Baileys mum

I've recently had a litter of 9 & I also had the mobile vet come to me to do vaccs & microchips. I didn't bother with splitting the litter in half, my bitch had heaps of milk & I just made sure I kept feeding her 4 times a day, aswell as giving her heaps of water, yoghurt & goats milk. I also weighed the puppies twice a day in the first couple of weeks, & made sure the pups that hadn't gained much & the smaller pups got a chance to feed on the best teats. I started weaning the pups at 3 weeks old to help my bitch out,as by that stage I could see she was starting to struggle a little. I also got some of the new puppy ID collars from Sways whelping supplies...absolutely fantastic for Id'ing a large litter.

Hi Sharyn, I've been following this thread & just wanted to say congratulations & I'm glad to hear the whelping went so smoothly. Yes 11 is a huge litter & you are going to be very busy in this next couple of months....My bitch recently had 9 & we where kept on our toes, so I can only imagine what it would be like adding another 2 to that I've only had 2 litters so far & I'm no expert in any way... but I think you should be alright as long as you keeping feeding mum lots of food & fluids for milk production, I feed my bitch raw & premium puppy kibble, eggs, yoghurt & cottage cheese, aswell as lots of water & goats milk. If you have some kitchen scales, you can also weigh the pups a couple of times a day to make sure they are gaining weight (not too sure what the average weight gain should be for the size of your pups )but I know my Aussie terrier pups where gaining on average 25g to 50g a day. It's also good to rotate the smaller puppies & the pups that haven't gained much onto the teats that have the most milk. Some breeders like to top up larger litter with a milk supplement like Biolac or Wombaroo, but I was lucky my bitch had lots of milk & all my pups gained weight steadily. Enjoy this time now & rest uo as your bitch will do most of the work at the moment, but as soon as the eyes open & the pups personalites kick in that's when the fun starts & your work is just beginning. I wish you good luck raising this lot & I hope you can find lovely homes for all of them...you are doing such a great thing for this bitch & pups. Oh & I sure it wouldn't do any harm if you could post a couple of pics too. ;)

Not possible - but a cute story :D I read it on a site dedicated to the Chow Chow & I thought it would be just a story & not possible...but thought I would question it anyway. :D

Thanks for sharing Gaylek...I will pass on what you said, & tell them to start getting the little guy used to being groomed regularly now. Sounds like a gorgeous boy & glad to hear he is such a fast learner...this little guy has so far only been taught sit, drop & shake hands, but it is a start..they will also be taking him to puppy pre school after his 2nd vacc, so it will be good to have him socialising with other puppies. They have had so many visiors over to meet him, so he has been so far well socialised with humans, & seems to be enjoying every minute of it. He loves playing with their older dog & so far there has been no problems & he met their cat briefly, but she then hissed at him & has been living under their bed for a week, so not a happy pussy cat at all. Yep I'm hoping with their experience with handling Akitas they can turn this gorgeous boy into a fantastic dog. Thanks for the advice Clyde...I will pass on the information about the peripheral vision & the proper way to approach them, its a good thing they are in their 60's & both their daughters are in their 20's,(so there is no young children around ) so I'm sure all of them will learn to be gentle & respectful of him, )(doesn't sound like a breed that could cope with children though ) Yep he was the most gorgeous puppy I have ever seen in my life (I wish I had of had my camera with me ) The ultimate teddy bear!! :D But after reading up on them a bit, I don't think I would be matched to one unfortunately It seems they need a strong handler & someone with knowledge of the Spitz group...so seeing I hardly know a thing about spitz breeds & have only had experience with the terrier group, I will just have to get my Chow fix, by visiting this little darling lots & lots. :D Also I have a question , I'm sure this would be untrue...but I was reading somewhere that they actually may have evolved from a bear/mastiff mating & have bear in their genetic make up, is this true?, it sounds a bit unbelievable to me.

Ow wow that's really interesting...this little guy didn't seem like your description at all, so very friendly, & happy & just wanted cuddles from everyone,....but he is only 9 weeks old, so his temperment might change when he gets older.

My OH's Aunty has just welcomed a Chow Chow puppy into her family & I met him for the first time tonight, & I have to say I'm sooo in love. I have never seen one IRL before (I haven't really met many Spitz breeds actually) & I just can't believe how much of a teddy bear he is...so soft & cuddly, I could have cuddled him all night My OH's aunty has previously owned Akita's in the past, but thought she would have a differen't breed this time. He is red in colouring, but I heard they come in a few differen't coulours...I love his curly tail & coloured tongue too. Just wondering if any Dolers own them or know anything about them & what they are like to live with, & if you have pics, it would be great if you could post them too. Just so fascinated with this gorgeous teddy bear. Might be a breed I would love to own in the future.

I didn't! I was sick and still home sick from work today, so I have postponed it. I was at the Doctors instead of Lola. While I wait for her appointment I am also going to start an elimination diet. I am just reading up about it, I am going to give her kangaroo and boiled sweet potato/pumpkin. Can the kangaroo be raw, it doesn't have to be cooked or anything? Stupid question but just to make sure. Oh that's no good Lindainfa ...I hope you are feeling better soon. I think it would alright just to give her the kangaroo meat raw.

Hi Lindainfa...I was just wondering how you went at Werribee yesterday?

I'm confused, which breed are you talking about? They sound great whatever they are Ooops, sorry, my bad. English Cocker Spaniels. Black ones to be exact. Too much coat and grooming for a busy family? The OP has stated in a previous post that she doesn't mind doing some grooming.

Yeah I think having a MRI is a bit extream...my little girl's ears where in a pretty bad state, & our vet didn't even mention getting an MRI.

That's the vet that saw Jessie...she should look after your girl Good luck & hopefully she will be able to work out a way to manage the problem.

No we actually dealt with a female vet called Dr saunders...I forget her first name, but it started with an R, but she was lovely. They are all lovely there including the vet nurses.

That's great Lindainfa ...they are so good at Werribee & I'm sure they will take good care of your little girl, & hopefully find a way to manage her problem like they have done for my Jessie. I only wish we had of brought her to Werribee 5 years ago when her ear troubles started. Their prices are very reasonable too...you only have to see how much they did for Jessie for $800.00 Good luck & please keep us posted.

My 13yo Aussie terrier x has had problems with yeast infections in her ears on & off for about 5 years.Our local vet would just give her Demotic ear drops to treat it & she would be all right for a while & then it would come bad again. About 3 months ago it got so bad & was so closed over that our Vet recommended for a total ear canal removal. Well we we not comfortable at all with this & due to her age we took her to the Werribee University animal hospital for a 2nd opinion. Well they where fantastic with her..completely checked her over & even detected that she had a heart murmour that our own vet had never picked up before. They gave her some cortisone & some antibiotic drops to treat her with & told us to bring her back in a week for a whole day for a ear flush, some dental work & a chest x-ray to find out the grade of her heart murmour. They where great with her...the heart murmour was only a grade 1, they where able to flush her ear out & also extracted 2 teeth & gave the rest of her teeth a clean. They also sent her home with more cortisone & some ear drops called Otomax lotion that we put in her ear 3 times a week. 3 months later she seems to be ok,with us giving her the medication, & we will try to control it this way to avoid surgery for as long as we can. Our bill at Werribee cost us $800.00 This included Hospital day stay Pre surgery blood work General anaesthic Fluids Chest x-ray Ear flush 2 teeth extracted rest of the teeth cleaned Cortisone medication ear drops.

I use the jalna natural pot yoghurt too...low fat with the green lid.

Yeah it's hard to understand why people do this. Is it because they miss the dog that died so much that by getting a new puppy of the same breed, sex, colouring & giving it the same name going to make them feel that they haven't lost their dog afterall? Or do they just really love that name? Or are they just too lazy to think up a new name? Like others have said in this thread...it just seems a little creepy, every new puppy deserves their own identity.

That's cute Roxy lady...the new dog was like Spike so they called it Like, love it!!

That is weird grace...so when they call the name they would get all 3 dogs attention at the same time.

Exactly how I feel showdog.

Hi everyone, I know someone that has recently had to PTS their much loved dog of 13 years...now 2 months later they have a new puppy of the same breed, & have decided to call her the exact same name of the dog that has passed away.These people have said that they just love the name & would continue to name all their dogs in the future this name. Just wondering what others think of this...have you or would you give a new puppy the same name of beloved dog that has gone to rainbow bridge? Personally I would never do it...to me I think it would be disrepecting the dog that has passed away, & I would think that the new puppy deserves its own name & identity. I know dogs don't care what they are called,& its probably really no big deal & a form of humanising to think that I'm disrespecting the memory of the dog that's passed away.... but that's just how I feel about it. So how does everyone else feel about this?

Thankks Gumnut...I agree she certainly does look very loved & spoilt. Yep I've told everyone ...the more photos the merrier, I also have several owners on my facebook, & it's great looking into their photo album of the puppy. Yep I think puppy owners just need to be reassured that they are not nagging us when they send us updates. Awww...thanks DA, I'm so glad this thread inspired ypu to send your breeder an update, I'm really sure it did make your breeders day, & I hope other people reading this thread that haven't updated their breeder in a while will be reminded to do the same. I do the same Midniara...I down load the photos & post them in the puppy owners album on my website. Yep puppy owners certainly do have to reminded after breeding & raising our little babies, that we do form a huge attachment to them & love the little buggers, & I'm sure there are lots of breeders like me, that cry after every baby leaves,so updates & photos are so important to me, & it makes my day when I receive them. lol 10 years and 2 dogs later and I still send piccys Awww...that's so lovely!! I know how you feel lynst...we had to send a little girl from Melb to Cairns with our latest litter & it was terrible saying goodbye at the airport. We felt like we where just abandoning her with these strangers It made it worse that she had stayed with us an extra 4 days after all the others had gone, & we really had a chance to bond with her (even started crate training her ) so it was such a relief when we found out she had arrived safely. That is such a great pic Sway What a lovely idea to have a family reunion :D (sorry about the baby you lost to snake bite ) I would love to do something like this in the future...my bitch has now produced 17 babies from 2 litters, & I'm thinking how cool it would be (& a little bit scary ) to see them all together at the same time. Yep I'v offered my owners a baby sitting service too Sway...I have one baby coming back to me in August for 3 weeks while his owners holiday overseas, & another little boy will be coming back to me at the end of September for 2 weeks, so I'm going to be busy.

You could say something along the lines of "The price is worth it for a clear conscience." :D Then educate them on the perils of BYB's and puppy farms! I would also be educating them on the benefits of buying from a ethical registered breeder,that has done all the necessary health tests on all their breeding dogs...& that there is a good chance you will end up saving money in the long run in vet bills by buying a nice healthy puppy...You might end up spending more than $1200 on a pet shop or BYB pup if the puppy ends up having lots of health problems. I would also mention that most registered breeders care about their puppies even after they go to their new homes & they are always willing to give you ongoing advice & support for the lifetime of the puppy.

My sister was a member a couple of years before I joined...she recommended to me at the time to check Dol out when I first brought Bailey home, as I was interested in crate training ect..I didn't even know Dol existed before that, & became instantly hooked. I can't believe how much I have learnt in the 3 years I've been a member.

If that's true, it's a very good idea, and I wish other breeds would follow suit. Although I don't know how they could enforce it. Noone has mentioned the dingo yet! That's technically a dog, right? Yep I mentioned the Dingo in page 1...& yes I agree it is technically a dog, & a Native to Australia,rather than a developed by man breed.

what about a Dingo...do they count? I know they haven't actually been developed in Australia...but I suppose you can say they are native to Australia.