In recent years, advances in canine reproduction have facilitated pregnancy
management to emerge as an important clinical service that has application from the
beginning to the end of gestation. The advances provide new and improved methods of
pregnancy detection; improved use of ultrasound to determine gestational age, assess
fetal wellbeing, predict the date of whelping, detect animals prone for dystocias and
formulate treatment protocols to reduce maternal and fetal mortality (Concannon and
Verstegen, 1998).
Over the last two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of
pedigreed dogs, particularly in the urban areas with the kennel owners even importing
fancy breeds, at an exhorbitant price. The kennel owners have become increasingly aware
of the importance of pre-breeding evaluation of the bitch, availability of the techniques to
determine the exact time of mating, early pregnancy diagnosis and regular monitoring of
the general health of the pregnant animals by the Veterinarian.
The act of parturition perhaps is the most anxious time for the dog breeders, as the
puppy survival rate and the future reproduction of the dam are influenced by events at
this stage. In a study by Forsberg and Forsberg (1989), the frequency of puppy deaths
upto three weeks of age following normal parturition was reported to be 11.9 per cent. In
comparison, the frequency of pups born dead or die during abnormal parturition was 22.3
per cent (Darvelid and Linde- Forsberg 1994).
