Become a Veterinary Assistant II: Canine Reproduction

Learn the principles of sound dog breeding from a practicing veterinarian. This course will provide you with the essential facts of the entire canine breeding cycle, from assessing the health of parents to puppy care.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

Starting May 14, 2025

Offered in partnership with your preferred school

University of Wisconsin - River Falls

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$135

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$135

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Starting May 14 | June 11

Details + Objectives

Course code: crb

This course is the definitive guide to the principles of sound dog breeding. If you're a veterinary assistant or preparing to become one, this course will help you understand the essential facts so that you can knowledgeably converse with clients on the complexities of canine reproduction.

What you will learn

Learn to properly assess candidates for a breeding program
Understand the proper nutrition, parasite control, and appropriate vaccines a dog in a breeding program needs
Learn the optimal time for breeding
Understand infertility factors that can affect both male and female dogs
Discover how to meet the needs of a pregnant female canine and make preparations for whelping
Learn about postpartum complications in canines

How you will benefit

Learn essential breeding facts so that you can confidently converse with clients
Become more valuable in your veterinary assistant role with detailed breeding knowledge
Open the door to new opportunities as a veterinary assistant

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

In this lesson, you'll learn how to select parents for your breeding program by using blood tests, radiographs, and physical examinations. You'll receive a primer on genetic disease and then learn all about management of the breeding pair, specifically vaccinations, deworming, and nutrition.

How well do you know the female dog's anatomy? Besides learning the difference between the uterus and the oviducts, you'll look at the physical abnormalities that plague the female dog. You'll also find out how to diagnose infections and how those infections can impact fertility.

In this lesson, you'll turn your attention to the male dog. He's a far more important contributor to the gene pool than the female. You'll delve into reproductive diseases that strike the male, such as cryptorchidism and Brucellosis, and conclude with a look at maladies such as testicular and prostatic disease that strike the geriatric male.

When is the right time to breed a female dog? Though this is a simple question, the answer eludes many people. In this lesson, you'll examine the reproductive (estrous) cycle of the female. You'll discover myriad ways to pinpoint the most productive time to breed.

In this lesson, you'll explore two methods of breeding—natural and artificial. You'll be able to tell when there are problems with natural mating. When you look at artificial insemination, you have to know how to collect and evaluate semen to ensure the male is fertile. This lesson will cover how to do that as well as techniques for insemination.

By now, the female has been bred and you expect a pregnancy. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen every time. This lesson focuses on reasons for infertility in the female, such as pyometra and cystic endometrial hyperplasia.

You'll now turn your attention to the hormonal fluctuations that influence fertility. You'll examine silent heats, persistent estrus, and a variety of other abnormalities. You'll even go over a few problems with sexual behavior.

In this lesson, you'll review some of the important reasons for male infertility. You'll begin by finding out why the male may not want to mate, such as having arthritis in his spine. Next, you'll look at semen production and the negative effects of such things as prostate infections. You'll conclude the lesson with a review of a male reproductive examination.

Assuming everything has gone right, you now have a pregnant dog and you have to take care of her. What should she be fed? Should she be vaccinated? What diseases could strike her during this time? You'll look at two specific examples you need to watch for—diabetes and pregnancy toxemia.

It's time for puppies! In this lesson, you'll learn what to expect during whelping. You'll find out what's normal and when to suspect complications. Of course, the lesson wouldn't be complete without examining how to solve a whelping problem. You'll learn what you can do and how a caesarean is done.

Many people breathe a sigh of relief once the puppies are born, but for some dogs, this is when the problems really begin. This lesson's topic is postpartum disease. These diseases include mastitis, metritis, and hypocalcemia—a condition where the blood calcium drops to dangerous levels.

This final lesson is all about puppies. You'll look at the importance of the first drink of milk. You'll find out how to evaluate if they're getting enough food, and what to do if they aren't. You'll also look at how to keep them warm so they aren't chilled. The lesson and course will conclude with an itinerary that shows you what to do for the first six months of a puppy's life.

Instructors & Support

Tracy Heyland, RVT

Tracy Heyland is a Registered Veterinary Technologist (RVT), earning the Academic and Practical Proficiency Award upon graduating. She brings 25+ years of experience in small animal medicine to her teaching, earned the Provincial Instructor Diploma, certified as a Professional Co-Active Coach, and is Fear Free Certified. Tracy has worked in general practice, emergency medicine, veterinary sales, operations management, and teaching positions and runs her own coaching and training company for veterinary teams, leaders, and managers.

Giving back to the veterinary profession is a passion of Tracy's where she volunteers for a veterinary technologist program advisory committee, remotely located spay and neuter projects, and a veterinary technologist association continuing education committee.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course besides an interest in responsible breeding practices that promote the health of breeding dogs and their puppies.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

I really enjoyed this course and the instructor he made sure he interacted with the students and made sure all of our questions were answered he also gave us extra resources to get more information about the topics we were discussing.

Doc, I really enjoyed this class and learned more than I ever imagined. thanks, Evelyn I plan to breed my dog soon so this class was very helpful and informative. I will be using what I learned in this course to assist me during the upcoming breeding process.

I got so much more from this course than I was expecting to. I feel like I truly have a good base knowledge to begin breeding dogs ethically and responsibly. The information was interesting to read, always kept my interest, and I enjoyed the assignments. I will likely be taking more courses by this instructor for these reasons.

I enjoyed this course and I also put some of my knowledge to work last week when I took my bulldog in to see if she was ready to breed. I told my vet I was taking a class, and he let me make a decision on her progress. Then, he told me I was actually correct.

I have really enjoyed this class. I have been in the dog industry for over 50 years and with this course I learned things that I never knew. Thank you for offering this class.

I hope to become a Veterinary Assistant as a second career after I retire from teaching elementary school in two years. This class was very interesting to me and easy to fit into my busy schedule. I enjoyed Dr. Jeff's teaching style, presenting basic information clearly and concisely and then giving resources for further investigation.

I really enjoyed the class. I thought the lessons were interesting and informative. The stlye was great. I found Jeff's writing to be very entertaining. I will be signing up for more classes soon! I have already recommended this class to other breeders. Thank you!

This course was very helpful. I have bred my Golden Retriever twice, luckily with little or no complications. I feel that if I'm going to be a serious breeder I need courses like this one to know what to do. I will be taking Becoming a Veterinary Assistant also.

This course gave me the insight I needed to pursue dog breeding, and a lot of information that I was unaware of as a dog owner. I feel much more confident as a dog owner knowing the signs of things which can effect older dogs, not just puppies.

This class was formed in such a way that all of the information could easily be processed and learned within a short time. Dr. Jeff and all of his staff helped to answer any questions we had, or just simply give feedback on our assignment answers, which allowed us to dig more into research. I thought it was well worth my time!

I have really enjoyed this class. I have been in the dog industry for over 50 years and with this course I learned things that I never knew. Thank you for offering this class.

Become a Veterinary Assistant II: Canine Reproduction

University of Wisconsin - River Falls