Peanut pups! - Page 2

I'm real glad if it does you and your pups some good. The thing about losing pups is, that not only is it so sad to bear, but you never know if that one pup that you lose will be "the" pup to make a big difference in your breeding program, and maybe even in the breed. And, Penny.. This is good information, also. My sister is a nurse and she used to work with Premature (preemie) babies. This was one of her specialties. I got to go in and see these tiny little things and it was an awesome privilege, because their little lives are so delicate and they are SOOO protected by those nurses! Literally every hour and every move made with those preemies are critical to their survival and future. Anyways, "Sis" told me that the very first thing they focus on is temperature. There is actually a natural surfactant (soap-like stuff that keeps moist surfaces from sticking) that the baby makes in their own lungs, so that they can breathe. But this surfactant cannot be made if the infant is chilled or cold. So, you were saying that as the puppy warms, that the breathing becomes more regular and easy. This is why! There is a story about the famous race-jockey, Bill Shoemaker. He was born in a tiny cabin in rural Texas, and he was premature. There were no doctors nearby, and no emergency services. But his grandmother was there, and she knew exactly what to do. She placed the tiny newborn into a shoebox and she put that shoebox-crib behind the wood-burning stove, which was kept stoked with wood. I'm sure that she stayed up for long hours, monitoring him. But she knew that the most important thing to his survival was warmth! And the rest is history! The baby bunnies are the funniest thing to watch as they revive. If you ever raise rabbits and find one outside the box on a cold morning, even if it seems lifeless, it may still have a spark of life in it, and you can bring it around just by running the warm tap water over it. They literally come to life before your eyes, sort of like magic.. First a little movement and then more, until they are wriggling around. The shipping peanut effect you can see for yourself, by placing your hand in a box of them for fifteen minutes or so. They are excellent at retaining and reflecting heat. I would think them most useful in helping to revive chilled pups when found, or as an emergency "incubator" if you have to take the mother to the veterinarian, or for a ride in the car to help stimulate labor. That's another trick that an old breeder friend taught me years ago, but I'll make it a new post. One more word on the Neomycin Sulfate. What's really great about this stuff is that it stays almost completely in the gastrointestinal tract. Almost none is absorbed to go into the bloodstream. Thus, there is virtually no chance of conflict with other antibiotics, especially if they are injectable or given on a different schedule. The Neomycin is very economical and has a very long shelf-life. Best to get it from a livestock or farm supply catalog, where no Rx is needed. And because it is effective in such low doses, it is a good therapeutic aid for animals suffering from secondary or opportunistic GI infections, concurrent with viral or idiopathic diarrhea.

Well, you only use those peanuts if there is some reason that they need additional temporary warmth, or if there is some reason that they cannot be with mom. Because "with mom" is always the best place for a newborn to be. OK.. So, here is a perfect use for those peanuts, to keep your newborns warm in a box while you get your mom-dog to a vet, in case there is trouble. But you might be able to save yourself some trouble by taking the long route to the veterinarian. I used to have a bitch named "Biene", who would take about a twelve hour break halfway through whelping her litter. Needless to say, I was on pins and needles the first time this happened. I rushed her to the vet, but the veterinarian would not be in for another hour or so, and I did not trust the roving vet who was standing in for him in his absence (good thing, too, because I later learned she had botched a lot of things!). I put my Biene back in my VW bus and went to the local Pup-n-Taco to get a bite to eat. Do you know, that while we were on our way there, she resumed her whelping. And here I was about to take her into surgery! When I told my old breeder friend about this incident, she told me that she did this all the time with her slow whelpers, and it worked like a charm. She would find some bumpy or washboard roads and drive over them with the bitch in the car, and she swore that the vibrations helped to stimulate labor! I have been lucky and only had to do this one more time, but it did work.

This will show you how far back I go. "Biene" was sired by VA Jupp von der Haller Farm, and out of a gorgeous bitch named, "Venus von der Erftperle. But I go back further than that with the dogs. I think I had my first litter in 1972. Biene was an extremely cool and enjoyable dog to own and hang with, but unfortuneately her pups did not amount to a hill of beans. Her first breeding was to the LeistungsBundesSieger, Enno vom Antrefftal. Does anyone else remember that far back? Jupp and the descendants of Jonny von der Rheinhalle were known to produce some very good working dogs, but some with nerve problems, and diminutive size and snipey muzzles. But they could have very good backs and a lot of color, too.. which was not so common at the time.

I believe that Venus von der Erftperle was sired by Canto von der Wienerau. I'm almost positive. But it's been so long. Venus was one of those bitches who was SOOO beautiful, it broke your heart just to look at her! You just KNEW that you would never have a chance to own such a bitch. Biene was a "Spitzen-V" quality bitch, herself, but a poor second to her dam. And the poor thing really could not produce much worthwhile. But I am also certain that I did not breed her to the most suitable studs Aside from Enno vom Antrefftal, I also bred her to Rocco vom Busecker Schloß. Looking back, when I was first getting started with the GSDs, it was a lively scene with the club and sport people out here in S. California. GV Ch. Lance of Fran-Jo was just starting to make his mark, and I did get to see GV Ch. Yoncalla's Mike at a local show ("Parade of Passing Greats"). German Sieger Bodo vom Lierberg had just recently been imported, and he was staying with Eric Renner at a guide dog foundation. I think it was International Guiding Eyes, Inc. Eric also had Hassan vom Lahnblick, a Bodo son, and a dog that a lot of people swore by, Harald vom Haus Tigges.

Later on, down the road, I'd like to make a combined video and Flash presentation on a method I discovered to detect HD in the young pup. I cannot say that it is absolutely fail-safe, of course. In my experience, it WAS completely fail-safe. Every pup that I ever tested positive for HD, using this method, came up dysplastic, and on the side that I detected the problem with. It costs nothing to do.. No trips to the vet, no anaesthesia or tranquilization. It's a completely natural technique, very safe, and anyone can do it. That would save a lot of money, heartbreak and time for the breeder. We don't have x-ray vision, and we cannot see which pup will develop HD, but nevertheless, if you learn this technique you would be able to find them out in most cases. Yes, we have to be creative to succeed. I had to be. Now, please do not think that I am lying, or crazy.. I also "discovered" a technique to freeze semen from a dead dog. I already had learned to freeze semen, and I had a sudden dilemma with a dog that had died, and no semen frozen on him yet. Using what I already knew of semen freezing, and what I had learned in a high-school physiology class regarding reproduction, I came up with this technique on the fly, and got four lovely vials of semen for future breedings. Does AKC recognize it? No. And I don't care about that. This dog had extremely valuable bloodlines and there was no doubt in my mind that his bloodline had to be preserved, for myself, if no one else. This was one of the best breeding lines I ever found. Later on, only a few months, I attended an annual meeting of the American Society of Andrology (human reproductive sciences) and I met some learned people with a famous zoo who had been using precisely this same technique to save semen from wild endangered animals. The same technique had also been used in human medicine, but only rarely. So, I actually re-discovered what had already been discovered. But the significant thing is that I had devised this technique myself, and that was a bombshell for me! To this day, I have that semen, still, and it was a little triumph over death. That's our job.. To protect life, and to continue with Max's life work, right?! Yes.. The longer you are with this game, the more you learn, and you sometimes learn to cheat death and time!

By the way.. This is good to know, if you ever have a sudden loss of a stud dog. You CAN freeze semen from him, if you get it within 24 hours, and the body must be kept cool. The sooner the better, naturally! But it could be possible, up to 24 hours, if the body is kept cool. If the dog has died of heat stroke or was infertile at the time of death, forget it. There is virtually no chance. There is one technique used in human reproduction with infertile males to generate viable sperm for ICSI (inter-cytoplasmic sperm injection), but this would not be economically feasable in the breeding of canines. At any rate, with the dead-dog technique, the sperm cells must be expressed (squeezed out of) the vas deferens and extended with a USP normal saline injectable solution before being spun in a centrifuge to make a "pellet", and from there, you can proceed with the freezing process as if it were a normal collection. The dead-dog technique requires surgical removal of the testes. This would also be an excellent choice for dogs recently neutered, although I cannot imagine why one would want to do it that way.. Maybe only if the dog was accidentally neutered. I am not suggesting that anyone can do this themselves. It takes training and experience and thousands of dollars in equipment and supplies. But if you know of a veterinarian who is set up to freeze semen, and you have a need like this, you can tell them about it.

Yes, I know where your sis is coming from DDR - I am a midwife, and the premmies were my special love. When I deliver a baby,its at home, and usually under normal circumstances, with a normal size baby and temperature of course still matters, but its not quite like the weeny ones, they are so special and needy. Temperature was the "special theme" of the Neonatal Matron when I trained. She was a foreboding lady - with a heart of gold "Sister Beltroe" of Spanish descent, and they were all "her" babies - she would run a very tight ship in todays standards of care and tlc, yes, she was eccentric, and in todays high dependency units would be probably regarded as a bit "off the mark" with her unconventional ways of dealing with a crisis (shove em up your jumper if the incubators fail for a few moments) but hey, that was in the days when we lived without all the "new bugs" etc that keep hitting us in the jaw now. Still, we can still practice Sister Beltrao`s methods with our puppies with great results. Mo - Mascani

Those old practitioners could do a lot more, pound for pound, than the new ones, with all their gadgets. Our old vets were terribly old-fashioned by today's standards, but I saw them take more train wreck cases and put them back on all fours than they should have been able to, technically speaking. What Sister Beltrao knew was half instinct, which would have seemed eccentric to many. Human infants need to be held, frequently. We really don't hold them enough. I held my baby a LOT and took her everywhere with me. She thrived on it. When you think about it, the Native Americans with their cradleboards had a brilliant solution. The baby always felt like it was being held / hugged (read Temple Grandin), and that technique protected their delicate spines and conserved body heat. As well, absorbent material like moss or dry grasses could be packed into the lower portion of the cradleboard to deal with elimination. But the number one thing that I see neglected in infants' needs is holding and touching. There doesn't seem to be any good technical way to provide that.

I'm sorry, but I find your sharing the "dead dog" collection technique revolting. Are breeders that notoriously greedy that you are sharing ways to squeeze one last litter out of a dog that is no longer alive?? This is beyond comprehension to me. No matter the reason, this screams of greed - whether for money or for personal reasons. Rather than grieving the loss of a friend, someone can chill the body and rush to express semen???????????????????? Are they not allowed even one moment of dignity, even in death? (and if you don't grieve when your dog dies, then I pity the the dog for the lonely life it must have lived) I find it ironic that you are waxing on about what infants need, and yet you seem to be completely devoid of a heart with regards to the death of a dog. Yes, to many this is a business, but sometimes there seems to be a loss of common sense and humanity.

That was a bit harsh LaPorte. I don't feel after reading DDRs' posts that he is an uncaring man--quite the contrary. All science is cruel--necessary, but usually devoid of emotion. When an accident victim is pronounced dead in the hospital, his organs, etc., are harvested to help others. It's not as controversial today as in the beginning. The husband-wife-father-mother that gives permission to donate their loved-one's organs has only a short amount of time to make that decision. Their grief doesn't stop them from helping others---and whose to say what that grief entails? (I realize we are not talking life-saving methods in the collection of sperm---but you rebuffed him for time not spent grieving.) I can only speak for myself--I've had many animals over my lifetime. They lived their entire lives with me. Never gave away or discarded any. Years ago, even spent my last dime trying to save one, and then didn't get out of bed for over a month when he died. I walked around like a mummy for months, and still was crying when alone for a couple of years. I relay this info because I take the death of a cherished pet extremely hard. With that said, I didn't feel DDR seemed to be "completely devoid of a heart." Point of my story---No one knows the grief one feels for the loss of a pet. DDR was offering info from a scientific perspective---even offering info to perhaps collect sperm from an accidentally neutered dog.