A puppy’s life
Rebecca Jordan charts the story of Cattistock Devious’s first litter of puppies, from conception to going out to walk
The early days of one litter
HERE’S a wager for you. Following either an exceptionally difficult day’s hunting or one in which the adrenaline still soars through the bloodstream long after hounds and horses are loaded, every huntsman will be thinking about one thing: breeding.
This does not refer to their own potential. Some huntsmen’s wives might suggest more effort goes into researching a prospective husband for their best bitch than for the couple’s own daughter.
Huntsmen who are consumed by hunting study hound pedigrees with fierce academic application. They travel miles to watch a potential stallion hound at work.
It costs nothing to dream of breeding a future Peterborough champion. But that hound is no good if unsuited to its hunting country. Good conformation equates with longevity, but each country requires a different stamp of hound.
The Cattistock in Dorset needs an athletic hound in a landscape ranging from deep vale with thick hedges to steep, chalky hills studded with flint to the unique and exposed coastal setting of Abbotsbury.
A fashionable country like this also requires a close-knit pack of hounds alert to Will Bryer, their amateur huntsman, who must keep them moving to entertain the large field close behind. And youth is paramount.
“Young hounds breed healthier and stronger litters than an old hound. A third-season bitch is ideal because she will already display a strong indication of future capabilities,” explains kennel-huntsman George Pierce, who has now moved to hunt the neighbouring Blackmore and Sparkford Vale. “And a young bitch tends to have more milk and is usually better tempered.”
Performance on the hunting field is obviously crucial. Will, like his peers, is not interested in breeding from a hound which stands out from the pack in its first season.
“I want to use a hound that improves steadily through its early career,” explains Will.
“Young hounds excelling and catching the eye in the first season might well impress their puppy walkers, but usually end up with bad habits later.
“Instead, I am interested in a hound’s family history to see how that line matured into its work and how siblings compared. If the mother and grandmother produced consistently level litters and are good in their work, it is likely we should see the same again in their progeny.”
AN IDEAL MATCH
DEVIOUS 18 proved to be a diligent contender from a very good litter, so was an easy choice from which to breed.
“When entered in 2018, she demonstrated keenness and athleticism without acquiring too much attention,” says Will who, in the past, has also bred from Devious’s mother Granary 15 and grandmother Drizzle 11, who were bred by former huntsmen Charlie Watts and Alastair Jackson. In fact, this female line can be traced back to the hunt’s inception through one
of Lord Poltimore’s foundation bitches, Sanguine 1869.
Their own Rafferty 15 was an obvious choice as stallion hound.
“He backs up my argument as to how a young hound should perform. Until last season you might not have noticed him, but he was always grafting,” says Will.
“And now, at six years old, he is excellent. He’s often sorting out the line and, when he speaks, the rest of the pack fly to him. Hounds hunt as a pack; they know each other intimately and, like us, have an opinion about an individual’s abilities and reliabilities. They recognise one another’s voices and Rafferty has earned their respect.
“For a huntsman, that is a wonderful moment; something really great. He’s also my beau
“Young hounds breed healthier, stronger litters than an old hound”
ideal of the ‘Cattistock type’: athletic and lighter boned, if perhaps a little long of body.”
Their union took place on 15 November. Devious was presented to Rafferty the two following days to be sure the timing was bang on.
“I have always been taught never to try a bitch more than three times,” says George.
As soon as it was obvious Devious had come off heat, she came out of the hot bitches’ yard and resumed hunting. Three weeks later – when she started to show her pregnancy – she stayed at home, and a week later moved back in with the hot bitches to ensure she did not get banged into on the bigger yard and lose her pups.
“Only when she started to look really heavy did I treat her differently; she was called first on to the feed yard to ensure that she had plenty in front of her,” explains George.
A dog’s gestation is nine weeks. With a fortnight to go, George prepared the whelping lodge for Devious to stay overnight and familiarise herself with the surroundings. By day, she was left to roam around the kennels.
“At first, she tried to get back in on the yards but then soon just followed me about or helped herself in the flesh house,” says George.
“Three or four days prior to the due date [18 January], I never let her out of my sight. The last thing you want is for them to whelp under the garden shed or in a hedge. I knew Devious was about 24 hours away when she went off her food, was very fidgety and scratching the bed.”
The whelping lodge bed is a work of art and designed with years of experience in mind. It is 47in by 46in wide with four broom handles screwed four inches inside the frame of the box from each corner, which gives the pups extra room and so reduced
the chance of Devious accidently lying on them.
Carpet covers the base.
“It kept her and the puppies warm and avoided slippage. I then used a small amount of straw; I didn’t want the bitch getting too hot during whelping. It’s very easy to lose a puppy in too much bedding,” explains George, who prefers oat straw because of its quality, length (less chaff ) and the fact that it rarely harbours any mites and bugs.
Whelping is a very stressful and long-drawn out process – as any mother knows. It can take up to 24 hours from the first to last pup. As soon as Devious went into labour, only George went near her.
“Now, with experience, I faff about less; you don’t want to be handling the pups,” says George.
It took Devious 12 hours to produce two bitches and four dogs. Once the first pup was successfully delivered, George checked her every two hours – but only by peeking through a gap in the door.
Devious turned out to be a great mum and was happy for George to check the pups when whelping finished. Soon, all six pups were latched on and feeding well. It was also a relief when the bitch cleansed; George is happy for them to eat their afterbirth.
There was a heat lamp above the bed.
“There’s a fair bit of discussion within hunt service as to whether a heat lamp is good or bad,” says George. “I use one to keep the chill off in the winter, but never positioned so low the bitch gets too hot and pushes away the pups.”
It was obvious within 24 hours that Devious’s milk was good quality, as the pups rounded up and slept contentedly. She did not want to leave the bed that first day and George never feeds until 24 hours after the last pup is delivered.
“They may still have a pup inside; a full belly can disguise the signs,” explains George. “When Devious jumped off the bed and came outside with me, she had a good run so it was obvious she was comfortable.
“While she was feeding – on plenty of good-quality minced beef – I changed the carpet and straw and felt the pups to make sure they were warm enough. I then always place the bitch on the bed and put the pups on to her.”
MATERNAL DUTIES
DEVIOUS was in sole charge of the pups for three-and-a-half weeks. All George needed to do was keep the bed clean and tidy. Their eyes opened between 10 and 14 days old and they started crawling after three weeks. Their claws grew at a phenomenal rate, so George regularly clipped them to prevent them scratching the bitch and catching on the carpet.
George then took over their feeding regime. Scrambled egg was on the menu for three to four days. And he never left any feed in the bed when Devious returned to her litter to avoid any protective aggressive behaviour from the bitch.
They progressed to minced beef or calf, as well as milk from the local dairy farm, and fresh water. Weaning was gradual and dependent on Devious’s milk supply. After six weeks, it was obvious that she found the pups a nuisance and was keen to return to her peers in the hot bitches’ yard.
“You have to remember that hounds are pack animals,” says George. “At this stage, it was very important to keep checking for mastitis. I regularly bathed her udder with warm water and then, between eight and nine weeks after birth, splashed vinegar around her belly to dry her up and help seal the teats.”
As soon as the pups were crawling out of the bed, they went into their grass yard in the garden by day and then back to the whelping lodge at night. Minced meat was replaced by a leg of beef.
“Then it’s all about getting them ready to go out to walk.
They were microchipped and had a C [for Cattistock] tattooed in their left ear for individual kennel identification,” says George.
“At two months old, they received the first of two vaccinations for canine distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza and parvovirus. The second jab was a fortnight later when out at walk. I also have a strict worming routine that starts at four weeks old and is repeated four times every fortnight.”
And then the fun starts. Anyone bewitched into walking hound puppies will invariably ask themselves why they agreed again. Oliver Hemsley and his groom Heidi Couch must suffer from this type of amnesia as they walked Devious and are now taking on pups Dexter and Delicate. Liz Elliot walked Devious’s mother Granary 15 and now has grandchildren Denmark and Dewdrop under her ward.
The other two pups have gone out with one each from another litter, so Desmond is enjoying learning the ropes with the Lagatolla family and Deputy is causing chaos under the watchful eye of Sara Gay.
There is no doubt they are revelling in all the extra attention. But lockdown has its downside for them as well: fewer opportunities to slip under the radar and create havoc, as is their wont.
“Now, I faff about less; you
don’t want to be handling
the pups”