Lynai

Not sure EXACTLY what "chuffed" would be, but I am assuming it means something pretty good, like you are "pretty taken" or "pleased" with her. Beautiful. My pups at 6weeks: and my smallest boy (when born) Purple with his new family at 8wks on Tuesday...they stopped by to spend time with him before pickup

Gorgeous litter Merrirose, you must be so pleased

Counting skulls I see 7, spines it looks like 8

Well this is a week 5 update: Here is my keeper girl from this litter, her name is Faith Walk's The Voice of Truth, call name: Lovey age 5 weeks I am pleased with the entire litter, everyone is turning out to have really nice substance in bone and chest This is a sibling, Blue Boy... Thanks to all for your well wishes, advise and encouragement! :D your'all great

Just an updated, everyone is thriving and have tripled their weight!! Just growing huge, Fenugreek seemed to work well, or at least better than the perscription I got from the vet, but still not quite have enough milk to do the job...I'm still tubing half their meals, but next week I'll be able to introduce a bit of solids/formula so that should help a bit. They have gotten so used to the tube, they actually gulp down the tube like it is food and it makes it quite easy, no struggling puppies to contend with. Selah is continueing to be a good mom, she really is such a good girl :)

I'm still looking for the feungreek tea..do you think I could use what I find in the spice isle and just make a tea out of it? Thanks Christina and I have an updated pic, they are getting bigger!

Fenugreek it is! I will let you know how it all worked...thanks! Pictures upcoming today, they are pudge-monsters.

Well fifi, the milk bar is just stingy! I have been putting them on and putting them on, she still wont flow very well...she kicked in one night and I thought we had turned a corner, but alas the next day she was back to less than adequate milk production. Meanwhile the litter gets supplemented. It is what it is. Monteba, Bullbreedlover, Saff, thanks so much for your kind and encouraging words..the pups are really gaining now, even the little one that was touch and go has turned into a pork chop and is only just a smidge smaller than his litter mates, so he is catching up nicely. He was born only weighing 445 grams and now weighs in at 685. Merrirose, yep the whole litter is fawn, and probably the majority will have black guard hairs through out the coat to some extent, so lighter than others. I really like the "sooty" peppered look, hoping the girl I end up picking has them, but alas, not a deal breaker ;)

Congrats Merrirose!! Nice litter

The little one on the upper right hand corner was the one that was intially a bit touch and go, but he has rallied and has gained 100 grams.

Everyone is doing fabulous folks, thanks so much. I am having to supplement with tubefeeding the litter right now because of a lack of milk production, but hopefully that will be righted soon enough. Here is a pic I took of them sleeping this morning at 3am

Yep, basically what Hannah said... No on-going crusty bottoms are not an issue, it is the occasional one that is a problem as I cannot leave them with their mother, even if she is a good cleaner, for a split second..so they must sleep away from from her and sleeping on their own...basically what Hannah said, and then poo can happen and it, yes, has happened before when in their boxes, doesn't last long, just looking for tips from people willing to help. Well enough, I have good news, and good news...by little one is doing fantastic, few tube feedings and time in the "Water Nannie" (an exotic birdbrooder)and berfoe you know it, he popped back up and is doing well, of course I have to still watch them all like hawk. Selah is being and excellent mother and has now started to clean them really well after feeding which makes my job less messy. Still however can have the occasional poo in the box regardless...

Oh yes, i have pics and I will post, and thanks for tips one and all, if it should rear it's ugly head, I will try some of these, hopefully it wont. It came off easy enough, well okay not easy but it hadn't been on for terribley long when I discovered it, I was just looking for perhaps some other way of doing it. Thanks for the advise :)

Actually she is starting to now clean them up very nicely. Unfortunately the poop got stuck to a butt when they were in their container and one must of been stimulated enough crawling around to pass some by the time I was able to notice it, it was crusty. Oh and the bedding gets changed regularly and is for the most part spotless...yes it's 101 I do know that I have to be the one to make sure they are clean, and I have been washing them and such after each feeding, and before I put them back into their container away from mom, it is cleaned as well..yes 101, unfortunately I missed one pooping in its box while I was sleeping, sh*t happens, literally and I will stand up and say I am not perfect I cannot look at them every minute and I must sleep, and I'm seeking help from other imperfect people, who, God forbid, may have had to deal with this themselves. Thanks Fifi.

Ummm...yeah, don't let them get that way in the first place. Well yes indeed, that would be the magic bullet.

"Breeding is never boring" yep Fifi, that pretty much sums it up :) and certainly not for the faint of heart, as I tried putting intestines back inside a puppy. Thanks again for all the well wishes, I certainly don't mean this to come across snobby, but the only people who know what a dog breeder goes through are fellow dog bre Well all is going okay, my littlest guy was losing energy and starting to worry me, couldnt suckle for long. I put him in one of my exotic bird incubators (its called a Water Nannie) and tube fed him twice after he warmed up and now he is feeding with gusto! I was really worried about Selah taking all the pups after the C, but she loves them all and has been an excellent mother, however, in typical mastiff fashion she turns her nose up at licking poo (really, can I blame her there) so I have a couple pups with cruty poo butts I had to soak tonight to dislodge..but other than that, they seem to be thriving. Anyone with crusty poo removal tips??? My last litter, i just soaked the few that I got in warm water and was able to clean it up that way, just wondering if there was some magic bullet out there I am not aware of.. Hannah, thanks I jumped over there right away to take a look around.

Well said Ruth!

Today would be day 57, from breeding and day 59 from ovulation. Thanks all for the well wishes, I'm just hoping for these little ones to make it and be healthy!

She came early, four boys and two girls. They all appear viable and have been nursing well. I have one small one I have to give extra attention too, but hopefully we will succeed!!!

Well Selah delivered or I should say stopped delivering at her third, I had to reach in and pull out a still born pup, nicely formed, but was not in it's sac, and had suffocated, I believe this is the one that was showing the blood. Off to the vet we go as she is obviously needing these pups out... We did a quick ultra sound and only found one heart beat, but being what it was, we thought that was going to be the one to save and perhaps we could salvage two pups. Well lo and behold, out pop five very healthy squalling pups! :D Palates are closed, good reflexes, one is a bit smaller and weaker so he has my undivided attention at feeding time, I make sure he is on first and so forth and he seems be to doing okay. I have ,two girls and four boys, I'm hoping one of the girls is my keeper and future show prospect. And I wanted to add, my husband was like a school kid when he saw them, he was so thrilled. This is a guy who was raised in the middle east (Iran) and really wasn't , much of a dog person, but supported me and my interest, but today, he was going on and on taking videos, pictures and saying how he didn't know how he was going to see them go some day, lol, he is such a good man.

Well the best laid plans of man are always laughed at by those more powerful.. Selah decided these pups are coming today/tonight. I have one stillborn and other is squalling and had a good nursing reflex and started nursing right away. He is small but healthy looking otherwise and has energy. Selah cleaned him up and I let him nurse and now he is being kept warm in a box with a heat source, don't want him getting chilled. Selah needs to get back to work...as long as they keep coming, we'll just play it by ear, its after midnight so this will indeed be a August litter..hopefully they will stay with me.

Thanks fifi, I am holding onto hope, our choices were between two bad scenarios, one we take them today, too early and watch them fade, or two we keep them in, hoping with the AB's and a little prayer, we can have some viable pups come friday. We may end up with none, but my way of thinking was at least there would be a chance, if we took them today the chance of survival would be very slim indeed. Right now, as of today we are at day 58 since ovulation and day 56 since breeding (surg a.i.) two more days would give us a big boost towards puppy viability, so c-sec would be on day 61 since ovulation and day 59 from breeding date.

In the famous words of Gilda Radner: its is always something!!! Last night I noticed a brown mucus substance and thought my girl may have passed her plug, unfortunately it soon turned into a darker brown drip (I have seen this before in my other girl with dead pups inside)..so off we go this morning, ultra-sound showed 4 plus pups with good heart rates (we couldn't see them all as they were piled in) the other horn had what appears to be two dead pups and unconfirmed heart rate on the other. We we are just a few days too early to take the pups, the earliest we could do this and have viable pups would be Friday. We put her on antibiotics as a percaution although her temp was fine...and she is on bed rest so to speak, she has been pretty sedate in the house regardless. The last time this happened we were able to perform the c-section right away and two of the four pups were saved. One of the dead pups had obviously been in there for awhile dead as it literally fell apart when brought out (yuck!). Anyone have experience having a blood drip days before a c-sec can be done with a good outcome? She isn't smelly and the blood lightened up today to a lighter mucus that is pink tinged and the vet thought that was a good sign.. Sighhh, I have been wanting this litter so long, I am not freaked out, but just concerned mainly for my girl and secondly for the pups.

Uhhhm I think we have some puppies in here!!! I confess I'm getting a bit nervous now, its been a couple years since my last litter...I have taken a couple days off and as I cannot leave the pups with the mother (squishing problems) I have to take them on and off for the first three weeks...I think I'll buy a case of 5hour engergy, lol. getting bigger, 12 days left

LOL, thankfully I'm talking about the bitch...then again my sister may say, lets not argue semantics, lol :D :D :D Thanks all for the input, I do think I will use this girl if I end up having a large litter. The only downside is the pups would be away from my home, but not too far.