You may have noticed that I have been away from writing for a couple of months. Well such are vagaries of breeding dogs!
Ripley gave birth on Independence Day, the first pup appearing @ about 1 O’clock in the morning and the last, making its presence known @ about 6. A total of seven pups in all; 3 black dogs, 3 black bitches and a golden bitch. Well done Rips! Six is the normal haul for Ripley – one over the six is a great bonus. It sounds really callous, but an additional pup pays for the litter, plus it’s always great to have different colour ways in the litter.
However, it soon became clear that all was not right with the golden pup. Whenever I checked the whelping room, this pup was always to one side, far away from the other pups and mum, and was colder and less mobile than the rest of the litter. Bitches are very good a detecting defects in a pup and will often turf out a pup that they do not think will survive or that is damaged in some way. No matter how many times you lift the pup back in to the whelping box, or put it back on the teat, the bitch will take it off or remove it from the box again when you are out of sight. Nature in so many ways knows best. Cruel you may say, but such pups would not survive in the wild and the bitch is only emulating wild conditions in the whelping room.
I firmly believe that bitches are closest to their wild ancestors during the birthing process. It is fascinating to watch a maiden bitch give birth, with no preparation and instruction, other than what Mother Nature has given her. Even the scattiest of bitches usually settles to the birthing process with a minimum amount of fuss. Nature really is fabulous; the bitch just seems to inherently know what to do.
Emotions always run high when I breed (that sounds like a line from a Carry On Film!! Oooh Errr!)! – as I have said before, there is always an element of risk in breeding and if you are not able or willing to cope with the consequences then perhaps you shouldn’t be breeding in the first place. However, that’s easy to say and a whole lot less easy to live with. You always try to remain objective and during whelping – vigilance is the key – you are looking for any abnormal behaviour or little tell-tale signs that something is awry, but with the best will in the world and a fair amount of experience, I’m not a Vet. I’m a Toxicologist and a Biochemist, and whilst I’ve worked in medical environments all my life, I’m still as vulnerable as the next person, when the shit hits the fan.
I pride myself that I breed to the highest standards and that we don’t “lose” pups; but nature has a way of turning around and biting you on the arse just when you are feeling at your most smug. A tried and tested breeding doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be as straightforward as the last litter. Bitches get older, Stud dogs less fertile and owners more complacent. All of which means that the more you breed from a dog, the more vigilant you should be, rather than less.
Ripley was showing signs of being less attached to this litter than she has with previous ones. She is normally a very “keen” mum, sitting tight with the pups and being very attentive, usually up to the 4th week. However, this time she seemed more detached and less interested in the whole affair. Also she was still breathing quite heavily, which I just put down to being a bit too hot under the heat lamp.
How wrong can you be! Day 3 arrived and it was very obvious that the golden pup was in a bad way and didn’t have long to live. Rips was still stenting quite heavily, so there was little choice but to consult the vet.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – Joyce my puppy vet is fab. I’m not usually a fan of vets – I find them expensive, over-paid, under-trained and too willing to reach for the antibiotic injection for the slightest malady. There seems to be a lack of the “old-school” vet who was willing to make house calls and not try to stitch you up at the first opportunity. Joyce is most definitely old-school. She is an hours’ drive away from where I live, so I can’t really use her as much as I would like, but for all things puppy she is my absolute number one choice. She Scottish – maybe that helps and is most definitely sympathetic to the specific illnesses and injuries that working dogs get in the course of their jobs. God help us when she retires!
Ripley on the whole is probably less of a fan of vets that I am. There is one specific vet (Hi Tom!!) with whom she has had a 5 year feud. I’ve never seen a better natured dog than Rips – loving, gentle and extremely tolerant, but there is something about Tom that gets her goat! Maybe it was the bloody big needle he stuck in her or the eosin eye drops that she particularly disliked when she scratched her cornea. Anyway, elephants have nothing on Ripley, when it comes to holding grudge. The mere sight of Tom elicits a metamorphosis in her, from textbook pet to snarling fiend. She hasn’t got hold of him yet, but there’s time yet. Perhaps that’s why he never returns my phone calls!!! Still, it’s all in a days work for a clipper of budgies toe-nails.
Ripley tolerates Joyce – she’s a bit like and Victorian headmistress, and I suspect she wouldn’t tolerate any funny business from Ripley – or from me either come to that. Practical and efficient would be a good way of describing Joyce. She also has a tendency to call a spade a ****’ing shovel. Direct talking – what could be better - @ least you know where you stand!
On seeing the golden pup, she said “I can give a fluid depot injection to try and rehydrate it, but I suspect that it won’t last the night. What do you want to do?” We both agreed that euthanasing the pup was the kindest thing to do, so she simply got on and did it, whilst we both shed a tear for that unfortunate little puppy. How refreshing not to have to press for euthanasia (when you know it’s the best option) in the face of the vet simply wanting to try more interventions that only serve to pump up their final bill. We both knew the writing was on the wall for the pup, so the less fannying around the better in my book.
Joyce then proceeded to dock the other 6 pups with the same matter of fact style belying extraordinary professionalism, using a pair of stout surgical scissors and a swab of ferric chloride.
I guess there are some of you that are reading this (assuming anyone actually does!!) thinking that I shouldn’t be talking about that most taboo of all doggy topics; THE D WORD! Well I beg to differ. I consider that it is only through educating the public that we can attempt to redress the appalling imbalance of opinion and injustice that has been forced upon us in the guise of The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (section 6). This appalling piece of legislation had very little to do with animal welfare and a whole lot to do with salving the collective consciousness of an uneducated liberal public, who don’t understand and who can’t be bothered to find out why we do what we do.
The Animal Welfare Act in its current form is stealth tax on breeders of docked breeds. I must have my puppies docked by a registered vet no later than 5 days after they are born and I must have the same pups micro-chipped by the same vet no later than 6 weeks after the docking. Don’t get me wrong – I’d chip my pups whatever the law said, but I’d do it myself. The same with docking. The old breeders always used to dock their own pups – usually with a blacksmith made tool that looks a little like an Italian mezzaluna. They would heat it in a flame till red hot and then roll it over the tail cutting and cauterising at the same time. Well, we now have surgical scissors and ferric chloride to achieve the same effect, but because of this specious act of parliament I now have to drive my recently whelped bitch and the pups 90 miles in order to comply with the law, as my local vet will not dock. In my mind that is needless cruelty. 3 day old pups don’t need to be subjected to this sort of stress. Can you really tell me that it more cruel for me to dock the pups in the warmth of their own whelping room, without all the travel? This is what happens when people who make the laws do so from a position of ignorance. So it’s a double kick in the knackers when you have to pay £30 to have the pup docked and another £30 to have them chipped, all of which I am completely capable of doing myself. It’s not about the money – it’s about the welfare. Send breeders on courses, teach them how to dock and chip humanely, even if they have been doing it for years, set up an authority to ensure the system is not abused, but for god sake let’s move away from this ridiculous system that we have at the moment, that has nothing to do with welfare and everything to do with a stealth attack on field sports.
But it’s our own fault – we stood by and watched them do it!
As I’m writing this blog, I’m also planning the next in my head – it’s about the role of the Kennel Club, particularly in relation to working dogs. This has got me thinking (dangerous I know!!) that we really are poorly represented by those bodies that purport to be working on our behalf. I’m not going to rant about the KC here, that’s for next time, but it reminded me that there used to be on organisation called “The Council for Docked Breeds.” This was an organisation whose role in life was to support, educate and generally generate positive PR for docking and docked breeds. They were supposed to be the gatekeepers – the people who dealt with the wolves at the door. They have however been found to be sadly lacking! You might notice that I talk about the CDB in the past tense – they still exist, but they might as well not do for all the use that they are!
I’d recommend that you have a look at their website www.cdb.org . They talk the talk – you can even buy a “Keep on Docking” baseball cap – although why the hell you would want to is beyond me. Go out in public in this as see how long it is before the animal “loving” public gives you a right kicking! However, when the going got tough, the tough got going by cowering, whimpering and generally sticking their heads up their arse. A least it was safe and warm there – you couldn’t hear the sound of our way of life been dismantled brick by brick.
Where were these bastards when the Animal Welfare Act was been passed through parliament on the nod? Where is the database of Vets who are willing to dock that was promised to us so long ago? Where is the voice for any breeder who happens to be unfortunate enough to breed working dogs that need to be docked in order to carry out their job in the field, without injuring themselves? It’s like asking a man working in a steel factory to go and poke the furnace without suitable eye protection and gloves. Health and Safety would have a shit fit. Why then are there so many vets out there who a perfectly willing to let animals work in an environment that they know will result in injury, when they could prevent this with a single snip of the scissors?
Yes, it must hurt. Yes they squeak! But it doesn’t hurt as much as having your tail-end busted every time you go to work, having to have it sewn up 20 times in the shooting season every year and eventually having to have the bloody thing amputated because there is no skin left which can be sewn!
It’s not only the grass roots vets that are to blame. The Royall College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVC) has a predominantly anti-docking stance. Whilst vets can legally dock a prescribed list of working breeds without any possible fear of retribution from the law, their own governing body exerts undue pressure on them not to dock. I’ve talked to vets who fear that they would be struck off the register for docking a working dog. I’ve also had recent personal experience of a locum vet that refused to work on docked dogs. No wonder it’s so hard to find a vet that will dock!
There has been a recent paper on docking – a collaboration between the RVC and the University of Bristol, in order to shed more light on the benefits or not of docking. What you should also know is that this study was funded by the Scottish Executive!!!! How impartial is that! If you want to read an abridged form of the results you can do here.
http://www.rvc.ac.uk/News/PressReleases/pr1006_tailinjuries.cfm
Personally, I’d recommend sticking pins in your eyes – it’s probably more informative. Quoting from the Press Release;
“Key findings from the report include:
Professor Sheila Crispin, co-investigator, from the University of Bristol‘s Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, commented: “While it is obvious that injury to the tail is impossible if the tail has been removed, the dog may have also lost an important means of balance and communication.”
However, like all studies results are open to statistical manipulation. Interestingly this paper is also illustrated with a picture of a Springer who has been docked like a terrier. There can’t be an inch of his tail left. No one in their right mind would dock so harshly. But it is a sad reflection on things when the RCV chooses to use such misrepresented images. Perhaps Professor Crispin should walk a while in our shoes before choosing to add her name to such a piece of crap purporting to be science!
Anyway – back to Ripley and the vet..................
We were pretty much done. All in all, it had taken an hour to drive there and we’d been in the surgery for about half an hour, so a two and half hour ‘round trip wasn’t really bad going. Just as we were on our way out, I asked Joyce to take a look at Rips who was in the back of the car.
She examined her and I could tell that there was something wrong by the look on her face. “Her uterus is still enlarged” she said.
Oh Bugger!!! Please don’ let there be a puppy retained. Nightmare scenario – dead puppy still in the womb, systemic infections, C-sections, hand feeding puppies every two hours for 3 weeks, all flashed through my mind. Trying not to panic and kicking myself for not been more vigilant, I waited for Joyce and Rips to get back with the X-ray. No puppy, thank God, but a retained placenta, which explained why she had still been stenting and was pretty uninterested in the pups. Oxytocin and systemic antibiotics did the trick and Rips was returned back to super mum in a couple of days.
Gut feelings are great – go with them. Generally if you think something’s not quite right, you are generally on the money. If you’re not, well at least you have had your mind settled.
Rips pups are now 8 weeks old and the next litter (from Rheya) has just made its presence felt. She had seven last night!
Here we go again...........................
Ripley gave birth on Independence Day, the first pup appearing @ about 1 O’clock in the morning and the last, making its presence known @ about 6. A total of seven pups in all; 3 black dogs, 3 black bitches and a golden bitch. Well done Rips! Six is the normal haul for Ripley – one over the six is a great bonus. It sounds really callous, but an additional pup pays for the litter, plus it’s always great to have different colour ways in the litter.
However, it soon became clear that all was not right with the golden pup. Whenever I checked the whelping room, this pup was always to one side, far away from the other pups and mum, and was colder and less mobile than the rest of the litter. Bitches are very good a detecting defects in a pup and will often turf out a pup that they do not think will survive or that is damaged in some way. No matter how many times you lift the pup back in to the whelping box, or put it back on the teat, the bitch will take it off or remove it from the box again when you are out of sight. Nature in so many ways knows best. Cruel you may say, but such pups would not survive in the wild and the bitch is only emulating wild conditions in the whelping room.
I firmly believe that bitches are closest to their wild ancestors during the birthing process. It is fascinating to watch a maiden bitch give birth, with no preparation and instruction, other than what Mother Nature has given her. Even the scattiest of bitches usually settles to the birthing process with a minimum amount of fuss. Nature really is fabulous; the bitch just seems to inherently know what to do.
Emotions always run high when I breed (that sounds like a line from a Carry On Film!! Oooh Errr!)! – as I have said before, there is always an element of risk in breeding and if you are not able or willing to cope with the consequences then perhaps you shouldn’t be breeding in the first place. However, that’s easy to say and a whole lot less easy to live with. You always try to remain objective and during whelping – vigilance is the key – you are looking for any abnormal behaviour or little tell-tale signs that something is awry, but with the best will in the world and a fair amount of experience, I’m not a Vet. I’m a Toxicologist and a Biochemist, and whilst I’ve worked in medical environments all my life, I’m still as vulnerable as the next person, when the shit hits the fan.
I pride myself that I breed to the highest standards and that we don’t “lose” pups; but nature has a way of turning around and biting you on the arse just when you are feeling at your most smug. A tried and tested breeding doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be as straightforward as the last litter. Bitches get older, Stud dogs less fertile and owners more complacent. All of which means that the more you breed from a dog, the more vigilant you should be, rather than less.
Ripley was showing signs of being less attached to this litter than she has with previous ones. She is normally a very “keen” mum, sitting tight with the pups and being very attentive, usually up to the 4th week. However, this time she seemed more detached and less interested in the whole affair. Also she was still breathing quite heavily, which I just put down to being a bit too hot under the heat lamp.
How wrong can you be! Day 3 arrived and it was very obvious that the golden pup was in a bad way and didn’t have long to live. Rips was still stenting quite heavily, so there was little choice but to consult the vet.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – Joyce my puppy vet is fab. I’m not usually a fan of vets – I find them expensive, over-paid, under-trained and too willing to reach for the antibiotic injection for the slightest malady. There seems to be a lack of the “old-school” vet who was willing to make house calls and not try to stitch you up at the first opportunity. Joyce is most definitely old-school. She is an hours’ drive away from where I live, so I can’t really use her as much as I would like, but for all things puppy she is my absolute number one choice. She Scottish – maybe that helps and is most definitely sympathetic to the specific illnesses and injuries that working dogs get in the course of their jobs. God help us when she retires!
Ripley on the whole is probably less of a fan of vets that I am. There is one specific vet (Hi Tom!!) with whom she has had a 5 year feud. I’ve never seen a better natured dog than Rips – loving, gentle and extremely tolerant, but there is something about Tom that gets her goat! Maybe it was the bloody big needle he stuck in her or the eosin eye drops that she particularly disliked when she scratched her cornea. Anyway, elephants have nothing on Ripley, when it comes to holding grudge. The mere sight of Tom elicits a metamorphosis in her, from textbook pet to snarling fiend. She hasn’t got hold of him yet, but there’s time yet. Perhaps that’s why he never returns my phone calls!!! Still, it’s all in a days work for a clipper of budgies toe-nails.
Ripley tolerates Joyce – she’s a bit like and Victorian headmistress, and I suspect she wouldn’t tolerate any funny business from Ripley – or from me either come to that. Practical and efficient would be a good way of describing Joyce. She also has a tendency to call a spade a ****’ing shovel. Direct talking – what could be better - @ least you know where you stand!
On seeing the golden pup, she said “I can give a fluid depot injection to try and rehydrate it, but I suspect that it won’t last the night. What do you want to do?” We both agreed that euthanasing the pup was the kindest thing to do, so she simply got on and did it, whilst we both shed a tear for that unfortunate little puppy. How refreshing not to have to press for euthanasia (when you know it’s the best option) in the face of the vet simply wanting to try more interventions that only serve to pump up their final bill. We both knew the writing was on the wall for the pup, so the less fannying around the better in my book.
Joyce then proceeded to dock the other 6 pups with the same matter of fact style belying extraordinary professionalism, using a pair of stout surgical scissors and a swab of ferric chloride.
I guess there are some of you that are reading this (assuming anyone actually does!!) thinking that I shouldn’t be talking about that most taboo of all doggy topics; THE D WORD! Well I beg to differ. I consider that it is only through educating the public that we can attempt to redress the appalling imbalance of opinion and injustice that has been forced upon us in the guise of The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (section 6). This appalling piece of legislation had very little to do with animal welfare and a whole lot to do with salving the collective consciousness of an uneducated liberal public, who don’t understand and who can’t be bothered to find out why we do what we do.
The Animal Welfare Act in its current form is stealth tax on breeders of docked breeds. I must have my puppies docked by a registered vet no later than 5 days after they are born and I must have the same pups micro-chipped by the same vet no later than 6 weeks after the docking. Don’t get me wrong – I’d chip my pups whatever the law said, but I’d do it myself. The same with docking. The old breeders always used to dock their own pups – usually with a blacksmith made tool that looks a little like an Italian mezzaluna. They would heat it in a flame till red hot and then roll it over the tail cutting and cauterising at the same time. Well, we now have surgical scissors and ferric chloride to achieve the same effect, but because of this specious act of parliament I now have to drive my recently whelped bitch and the pups 90 miles in order to comply with the law, as my local vet will not dock. In my mind that is needless cruelty. 3 day old pups don’t need to be subjected to this sort of stress. Can you really tell me that it more cruel for me to dock the pups in the warmth of their own whelping room, without all the travel? This is what happens when people who make the laws do so from a position of ignorance. So it’s a double kick in the knackers when you have to pay £30 to have the pup docked and another £30 to have them chipped, all of which I am completely capable of doing myself. It’s not about the money – it’s about the welfare. Send breeders on courses, teach them how to dock and chip humanely, even if they have been doing it for years, set up an authority to ensure the system is not abused, but for god sake let’s move away from this ridiculous system that we have at the moment, that has nothing to do with welfare and everything to do with a stealth attack on field sports.
But it’s our own fault – we stood by and watched them do it!
As I’m writing this blog, I’m also planning the next in my head – it’s about the role of the Kennel Club, particularly in relation to working dogs. This has got me thinking (dangerous I know!!) that we really are poorly represented by those bodies that purport to be working on our behalf. I’m not going to rant about the KC here, that’s for next time, but it reminded me that there used to be on organisation called “The Council for Docked Breeds.” This was an organisation whose role in life was to support, educate and generally generate positive PR for docking and docked breeds. They were supposed to be the gatekeepers – the people who dealt with the wolves at the door. They have however been found to be sadly lacking! You might notice that I talk about the CDB in the past tense – they still exist, but they might as well not do for all the use that they are!
I’d recommend that you have a look at their website www.cdb.org . They talk the talk – you can even buy a “Keep on Docking” baseball cap – although why the hell you would want to is beyond me. Go out in public in this as see how long it is before the animal “loving” public gives you a right kicking! However, when the going got tough, the tough got going by cowering, whimpering and generally sticking their heads up their arse. A least it was safe and warm there – you couldn’t hear the sound of our way of life been dismantled brick by brick.
Where were these bastards when the Animal Welfare Act was been passed through parliament on the nod? Where is the database of Vets who are willing to dock that was promised to us so long ago? Where is the voice for any breeder who happens to be unfortunate enough to breed working dogs that need to be docked in order to carry out their job in the field, without injuring themselves? It’s like asking a man working in a steel factory to go and poke the furnace without suitable eye protection and gloves. Health and Safety would have a shit fit. Why then are there so many vets out there who a perfectly willing to let animals work in an environment that they know will result in injury, when they could prevent this with a single snip of the scissors?
Yes, it must hurt. Yes they squeak! But it doesn’t hurt as much as having your tail-end busted every time you go to work, having to have it sewn up 20 times in the shooting season every year and eventually having to have the bloody thing amputated because there is no skin left which can be sewn!
It’s not only the grass roots vets that are to blame. The Royall College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVC) has a predominantly anti-docking stance. Whilst vets can legally dock a prescribed list of working breeds without any possible fear of retribution from the law, their own governing body exerts undue pressure on them not to dock. I’ve talked to vets who fear that they would be struck off the register for docking a working dog. I’ve also had recent personal experience of a locum vet that refused to work on docked dogs. No wonder it’s so hard to find a vet that will dock!
There has been a recent paper on docking – a collaboration between the RVC and the University of Bristol, in order to shed more light on the benefits or not of docking. What you should also know is that this study was funded by the Scottish Executive!!!! How impartial is that! If you want to read an abridged form of the results you can do here.
http://www.rvc.ac.uk/News/PressReleases/pr1006_tailinjuries.cfm
Personally, I’d recommend sticking pins in your eyes – it’s probably more informative. Quoting from the Press Release;
“Key findings from the report include:
- Tail injuries requiring veterinary treatment were rare (prevalence of tail injuries was 0.23 per cent, one in 435 dogs).
- English Springer Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, Greyhounds, Lurchers and Whippets were at significantly higher risk when compared with Labradors and other Retrievers.
Professor Sheila Crispin, co-investigator, from the University of Bristol‘s Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, commented: “While it is obvious that injury to the tail is impossible if the tail has been removed, the dog may have also lost an important means of balance and communication.”
However, like all studies results are open to statistical manipulation. Interestingly this paper is also illustrated with a picture of a Springer who has been docked like a terrier. There can’t be an inch of his tail left. No one in their right mind would dock so harshly. But it is a sad reflection on things when the RCV chooses to use such misrepresented images. Perhaps Professor Crispin should walk a while in our shoes before choosing to add her name to such a piece of crap purporting to be science!
Anyway – back to Ripley and the vet..................
We were pretty much done. All in all, it had taken an hour to drive there and we’d been in the surgery for about half an hour, so a two and half hour ‘round trip wasn’t really bad going. Just as we were on our way out, I asked Joyce to take a look at Rips who was in the back of the car.
She examined her and I could tell that there was something wrong by the look on her face. “Her uterus is still enlarged” she said.
Oh Bugger!!! Please don’ let there be a puppy retained. Nightmare scenario – dead puppy still in the womb, systemic infections, C-sections, hand feeding puppies every two hours for 3 weeks, all flashed through my mind. Trying not to panic and kicking myself for not been more vigilant, I waited for Joyce and Rips to get back with the X-ray. No puppy, thank God, but a retained placenta, which explained why she had still been stenting and was pretty uninterested in the pups. Oxytocin and systemic antibiotics did the trick and Rips was returned back to super mum in a couple of days.
Gut feelings are great – go with them. Generally if you think something’s not quite right, you are generally on the money. If you’re not, well at least you have had your mind settled.
Rips pups are now 8 weeks old and the next litter (from Rheya) has just made its presence felt. She had seven last night!
Here we go again...........................