Kristen Cabe

Having never owned an intact female before, all this is completely new to me, so I'm hoping someone who has more experience can answer this question.

Is it normal for a puppy to have bloody discharge for two weeks?

Everything I've read, including the online course I took on canine reproduction, says that the first week is when the bloody discharge occurs, followed by a week of less bloody discharge, with more of a light pink tinge, and then the 3rd week there is no discharge. Jessie's had fairly heavy bloody discharge now for nearly 2 weeks. This IS her first season, so I was thinking that might have something to do with it, but I don't have any experience with it, so... I still have to change her pads at least every hour, and I'm using actual maxi pads, not pantyliners or thin pads.


She has also had loose stools the whole time, and uncontrollable diarrhea for several days about a week ago. The good news is that the butt grenades only lasted for a couple of days, during which time she was fasted for 2 days and had 2.5 days of white rice and boiled chicken in lieu of dog food, but she has still had loose stools the whole time, even with pumpkin - it just turns the poo orange, and doesn't help with the 'texture' at all. One person told me that they had a dog that was HORRIBLE for this, so maybe that's just something I will get to look forward to every time Jessie comes into season as well? Gosh I hope not.





Adam and I were discussing building a kennel that we could put her in during the day if she has the same problems she had this go 'round in the future (she had to sit in her crate all day with the mess, and she is NOT a dog that likes to be anywhere NEAR it - she actually pushed it over into the little groove that goes all the way around the bottom of the crate, and sat against the back, in the far corner as far away from it as she could get. Poor girl.

We're planning on building it ourselves, but we're thinking about something like this:

http://www.caninekennels.com/~sa_web...asp?page=8253#

The biggest concerns I have are the flooring and what kind of wire to use. I don't really want to have to pour a concrete slab because it's expensive, unmovable, and we can't afford to put any kind of heating element in it to keep it from freezing in the winter. I guess we could if we had to, but I'd rather not. I'm just not too keen on dogs sitting on concrete floors for long periods of time - just a personal preference. I thought about maybe burying welded wire, but I'm just not sure. I don't know what else would be digproof, fairly inexpensive, and something that's going to last at least 5 years. Would we be safe just taking the actual walls down 2 feet into the ground, or would it be just as cost-effective to do some kind of flooring?

The floor in the bedding area will probably not be wood, but I'm not sure what it will be yet either; something that's easy to clean and won't rot. The walls will probably be block, which we'll stucco over to match the house. The roof will be metal. I also haven't decided if I want the kennels to be side by side with the bedding areas on either end, or if I want the bedding areas in the middle with the kennels on either end. If we do it like what is pictured, we'll have to put some kind of separator to prevent breeding through the fence if there is another dog on the other side. That brings me to the rest of the kennel. Either we'll have to do a double entrance in case a stray happens to get into the yard, again, to prevent breeding through the wire, or we'll have to use something with openings that are small, I guess.

I have no idea.

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