- Reduced risk of mammary tumors
- Decreased roaming
- Reduced strays attracted to bitch during estrus
- Bitch won’t try to escape to be b
Benefits to neutering
- No pups
- No testicular cancer
- Decreased urine marking
- Decreased roaming
- (Maybe less aggression and dominance behaviors) (?)
- Debatable
- Aggression is often not correlated
Negative aspects in spaying/neutering
- Risks of surgery
- Slight changes in conformation
- Increase in orthopedic problems
- Bladder incontinence
- May be increases in some cancer rates
- Decreased activity level
- Obesity (?)
Best age for canine reproduction
- debatable
- back then: 6 months of age
- depends on breed/size
- smaller breeds: 6 months may be okay
- larger breeds: 1 year or older can be better
Breeding the bitch
- Should wait until at least second cycle
- Make sure bitch is healthy, dewormed, etc.
Why is it important to make sure both is health, dewormed, etc…
- Successfully carry pregnancy
- Won’t pass pathogens on to puppies (*maybe?)
- May be more difficult to treat when pregnant
Selecting a sire
- choose wisely
- can be a complicated choice
Options for breeding
- live cover
- artificial insemination
define live cover
natural breeding
define artificial insemination
- semen: fresh, chilled, frozen
- insemination: vaginal, transcervical, surgical
how common is it to see dogs mate?
not super common unless dogs aren’t spayed or neutered.
What is unique about dog penis
has bone inside, called “os penis”
Live cover breeding
- tend to be cheapest and simplest
- mate daily over a 4-day period, ideally
Artificial semination
- minimized the number of breedings
- locate an experienced vet or breeding specialist
- can use fresh, chilled or frozen
Benefits of chilled and frozen semen
- No transportation of dogs
- Shipping semen is cheaper than shipping animals
- Shipping internationally possible
- Frozen lasts indefinitely
- Frozen when dog is young and in prime
- Minimizes contact between dogs
Nays of chilled or frozen semen
- Timing is critical and adds cost
- Overnight shipping adds cost –
- Insemination requires trained experts
- Frozen semen insemination – surgical, adds risk to
bitch
Indications of heat
Canine Estrous Cycle (a review)
- Sexual heat in female (6-12 months of age)
- Bloody discharge (designates day 1- proestrus) – not
menstruation - Pronounced swelling of vulva
- Sexual desire intensifies (days 10-14 enter estrus)
- will receive male
- very difficult to control dog at this time
- Cycle time about 21 days (variable)
- Long anestrous period
Canine fertility
- often inappropriate timing
Female
* Testing requires expensive hormone testing
and histology
Male
* Semen Evaluation: count, motility,
morphology
* Considerably easier to test
Gestation
*63 days from breeding
*Detection
*Mammary glands swell last 3 weeks
*Milk appears during last week
*Body weight may increase 20-55%
* Be careful they don’t put on too much fat
