This is the first in a series of articles taken from a thesis I wrote to complete the Puppy Development, Care and Coaching Accredited Diploma from Canine Principles. The thesis asked for a plan to produce a perfect puppy, following the process from the beginning through to the age of six months.
There is a saying in some places that a puppy is a blank canvas and so anyone that gets their dog as a puppy will have a very simple job to produce a happy, sociable dog that they can take into any situation without worry. The truth is rather more complicated, but with care and attention to details from the very beginning of the process, the chances of the dog growing up to enjoy a happy life are greatly increased.
The very first question that requires an answer is the question of the reason for breeding. There are very good ethical breeders, who carefully select the parent animals and ensure excellent conditions throughout the pregnancy and whelping period. They are breeding to produce quality healthy examples of their particular breed and, if there are areas in the breed that can be improved upon, to move the breed in that direction. These breeders will be sure that they have homes lined up for the puppies that they produce, and many good breeders have waiting lists for the quality puppies that they produce. An excellent breeder will also maintain their responsibility for the puppies that they produce, and a common agreement is that they will have the puppy back if the new home does not work out for some reason. Sadly, there are also unscrupulous breeders who are breeding purely to make money, who will breed from any available animals, regardless of their suitability, and keep them in unsuitable conditions, spending as little money as possible on them, and not caring what happens at all once they sold them. It does not require much effort to see which set of breeders are more likely to produce puppies who have a greater chance of a happy, healthy life, or why the question of the breeder’s motivation to be breeding dogs is important.
Selecting a particular breed requires careful consideration. Although individuality means that every dog is unique and should be considered as an individual, the process of artificial selection humans have practiced in breeding dogs throughout the period of domestication has results in breed types. A breed or type of dog will typically have certain tendencies and characteristics, such as working breeds usually having high levels of energy and stamina. When considering breeds, whether as a pet to introduce into your home or to breed to join other families, these breed factors must be taken into account and the ability to fulfil these needs must be in place.
To produce puppies that have the very best chance of being perfect, we must consider their origins – their parents.
Any puppy gets their genetic inheritance, their genome, from the previous generations – their parents and grandparents going back over the generations. Each parent contributes half of the genetic material required to create life. Because of the way in which reproductive cells reproduce via the process of meiosis, which involves a two stage splitting process in which the genetic material is distributed randomly, every puppy produced is a unique individual. Because the entirety of the genome comes from the parent animals, they should be selected with great care to ensure they are mentally and physically healthy and not carrying any genetic flaws that they could pass on to their progeny. Good breeders will have potential breeding animals tested for genetically heritable illnesses and diseases, ensuring that any animals that can pass these issues on will not be used for breeding. It is true that even this will not guarantee puppies will not develop genetic issues, as some characteristics are determined by multiple genes. A healthy animal that is not showing a particular characteristic can still pass genetic material on to their progeny and, if that genetic material is also received from the another seemingly healthy parent, their puppies can receive enough to then develop the condition.
The conditions in which the parent animals were born and raised can have an effect on the puppies. While the genome, the gene set that makes up that particular animal, is set at the moment of conception and cannot change, the expression of those genes can change, due to epigenetics. The prefix ‘epi’ comes from the Greek, meaning over or above, meaning that epigenetics is the information layered on top of the genetic DNA sequence. Through epigenetics genes can be effectively switched on or off by the epigenome, a cluster of chemicals that can change the way in which genes behave. The epigenome can learn from its environment and apply epigenetic marks to cells, highlighting them as important and so that they can be switched on or off as required, changing how the genes are expressed. Although study of the subject is at an early stage, the idea of epigenetic inheritance posits that the parent dogs can pass epigenetic markers down to their offspring. The concept of epigenetic inheritance can be viewed as similar to the nature vs nurture argument, which will be discussed a little later.
Once the best possible examples have been selected to breed and bred together, we can begin to begin to make the outcome for the puppies conceived as favourable as we possibly can.
Once the puppies have been conceived, we need to start considering the effect their environment has on them while they are developing, physically and psychologically. During the period of pregnancy, the puppies’ environment is the inside of their mother’s body. For this reason, it is very important to make sure that the mother dog is well cared for, fed appropriately and is not stressed. A pregnant dog that is stressed will have stress hormones in their blood. If this situation carries on for a period of time, there is a chance that some of these stress hormones can cross the placenta and affect the puppies. This can mean that the puppies are born prepared to live in a stressful world, with bodies that are anticipating stress, and can become stressed much faster than an unaffected dog. Any illness in the mother dog can cause stress, and also potentially affect the nutrition available to the growing pups, interfering with their normal growth and development. For these reasons, and for ethical concerns, it is vital that the mother dog is treated with kindness, and receives excellent levels of physical care and nutrition, and the mother should be under the care of a veterinary surgeon, following any advice given regarding treatment or supplementation as required.
Once the parent dogs have been bred together and the mother is pregnant, the development of the foetuses begins and the appropriate care of the mother should begin. The canine gestation period can vary between 58 and 65 days, with the average sitting at around 63 days, or 9 weeks. The timeline of foetal development and changes to the mother can be seen in the table below, together with some important points for different stages:
Week 1:
Fertilisation occurs. The mother should be fed as per her non-pregnancy routine, and may show some behaviour changes after fertilisation, possibly displaying a shorter temper or seeking more affection. She may suffer from morning sickness (can also occur in weeks 2 and 5).
Week 2:
During this week the embryos move to the uterus.
Week 3:
Embryo implantation takes place in the uterus. System development begins with the nervous system. The heart starts to beat at 22 days gestation. From this point onwards, the embryo can be affected by developmental interference from external factors.
Week 4:
The mother’s mammary glands start to develop. The puppies’ spinal columns develop, along with their eyes, and their faces start to become apparent. During this week the organs start to develop. This is a very vulnerable time for the embryos as it is when they are highly susceptible to defects. Towards the end of this week, it becomes possible to feel the puppies by abdominal palpation, and the uterine fluid will appear. The mother should be restricted from doing too much strenuous activity, and daily dietary supplementation with Omega 3 oil or a similar supplement is recommended.
Week 5:
At this point the swelling of the mother’s stomach becomes noticeable and the waist tuck in front of the hips disappears as the puppy-filled uterus fills the abdomen. This is when the mother starts to require more food, and her ration for the day should be split to provide an extra meal. During this week more features start to develop including the whiskers, toes and claws. At the end of week 5, the limbs start to grow. The foetuses now look like tiny dogs.
The nervous system finishes forming and the reproductive system now begins to form. The skeleton develops further, with the bones becoming harder and joints being formed. The process of organogenesis finishes, meaning that the foetuses are resistant to external interference in their development. The eyes, open to this point, now close.
Week 6:
During this week, the amount of food given to the mother should be increased, and she should be given access to the area where she will whelp the puppies so that she can get used to it and comfortable in it. Her abdomen continues enlarging and her nipples get larger also. The foetus’ skin pigmentation develops and by this point the heartbeats can be heard via stethoscope.
Week 7:
In week 7, the mother will begin to look pregnant, and the hair on her abdomen sheds. By using scans or x-rays the number of puppies carried may be able to be counted. The foetuses are continuing to grow. The mother should not be permitted to jump or engage in rough play sessions.
Week 8:
During this week, the mother’s milk develops, and may be seen leaking from the nipples. When she is resting, the movement of the puppies may be visible in her abdomen. By day 56, the puppies can be born safely.
Week 9:
At day 55, one week before the average day of birth, the fur begins to grow on the foetuses as they continue to grow and develop. The mother may display nesting behaviour, and can become distressed – pacing, panting and looking uncomfortable.
At the end of this time the puppies are born, The first stage of the process has been completed and a healthy litter of puppies are nestled in the whelping area with their mother. Next comes the start of learning about the world they have been born into.
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