hiya all, my staff bitch is approx 39 days into what looks like being pregnant.
her teats are getting bigger, and starting to pink, she is getting fat around her waistline & belly, (when she sits down, her belly is on the floor).
is this normal at this stage-does it sound like she is pregnant????

Hi
Yep she s showing all the signs of an expectant mum.. :)
Tracey

if shes putting on so much wieght already she may have a big litter, mine didnt put wieght on until about 6 half weeks and then not much it seemed to appear overnite at around 8 weeks and she had 5 pups...big litter for a cav !

my 2 bitch's are studded by harnem bridgebuster! and come of a litter of 10 pups. their mother had 3 litters, 1st litter 8-2nd litter 8-3rd litter 10,

Mark - I do hope you have got the Book of the Bitch - it's absolutely invaluable!

You DID do all the tests, and research before you bred, didn't you?

I do hope so.

Regards

Margot

I have got the book, i purchased it from otoka's! i have done a lot of research about the breed, and in fact it took me 2 years to find the bitch/bloodline that i wanted!!
as for tests i am not sure what you mean?(please advise)

hi mark
glad you got the book it's our bible..
by tests we mean eye test,hips, elbows ..not sure what test satffs have to be honest though.
Tracey

Mark
Just had a look on a site and they get their staffs..eyes,hips and elbows checked out
Tracey

BE careful not to over feed... put her on a premium puppy food at about 6 weeks, but keep amounts the same... do not suppliment... read book of the bitch and be prepared for anything

Alex

HI Mark,

Both bitch and dog should be tested clear/unaffected for HC and PHPV... eye problems.

If you used bridgebuster he will almost definately have been tested, but if you contact your local breed club you should be abele to find someone that eye tests dogs fairly easily...

What lines is your bitch?

Alex

so much for ethical stud owners not allowing their stud dogs to be used on bitches who havent had relevant tests!
hmm ideals =reality??

my first stafford was out of a champion dog and was used on a bitch that hadnt been eye tested, eye testing isnt a sure way of telling wether the pups will have problems their are plenty of dogs that are clear and the pups are not :)

Sadly, many of these diseases can skip a generation. With society becoming very litigious nowadays, we as breeders need to be able to prove that we've done our best to ensure that the pups we breed aren't affected.

Jeangenie
I agree
Whats the point in going to the trouble of getting your stud dogs checked over if you are going to use them on unchecked females.. ummmm.......sort of defeats the whole object :(
We know that none of these tests are actually proven scientifically but we still need to our bit.
Tracey

hiya alex,
my bitch is from rouge saga/ rocellio rip van winkle's bloodline
my dog's have been tested clear for PHPV/HC tests!!!!!!!!!!
this of course doe's NOT gaurentee that any pups will be free of any eye desease, has it can skip a generation..

Most of these diseases are recesive, though I think that PHPV is diminant, so one parent would have to be affected.

With recesive traits if you mate two carriers you will on average get 1 in 4 affected, half carriers and 1/4 clear.

Testing ensures that affected animals are not used for breeding.

Two affecteds will produce all affecteds, an affected to a clear will produce all carriers. Affected to carrier half Affected and half carrier.

Carrier to clear will produce no affecteded offspring, but half will be carriers.

Therefore testing for the disease in recesive traits can only tell you which animals are affected, and of the ones that do not have the trait some invariably will be carriers. This may never come to light, unless they have the misfortune to be mated to another carrier. This is most likely to happen if the unknown carrier is widely used.

Carriers with diseases that can be checked for by DNA can strill be useful to the breed, for as long as they are only ever mated to clear partners, and all their offspring is also tested, then you can use their good points, and keep the gene pool more varied.

Sadly with most problems when a dog or bitch is found to be a carrier (by producing affected offspring) they need to be withdrawn from th4e gene pool, and a big question mark then hangs over their relatives, some of which may be carriers, but most are likely to be clear.

hello,
I found this post really interesting regarding PHPV.
Please clarify this situation for me:

Ch. sire - unaffected
Dam - unaffected
puppy - affected

Another puppy out of the same sire but different dam was affected however the dam of this litter was not tested so don't know whether she was affected or not?

Would this mean BOTH sire and dam would have to be a carrier?
I have a KC print out of ALL SBT dogs eye tested and the results.
The above scenario (sp) has also happened with TWO other Ch. sires so if this is the case these dogs would all be carriers?
If so this is very worrying as these dogs are still used at stud and in high demand. So if carriers are still being used though themselves not affected this means that the "affective carrier gene" will be continuing to be passed on sometimed producing affected puppies depending whether the dam is a carrier as well?
Gosh it gets confusing and makes it look even more impossible to ever irradicate this problem :-(

My underatanding was that this is a dominant condition, so one parent at least has to be affected??? I do know that it can occur in various severities, and the most reliable diagnosis is in puppies, as a slightly affected one can be missed as the dog ages with pigmentation of the eye. Kerioak am I off base here?