The American Beagler Forum

I have a buddy who has a pregnant female. He continues to hunt her and she is due the end of the month. I have tried to talk him out of it but he will not stop because she is his best dog. I would like to get some feedback on how long you folks run pregnant females and what are the pros and cons of this.

Big Dog

i'd like to know myself cause i'm breeding my female this weeeek but i seen a dog the other dqay and she was anbout to drop looked like but she hunted haRD ALL DAY

If the bitch is in good shape when she is bred I continue to run them pretty normal through the 5th week. After that I cut it down to about an hour at a time about 3 times a week for the next couple weeks. Then the last two weeks I let them loose around the yard and walk them on a leash everyday for a while until they whelp. I have had good luck this way so far.

i have run pregnant bitches up to the 6th week.first 4 weeks with a small pack.last 2 solo.i believe that the bitch will only run as much as she can with out hurting herself.they know how they feel.also if your monitoring the run you can tell how she is reacting to the run.

In the good old days when you generally didn't know exactly what day a bitch was due(you just put them in the same pen and they bred when they were ready), you ran them until they let you know that it was time to stay home. I am not proud of this, but I ran one bitch for 9 hours the day she had her pups (7-all healthy). I was very upset about the fact that she didn't do as well as normal. Of course, later that night, I found out why. If the bitch is in shape from hunting regularly, I don't think hunting them will hurt. She will take a break if she gets tired. However, I don't think I would go to the extreme that I just admitted.

Hey Jim, I'm curious as to how those 7 pups turned out. Did they end up making better hounds?

We will run as normal, but like TomPA does, will cut back after 5th week. We limit them to yard excercise only then to keep their weight in check. 2-3 weeks before the due date we will move her to the pen (or house, depending on season) where she will whelp. This gets them used to their surroundings and more comfortable in whelping there. We feed a good feed, but we also try not to let them get fat during pregnancy. They need all the agility (and ability to reach their rear ends) during delivery as possible. An overweight bitch will really struggle.

Your friend is taking a big chance of losing the litter running the female late in the month the pups are due. I had a hard going female that ran out all the time and, along with the pack, she ran every day. She was heavy with pups and the pack ran hard that day. She came in later and had lost all the pups while running. I would NOT run a female the last two weeks before the pups are due. Best to talk to your Vet. about this (IMO)

The longer you run them, the more it imprints the pups.

I normally run a pregnant female as usual until the 5th week. The 6th week she is run solo at her own pace. I normallydo not run them the last two weeks but do try to walk them on a lease as much as possible. I believe that a female with good muscle tone will whelp easier and faster.

Back 40, Sorry, I can't tell you how they turned out. I traded the whole litter for a bitch that I wanted. The litter was sold by their new owner.