Nomograph in Two Parts

A flurry of activity is underway in preparation for the arrival of the Baby Stars. One of those things is the Canine Nomograph, and this is related to titer testing — an appropriate and important topic for everyone with a dog.

Titer testing allows us to target vaccination timing. It helps us ensure immunity while helping us avoid over vaccination; over vaccination is something we should try hard to avoid. I only use the University of Wisconsin’s CAVIDS lab for my titer testing — they are fast, smart, and resonably priced.

Sparkle is my gold star titer testing example.

Sparkle in Montana last year ⭐️

I used titer testing when Sparkle was a puppy to determine when the maternal antibodies, which “block” vaccinations, were effectively gone. With that info, we knew she needed a parvo/distemper vaccination at 11 weeks. She was tested every 1 - 3 years and maintained full immunity for her entire life — almost 12 years! To be clear — one parvo/distemper vaccination = lifetime protection.

Repeat vaccinations are too often a waste of money and represent over vaccination (but do not skip your dog’s annual physical with their veterinarian!). Note: rabies titers are not allowed in place of a required vaccination in many places and so that is a separate topic.

I do not want my baby puppies to be over vaccinated — or under vaccinated — and so I use CAVIDS’ Canine Nomograph to provide the data I need to find the sweet spot. Capella had blood drawn last week for the test; I should have the results any day now and that info will help me know the appropriate vaccination schedule for the puppies.

Click HERE to watch a video about Nomographs done by the head of the University of Wisconsin’s titer testing lab, Dr. Laurie Larson. I watched it at 1.2 speed and that worked well.

Points from the video that I want to highlight:

1. Passive immunity from the mom is transferred through colostrum, which is the first milk a mother produces. Colostrum is filled with good stuff for the baby, who absorbs it through the gut.

   A puppy’s gut “closes” within a day or two, and once closed cannot absorbs all those good things. Not coincidentally, colostrum only lasts a day or two.

   Milk replacer closes a puppy’s gut early, thereby preventing him/her from being able to absorb all those good things, including maternal antibodies, from colostrum.

2. You must titer test the puppy two weeks after the last puppy vaccination to ensure the puppy is protected!

3. A one-year vaccination is not required — you can titer test instead.

4. ONE DOSE of a core vaccination is sufficient to provide lifetime immunity in most dogs.

Part Two of this post will happen when I receive Capella’s Nomograph results 🩷

Have a wonderful day!

New Litter 12/9 Update

Today’s progesterone is about the same as Saturday — 0.34. The plan is to repeat it on Wednesday.

The timing of all this is slightly nerve-wracking. I am supposed to tend kids on Saturday night (December 14) and I am having a long-planned surgery on December 18 (nothing too scary or unduly dangerous — or cosmetic 😂).

So basically, I need Capella’s ideal breeding days to be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

This is like Hormone Bingo.

There are signs of rarely seen female hormone cooperation. If Capella gets pregnant, for example, I can still attend the 2025 Specialty! I was so sure I was going to have to skip the 2025 Specialty — in fact, I do not even have a room reservation 🤷🏼‍♀️

But Capella came in season earlier than I expected and so if she gets pregnant, the puppies would be 10 or so weeks, and in their new homes in time for the Specialty. My puppy can just go to her first Specialty with us 🩷

Anyway, that is what is happening here — a whole lot of waiting and hoping.

If I chewed my nails, I would be doing that as well.

❤️

First of the N Litter Series

Thoughtfully-bred puppies do not just appear. As I sit here trying to think of how to explain the arduous process, the best I can compare it to is getting an advanced degree.

To others, the Ph.D. looks a bit like, “TA DA!”

As if I just woke up one morning and there it was on my wall.

Au Contraire.

It was years of effort, time, sacrifices, self-doubt, writing, researching, learning. And I did it while raising three children and working — the impact of that are another kind of post.

Graduation! Me, my two sisters, three children, and my father sitting on my Granddad’s Bench at the UC Berkeley campus. The bench is located next to Sather Gate in the redwoods.

Anyway, that is my best analogy for one of my thoughtfully-bred puppy. It might seem as if one day puppies just appear but that is very far from the truth. And so I have decided with this planned litter, I would bring you all into the process earlier than I have in the past.

The breeding might not work and then you will — perhaps — feel the disappointment along with me. And it could work and then we can celebrate together 🎉

To begin, take a look at Capella’s Berner-Garde page and note all the health testing that has been done. Check out her titles. Look at her relatives.

Data matters. How else can we make informed decisions?

In order to know the exact right time to breed, we need to know when the female ovulates. This information is not only critical to successful breeding but it also allows us to predict the whelping date with surprising accuracy, which supports the safe arrival of puppies.

It is the luteinizing hormone (LH) that triggers ovulation but it is expensive and impractical to measure in dogs. Progesterone, however, tracks with LH in a predictable way, and so we use progesterone testing as proxy for LH.

Hollinshead and Hanlon (2019) published, Normal progesterone profiles during estrus in the bitch: A prospective analysis of 1420 estrous cycles (2019) adding excellent data to what was already understood about using progesterone to time breedings. Based on their research, we expect that LH is beginning to surge when progesterone hits between about 2 - 3; we call that day LH0 and it starts the breeding clock, so to speak.

Ovulation is predicted to begin two days later (LH2) when progesterone is between about 4 - 6.

Here is where things gets tricky. In dogs, the newly ovulated eggs are not ready to fertilize — they have to hang out and “ripen” for at least a day and likely longer. Further, eggs are not ovulated all at once and so there is a stream of ovulated eggs that have to get ready for action, and once they are available for fertilization, they are only viable for a day or so. The sperm, however, can live for longer — up to a week for fresh and less if fresh chilled or frozen.

This all means we need to establish the breeding window — typically the days we call LH4 - LH6 — using progesterone testing.

Here is a table that shows progesterone testing done for the Bright Stars (n=10). CMC is the progesterone level — I named the category for the hospital lab that was running the results because we also ran the same blood through another method, which I do not recommend. I insisted the breedings be based on the CMC results — thank goodness. [The semen was fresh chilled.]

Claire’s progesterone testing.

Capella’s progesterone was 0.3 yesterday (Saturday, 12/7; Day Six of her cycle) and will be tested again tomorrow. Earlier this week she also had blood work to assess her general health (all good) and we also ran a test for brucellosis (negative). Capella’s intended also had a negative brucellosis test last week.

And so that is where things are at right now.

Welcome aboard, friend.

🩷🍀