Ten Key Points to Note in Meat Dog Farming

(1) Farm according to consumption habits

Dog meat sales are greatly affected by season, with strong seasonal consumption, and market demand also differs among different regions. On the one hand, because the habit of eating dog meat in winter for “hot nourishment” is popular in most parts of our country, while sales in spring, summer and autumn are small, causing large stockpiles of meat dogs and increasing farming costs. On the other hand, influenced by ethnic customs, many places do not have the habit of eating dog meat, so consumer demand is limited, and the dog meat market still needs further guidance.

(2) Think carefully before introducing breeding stock

The profit stated by sellers of breeding stock is calculated based on breeding dogs for meat. If calculated based on commercial production and with the increasing popularity of meat dogs, will each group of meat dogs still bring several thousand yuan in profit? Farmer friends must think carefully before large-scale meat dog farming. Under normal circumstances, after meat dogs are produced on a large scale, prices will decline somewhat, and the currently expected profit will be difficult to achieve. As an emerging special farming industry, the meat dog industry has certain market potential and will continue to develop. However, due to restrictions in various aspects such as meat dog breeds, feed, farming technology and market demand, the meat dog industry cannot be entered blindly, so as to avoid unnecessary economic losses.

(3) The dog farm environment must be excellent

The dog farm should be quiet and dry, with good drainage, ventilation and sunlight, warm in winter and cool in summer. Generally, building walls in orchards or mulberry fields to make a dog farm is best (empty houses, pig pens, sheep pens, etc. can also be used for enclosure rearing). Generally, each pen should have an area of 10-12 sq m and a height of no less than 1.5 m. The dog farm should be equipped with facilities such as disinfection pools and sewage ditches, as well as places for meat dogs to exercise and sunbathe.

(4) Investigate from multiple sides before introducing breeding stock

Because dog raising has heated up too quickly, it is hard to avoid the phenomenon of “dog speculation”, causing uneven quality of dog seedlings and major losses. Therefore, after arriving at the place where breeding stock is to be introduced, one should not fear trouble and should investigate from multiple sides. First, go to several large, formal meat dog farms or bases for on-site inspections to see the farm scale, number of foundation breeding dogs, whether there is a business license, technical strength, archive records of dog-raising materials, and whether the base has product recovery capacity, etc. Then, according to one's own financial resources, material resources and technical level, decide the farming scale and the number of breeding stock to introduce.

(5) Choose excellent breeds

Meat dogs must gain weight quickly, be large in size, produce more meat and have good meat quality in order to achieve good economic benefits. At present, most meat dog production uses local large yellow dogs and large black dogs as the female parent and large dogs such as shepherd dogs, Japanese wolfdogs, black-backed dogs and Great Danes as the male parent to produce two-way or three-way crossbred dogs, which can only be regarded as the use of heterosis. Therefore, when introducing breeding stock, first look at archive materials and pedigree records; second look at the individual size and production performance of the parents; third look at the development status and body conformation characteristics of the puppies, etc.

(6) Introduce an appropriate amount for steady development

Because the current meat dog market capacity is very large, do not rush in for quick profit. Act according to one's ability, introduce a small number first, and after raising them for a period and initially mastering the farming technology, then expand the farming scale, so as to avoid major losses caused by technical mistakes.

(7) Transport only one week after immunization

Some people, after buying puppies, insist on watching the vaccinations being given before loading them into the vehicle, and also require injection of five-combined or six-combined vaccines, thinking that the more vaccinations given, the better. In fact, dogs only develop immunity 7 days after vaccination. If they are injected just before loading, then due to stress factors such as long-distance transport and environmental changes, especially carrying bacteria (viruses), this may instead induce infectious diseases and cause losses. In addition, because the immune function of puppies is still not well developed, injecting multi-combined vaccines is actually less effective and cannot produce a complete immune response. The conventional immunization procedure should be: first immunization at 42-45 days of age with canine distemper single vaccine (preferably using both canine distemper inactivated vaccine and attenuated vaccine), second immunization at 52-55 days of age with triple vaccine (canine distemper, parvovirus, infectious gastroenteritis), and third immunization at 62-65 days of age with rabies vaccine. To increase the resistance of puppies, when the mother dog is at 45 days of gestation, inject triple vaccine to increase the concentration of maternal antibodies. Therefore, breeding dogs transferred from outside should be transported 1 week after the first immunization.

(8) Prevent mass death of puppies

One of the main reasons for the mass death of puppies is disease induced by poor resistance of the puppies' bodies, plus environmental changes, long-distance transport, high temperature and severe cold, continuous rainy weather or improper epidemic prevention, etc. (mostly canine distemper). Therefore, when introducing breeding stock, never buy young dogs weighing less than 3.5 kg, because there have been more than a few cases of total loss caused by buying small dogs to save money.

(9) Strengthen transport management

Before introducing breeding stock, first read dog-raising materials or practice for several days at the farm where the breeding stock is introduced, so as to master basic farming and management knowledge and feed formulas. During transport, feed the compound feed provided by the breeding dog farm, so as to avoid stress caused by a sudden feed change; stop the vehicle regularly to feed and water, but do not feed too full; pay attention to preventing heatstroke in summer and preventing drafts in winter, and do a good job of cleaning, sanitation, ventilation and light transmission inside the vehicle. After arriving at the destination, do not rush to increase meat food and do not immediately let them eat and drink a large amount. Feed in limited amounts for 2-3 days, add relevant drugs to the feed (puppies should avoid norfloxacin), and the change to self-mixed feed should be carried out gradually.

(10) Careful management during the farming period

The temperature of the dog house should generally be controlled below 35°C in summer and kept above 12°C in winter, and the relative humidity should preferably be 50%-60%. The dog farm should be cleaned once a day at a fixed time, and meat dogs should be trained to defecate at fixed points. Young dogs should be vaccinated 3 times with five-combined vaccine in the current year, and then boosted once each year afterward; on average about once every 1 month, add norfloxacin powder or allicin, etc. to the feed to prevent common diseases such as meat dog enteritis and colds, and achieve frequent observation, regular inspection, observation of appetite and checking of feces.