Tag archives: microchip

Identifying A Litter of Puppies

Identifying A Litter of Puppies

The time has come. It is three in the morning and the new litter of eight has arrived! You were planning on doing some genetic testing and you know how important it is to label each puppy with a specific identifier. In all the excitement and clean up, are you prepared to send off these samples for testing? It is apparent that several of these precious pups are similar in size, color and of the same sex. Differentiating puppies is necessary for monitoring purposes and when collecting DNA samples to send to our laboratory. After all, you are anxious to mail in samples and receive those genetic health results! But we need to be able to provide the results to you on the correct puppy. So labeling each puppy sample is imperative!

We recommend health testing each puppy you plan to sell with breeding rights, as health testing will help increase the quality of your puppies and in turn the value of your breeding business. Once you learn who is clear or a carrier, you can then make vital decisions regarding each puppy to prevent inherited diseases and/or certain traits in your future litters. If both the dam and ...

Canine Halloween Hazards

Canine Halloween Hazards

The leaves are falling and the pumpkins are reaching their proper jack ‘o lantern size. Soon children everywhere will be dining on a steady diet of Halloween candy while many of us adults relive our youth by taking full advantage of the one day every year we can pretend to be someone (or something) else. Though many dogs also enjoy the excitement that Halloween brings, this time of year can present additional hazards and stressors for our canine friends.

 

Alcohol and Junk Food

Although Halloween parties in 2020 are likely to be much different than in years past, our opportunistic dogs are still likely to find themselves around more potentially dangerous food and drink than is typical in their daily lives. A cocktail placed at dog height or a single plate of carelessly placed food have been known to ruin more than one celebratory day.

Alcoholic beverages are a particular concern for dogs during holidays and celebrations. Dogs under the influence of alcohol tend to suffer the same consequences as their overindulgent human counterparts including drowsiness, vomiting, lack of coordination, and slow reflexes. Dogs consuming toxic levels of alcohol may experience depression, breathing and heart rate abnormalities, collapse, low ...