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Accidental breeding of year old

Dr. Mike,

I purchased a female vizsla pup as a potential foundation bitch. She will be 1 yr old 10/31/99. She is doing excellent in the show ring and shows great potential in early hunting skills which we'll begin AKC testing soon. I was not going to breed her until I she titled and demonstrated superior hunting skills, showmanship and possibly agility trialing. My problem is she went into her first heat cycle, was in her third week after beginning spotting and my wife let her out of her kennel into the backyard at the same time my 3 yr old male was there. They coupled before my wife could respond. We discussed aborting with other breeders, weighed the risks of each scenario, and decided to let her have the litter if the breeding took. We'll have an ultrasound done in about three weeks and hope she's not going to have pups.

Getting to the question, if she is going to have pups at this early age what extra precautions should we take given these circumstances? Her health and her ability to have litters in the future, when more appropriate, are our primary concerns. Our local vet is not as experienced with vizslas as I would feel comfortable with so if there would be sources for information I could let him know about we'd appreciate it. He's very caring and interested in the breed and I'm sure would appreciate any sources for further insight.
Thanks,
Bill

Bill, I hope by now you have been to your vet and determined that your girl is not "in the family way." Usually 3 weeks after spotting she would be in the latter, less fertile portion of her heat but not all dogs read the book. If she is pregnant I agree with your decision not to abort the litter-too many possible complications especially since you want to breed her in the future. What I do in my practice with young pregnant dogs is monitor the pregnancy closely and radiograph the bitch at around 50 days of gestation. This small dose of radiation doesn't hurt the pups and gives me an idea of how many puppies, how big they are and if it looks like they will fit through the pelvis. It's not an exact science but has helped identify some potential whelping problems. Another challenge I often see in young lactating bitches is eclampsia which is a problem caused by a sudden loss of calcium from the body through the milk. Eclampsia often causes muscle tremors, even seizures and can usually be prevented with diet and supplements your veterinarian can recommend. Hopefully the dog will be "open " and this has all been a typing exercise!

Dr. Mike


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