Doggy Style or if you prefer Ian's School of Sex Ed

My girl Ripley aka Ripples is in day 5 of her season. As I wanted to determine if it was time Ripples should go visit her "date" and to find out how my young male Quinn would deal with an in season female I figured I would bring them together in a controlled meeting to judge their responses. Ripples, the experienced girl that she is was all over him... well, like a bitch in heat. Quinn on the other hand wasn't sure just what he was supposed to do with this whirlwind of teasing, flaunting femininity. I remained quiet and ready to whisk them apart all the while letting Ripley do her thing but Quinn as excited as he was, still kept coming back to me for reassurance. He totally failed to get the complete picture that she was so expressively painting for him. 

 Later that evening as Ian and I were sitting around, I expressed my worry that when the time comes Quinn would either be totally clueless or too submissive around bitches in season. Neither of which is a good thing in a prospective stud dog. Ian of course felt I was worried about nothing as Quinn just needed to actually be "taught" what to do.

Now despite the many years of my breeding dogs Ian prefers to be a hands off kind of guy when it comes to the actual breeding and birthing of the puppies. He really has very little knowledge on how dogs actually do it, I know this as a fact because (1) he is constantly tell me he "don't know nothing 'bout birthing no puppies" and (2) in the not so distance past, Ian once walked in during a mating where the dogs had "tied" and exclaimed "They're doing it wrong! They're backwards!" OK, that being said, Ian is right in the fact that there have been times when a breeder needs to help an inexperienced male but the dog generally has a natural instinct that gives us something to work with.

Knowing Ian's lack of experience in doggy sex and never one to pass up the opportunity to tease him I decided to be a smart arse and ask ....

OK Ian, what do you mean taught, If not by instinct how exactly were you "taught" to do it?

 Ian's too quick response....
 Porno movies, magazines, back alleys.

BACK ALLEYS!!!! Alrighty then, add to that a story he once told me about a park bench, I now firmly believe Ian knows a lot more about dogs and bitches in heat then I first thought.

Feeling like I need a shower and some penicillin right about now.

Parvovirus: Receiving conflicting advice?

Parvovirus: Receiving conflicting advice?

Basically a newborn puppy is not naturally immune to diseases. However, it does have some antibody protection which is derived from its mother's blood via the placenta. The next level of immunity is from antibodies derived from the first milk. Now where the problem comes in is that these maternal antibodies can actually block the effectiveness of a commercial vaccine and since it is different for each puppy in a litter no one can accurately predict when the maternal antibodies will reach a low enough level for the vaccine to work. This results in a period of time from several days to several weeks in which the maternal antibodies are too low to provide protection against the disease but too high to allow a vaccine to work. This period is called the window of susceptibility. This is the time when despite being vaccinated, a puppy can still contract the disease.
The length and timing of the window of susceptibility is different in every litter, and even between individuals in a litter. A study of different puppies showed that the age at which they were able to respond to a vaccine and develop protection (become immunized) covered a wide period of time. At six weeks of age, 25% of the puppies could be immunized. At 9 weeks of age, 40% of the puppies were able to respond to the vaccine. The number increased to 60% by 16 weeks of age, and by 18 weeks, 95% of the puppies were protected by the vaccine.
To add to this is what is called the Herd Effect or Herd Immunity which occurs when the vaccination of a portion of the population (or herd) provides protection to unprotected individuals. Herd immunity theory proposes that, in diseases passed from individual to individual, it is more difficult to maintain a chain of infection when large numbers of a population are immune ie puppy classes ( but only if the locals residents who are not taking class are also not using the area to walk and potty their dogs.) The higher the proportion of individuals who are immune, the lower the likelihood that a susceptible animal will come into contact with an infectious animal. However all it takes is 1 virus shedding animal to infect another so places such as vet offices are actually high risk.
In a nut shell
-puppies are given a series of booster shots (3) starting at 7 weeks to 18 weeks to cover this window of susceptibility and then again at 1 year of age to ensure adequate antibody levels.
- each puppy's response is different so the only likely safe period is after the third vaccination.
- a fully vaccinated animal will not pass on the disease, however an unvaccinated healthy looking adult dog can be a carrier
- viruses such as parvo are particularly long-lived in the environment, lasting anywhere from 1 to 7 months -- commonly surviving 5-7 months in an outside environment. Regular old bleach is still 100% effective against Parvovirus. The dilution for bleach is one part bleach to 30 parts water however due to the large amounts of virus particles shed in the feces of an infected dog (shedding lasts two weeks or more after exposure) and the longevity of the virus, complete eradication of the virus is often impossible.
- precautions need to be taken to lessen the risk of coming into contact with a diseased or carrier animal yet not so restrictive that it hinders the socialization and training that is so critical to ensuring the puppies proper cognitive, temperamental and behavioural development.