Producing Pups
PRODUCING PUPS
After hunting for some time, one always admires the ability of one’s own dogs, and we usually try to breed from them to keep the next line coming through. I mean, if something is working well why change it?
Most keen hunters will usually have a bitch in their yard; they make excellent hunters and are also the key ingredient to having pups. A bitch in the yard on heat can be annoying and tends to drive the male gender crazy (and I mean crazy), but that’s the price to pay if you want pups from her.
Males tend to fight when a bitch on heat is around so one important factor is not bring her into an area which has more than one male and you will have no problems.
If the two dogs are your own it is a fairly easy process. You pretty much let nature take its course, providing you keep a friendly eye on the goings on; male dogs can at times be a bit rough, especially if the bitch is going ahead with her first litter.
A bitch that is going through her first mating may not have such a nice experience. When the dog actually locks himself in, the bitch may squeal or whine for a period so a little comforting on your behalf may go along way.
The bull terrier types and their crosses can get very excitable. When they are given access to the bitch on heat they’ve been known to get just a little too excitable if you know what I mean. It can be over before it has started and during such times patience is needed, at least until round two comes along.
The bitch will be on heat for around 21 days, and after mating the pups will arrive roughly 58 days later. That gives you plenty of time to get the bitch comfortable, which is very important. She does not want to be harassed by other dogs so a comfortable kennel or segregated area will be the best bet. A crowded and agitated bitch can easily (and unintentionally) crush her pups. The size of the litter will depend on the weight and breed of the dogs involved.
It is probably a good thing to keep an eye on things when the birth is taking place, as some bitches may have trouble. If a bitch has not had a pup after an hour or two of its last arrival you may have to ring your local vet for assistance.
In my experience I have had no bad births in 14 litters but I always make sure the bitch is as stress free as possible.
When the pups are born, colours always seem to catch the eye- it rarely means it is going to be a good dog, but many people do pay a lot of attention to colour.
Because hunting dogs are rarely pure bred dogs, the colouration of pups from the same litter can vary a great deal, although there are some hunters out there that have been breeding certain breeds together for a long time and often produce pups come out looking similar. I knew a keen hunter who at one time was breeding a Neapolitan bitch with a pit bull sire, and with every litter the pups came out mahogany brindle and all hunted to perfection.
On most occasions the challenge is in trying to select the right pup at an early age, especially if you are mixing different styles of dogs, because as the dogs grow their appearance can change significantly. In pups of around four weeks of age you can detect slight differences, but that can dramatically change over the course of the next six months.
Over the last four years I had the misfortune in picking three pups from other households. None lasted more than 14 months. All these pups had the right breeding. My most recent pig dog pup I produced with my own bitch and she is doing extremely well. So by sticking to my own dogs that were capable of finding and catching a pig I produced a good quality working dog.
At time of writing new legislation were looming that could impact D.I.Y dog breeding. Yep, it appears the powers that be want to abolish backyard breeding, a move certain to have a fairly big impact on the hunting fraternity, as well as local vet incomes and pet shop sales. We can blame these latest changes, once again, on irresponsible dog owners.
So if you are thinking of keeping your line successful homegrown pig dogs going for another generation or two you should probably do so now before it is too late.
ROBERT VAN DER VEEN