Search results for 'muffin tin'

3 entry founds entries found

Identifying A Litter of Puppies

Identifying A Litter of Puppies

The time has come. It is three in the morning and the new litter of eight has arrived! You were planning on doing some genetic testing and you know how important it is to label each puppy with a specific identifier. In all the excitement and clean up, are you prepared to send off these samples for testing? It is apparent that several of these precious pups are similar in size, color and of the same sex. Differentiating puppies is necessary for monitoring purposes and when collecting DNA samples to send to our laboratory. After all, you are anxious to mail in samples and receive those genetic health results! But we need to be able to provide the results to you on the correct puppy. So labeling each puppy sample is imperative!

We recommend health testing each puppy you plan to sell with breeding rights, as health testing will help increase the quality of your puppies and in turn the value of your breeding business. Once you learn who is clear or a carrier, you can then make vital decisions regarding each puppy to prevent inherited diseases and/or certain traits in your future litters. If both the dam and ...

Tissue Management Prior to Genetic Testing

Tissue Management Prior to Genetic Testing

Nothing brightens the schedule like seeing an 11:20am slot given to Mrs. Doe who is bringing in a three-day old litter for assessment, tails and dewclaws.  The whole clinic reminds you all morning that puppies are coming in.  Then the magic hour arrives and in comes Mrs. Doe with a laundry basket covered in a towel that is making a surprising level of grunts and squeals.  Wow! Thirteen little fuzzballs in varied states of activity from litter-surfing to dreamless slumber that makes you a little jealous.  You go through the exam; each one is fully formed with no gross congenital defects.  While prepping your tools for dewclaw removal and tail docking, Mrs. Doe asks that you save the remnants so she can have the litter tested with Paw Print Genetics for known disease-causing mutations in this breed.  Hmmm, what does this entail?

Typically, we recommend to clients who choose to submit cheek swabs to wait until they begin weening the pups off mom. This allows them to separate the puppies from their mother to reduce possible contamination by the mother’s milk that may remain in the puppies’ mouths.  Given that testing takes ...

Muffin Tin, Muffin Tin, oh where did I put my Muffin Tin?

Muffin Tin, Muffin Tin, oh where did I put my Muffin Tin?
Illustration on how to use a muffin tin to dry your samples. On the left shows how to organize the cups and write important identifiers for each sample. On the right illustrates putting the samples into individual bags after they have dried.

Our Paw Print Genetics (PPG) clients frequently share with us some of the great ideas they utilize to help in their quest to produce happy and healthy litters. Recently, one of our wonderful clients (for this blog, I will call her Carol) gave me an awesome tip regarding her method for drying out umbilical cords, docked tails, or dew claws that she intends to send to PPG as samples for DNA extraction and genetic testing.

Carol’s method involves pulling out her old trusty muffin tin and using the paper liners typically used for baking. Carol prepares one paper liner for each puppy by writing the specific puppy’s name (most commonly corresponding to the puppy’s collar color)  as well as the Paw Print Genetics ID number that is generated on the PPG website when a dog is added to an account.  She then places each liner into one of the metal cups in the muffin tin.

As her veterinarian collects each sample, Carol carefully deposits each sample into the labeled liner corresponding to the correct puppy. To prevent DNA contamination between puppies, she requests that the veterinarian clean the tools and change gloves before collecting the sample on the next pup ...