Emery-n-Denise’s Golden PuppiesTM wishes to extend our warm greetings to all of you on our waiting lists as well as others who are interested in what’s happening with our different Golden Retriever puppy reservations from our upcoming litters in the second half of 2022. Below is an update on all of our upcoming litters, but first we want to explain some important considerations about breeding so we don’t mislead anyone:
With any breeder, it is difficult to know exactly what is going to happen once a female (the Dam) goes into heat and breeds with her male partner (the Sire). The heat cycle with our females comes twice a year and will last approximately 3 to 4 weeks. During this time, the Sire and Dam will mate multiple times. Depending on the sexual drives and tendencies of both the Sire and Dam, sometimes mating will start early on and sometimes not until later in the 3 to 4 week cycle. The peak fertility period usually starts 7-10 days into the cycle and usually lasts for 3-4 days. This is called the estrus stage of the heat cycle. This is the time when the female has the greatest chance of conceiving. When she conceives, a 63 day clock starts counting down the birth of the litter. If all goes well with our Golden Sires and Dams, puppies will be born approximately 2 months after conception. This is called the gestation period.
What breeders observe is the mating between an intended pair in what is often referred to as a “lock” between the Sire and the Dam. When both are ready, mating can occur multiple times over about a 3-7 day period usually starting after the first week from when the female's heat cycle began. Much of this depends a lot on the experience of the Sire and Dam, the female’s readiness and willingness, and the signals she gives to the male.
During the heat cycle, the female must be isolated very securely to prevent accidental mating with dogs other than the intended Sire. If an accidental mating occurs, it's a very huge problem and therefore the breeder must exercise extreme care and caution when a female's heat cycle begins. Once the 3 to 4 week heat cycle is over, everything returns to normal and the female is allowed to come out of isolation.
For about the first 50 days from conception, the female shows very little difference in her appearance. During the last 10 to 14 days, she begins to round out in her abdomen area and puts on weight as the puppies inside are growing and developing. A breeder gets very little indication of a successful mating until the female begins to change in appearance. But there are some subtle things that a breeder might notice such as: (1) a female’s loss of appetite about 2-3 weeks into the gestation period which then returns to normal after about a week; (2) the protrusion and elongation of a female’s teats which begins after the first half of the pregnancy, increasing more towards the end of the pregnancy; (3) a female’s showing of sensitivity, emotion, and neediness usually 2-3 weeks into the gestation period which continues until she whelps her pups; (4) a drop in the female’s body temperature by 3-4 degrees combined with a loss of appetite just 12-24 hours before delivery, which is called the whelping of her pups.
So for the breeder, many times there isn’t a lot to go on to know for sure if a female is carrying pups until the last 10-14 days of the pregnancy. And sometimes what complicates things is knowing whether the female is putting on weight because of the developing pups she is hopefully carrying, or because she is just eating more. A conscientious breeder will feed the momma a little more food than normal to help provide nutrition for the healthy development and growth of the anticipated litter of pups, if she conceived. But if the Dam did not conceive, or had a false pregnancy, a breeder may see many of the signs listed in the previous paragraph, including the momma gaining weight and filling out a little, but she is not carrying pups because she did not conceive. This can happen when if a female urinates too soon after locking and she loses the semen, or as she ages and her fertility (her ability to conceive) can begin to decrease. On occasion, natural physiological processes can hinder conception if a female dog's body is needing a longer recovery period from the time of her last litter. While this doesn't happen often, we think it is good to ensure better health of the momma and her next litter pups.
Comments by Anna B. on Sep 6th, 2022 9:31 pm #1