Gone, in the click of a finger
26/05/09 11:36 Filed in: update
Your brood drops in season and it is straight on the phone to arrange a mating, roughly 2 weeks go by and your bitch is mated and returned to you.
On return it is a case of caring for the bitch with the correct intake of food and hoping that she has got pregnant, at around 20/23 days most bitches go off their food, this would normally last for 3-4 days and it is 1 of the first signs you want to see as it generally means they are pregnant.
Making sure the bitch gets the required intake of food you just have to sit back and hope that all goes well, on day 40 of her pregnancy I start worming the bitch with Panacur 10%, this would be done on a daily basis right through to 3 days after she has given birth and the dosage is a quarter of her body weight in mls(eg: 30kg = 7.5mls).
At this stage I personally increase the protein intake to as much as 5lb a day, depending on what else she will or will not eat, to me this is vital in the production of milk and it is also vital to get Calcium supplement into them.
Hopefully everything has went smoothly and on day 62 she should go off her food completely and start “Nesting”, at this stage some bitches can become very very destructive but have no fear as it can be quite normal and is just her getting herself prepared for giving birth to her little ones, all being well the bitch will have a healthy litter and the pups will suckle straight away, I always make sure I have a Milk supplement to hand just incase the bitch has very little milk on or it is a big litter, no good not having it at 1am which would be the usual time most bitches start having them.
So the fun begins and make sure the bitch is taking in lots of liquids and a very high protein intake as these will help her milk production.
The pups eyes normally start opening around 10 days old and at 2 weeks old I start worming the pups with Drontal Puppy and when worming I clip their nails as this makes life a little easier for the bitch, the worming would be done at 2-4-6-8-10 and 12 weeks old.
The subject of weaning and getting pups away on solids has varying opinions, some like to start them on solids at as young as 3 weeks old but for me personally, and it is all about personal preferences, If the bitch has lots of milk and is very happy to be feeding her babies, I much prefer to let the pups just feed on mum till they are around 5 weeks if possible, nothing and I mean nothing can substitute the bitches milk.
When I do start them on solids it would generally be with Farleys Rusks and Goats milk and the likes of Semolina etc, I have found through time that Goats milk is much kinder to their guts and they are not as loose on that.
When able to take heavier solids I use the likes of Raw Beef, Cooked Chicken, Live Natural Yoghurt, Puppy Biscuit both soaked and Dry, Eggs, Calcium Phosphate and Multi Vitamin Supplement, I will also put in some uncooked Marrow Bones at around 7 weeks old for them to chew on.
At 8 weeks old they will receive their first inoculations and this will be repeated at 10 weeks old, I only use veterinary surgeons for this.
At 12 weeks old the pups will get earmarked, this is over within a second and is not harmful to them.
So now that we have built the foundations to build on the work starts in earnest and the joys of watching them grow into fully fledged racing machines is fantastic, their characters changing month by month and at times absolutely doing your head in, however we would not change it for the world.
The main stay of my pups diet is Raw Beef and I use close on off 2 tonne per month, the biscuit I use is Chudleys Racer, they will also receive Raw Eggs, Multi Vitamins, Goats Milk, Cheese, Fish and Chicken.
At between 12-18 months old the pups shall be schooled, this is when your dreams keep on living or they are shattered,
Assuming that all goes well, the pup shall be placed in with their respective trainer and thus the fun “Should” begin, however they are at the mercy of the Racing Managers and this is where a pups career can be finished at the “Click of a finger”, having had quite a few pups graded I see varying degrees of grading and I must say that on the whole they do a fair job with a special mention to Chris Page(Ex W/Stow), Monmore,Crayford,Wimbledon and Peter O Dowd at Romford but there are a couple of tracks that are very hard on pups and due to this they can quite easily sour a pup and all the hard work that has went in the previous 18 months can be done for nothing, I wish they would take this into consideration instead of worrying about whether their bookmakers lose any money, WHY they have such a phobia about pups winning first time of asking is beyond me and they should be encouraging pups to win as they are their tracks future, watching this is very hard for me and I cannot help but get angry.
I sincerely wish everyone all the best with their dogs, this sport can be absolutely fantastic if given a chance and I hope that we can get it back to the good old days.
On return it is a case of caring for the bitch with the correct intake of food and hoping that she has got pregnant, at around 20/23 days most bitches go off their food, this would normally last for 3-4 days and it is 1 of the first signs you want to see as it generally means they are pregnant.
Making sure the bitch gets the required intake of food you just have to sit back and hope that all goes well, on day 40 of her pregnancy I start worming the bitch with Panacur 10%, this would be done on a daily basis right through to 3 days after she has given birth and the dosage is a quarter of her body weight in mls(eg: 30kg = 7.5mls).
At this stage I personally increase the protein intake to as much as 5lb a day, depending on what else she will or will not eat, to me this is vital in the production of milk and it is also vital to get Calcium supplement into them.
Hopefully everything has went smoothly and on day 62 she should go off her food completely and start “Nesting”, at this stage some bitches can become very very destructive but have no fear as it can be quite normal and is just her getting herself prepared for giving birth to her little ones, all being well the bitch will have a healthy litter and the pups will suckle straight away, I always make sure I have a Milk supplement to hand just incase the bitch has very little milk on or it is a big litter, no good not having it at 1am which would be the usual time most bitches start having them.
So the fun begins and make sure the bitch is taking in lots of liquids and a very high protein intake as these will help her milk production.
The pups eyes normally start opening around 10 days old and at 2 weeks old I start worming the pups with Drontal Puppy and when worming I clip their nails as this makes life a little easier for the bitch, the worming would be done at 2-4-6-8-10 and 12 weeks old.
The subject of weaning and getting pups away on solids has varying opinions, some like to start them on solids at as young as 3 weeks old but for me personally, and it is all about personal preferences, If the bitch has lots of milk and is very happy to be feeding her babies, I much prefer to let the pups just feed on mum till they are around 5 weeks if possible, nothing and I mean nothing can substitute the bitches milk.
When I do start them on solids it would generally be with Farleys Rusks and Goats milk and the likes of Semolina etc, I have found through time that Goats milk is much kinder to their guts and they are not as loose on that.
When able to take heavier solids I use the likes of Raw Beef, Cooked Chicken, Live Natural Yoghurt, Puppy Biscuit both soaked and Dry, Eggs, Calcium Phosphate and Multi Vitamin Supplement, I will also put in some uncooked Marrow Bones at around 7 weeks old for them to chew on.
At 8 weeks old they will receive their first inoculations and this will be repeated at 10 weeks old, I only use veterinary surgeons for this.
At 12 weeks old the pups will get earmarked, this is over within a second and is not harmful to them.
So now that we have built the foundations to build on the work starts in earnest and the joys of watching them grow into fully fledged racing machines is fantastic, their characters changing month by month and at times absolutely doing your head in, however we would not change it for the world.
The main stay of my pups diet is Raw Beef and I use close on off 2 tonne per month, the biscuit I use is Chudleys Racer, they will also receive Raw Eggs, Multi Vitamins, Goats Milk, Cheese, Fish and Chicken.
At between 12-18 months old the pups shall be schooled, this is when your dreams keep on living or they are shattered,
Assuming that all goes well, the pup shall be placed in with their respective trainer and thus the fun “Should” begin, however they are at the mercy of the Racing Managers and this is where a pups career can be finished at the “Click of a finger”, having had quite a few pups graded I see varying degrees of grading and I must say that on the whole they do a fair job with a special mention to Chris Page(Ex W/Stow), Monmore,Crayford,Wimbledon and Peter O Dowd at Romford but there are a couple of tracks that are very hard on pups and due to this they can quite easily sour a pup and all the hard work that has went in the previous 18 months can be done for nothing, I wish they would take this into consideration instead of worrying about whether their bookmakers lose any money, WHY they have such a phobia about pups winning first time of asking is beyond me and they should be encouraging pups to win as they are their tracks future, watching this is very hard for me and I cannot help but get angry.
I sincerely wish everyone all the best with their dogs, this sport can be absolutely fantastic if given a chance and I hope that we can get it back to the good old days.
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