@donc - Not true that breeders traditionally breed for conformation only. Breeders (responsible breeders) breed for health, temperament and conformation. Health/temperament is at the top of the list. Breeders do of course look for certain conformation but that does not exclude Health & Temperament.
Breeding Plans
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One of the few times that I free feed is during the first 2wks after whelping… always food available.
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She only got about 1 cup before to 1 1/4 cup per day. I'll try a bit of pumpkin too Robyn, thanks, I forgot about it being so worried about the diarreah and stomach cramps.
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New update. I didn't have time the other day to elaborate on the trip to the vet, so I'll do so now. Took her in and did a fecal sample (I sort of knew there was nothing there) and turned out negative. This clinic tends to have a lot of breeders go to them and they are a farm clinic as well. He weighed her in and she weighed 8.2 kilos (about 18 lbs). The first thing he asked (temp was normal) was if she was a nervous dog. I said more needy than nervous. She doesn't normally care if I go out, but she tends to be very needy with me when I am there. (Remember I said she stresses easily and I wasn't sure this was a good idea) He said since everything is negative and she has no fever, no pyro, no signs of anything else, with bitches that are needy, especially if they have a first litter, a lot of their stresses come out in diarrhea form. He said to give her Kaolin and pumpkin wasn't bad as well as scrambled egg for the protein and nutrients and a bit of rice if she needs to settle her stomach. Her food (I've upped her to 3 3/4 cups) is fine, but if she doesn't start to gain weight to slowly switch her to puppy food for extra nutrients. (ha! A vet with a brain that works) Koalin's dosage is 1-2ml per kg. So she can have anywhere from 8-16 ml every six hours. He said if she doesn't get better on the 8, give her more til you hit the max. but also start at every 8 hours. Now, don't forget folks, this is a new vet for me, and I was unsure about this. This was not the vet I interviewed, because he was out on call, but another vet. This was a very good experience for me, because he didn't know me or my background, or Sugar's either. He also said at any time to call if she starts to lose more weight or doesn't improve. That night, because of the stresses of going to the vet, she did get worse. She'd sit on the floor, pass gas and pooped and cried about it. This is why I didn't want to ultimately take her, because I knew it would be worse after going there. But, I'm glad I did because I believe I have a decent vet clinic who actually knows something. She is slowly getting better and with me being home this weekend, she should relax somewhat. He also saw pics of the puppies and said they looked really good as well.
An update on the puppies, This am little tri girl Starr, has one eye opened and is standing on all fours and walking. Leave it to a tri to lead the pack. They are all gaining. Yesterday tubbo Zorro was 22.5 oz. He started out at 9 oz. The little boy's name that whines all the time is now Talker. I will update pics later in the day.
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I have found that eating too much volume at a time can also cause diarreah. I usually switch my girls to a high cal food, like the puppy version of the food they normally eat, so that I can feed less volume and still get the same amount of calories. I also free feed the nursing girl so she can eat smaller amounts through out the day to prevent stomach upset.
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I hadn't chimed in previously because I don't have the experience in breeding. However; I remember reading an article about it and they did say that pregnant and lactating bitches benefit from eating a good quality puppy food. It does make perfect sense…
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I will be grabbing a bag and supplementing her when I get her diarreah under control. It has slowed already and is firming up. Her stomach cramps are lessening as well.
Lisa, she is getting the food in three - four meals a day. With the Kaolin and pumpkin inbetween.
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I will be grabbing a bag and supplementing her when I get her diarreah under control. It has slowed already and is firming up. Her stomach cramps are lessening as well.
Lisa, she is getting the food in three - four meals a day. With the Kaolin and pumpkin inbetween.
This may save a little money as well since you would feed less of the puppy food. You may want to choose puppy food in the same brand as the current adult food you are feeding her. That would probably make the transition easier.
BTW… Is IVOSS a LISA, too
Or were you referring to me??? -
Sorry, Yes, I was referring to Ivoss, she is Lisa as well. Guess I should have made that clear.
I will be going with the Nutro brand which is what she is on now.
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No, no problem… I just wondered and I like learning everyone's "real" names here. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering them though... Bella was on Nutro Natural puppy food when she was little. She also has had Nutro Natural Chicken, Rice and Oatmeal for sensitive stomachs. She did pretty well on it!
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BTW… Is IVOSS a LISA, too
Or were you referring to me???It's not an "I" but rather a lowercase "L". Lisa Voss is her name.
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Oooops :o sorry (of course that makes sense) now I feel silly.:rolleyes:
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Oooops :o sorry (of course that makes sense) now I feel silly.:rolleyes:
I always read it as ''i''voss as well
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Here are 11 day pics:
Puppy Pile
At the Milk Bar
Zorro and (Starr) now Indi
Talker -
Oh, What wonderful puppy photos…thanks for sharing
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They are getting big!! Look at those baby bellies..!
So cute!!
Thanks for sharing! -
I will be going with the Nutro brand which is what she is on now.
I am not a breeder & certainly not an expert, so go with what the breeders say first. However, I wanted to throw in my 2 cents on Nutro. We fed Booger Nutro puppy food & he did well. We switched to Nutro adult & he did fine. He did seem to poop a lot. We brought Lola home & started on Nutro puppy. She had awful bouts of diarrhea. I would cook chicken & rice for her for a day or two, get her stools firmed up & start feeding kibble again. Within 2 days, diarrhea again. I did some research & chose a new food (Blue Buffalo) & switched her cold turkey (I figured I couldn't upset her stomach much more than it already was) & she has never once had diarrhea since. We switched Booger over, too, so we could keep it simple with both of them getting the same food. His stools firmed up, he lost weight, eats less, coat is shinier, he has a lot more energy & is a lot happier all around. Switching from Nutro worked wonders for ours.
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It has been 10 years since I fed Nutro but my experience was very similar to Andrew and Carrie's experience. Nicky frequently had soft or loose stools on the Nutro food and I saw a huge difference when I switched him to California Natural back then. Now, I rotate between 3 brands of grain free kibbles (Merrick's BG, Evo, and Orijen) and a couple of brands of grain kibbles (California Natural and Prairie). This routine has worked well even with Rio who is my worrier and can work herself up into a belly ache.
With Rally's first litter they were weaned onto California Natural Puppy and her second litter got Wellness Puppy and Evo about 50/50. I think Wellness may have recently changed their formula because my dogs are not doing as well on it anymore so I have cut it from the rotation. My mom feeds TC's litter 50% of the meals Merrick's BG and 50% raw medallions. She started the raw medallions because she was worried TC wasn't getting enough calories prior to whelping and she could eat more raw without an upset stomach than she could kibble.
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I did some research & chose a new food (Blue Buffalo) & switched her cold turkey (I figured I couldn't upset her stomach much more than it already was) & she has never once had diarrhea since. We switched Booger over, too, so we could keep it simple with both of them getting the same food. His stools firmed up, he lost weight, eats less, coat is shinier, he has a lot more energy & is a lot happier all around. Switching from Nutro worked wonders for ours.
I can't argue that can happen… I definitely am not praising Nutro. I said she did "pretty well" on it. Toward the end I felt it best to switch because I thought there was a better food out there for her. I was just suggesting nomrbddgs keep her girl on the same line of food for ease of transition. BTW, my Bella had the diarrhea reaction to Blue Buffalo... goes to show, all dogs are different! I wish we all could have simple answers to the feeding issues. Right now I am considering switching Bella back to Canidae (I once tried it and she did great) or trying Wellness Super 5...
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Actually, I was thinking of switching them all to Orijen. Zina has done super well on it. And if I'm feeding her it, I should feed all of them it. (Zina is the one with allergies to all grains, including flax seed and I believe also stuff like lettuce). It would probably cost the same in the end, because they eat less of it. I did tell the vet I had Orijen and he said it was okay to start switching in some of the Orijen. If I could get this diarreah under control, it would be a lot easier. The stomach cramps are almost gone. The odd one or two, but the stools are still loose-firmer than what they were (liquid) but definitely not solid. At least they string together and not pour out of her. (Sorry for the visual).
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The puppies get cuter and cuter!! I would love to hold and snuggle one.
Re foods: We have always used Nutro Lamb and Rice - with our last 2 dogs and our current 2. While not the best dog food in the world, it is reasonably priced and of reasonable quality. And for some reason every dog we've had has tolerated it better than other brands. I once tried to switch our Lab to a different brand and she developed massive diarrhea. It was the one and only time she ever had an accident in all the years we owned her. She was mortified. We tried switching Cory and Jayden to Wellness Super 5 and Jayden especially couldn't tolerate it. We couldn't move past the 50 - 50 mix of Wellness and Nutro without Jayden getting severe diarrhe. So, We've stuck with Nutro and add some yogurt and Missing Link to it. We used to add canned pumpkin to it to see if we could cure Cory's chronic "stinky butt" but found that it didn't stop it. I LOVE to find a cure for the stinky stamper problem.
Pat
