How to Perform Pre‐Breeding Health Checks for Dogs
Consult with your vet., Have your vet perform a physical exam., Determine your dog’s body condition., Let your vet take blood samples., Agree to a fecal exam., Check your dog’s vaccination status., Determine which pre-health checks your dog will...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Consult with your vet.
Although any dog to be bred needs to be healthy, the specifics of a pre-breeding health check can vary between dog breeds.
Your vet or breeder can help you determine which specific pre-breeding health checks your dog will need.When you meet with your vet, ask questions about the pre-breeding health checks:
Which health checks will my dog need? How much will the health checks cost? What if health problems are detected? Does that mean my dog can’t be bred? If my dog doesn’t pass the health checks, can I try again when my dog is older? Are there specific forms that need to be filled out? -
Step 2: Have your vet perform a physical exam.
Begin the pre-breeding health checks one month before you plan to breed your dog.Your vet will first perform a thorough physical exam.
During this exam, your vet will check your dog from head to toe.
Aspects of a complete physical exam include:
Listening to the heart and lungs Looking in the mouth Examining the fur and skin Testing the range of motion in the joints A vaginal exam to check for vaginal abnormalities(your vet will do this with a gloved finger) Vaginal cytology to look at the cells in the vagina, A dog’s body condition describes its overall physique—whether it is underweight, overweight, or at an ideal weight.
Your vet may use a scale from 1 (severely underweight) to 9 (obese) to determine your dog’s body condition.A score of 5 indicates an ideal body weight.
If your dog is overweight, it should reach an ideal weight before being bred.
Help your dog lose weight by increasing its exercise and improving its diet. , Blood work can reveal a lot about a dog’s health.
Your vet will look for any abnormally high or levels of substances in the blood, indicating illness.
They will also test your dog’s blood for heartworm disease., Your vet will perform a fecal exam to test for intestinal worms.Fortunately, intestinal worms are easy to treat.
If your dog has intestinal worms, your vet will prescribe a medication called a dewormer that will kill the worms. , Being up-to-date on vaccinations helps your dog stay healthy.
While you are at the vet’s office for the physical exam, have your vet make sure your dog is current on all of its required vaccinations, such as rabies.If your dog is not current on its vaccinations, ask your vet to administer the vaccinations your dog will need. , Certain pre-breeding health checks are required for all dogs to be bred.
Because dog breeds can have their own specific diseases, talk with your vet which other pre-breeding health checks your dog will need.
Pre-breeding health checks include:
Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) certification Hip certification, either through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) or University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Plan (PennHip) Test for brucellosis Breed-specific checks, including genetic testing and evaluation of the heart and thyroid glands , The goal of the CERF exam is to detect genetic eye diseases that could cause blindness, such as cataracts.
It is performed yearly.
A veterinary ophthalmologist will perform the exam, then complete and submit an eye certification form.After the exam, you can send the owner’s copy of the form to the OFA Eye Certification Registry with the appropriate fee.If your dog passed the CERF exam, meaning it’s free of genetic eye diseases, you will receive an official Eye Certification Registry certificate number.Because the CERF exam is a yearly exam, your dog’s eyes will need to be certified each year, even after it stops breeding., A dog should not be bred if it has bad hips.
The OFA test looks for hip dysplasia, a genetic hip condition in dogs.
The PennHip exam looks for looseness in the hip joints, which can lead to hip dysplasia.A hip evaluation involves taking multiple x-rays of the hips.
To get accurate x-rays, a dog needs to be sedated.The PennHip test, which can be performed in dogs as young as four months old, is performed by a PennHip-certified vet.
Use this website to find a PennHip-certified vet in your area: http://info.antechimagingservices.com/pennhip/navigation/locate-pennHIP-vet/locate-pennHIP-vet.html A dog must be at least two years old for the OFA hip evaluation.The hip x-rays will be sent to the OFA, which will evaluate the x-rays and determine the health of your dog’s hips. , Brucellosis is a bacterial infection caused by Brucella canis.
This disease can cause infertility and spontaneous abortions.Have your vet test your dog for brucellosis one month before being bred.If your dog has B. canis, it should not be bred. , Your dog’s breed may be prone to certain genetic diseases.Talk with a knowledgeable breeder and your vet to learn about breed-specific genetic diseases.
Then, decide whether to have genetic testing performed to look for those diseases. , Breeding a dog is a serious undertaking.
In addition to making sure your dog is healthy, you should be sure you’re ready to take on the responsibility of dog breeding.
Consider these questions:
Will your dog contribute to improvement of the breed? Do you have money set aside for emergency veterinary care? Are you knowledgeable about what’s involved in a dog pregnancy, including whelping (giving birth) and raising newborn puppies? Do you know about your dog breed’s genetic diseases? Would you be willing to take the puppies back if an owner decides it doesn’t want them? Can you make yourself or another adult available 24 hours a day after the mother dog gives birth? , Male dogs reach full sexual maturity by 12 to 15 months of age.
Female dogs have their first menstrual cycle anywhere from 6 to 24 months of age.
A female dog should not be bred during its first cycle.Ideally, a female dog should not be bred until it’s at least two years old and has had two or three cycles.By not breeding your dog too soon, you will ensure your dog is physically able to breed.
This is very important for female dogs, to make sure their bodies are physically mature enough to handle pregnancy., In addition to the specific pre-breeding health checks, your dog should be as healthy as possible overall.
There are a few things you can do to keep your dog healthy before being bred:
Feed your dog a healthy diet.
Make sure dog gets plenty of exercise each day.
Take your dog to your vet for regular wellness exams. -
Step 3: Determine your dog’s body condition.
-
Step 4: Let your vet take blood samples.
-
Step 5: Agree to a fecal exam.
-
Step 6: Check your dog’s vaccination status.
-
Step 7: Determine which pre-health checks your dog will need.
-
Step 8: Have your dog’s eyes checked.
-
Step 9: Agree to an evaluation of your dog’s hips.
-
Step 10: Let your vet test your dog for brucellosis.
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Step 11: Discuss the need for genetic testing.
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Step 12: Determine if you’re ready to breed your dog.
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Step 13: Do not breed your dog too soon.
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Step 14: Keep your dog healthy.
Detailed Guide
Although any dog to be bred needs to be healthy, the specifics of a pre-breeding health check can vary between dog breeds.
Your vet or breeder can help you determine which specific pre-breeding health checks your dog will need.When you meet with your vet, ask questions about the pre-breeding health checks:
Which health checks will my dog need? How much will the health checks cost? What if health problems are detected? Does that mean my dog can’t be bred? If my dog doesn’t pass the health checks, can I try again when my dog is older? Are there specific forms that need to be filled out?
Begin the pre-breeding health checks one month before you plan to breed your dog.Your vet will first perform a thorough physical exam.
During this exam, your vet will check your dog from head to toe.
Aspects of a complete physical exam include:
Listening to the heart and lungs Looking in the mouth Examining the fur and skin Testing the range of motion in the joints A vaginal exam to check for vaginal abnormalities(your vet will do this with a gloved finger) Vaginal cytology to look at the cells in the vagina, A dog’s body condition describes its overall physique—whether it is underweight, overweight, or at an ideal weight.
Your vet may use a scale from 1 (severely underweight) to 9 (obese) to determine your dog’s body condition.A score of 5 indicates an ideal body weight.
If your dog is overweight, it should reach an ideal weight before being bred.
Help your dog lose weight by increasing its exercise and improving its diet. , Blood work can reveal a lot about a dog’s health.
Your vet will look for any abnormally high or levels of substances in the blood, indicating illness.
They will also test your dog’s blood for heartworm disease., Your vet will perform a fecal exam to test for intestinal worms.Fortunately, intestinal worms are easy to treat.
If your dog has intestinal worms, your vet will prescribe a medication called a dewormer that will kill the worms. , Being up-to-date on vaccinations helps your dog stay healthy.
While you are at the vet’s office for the physical exam, have your vet make sure your dog is current on all of its required vaccinations, such as rabies.If your dog is not current on its vaccinations, ask your vet to administer the vaccinations your dog will need. , Certain pre-breeding health checks are required for all dogs to be bred.
Because dog breeds can have their own specific diseases, talk with your vet which other pre-breeding health checks your dog will need.
Pre-breeding health checks include:
Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) certification Hip certification, either through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) or University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Plan (PennHip) Test for brucellosis Breed-specific checks, including genetic testing and evaluation of the heart and thyroid glands , The goal of the CERF exam is to detect genetic eye diseases that could cause blindness, such as cataracts.
It is performed yearly.
A veterinary ophthalmologist will perform the exam, then complete and submit an eye certification form.After the exam, you can send the owner’s copy of the form to the OFA Eye Certification Registry with the appropriate fee.If your dog passed the CERF exam, meaning it’s free of genetic eye diseases, you will receive an official Eye Certification Registry certificate number.Because the CERF exam is a yearly exam, your dog’s eyes will need to be certified each year, even after it stops breeding., A dog should not be bred if it has bad hips.
The OFA test looks for hip dysplasia, a genetic hip condition in dogs.
The PennHip exam looks for looseness in the hip joints, which can lead to hip dysplasia.A hip evaluation involves taking multiple x-rays of the hips.
To get accurate x-rays, a dog needs to be sedated.The PennHip test, which can be performed in dogs as young as four months old, is performed by a PennHip-certified vet.
Use this website to find a PennHip-certified vet in your area: http://info.antechimagingservices.com/pennhip/navigation/locate-pennHIP-vet/locate-pennHIP-vet.html A dog must be at least two years old for the OFA hip evaluation.The hip x-rays will be sent to the OFA, which will evaluate the x-rays and determine the health of your dog’s hips. , Brucellosis is a bacterial infection caused by Brucella canis.
This disease can cause infertility and spontaneous abortions.Have your vet test your dog for brucellosis one month before being bred.If your dog has B. canis, it should not be bred. , Your dog’s breed may be prone to certain genetic diseases.Talk with a knowledgeable breeder and your vet to learn about breed-specific genetic diseases.
Then, decide whether to have genetic testing performed to look for those diseases. , Breeding a dog is a serious undertaking.
In addition to making sure your dog is healthy, you should be sure you’re ready to take on the responsibility of dog breeding.
Consider these questions:
Will your dog contribute to improvement of the breed? Do you have money set aside for emergency veterinary care? Are you knowledgeable about what’s involved in a dog pregnancy, including whelping (giving birth) and raising newborn puppies? Do you know about your dog breed’s genetic diseases? Would you be willing to take the puppies back if an owner decides it doesn’t want them? Can you make yourself or another adult available 24 hours a day after the mother dog gives birth? , Male dogs reach full sexual maturity by 12 to 15 months of age.
Female dogs have their first menstrual cycle anywhere from 6 to 24 months of age.
A female dog should not be bred during its first cycle.Ideally, a female dog should not be bred until it’s at least two years old and has had two or three cycles.By not breeding your dog too soon, you will ensure your dog is physically able to breed.
This is very important for female dogs, to make sure their bodies are physically mature enough to handle pregnancy., In addition to the specific pre-breeding health checks, your dog should be as healthy as possible overall.
There are a few things you can do to keep your dog healthy before being bred:
Feed your dog a healthy diet.
Make sure dog gets plenty of exercise each day.
Take your dog to your vet for regular wellness exams.
About the Author
Alice Ramos
Committed to making DIY projects accessible and understandable for everyone.
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