Your Questions About Dog’s Life Cycle
Helen asks…
Is the milk from the estrus cycle of a dog bad for a kitten?
My 3 year old dog has been nursing my 3 month old kitten. Although I do not mind that he is being comforted by her in the nursing process, she is in the estrus cycle and is producing milk. Is this milk ok for a kitten? Are there any properties in her milk that are bad for the kitten?
admin answers:
I don’t think there’s anything bad for the kitten, except that dog’s milk is formulated for dogs. Cats have some very starkly different nutritional needs, like their dependency on taurine in their diet in order to, you know, not die.
If your kitten is getting a sizely amount of its nutrition from the dog, then I’d intervene. The cat needs to eat food with his own dietary requirements taken into account.
Cats are obligate carnivores–this means they REQUIRE taurine from the flesh of other animals in order to survive. Taurine cannot be adequately recieved from plant life, and is destroyed during the cooking process. This is why dry cat food has added taurine. Dogs, on the other hand, are carnivores, but not obligate carnivores. That is, they do not require taurine in their diet to survive. This is why they thrive as scavengers, and can safely be fed a vegan diet if some hipster douchebag wants to shove their own lifestyle onto their carnivore pet.
The kitten needs to eat cat food or another source of taurine, not to mention his other dietary needs. This is why dogs can eat cat food and do just fine, but cats cannot be fed a steady diet of dog food, which has no added taurine, without going blind, suffering a host of health problems including seizures, and eventually dying. The only obligate carnivore I know of that survived on a taurine-free diet was an african lioness, a complete, utter fluke of nature.
Jenny asks…
How long is the menstrual cycle for a Chihuahua, and how often do they go into heat?
Mine is in heat now and this is the ONE thing I DIDN’T think about b4 actually getting her! YELLLK! I am TOOO grossed out! TELL ME how long this will go on and how soon after can I go to get her spayed??? I love her, but geez, do they make Kotex for dogs??? YELK!
admin answers:
HAHAHAHA! YEEEEP! You have to give thought to THAT part of a female dog’s life especially! LOL!
She, unless you have her spayed, will go into heat 2 times a year. With my Chihuaha, I’ve noticed that she only bleeds for the first week, and then the days after the vaginal area is still swollen (she is STILL in heat, so I have to keep a CLOSE watch on her) but no blood is evident. I’m not sure if this is with all dogs, but with my pooch, this is how it works. Every male dog in my apartment complex was on the prowl searchin’ for her! LOL! One escaped through the bedroom window the other day and he sniffed her out allllllll the way upstairs to our door and was barking as if to say, “Come out and play!” LOL! It was so funny! Anywho, I hope all goes well with you and your pooch!
Paul asks…
How do I know when it’s the right time to breed a shih tzu?
My 1 year old Shih Tzu is in the heat cycle right now. She’s bleeding a lot and my parents and I want to breed her. When is it a good time to mate my dog in the process of the cycle? She started about January 19 or 20, 2011.
My mom has had a dog and bred it at 1 year when she was little. And don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m doing cuz that’s not the question.
admin answers:
Get her spayed. You have no idea what you are doing and will be putting your dog’s life at risk. If you were qualified to breed you would already know that she’s too young and would be talking to your breeding mentor instead of strangers online.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Your Questions About Rough Collie Breeders
George asks…
How can I make my partner see he is wrong??!?
Me and my partner have two children, a two year old and a three year old. We have just bought and done up a large house with a big garden and are moving in after Christmas, the year after I’m planning on getting a puppy. I’ve had dogs all my life, my partner knows nothing about dogs or caring for them.
I had decided on a rough collie as everything about the breed is perfect for my family. I have researched them for the past few months, spent months finding good breeders speaking to different breeders and spoke to one about putting my name on the waiting list at the end of next year. My partner saw an Akita in the pub and now is saying he wants one, completely ignoring me while I’m saying an Akita would NOT be the right dog for us at all….he says a rough collie is too “girly” and he wants an Akita or a husky.
We have been arguing a lot about this, I’ve told him why they wouldn’t be suitable but he just keeps saying I think I know everything when I don’t and the Akita at the pub and the husky that’s chained up outside the garage all day are fine. He really doesn’t have a clue, hasn’t researched them and won’t listen to me when I try and explain….he wants a dog that looks good, but then I’m going to be looking after it because I know 100% he has no idea what goes into looking after a dog, especially a very dominant breed like an Akita, or the husky, I couldn’t have chose worse dogs for my family than these two breeds!! How can I make him see that personality and character is more important, and that I have spent months choosing the right breed and then breeder for us then he just sees a dog in the pub and decides he wants one with no idea what they are like. I just recently had to rehome my lurcher because of extreme dog aggression after having months of training with dog trainers and I do not want another difficult dog or a breed that will be aggressive/very hyper/destructive/stubborn/difficult to train/can’t let of leash/not trust worthy around strangers and children and the dogs he’s chosen have all the qualitys that I’m trying to stay away from….this is causing trouble with us and I just want him to understand you don’t pick a dog because you like what it looks like, what do I do?
My oldest will be five and the youngest will be four when I am planning the get the dog. My partner bought me my lurcher for my birthday as a suprise, not the right breed I had her for two years I house trained her when I had a three month old and a one year old, and it was fine when i lived on a farm, not when I moved into my mums(while we are doing our house up) she started attacking her dogs, causing two emergency vet trips, i tried for the whole year we have been living here. but i had to know when enough was enough. Even though I had made effort to socialise her my trainer said it would be best to rehome her-so I found someone who is perfect for her and have kept in touch. I didn’t just give her up for no reason.
My children would never “make the puppy’s life a misery” not all children are rough and cruel to animals you know…..they never hurt my lurcher once when she was a pup, and because they grew up with her from a young age, they now know exactly how to treat dogs and animals. The help me wash and brush the dogs, feed them and exercise them. never pull hair or ears and know how to behave around dogs. I am looking after my mums dalamation and lurcher while I’m living here and am managing fine with two very high energy breeds we are an active family and like to keep busy and any dog we get will have more than enough Exercise and attention. I’ve had dogs since I was young and I intend my children to have the same experience.
admin answers:
Your partner’s not wrong as such, just misguided when it comes to thinking about your ability to manage a growing family plus a high-maintenance dog. Any puppy is going to be high-maintenance anyway but when you get a wilful breed it’s like having a massive puppy around for years and years.
Rough Collies are nice but certainly not ‘girly’. They’re second only in stunning coat handsomeness to Borzois. I’ve had two of the latter and they were not dogs that ever tended to ‘listen’.
So any dog you get must have an excellent temperament in its breeding and you should be prepared to pay more for this with a top breeder.
Whilst it might be super-senisble to wait until your kids get older, that would deny them the joy of growing up with a dog. I’m certain children from dog owning families end up better equipped to cope with life’s problems.
Sharon asks…
Are all breeders who raise their dogs in kennel runs bad?
The breeder shows his dogs and has quite a few (at least 8) and has children. He occasionally has advertisements for puppies. The dogs are rough collies.
yes he does let us look and has all the pedigrees of the parents, and the dogs have access to clean water
the kennels don’t smell (well maybe a little bit of doggie odor)
and the puppies are in puppy runs, not in the house
and the vets in queensland don’t seem to want to recommend any breeders
admin answers:
No.
However, good breeders don’t allow the b*tch to whelp in the kennel or raise the pups in the kennel. Whelping and early puppyhood should take place in the home. Not only is this far less stressful and safer for the dam and the pups, it’s important that the puppies become used to lots of human handling, household noises, etc., before they go home. Miss that critical socialization period and you’re setting the pups up for a lifetime of behavior and temperament issues.
My mom has kennel runs, too, but that’s not where girls in heat or pregnant b*tches or puppies go! They’re in the house! (And even the dogs in the kennels don’t live there all the time or spend all their time in there when they do. That’s why we have a fenced acre of property-the dogs in the kennel for that time get to play and be trained and just be dogs romping in the yard or going on excursion with us or to shows. )
She built a special whelping room right off our kitchen for whelping and litters. The pups get handled frequently and hear all the household noises because they’re right there with the family!
Carol asks…
Can I bring a Ragdoll cat from USA to Brazil? Can you tell about the American laws about animal transportation?
In Brazil it is very hard to find the breed Ragdoll. When you find it is too expensive because it is rare. When I visit US someday can I bring one with me? Do I need to pay some rates? How much would it be? Can I adopt one? Or do you get it from breeders? I need a cat that gets along well with kind dogs. I would love to adopt a cat in my country and it can hurt my kind Rough Collie.
admin answers:
Of course you can “import” animals, as long as they are pets like cats and dogs.
The first part is consular approval, health certificates ,etc. It is more about Brazilian regulations (not US regulations) you must be concerned about. From this site: http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=1111 (but also see http://gobrazil.about.com/od/bringingapettobrazil/ss/brazilpettravel.htm)
“First, you need an international travel certificate from the local veterinarian. And in order to get that you need to take the animal for an exam, and you must have proof of a rabies vaccination within a certain time frame. It must not be too old; but the surprise is that it cannot be too recent, either (30 days before the flight may be just too late). You may then need a local government certificate that says that there are not any epidemics in your area. In my case, I had to go to the United States Department of Agriculture in my city (Tempe, Arizona, with population of about 200,000) to obtain the certificate. I arrived at my appointed time, showed them the international travel certificate, they charged me a small fee, and then they put their official stamp on the travel certificate. They, like the airlines, had their own research on Brazil‘s requirements, which added to my stock of understanding and confidence.
The Brazilian consulate must approve of the cats entering Brazil before your flight. There are specific time rules about when the proper document can be obtained, and it must be within a very short time of the flight. This can cause a great deal of anxiety about whether you will get the approval in time. The rule of thumb is that if you are well prepared and send your documents within the time guidelines given that the Brazilian consulate in your area will then respond in time for your flight, even if the time window is short by that time (this guideline goes for visas for people, too). The consulate requires that you have documents from your country authenticated by the consulate. (In the USA, they sometimes require a notary and then authentication of the notary at the Secretary of State, and then finally authentication at the consulate.) It is better for you if you live close enough to go to the consulate personally, or if your visa courier company has no problem getting the pet acceptance along with your visa. The ideal situation is that you find that Brazil has an honorary consulate in your area. This is somebody who works part-time for the Brazilian government, who can authenticate some minor Brazilian documents. My city, Phoenix, has just such an honorary Brazilian consulate. I made an appointment with him, we chatted about my connections to Brazil, and he authenticated the pet travel papers and gave the official government stamp of approval, just days before the flight.”
Please also be aware that at the airport in Brazil you cannot go to the “Nothing to declare” line. You have to go through inspection.
The second part you need to check with the airliner what the policies are for transporting pets.
I moved my cat from the US to Canada and back to the US and American Airlines let me have a small cat in the cabin provided that I had him in a carrier (a soft carrier like a Sherpa Bag). Http://www.sherpapet.com/. Other airlines will only allow you to have the pet transported in the luggage compartment – in that case you may a sturdy hard carrier.
The third part is to make the trip comfortable for your pet. You may want to have it lightly sedated by a vet before the trip after all it is a long trip.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Recent Comments