Discover Nutrition as Unique as Your Purebred Dog

By Jill Cline, MS, PhD
Nutritional Insights Manager at Royal Canin USA

While it is understood a variety of genetic and environmental factors play a role in determining a breed’s appearance and personality, one less commonly recognized need is their individualized nutritional requirements. For example, the amount of amino acids from protein needed to maintain the long hair of the Yorkshire Terrier may not be the same as the amount needed to maintain the shorter coat of the Chihuahua. Another interesting feature to examine in purebred dogs is how the facial morphology or shape, as well as eating behavior, can influence the plane of nutrition.

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AKC Bred With H.E.A.R.T. Program

AKC is proud to launch a new program to promote the health and welfare of all dogs through breeder education. Modeled on the success of Breeder of Merit (BOM), this program is available to all AKC breeders who promise to perform specific health testing/screening of current breeding stock. Unlike BOM, Bred with H.E.A.R.T. (BWH) participants do not necessarily have to be dog fanciers or have bred at least four titled dogs during the last five years of involvement with AKC sports.

Read what a renowned expert thinks about the program here.

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Picking a Show Prospect Puppy From Your Litter

You have whelped your dream litter and watched over them amid numerous cups of coffee and several sleepless nights, and now they are almost 8 weeks old. By this age a pup will be looking like a miniature of what he or she will be as an adult. It is now time to decide which pup will be your “keeper.”

Since not all puppies in a litter will be exceptional, you need to be quite critical in your analysis of their qualities.

Learn how here »

Finding Good Homes For Puppies is Often The Hardest Part of Breeding

So after the months of preparation in organizing and testing before the breeding, praying and crossing fingers that your girl “took,” fretting before, during and after the whelping, the constant vigil for weeks after the whelping, the 24/7 care of your girl and the litter, the vet visits, testing and evaluating your pick, it is time to find your litter their “forever homes.”

This process may be the most difficult of all in your efforts of breeding and raising dogs.

Podcast Topic: Fresh Chilled Semen Breeding, Parts I and II: Stud Dog and the Brood Bitch

The AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) and its corporate alliance, Zoetis, are pleased to bring you another installment in a podcast series devoted to canine reproduction education for pet owners, breeders, and veterinarians.

In these podcasts we discuss fresh chilled semen breeding, focusing on both the stud dog and the brood bitch.