Ridding a Farm of Parvo?
My grandparents are assisted in operating their large farm by their family of border collies. Recently, my grandmother lost two full litters, totaling thirteen puppies, in a period of a few weeks. She knows that parvo was what wiped them out. Now she's wanting to try to breed the dogs again, but is frightened that she will lose her pups. My grandpa suggested planning for pups in the winter, because of a rumor he heard that parvo is less likely to devastate in the winter. But we want to figure out how we can get rid of this awful virus - I'm afraid that the whole farm is contaminated, considering all of the animals and people tracking dirt from one place to another. What can we do to ensure that we don't lose another litter? I've read that spraying bleach on the ground can be helpful, but that's not especially practical to treat a yard as large as theirs!
Backyard breeding? Ignorance is fine, but don't be an idiot. You don't have to be a registered breeder to breed responsibly. Who knows how parvo came to the farm. Pure breeding have done nothing but ill for dogs. And if you're illiterate, reiteration won't help, but this is purposeful breeding. What exactly is "spay, spay, spaying" going to do to assist them?
I suppose you'd rather support puppy mills and purchase five or ten $500 dollar dogs. And it's not as if local shelters are full of herders, either.
Furthermore, waiting the suggested years and years to breed will leave us with..no dogs, period. We need an actual solution. Sorry if this is overly aggressive, but I find your comment highly offensive and uninformed.
Yes, we have a vet, but I don't think they've consulted him about the parvo issue yet. He mostly works with their herd of horses.
Thanks to all, especially the answers with some insight and awareness regarding farm life. It's too bad we can't pick up just any pooch from the pound and throw them on the farm, but that's reality. My grandparents are obviously older and the dogs are absolutely essential for the working of the farm - not only for the herd, but as protectors and assistants in other tasks. It's just not an option to not have dogs.
It's possible to wait another year or even three before trying to breed again, but in seven years time we could lose the generations-old bloodline. So it's also an emotional matter. These dogs are so important to our family.
We even lost the puppies that had already been vaccinated. It only left one lucky little boy. More and more it seems impossible to eradicate parvo from the entire farm - so perhaps we can look into options of moving the mother to another location to whelp and let the pups grow. Thanks to all; and again sorry if certain comments seem overly aggressiv