Important Aspects of the Perinatal Period to Help Produce Healthier, Longer Lived, More Stable Dogs

Reputable breeders put their all into producing healthy and awesome puppies. Considerations include:

Above Photo Courtesy of Pekes and Sandy Paws

• selecting breeding stock with care
• considering health clearances and personality traits
• raising puppies in cozy quarters
• feeding a high quality dog food to moms, dads and babies

A very important period of puppy development is within the perinatal period. The perinatal period is the time from conception until just after birth. 

Puppies in this period of time go through intense development, which lays the foundation for the puppy's lifetime of health, mental stability and even how long they will live.

It use to be most breeders bred their dogs young and retired them early because young dogs are typically more fertile than older ones. Recent research suggests if long life of puppies/dogs is a breeding goal, you should be aware that sperm produced later in a dog's life rather than in its youth are more likely to produce a longer life span for the puppies. In short, breeding a bitch from long-lived pedigrees to older dogs may produce pups who will live longer. 

Other considerations to ponder:

Pregnant dams face two types of stress:

• negative or distress
• positive stress

Both types of stress can and does effect puppies. Animal researchers think puppies who's mothers experienced distress during pregnancy are more likely to be anxious and irritable as adults, lower intelligence and shorter attention spans. 

By contrast puppies who's dams have nurturing enriched pregnancies are more likely to be calmer, more stable adults that learn, breed and in essence do everything better. It makes sense to really take good care of a pregnant bitch if we want to birth healthy, thriving puppies.

How can we know our bitch is stressed out? A bitch's distress may come from:

• things that frighten her
• things unpleasant to her
• things painful to her

On a happier note, a bitch may benefit from:

• activities she enjoys
• situations and people she enjoys

As a final thought here, I suppose it is most important to know our dams really well and be prepared to fill their lives with comfort and enrichment so their puppies will be healthier, more stable and live longer lives.

Another important consideration is the dam's mothering abilities in the hours right after birth and early days. Good mothers will:

• lick (which I think is kissing their babies and bathing them)
• nuzzle
• poke
• touch
• clean bottoms as if to keep diapers changed regularly
• good mothers will wrap herself around her babies and position herself in somewhat awkward looking positions just to give her babies the perfect opportunity to nurse

Researchers think high quality mothers will produce puppies less anxious and aggressive in adulthood. It is similar to human mothers in my opinion. A good human mother will produce and rear high quality adults able to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. It is the same in the animal kingdom. 

You can also count on a good mother having babies who will become good mothers in the animal world. This also holds true for humans as well. A good dog mother will produce puppies who are more stable and trainable.

Breeders will fair better if they choose their breeding stock for their mothering abilities and allow the dams to be present with her pups as much as possible during the early weeks. 

In other words, don't be hasty to take control. Allow the mom to perform according to her gut instincts and believe that she knows more about it that you do. 

I have read and heard of breeders who try to take control from the beginning of cutting the cord all the way through to time to sell the puppies. 

It is best to let the dam do the job nature intended her to do. Don't be hasty about cutting cords, tying then up with thread, taking frequent temperatures, and so on, allow the dam to chew and tie off the cord by instinct. 

You don't have to have a table full of scissors, thread, and all kinds of gear like you are a surgeon getting ready to do surgery. Just be sure you give your dam lots of love, comfort and cozy quarters while she does what mother nature intended for her to do. 

Of course, you need to provide warmth. One of the easiest ways to lose a newborn pup is from chilling. In fared heaters are good to use to warm up puppies right after birth. You can even use a hair dryer. You need to keep the room warm as well, at least 80 degrees.

If you have a dam who refuses to be a good mother, of course, you will have to step in and do as much as possible to ensure the puppies start out right. 

You will  have to focus upon feeding, cleaning, stimulation of the puppy's entire body, but with special emphasis on the groin, anus and abdomen as puppies cannot eliminate all by themselves. This is why you see dams licking the puppy's bottom soon after birth. She is stimulating the puppy to defecate and urinate. 

If you end up doing this yourself, take a cotton ball moistened with some baby oil and rub the genital area gently until the puppy defecates or urinates. You will have to do this several times a day. After a few weeks, the puppy will begin to function normally without the stimulation.

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