Should I manage the pregnancy or outsource it?

[Netminder01]

Advice/recommendations please:

I have a MH Chocolate lab dam about to be bred for her first time over the next few weeks. I've never owned a pregnant dog before, much less all that goes into a pregnant hunting retriever. I'm torn if the prudent thing to do is outsource it to a qualified person vs manage it myself. It feels so detached to have someone else manage it but at the same time, safe.

What advice would you give a first-time, almost pet grandparent if I were to keep things in-house? Or, should I outsource it?

[snake]

its a no brainer. Do it yourself. its not that complicated. You'll do fine.

[follow maggie]

What’s a MH?

[callturner]

Master Hunter. Just work with your vet. They will help you .

[follow maggie]

Ahhh. Thank you

[lokidog]

The hardest thing we have dealt with breeding is the lack of appetite getting into the pregnancy. We have had to get creative, rotate foods every couple of days, add flavor supplements, etc. If you have time ahead of breeding, feel free to pre load some calories. You don't want them fat, but increasing food by 10 or 20% might be helpful to give a little cushion. Be sure to talk to your vet ahead of time, some have no clue, it seems, about breeding/pregnancy issues.

Hopefully you have done your due diligence with orthopedic, eye, heart, and other genetic testing and that the male's owner has done the same thing. There is absolutely no excuse for breeding dogs with poor genetics even if they are the best hunting dog in the world... someone will pay for it, eventually. 

[jackelope]

The hardest thing we have dealt with breeding is the lack of appetite getting into the pregnancy. We have had to get creative, rotate foods every couple of days, add flavor supplements, etc. If you have time ahead of breeding, feel free to pre load some calories. You don't want them fat, but increasing food by 10 or 20% might be helpful to give a little cushion. Be sure to talk to your vet ahead of time, some have no clue, it seems, about breeding/pregnancy issues.

Hopefully you have done your due diligence with orthopedic, eye, heart, and other genetic testing and that the male's owner has done the same thing. There is absolutely no excuse for breeding dogs with poor genetics even if they are the best hunting dog in the world... someone will pay for it, eventually. 

“To make the best better”

[callturner]

Funny you should talk about tests. I was just going thru the local Nickle ads looking at dogs and there are about 25 or so ads for labradoodles , golden doodles and such. All crossbred mongerels and their asking anywhere from $1000. to $2000. for their puppy's. No back ground or genetics or possible papers. While the AKC pups are going for half that.

[KFhunter]

We don't know your situation, I had a couple young girls who doted over the pups so for me it was super easy.  The dam did 100% first time. 

[huntnfmly]

This site is great

[Broomd]

The hardest thing we have dealt with breeding is the lack of appetite getting into the pregnancy. We have had to get creative, rotate foods every couple of days, add flavor supplements, etc. If you have time ahead of breeding, feel free to pre load some calories...

Yep, excellent posting, dealt with this this Fall, fortunately our Aussiedoodle b*tch cooperated, she's nursing pups now; but it wasn't easy! It took a ton of food variety and table scraps real-time, something we never do!

[KFhunter]

I used some powdered lactose free milk, well ahead of welping date to guage tolerance, and switched her feed to a lactating female feed well ahead too.   Give her liver treats, they need more copper during gestation.  If she rejects feed a day or two before whelping its not a big deal, stuff her with calories during gestation and try to carry a bit of a fat layer...tough on highly active dogs I know, but more confinement and calm time indoors can help build some fat.

Make the changes earlier in gestation rather than last minute.

Honestly though, a good complete feed rated for lactating females is going to be good enough without the extra stuff.  I just had a heck of a time getting some fat on her, shes high enery.

[lokidog]

Funny you should talk about tests. I was just going thru the local Nickle ads looking at dogs and there are about 25 or so ads for labradoodles , golden doodles and such. All crossbred mongerels and their asking anywhere from $1000. to $2000. for their puppy's. No back ground or genetics or possible papers. While the AKC pups are going for half that.

It is disgusting what people get charged for mutts. We've had people question our prices, in both ways, why so much and why so little. Our dogs have been x-rayed and evaluated for hips, elbows, knees, etc., eyes (annually), and heart conditions. We have done genetic screening panels and some rudimentary titles. We look carefully at pedigrees and analyze potential crosses to reduce inbreeding issues. Our pups are raised in our livingroom until about four weeks when they can no longer be contained in the whelping box. Once outside, they still get hours of attention a day.

AKC registration doesn't necessarily mean that any of this has been done, so it is still up to the due diligence of the buyer.

[callturner]

Funny you should talk about tests. I was just going thru the local Nickle ads looking at dogs and there are about 25 or so ads for labradoodles , golden doodles and such. All crossbred mongerels and their asking anywhere from $1000. to $2000. for their puppy's. No back ground or genetics or possible papers. While the AKC pups are going for half that.

It is disgusting what people get charged for mutts. We've had people question our prices, in both ways, why so much and why so little. Our dogs have been x-rayed and evaluated for hips, elbows, knees, etc., eyes (annually), and heart conditions. We have done genetic screening panels and some rudimentary titles. We look carefully at pedigrees and analyze potential crosses to reduce inbreeding issues. Our pups are raised in our livingroom until about four weeks when they can no longer be contained in the whelping box. Once outside, they still get hours of attention a day.

AKC registration doesn't necessarily mean that any of this has been done, so it is still up to the due diligence of the buyer.

Yup, and most of these "breeders" are nothing more than puppy mills trying to turn a quick buck with fashion dogs. Don't get me wrong, I raised and bred hounds for 22 years crossing them. But it was from proven dogs. I now raise chessies and would never cross breed . NO chessie doodles from me! Ha!

[KFhunter]

Chessy-Doodle