Interview with Professor Fontbonne Dog Reproduction Expert
Who is Professor Alain Fontbonne?
Alain Fontbonne graduated in 1987 at the veterinary school of Alfort (Paris). In 1993, he became Assistant Professor in the Reproduction Department at the veterinary school of Lyon, where he opened a clinical center dealing with dog and cat reproduction and obstetrics. He is now Assistant Professor at Veterinary School of Alfort, Paris (UMES-Unité de Médecine de l’Elevage et du Sport- Unit of Breeding Medicine and Sport), in charge of Dog and cat Breeding, Reproduction and Obstetrics Teaching Unit and is especially involved in breeding and reproduction in dogs, cats and wild felids. He is a diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR).
Alain Fontbonne, Dr Vet Med, PhD, Dipl ECAR, Ass Pr, has also been former President of the EVSSAR (European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction) and has been elected as Honorary Member of this society in 2015. He has written several articles, books and chapters of books for veterinarians.
He has been the author or coordinator of more than 60 scientific publications in French or English scientific journals and more than 100 articles in continuing education journals for veterinarians or breeders.
Summary video of interview with Professor Alain Fontbonne
Interview:
You’ve participated to a big roadshow for dog breeders organized by Ceva and Royal Canin in 2016. How would you rate the participants’ satisfaction of such specific professional events?
Reproduction is one of the major area of interest for breeders, because their genetic selection and their economical results depend on the success of mating, pregnancy, parturition, neonatal period and raising of puppies.
Therefore, it is especially pleasant for me to lecture for breeders because they listen attentively, ask many questions and are very prone to speak about their own experiences, positive or negative. I have noticed that breeders invited to hear a lecture related to breeding, reproduction, obstetrics, neonatalogy or development of puppies come in high numbers and show big interest and receptivity.
For example, I have been invited and re-invited to lecture for dog breeders in Romania every year since 2014, and they come every year in big numbers and always want to learn something new.
What are the major challenges for breeders, from the dog behavior and welfare perspective? Are there critical steps in the reproduction process that may be not easy to cope with for some dogs or puppies?
The first critical step is parturition, and how the mother will behave with neonates. This is especially important in respect to primiparous bitches, among which some females will take more time to accept their newborn puppies, to lick them and to allow them to suckle their teats. This may lead to immunological problems (lack of colostrum intake) and anxiety in these puppies. E
ven with pluriparous, breeders can see cases of bitches showing an abnormal behavior such as aggressiveness to neonates or cannibalism. Their lactation may not be enough (hypogalactia), they will move their puppies in their mouth all over the place if they are anxious or put them outside the nest. Some mothers even do the strict minimum for puppies but are not willing to nest very much and show poor maternal qualities. It may be due to bitches being poorly socialized as a puppy, or giving birth in a stressful environment. Fortunately, this is not the most frequent. The consequences of such bad mother-litter interactions on future puppy socialization have not being studied. But they can be severe, especially for single puppies when neglected by their mother.
Of course, after the neonatal period –roughly the first 2 to 3 weeks of life – the puppies will begin to explore the surroundings and this period of sensorial development is crucial for breeders too as it will have an impact on these puppies even when they become adults. Ensuring daily contact with humans during the early period of socialization of every puppy can be a challenge for large breeding facilities.
What about other activities such as travelling with dogs, participation to Dog shows, exhibitions: how do breeders usually manage for their dogs to stay calm in these situations?
I am not really involved in these aspects of dog breeding, but I have spoken a lot with breeders and I know that they are sometimes faced with unpleasant situations. For example dogs which do not stand travelling: they bark, they show anxiety, hypersalivation, or even vomiting.
Often in such a case the owners will stop showing their dogs in exhibitions. Another frequent problem happens in beautiful dogs which cannot participate to dog shows because once they get inside the ring, they are so scared that they become incapable of walking normally and presenting themselves at their advantage with a joyful aspect and a correct movement. I have also spoken with owners of hunting dogs, which have won in dog shows because they have a perfect phenotype, but which cannot homologate their titles of champions– that implies participating to field trials – because they fear the noise of guns. Incredible but true…
This shows that anxiety can be the only factor leading a dog to be disqualified from his original aptitudes and it may disappoint the owner. It is important in such cases to be able to lower anxiety to restore confidence and a normal behavior in these dogs. Several scientific publications show the positive effect of the appeasing pheromone (Adaptil), in dogs that fear some noises like storms or fireworks.
What is your own experience with the use of pheromones in dogs?
I have one sticking recent example. One of my clients had a primiparous Weimareiner bitch that refused to take care (lick them, etc…) of her neonates after a caesarean section. The owner decided to use an Adaptil collar and a diffuser and in less than one hour, the behavior of the bitch changed completely. That astonished me!
In reproduction, pheromones are well known to play a role in sexual attraction, maternal behavior but also in the ability of young puppies to explore the surroundings of the nest with more confidence. Indeed, we have a dog semen bank in our veterinary faculty and it is much easier to collect the sperm in a stud dog when a bitch in heat is present in the same room.
Dogs exhibit a typical “flehmen” behavior, moving the upper lip and having teeth chattering, which is displayed by some animals when detecting pheromones in the air. I often speak also with my colleagues working in preventive medicine. They have seen the positive effect of Adaptil in lowering the degree of fear of puppies coming in consultation for the first time (for example to be vaccinated).
During the Roadshow evenings, you’ve heard many testimonials from breeders using ADAPTIL on a regular basis. Which were the most remarkable for you that you would like to share?
We have met more than 1250 breeders during the 13 different evenings of the Road Show organized by Ceva and Royal Canin in 2016. Every night, there were some breeders attending the lecture who had been using Adaptil in their kennel for a while, in nurseries, but also for helping the socialization of puppies or for having calmer dogs during transports.
All were enthusiastic towards the product, which is very rare. Usually, when we speak about a product, some people are satisfied, others not. In the case of Adaptil, I could only hear positive testimonials. This appeared really remarkable to me.
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