Looking for a male saint bernard

[Overoberyl]

A ***** really shouldn't be bred that soon again at minimum there should be a full year from when her last litter left her. It's extremely bad for both the health of the dam as well as the puppies. Most people wait more than the minimum one before breeding again

A commonly held misconception. The uterus ages equally whether or not a ***** become pregnant through a heat cycle, and as another poster said, without a pregnancy the risk of pyometra increases significantly. You may not be aware, but pyometra can be life threatening. As long as the ***** is healthy, there is absolutely no reason she cannot be bred back to back. It may not make sense for other reasons, it's a lot of work, an appropriate stud might not be available, etc., but if she is otherwise healthy, the need to give her a "rest" is a myth born out of our need to anthropomorphize our dogs, and your statement that it is bad for the health of the puppies has no basis in fact whatsoever.

 

[arabianequine]

We did this is her second heat cycle, thanks for your concern though. We were going to wait till fall/winter of this year and that would be the 3 cycle.

She is having a heat cycle every 4 months which is why we are 2 months early. She had one in Sept. and now. We did decide to go ahead because we are earlier this year then last year.

 

[arabianequine]

My only concern is dams weight last time....she runs small. So after and during she was way to skinny for my liking. If anyone has any ideas to help her with her weight, I would appreciate the advice. I read not to give to much calcium till like last week, I think it was. I will read up on that again.

 

[dainerra]

you need to basically up her calories to help her keep weight on. She just needs to have more reserves to draw on. However, you don't want her to "fatten up" just so that she has more weight. She should be in peak condition but not fat. That will actually put more strain on her body and negatively impact the health of the pups.
It's normal for her to drop condition while whelping and nursing. The last quarter of pregnancy, most will switch to a high quality puppy food - extra calories and protein per serving. Unless she is dropping to the point where her ribs are showing and she is actually emaciated, it could just be her body's way of dealing with the drain.

 

[arabianequine]

I know it is normal....I had heard that before. Last time I noticed her back bone being really boney and her hip points (I think it was). My husband just said he thinks it was the weight and sag of her extra skin making it that way after the puppies were born. She did loose some weight though. She gets free choice normally so not sure the food will help. Maybe a better brand then Diamond adult large breed? Some recommend puppy food to mom's or is that just during nursing? Oh I just reread you said some add puppy the last part of pregnancy. I am pretty sure I did this last time since the puppies were going to be on it too soon. What would be a better brand as far as more calories/protein? I think in past research it was the same on the label puppy vs brands. I can look again. Maybe I can add meat to it or stock? I dont think she lost too much weight just seemed pretty boney on the back bone especially, and it did bother me but might be normal for her.

 

[Overoberyl]

I know it is normal....I had heard that before. Last time I noticed her back bone being really boney and her hip points (I think it was). My husband just said he thinks it was the weight and sag of her extra skin making it that way after the puppies were born. She did loose some weight though. She gets free choice normally so not sure the food will help. Maybe a better brand then Diamond adult large breed? Some recommend puppy food to mom's or is that just during nursing? Oh I just reread you said some add puppy the last part of pregnancy. I am pretty sure I did this last time since the puppies were going to be on it too soon. What would be a better brand as far as more calories/protein? I think in past research it was the same on the label puppy vs brands. I can look again. Maybe I can add meat to it or stock? I dont think she lost too much weight just seemed pretty boney on the back bone especially, and it did bother me but might be normal for her.

The only thing you want to be cautious about with adding puppy food prior to whelping is that you do not want to supplement calcium as supplementing calcium can cause the body to stop producing its own, and it is critical during whelping in order to stimulate and sustain contractions. If the body is unable to produce calcium during whelping it can lead to things like uterine inertia, eclampsia, etc. I never ever add puppy food until after whelping for this reason. I personally, would go with a higher quality adult/all stages food, Diamond is an ok brand but does have a lot of fillers. If you are budget conscious the Kirkland (Costco) brand is very good quality and very cheap. Petfoodadvisor.com has lots of info if you want to compare brands. I would go with something 4 stars or higher...

 

[dainerra]

The only thing you want to be cautious about with adding puppy food prior to whelping is that you do not want to supplement calcium as supplementing calcium can cause the body to stop producing its own, and it is critical during whelping in order to stimulate and sustain contractions. If the body is unable to produce calcium during whelping it can lead to things like uterine inertia, eclampsia, etc. I never ever add puppy food until after whelping for this reason. I personally, would go with a higher quality adult/all stages food, Diamond is an ok brand but does have a lot of fillers. If you are budget conscious the Kirkland (Costco) brand is very good quality and very cheap. Petfoodadvisor.com has lots of  info if you want to compare brands. I would go with something 4 stars or higher...

a good large breed puppy food isn't going to be high in calcium as too much calcium is a HUGE no-no for them. You have to do research on the food and see what the calcium level is.

arabian, dogfoodadvisor.com or dogfoodanalysis.com look up your food brand and see how it rates. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1486&cat=all
here is diamond naturals large breed puppy review -
The first two ingredients in the food are named meat products. The second of these is in meal form and the sole significant meat product in the food. The first is chicken - inclusive of its water content. Once this is removed, as it must be to make a dry food, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight. It is thus unlikely that it is the true first ingredient in the food, and it is likely to be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list and is unlikely to make any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food. There is a further meat meal ingredient 12th on the ingredient list. This is a fish meal, however, and we fail to find any assurance on the manufacturer's website that the ingredient is not treated with Ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative, banned or heavily regulated in human food, and believed to be carcinogenic (and is commonly added to fish meal ingredients).


Egg product is the third ingredient, though we would prefer to see the use of whole eggs.The main grains in the food are barley, millet and rice, all of which are decent quality. Potato protein adds to the protein content of the food, but this is very low quality protein compared to that obtained from meat. Further carbohydrate sources are oatmeal and potatoes. Tomato pomace is primarily filler.


Overall, this product appears better than some produced under the Diamond label, although the ingredients overall are of mixed quality and we have limited confidence in the meat content of the food.

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In the end, the best way to know would be to talk to her breeder. Things like this, just like with humans, run in families. If you know that Mom and grandma lost a lot of weight when whelping, then you know that she is going to as well.

 

[chooniecat]

Was nice to see some actual nice people that love dogs bring up the hip.elbow,etc stuff and I have never bred nor do I particuarly love dogs(I do have a wonderful fluffy old dog tho) but I fight to help the unwanted(unwanted for NO reason,generally) dogs in shelters. I have no problem with purebred dogs being bred EXCELLENTLY BUT all of the breed specific problems need to be aggressively addressed. I worked at a vet hosp for decades and knew a woman that bred English labradors and watched/listened thru the years and loved what she did. She actually had a female she WAS going to breed and the female started some aggression issues that turned nasty and had to be euthed it was so bad(and she had several females thru the yrs. that were precious-this was an oddity) She did show though and although that was fun to watch I realize you can own a ***** thats conformationally excellent and has all the testing and still breed w/o titles. Its up to idiot BUYERS to keep the breeders straight and buyers don't seem to do their research well and only want an inexpensive dog(parents have NOT had all necessary stuff done) and they/the dog pay down the road.(I knew several breeders at the hosp.and only refer to this one because I worked closely with her but they were ALL excellent caretakers of their breeders)AND LOVING YOUR DOG ISN'T REASON ENUF TO BREED IT. And again-nice to see some responsible people on here.

 

[arabianequine]

I go between Costco brand and Diamond alot. I just bought a bag of the Costco brand last night since I was there. I have been giving Diamond mostly as we dont have a local Costco.

I will look at the Costco brand compared to Diamond that I am giving. I think I started giving puppy the last week of pregnancy the last time.

Thank you for the info and links.

Looks like both Costco and Diamond brand are both 4 star from what I see on the reviews. On the first site you gave me the advisor one....then the other said one of these brands was a 3 star.

Hmmm still not sure on the adult or puppy though....did you say dainerra that there is not enough of calcium in either to cause problems for dam? If I switched to puppy should I do it like the last week like I did before?

I dont see the calcium on the reviews I looked at either...am I missing where that is? Maybe I have to look on the bags of dog food?

 

[Eggsoteric]

The Kirkland (Costco) brand, is manufactured by Diamond - it's something to keep in mind when looking out for dog food recalls.