Baileys mum

:D :p Yay ..We're going to have puppies!! Ultrasound confirmed Pregnancy & we clearly saw 6 little blobs, with the vet telling us that there could be a possibility of another 1 or 2 there. Due about 16th April. We are so excited!! :p

Good luck KC Blue, I hope your girl has a nice healthy litter. I'm getting very nervous, we are taking Brandy for an ultrasound at 5 0'clock this afternoon, to find out if she is definately pregnant. Fingers crossed that we get good news.

Yep I'm a worrier too, especially when I go out & leave them on their own, I imagine all the horrible things that can happen to them...I'm so anxious to to get home asap. My biggest fear is that a snake will get into their yard & bite them (I'm so paranoid about checking their yard before letting them outside.) My 13 yo old Aussie terrier x Jessie has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur, so I worry about her too. I love my dogs with all my heart, so I think it's only natural for me to worry about them & want to protect them & keep them safe.

Here's a photo of Jessie taken about 2 months ago, the sweet old girl is an Australian terrier x JRT

Well you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with her at all, my OH has just taken her & our other dogs for a walk down to our dam & she did well to keep up with the others & was as active as a puppy & hardly got puffed out at all. Fingers crossed it is just a low grade mumur after all. Her medication for her ear must have started to kick in too, her ear doesn't seem to be bothering her at all today, she seems to be in very good spirits & acting like her old self again.

Thanks for the link SparkyTansy such a diverse response though....looks like goats milk is very popular too.

So happy to hear about Molly MTD It does give me hope that that Jessie will be alright

Yep I was actually thinking of giving Wombaroo a go as I read that it is more closer to bitches milk.

Thanks Erny, yeah I agree they really are great at Werribee, I feel like she is in good hands & are hopeful they can find a way to treat her for her problems.

Thanks LizT, at this point we are unsure of the grade of heart mumur, am hoping we get more info next week, her regular vet last checked her heart about 2 months ago & told us there was no problems, so that's why we are a little annoyed & confused. We are just hoping the vet can find a solution to safely manage both her heart & ear problems, & that we have her around for a long time to come.

I had my Rotty girl given a full check up during her last two visits at my local vet. The vet said her problems were due to some arthritis in her front joint and gave her some pain killers which were to be used on her bad days. I wasn't happy with this and took her to another vet pratice recommended to me by DOL members and was told yesterday she has cancer. I now only have her for a few days more. I'm so sorry about your girl RL1, enjoy your last days with your precious girl, I will be thinking of you both.

Yep, I am Mummy & my OH is Daddy to the dogs, the dogs understand these are our labels & always respond to it. It's so cute in the afternoon when I tell the dogs "Daddy's coming home soon" & they all get excited & sit at the front door waiting for him. It doesn't really worry me if people think its weird or humanising them, there my dogs & IMO doesn't do them any harm.

Hi everyone, I posted a while back about jessie my 13 yo Aussie terrier x having problems with polyps in her ear & the possibility of her having to get surgery to get her whole air canal removed. Well initially we where not too keen on the idea due to her age & decided to just keep treating the ear with the Dermotic ear drops our vet has given us, but this week she hasn't been doing too well at all so we decided to take her to the Werribee animal hospital yesterday to get her fully checked out & for a 2nd opinion. Well they where absolutely fantastic with her & spent nearlly a full hour going over her. They did come to the conclusion that total ear canal removal would be the best treatment for her, but they are also worried to proceed with such a huge op as they have also detected that Jessie has a heart mumur. They have sent us home with antibiotics & cortisone to treat the ear for now, but they want us to bring her back next week to see a specialist to talk about other treatment options & also talk about her heart. They want to try other ways to manage her ear condition & will only proceed with surgery as a last resort due to her heart condition. We are now really worried about her as our regular vet has always told us that jessies heart was in good condition & we are now a little annoyed that they never picked it up before, the vet at Werribee is a little surprised at this too. I'm just wondering if anyone else here has had a dog with a heart mumur in later age & how it was managed & also how long did your dog live too. She is the first dog my OH & I got together & we just love her so much.. We have always dreamed our little girl would still be around with us into her late teens, but after hearing about this we are not feeling too hopeful, & the thought of losing her has us Thanks guys for reading, I will let you know what the specialist says next week. Nicole

I was just wondering what everyone prefers to use? I had Biolac here last time, but we where lucky our bitch had lots of milk, & all pups put on good weight everyday so we never had to use it to supplement any of the pups...but we did use it when we initially started weaning the pups & the pups didn't seem too keen on it at all. So I was thinking of getting something different in for next time, so was just interested what everyone else uses. Thanks everyone Nicole

Thought I would also add to have a torch on hand & an extra towel too, just in case your bitch decides she wants to go to the toilet & then whelps one of the pups outside in the dark. I personally did not need this as we had a day time birth, but I have head it happening to other breeders. I also remember my bitch was starving after whelping , so I made her a yummy meal of cooked mince, scrambled eggs & cottage cheese, so I will probably have something yummy organised to cook for her next time too.

For my first litter I had -Whelping box -Heat pad - vet bed - nutri drops - nutri gel - Calcium sandoz ( I gave to my bitch in between pups ) - A box to put the pups in (with a hot water bottle ) when bitch was whelping the other puppies - Hand towels for drying of puppies - larger towels for cleaning up mum - Garbage bags - scales for weighing pups - blunt scissors,hemostats & dental floss for the cords (I did not use these last time , as my bitch attended to the cords herself. - Antiseptic for sterilising scissors & hemostats - Anti bacterial soap for cleaning hands - pen & records book for recording time of birth , weight for each pup, any other observations ect.. - Id collars ( but initially used nail polish for the first couple of weeks to id each pup) - vets number & breeders number (my mentor ) just in case - milk replacer, feeding bottles ect.... in case bitches milk doesn't come down straight away - A watch for noting time of birth of each puppy - Lots of newspaper, ( i recommend you start collecting this now, as you will probably need lots of it, especially when pups get older ) - lots of coffee, choccie biscuits & champagne for celebrating - camera - panadol - And of course my hubby for assistance, he was so helpful & kept me calm & sane, don't know how I would have coped without him. This post has made me so excited, we mated our girl 25 days ago & all the signs so far look very positive & I do think she could be pregnant, although we still have to take her for a ultrasound yet, so I could be organising everything again myself very soon, & Sway you will probably be receiving another order from me in the very near future. Good luck with your future litter. Nicole

Congratulations !! How exciting ..hope all goes well for you & your bitch. Still playing the waiting game here, but the signs are still looking positive.

The signs I usually would see are, barking more, more zoomies, staring at me, excessive licking & they will also start destroying their toys...especially their stuffed ones. There ends up being lots & lots of toy stuffing over the floor. It has been raining all day here today & the dogs have hardly been outside at all & are bouncing of the walls at the moment, they are driving me nuts.

Yep that's what I started my babies on too Bulldust,I started them of on it by soaking it, but by the time they left for their new home they where eating it dry mixed with mince.

OMG not one of them looks like a Labrador retriever to me.

Our dog runs are approx 2m wide & 4m long each, big enough for 2 Aussie terrier size dogs. Thought I would add that these runs are built inside a larger dog yard that has snake proof mesh around it, something to think about if you are living rural.

Our dogs are all inside/outside dogs when we are home, but when we do go out our 4 dogs are locked into 2 dog runs that we have built(2 dogs in each run ) with a x- large kennel to share & a padlock on each run. We live on a 40 acre rural property & its pretty safe out here, but because 3 of our dogs are not desexed we don't like to take any chances.

Hi GSD fan, I bred my first litter of puppies last year & I highly recommend the book "Book of the Bitch" A complete guide to understanding & caring for bitches by J.M. Evans & Kay White (This book is a fantastic reference & ended up becoming my bible) The other 2 books I have in my book shelf & that where also very helpful where - "The whelping & Rearing of Puppies, A complete & practical guide by Muriel P. Lee "Successful Dog breeding " The complete handbook of canine midwifery by Cris Walkowicz & Bonnie Wilcox, D.V.M. All books can be found easily on Amazon. I'm not too sure about courses but the MDBA ones look really good & I wouldn't mind doing one myself. Also have a good read through the threads in our breeders forum its amazing how much you can learn just by reading some of these threads. Nicole

How's everyones's girl going? We are so far feeling positive, vulva is still a little swollen, nipples are starting to look a little perkier & pink & Brandy is acting extreamly smoochy. She is on day 19 from first mating, so we still have quite some time wait for confirmation. I hate the waiting, I have no patience. And there is still always the possibility of the dreaded phantom pregnancy.

Here he is again, nearlly all grown up at 10 months old.