ruthjones

No probs, just would hate you guys to end up in trouble if you were audited. Odds are you would just get a warning, but it is a discretionary choice for an auditor (based supposedly on criteria but Can be argued either way) and quite honestly, better not to give them that choice if it can be avoided. ( some are nice, some enjoy the power a bit much)

That's it Patches, I quit, stop teasing! Fancy that, whines and carries on loudly, suddenly rips her bed to pieces, ok, I figure it must be time, get my supply tray out, sit down beside her, she comes over out of her box, and promptly falls asleep on my lap. I'm sure it will be funny once they are safely here, but at the moment, that is just cruel girl. Don't worry, I don't really quit, love her too much, and have an attack of the guilts at looking at her poor stretched tummy and remembering, oh yeah, being pregnant sucked! Sorry girl Ruth

Dear Patches, I love you, whenever you feel like having these babies is fine, take your time, no hurry, But please, stop messing with my mind! Going off your food I assumed it was nearly time, to then change your mind and decide you were hungry after all was just mean! Yours lovingly Your doting servant Ruth Note to self: raw chicken pieces no longer wanted, must buy lots of royal canin starter mousse, because now that is all she will eat! Wishing I had bought more than the 12 cans I ordered!

I must say my response was that if she was still pregnant at 10 weeks we would probably have lost the whole litter and her! Maybe they all had puppy breath brain that day! Ruth

Since I am awake anyway, I thought I might share the giggle I got the other day. Was in the supermarket stocking up on chicken necks etc. Lady next to me at the cold meat section says "you must have a lot of dogs" I reply, "we are expecting a litter soon and my girl is being selective with what she eats" Lady "oh what breed are they, I love puppies?" Me "cocker spaniels" Lady "but what else?" Me "umm, nothing else" Lady "what are the parents?" Me (getting frustrated) "they are both cocker spaniels" Lady "how does that work?" I really had no idea what to say, the stupidity of it, (plus starting to wonder what the heck kind of answer I could give) gave me the giggles afterwards though. Do people these days not realize that dogs can be just one breed? Or was this lady just having a really bad night! Sorry, but that is as silly as the vet staff recommending X-ray or ultrasound at 10 weeks of pregnancy, either they are particularly not with it, or they were trying to prevent causing harm to a developing pup! So what inane things have you all heard lately? Some times laughter is the best medicine Ruth

Umm, not trying to be difficult, but you may want to clarify the tax deductible donation side, the ato specifies it isn't a donation if you receive something for it, such as a raffle ticket, pen etc, pretty sure people here don't care, just don't want you guys to be dragged over the coals by the ato http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/00288728.htm&page=47 Yes I do know what I'm talking about, I just suggest clarifying your wording, professionally, I have seen charities lose their tax deductible status for things like this (if the ato has it in for them to start with usually) Ruth (all you need is to remove the word donation and change it for something else and separate it from the regular donations on your website so it isn't listed as a donation, or just ignore it and hope you don't get audited)

Okay, morning temp 37.9, night temp 37.5 A bit of clear mucous, (sticky/stringy clear fluid on checking vulva, not obvious externally though, I figure she is cleaning herself) Appetite still very strong, doesn't appear in any distress, does seem awkward, but heck, I would be too lol. She is still looking happy and upbeat, wandering around, wagging her tail, very spooky though Maybe she just peed lol, it looked a lot but maybe she didn't like the toilet location I chose (front yard, away from all the other dogs etc just in case) and so held on until she conceded to my choice., I guess the presence of the mucous says it will be in the next few days, which I knew roughly anyway based on numbers, I wish that our girls could put an x on a calendar on the day they plan to have their pups! This time isn't ringing alarm bells like last time around though, am watching her body language, she isn't acting like anything is wrong for her, so until something suggests it is, I think I just need to stop over analyzing every big pee she does! Heck she let me know she wanted me last night, so will let her set the rules until my gut says something is wrong (at least we don't have a green discharge before a puppy this time) I think sometimes I'm missing the forests for the trees, of course she is a bit awkward and uncomfortable, she is about to give birth within the next week at the latest to multiple babies! Ruth

Well I stayed with her last night, and eventually she just went to sleep, however this morning she appeared to pee like at least half a litre, I'm inclined to think it was actually her waters breaking (I doubt her bladder could hold this much at the moment) however everything suggests that waters breaking is more of a slow leak, so either she is peeing for Australia in the Olympics or I am over thinking everything. You know how when yo are looking for the signs it seems that everything fits them in a way lol. She seems to be sleeping now, breathing fairly heavily, but my mind is wondering if she is actually having mild contractions, gosh this is all so complicated! Every day I learn more that I don't know! Thanks all Ruth

Hi all, According to calculations, Patches is due the 4th July, based on when she stood for the dog best, but given that could easily be out a few days. And given she is whiny, groany and panting tonight. Is it completely pathetic for me to sleep beside her? I could spend the next week doing this! Ruth

What the????? I was rather ummm, how can I put it, hesitant to put my girl into their care at the moment!

Ok, I'm a bit concerned about my girl, but at the same time there is nothing actually wrong as such The thing is, she seems to be constantly starving, but at the same time has completely gone off all dry food, and all she is interested in is raw chicken necks and wings and raw mince! Given tassie's rules regarding illegality of feeding internal organs http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/webpages/cart-6sa36r?open does anyone else have any suggestions of what to offer her to balance her diet out? Or do I figure at least she is eating and leave her be with her chosen foods (which she would eat mountains of if given the chance?) Oh, she will sometimes eat carrots and apples at the moment too. ( by eat I mean steal the bag if you turn your back) Thanks Ruth Eta: Clarifying its the little bags of apple slices the supermarket sells that she steals ( we buy them for the 5 year olds school lunches) the whole carrot, without any leaf material on it.

Bigger every day, 12 days to go

So in saying that your girl is pregnant...is there any particular reason your friend couldn't purchase a Cocker puppy from you in the first instance (apart from colour???)? Or was there some other issue??? Apologies if the question is too blunt, my cynicism gets in the way from time to time. Simply the colour issue, ironically though, they changed their minds and ended up buying a springer spaniel from someone, at least they partially listened to me and went to a registered breeder, I was annoyed, I spent hours finding out who had golds now, who was expecting, going through health issues to be aware of etc. I think ultimately they weren't prepared to wait for the dog they claimed to be fussy about at least they didn't go to a byb or pet shop I guess., My litter will be blue roans, and nothing but blue roans as the sire doesn't carry for gold and they are both roans, (he is a blue roan) Ruth

Just updating, it is now blindingly obvious that my girl is expecting, in fact judging by the following photo taken yesterday, with two weeks left to go she might be expecting horses she is so huge! I just wanted to thank everyone for being so willing to help. Now if only I can stop her from being the horrid cow she has been the last couple weeks, things would be virtually perfect! Ruth

Baking almost completed, 2 weeks to go! Feeling sorry for my girl now, takes her a couple of attempts to stand up! Doesn't stop her racing around the yard though! Hoping for more than the one we got last time around! On a ridiculous thought, I rng the vet to organize an ultrasound or X-ray, I was told they didn't like to do them for dogs until they were 10 weeks pregnant, I couldn't help it, I said if she was still pregnant at 10 weeks then we would have most likely lost her and the puppies! Note to self, wait for regular vet to have an appointment, don't try and find substitute vet for something non essential lol. Skyehaven, At last I get company in here, oh gosh, more than a dozen, I foresee lots of exhausted nights ahead of you! Ruth

Okay, I am tentatively stepping into the list for July, expecting baby cockers on or about the 4th of July. Pic of the expectant mum (Patches) earlier today: I feel a little mean for doing it to her though, poor girl, seems she is out of space already but still has another 3 weeks of cooking to go though! A lot of nerves after our last time around though. Anyone going to join me in July? Ruth

Nope it'll be puppy 2, middle child syndrome!, needs to find a way to stand out, obviously oldest and youngest at taken, so first to open eyes is it, go puppy 2! Lol

Maybe we could find a vet willing to donate some time and run a vaccination and worming blitz, go into some areas with homeless with dogs and vaccinate and worm the dogs, maybe even offer some desexing planned event? I would be willing to donate whatever I could spare, I'm sure we could run some specific fundraising activity to help fund some of it.

Location isn't an issue, age and gender isn't an issue, but they have their hearts set on a gold. I think because it is what they have had before (34 years ago lol!)

A good friend of mine is looking for a dog, specifically a gold cocker spaniel (she is very jealous of our new pup, but has been looking for a while so I said I would try to help her out) She has no preference of gender and would also be interested in either a puppy or an older dog, so age and sex are both open. Temperament is the real key and deciding factor. Would be pet only so only limited register needed, so if anyone knows of any breeder that may have a litter, or anyone with an older pup or adult available, that you could recommend temperament wise, could you let me know. Thanks Ruth

Well dogtainers stuffed us around today, they somehow didn't put our girl on her next flight, so she was in amelbourne for over seven hours, luckily they gave her food and water etc, she finally landed in Launceston at ten pm, (after not finding out until the plane was meant to land that she wasn't on the earlier flight grr) went to the toll depot, sign up saying after 9:30, collect at terminal, ok, move car, go into terminal, ask quarantine officer where to collect pup, blank look, "what puppy? No puppy on this flight" cue exhausted tears on my part, I explain the whole day, quarantine officer feels very guilty, apparently he is just having a joke, but regardless pup is to be collected at toll depot, leave, pay for unneeded parking fee (grr) go back to previously locked up toll depot, say I'm there for pup, "sure, I just need some photo I'd" oh heck, I left my handbag in the car, trek back out to car, retrieve id, come back in, toll guy checks I'd, records licence number and hands over pup in crate, get back in car, cue kids "can I pat the puppy?" geez, give me a chance! Hand her to supposedly most responsible child, not sure who fell asleep first, puppy or kid! Arrive home, (two hours later) kids start fighting over whose bed she is sleeping on, I get grumpy, say "mine" and exit swiftly to bed! To my darling husband, who did over 8 hours driving today so I could pick up this puppy, I love you dearly! To my crazy kids, if you want to hand feed her dry dog food one at a time, you will be there a while! To Mel, the kids insists on buying you no less than 3 brand new beds, plus your brand new crate, so why must you sleep on my dressing gown! Ruth

THey are so adorable, my husband actually asked if I was sure they weren't polar bear babies lol!

Well after we had all but written off hope, there is still a possibility that she may be pregnant. patches vulva is still quite swollen looking, her appetite has gone through the roof and her Behaviour iis a bit different to normal, She is determined to be inside, all the time, more than willing to lie down for me to check her over but doesn't seem too keen on me checking her too thoroughly, I figure I wouldn't be able to tell yet so won't push the issue. She is still very active, but then she was still trying to jump onto the kids trampoline the day before she last gave birth. So while it definitely isn't a given, the chance is still there, and as my husband pointed out, I don't know for sure that they didn't tie, just that I didn't see them, and as they run together, who knows! Any tips of other symptoms I can check? Otherwise I guess we ultrasound in about 2 weeks and hope! Ruth

Not the ones in Boat harbour I didn't, had to make sure I had transport first, I did email another breeder in my suburb (what are the odds) but no reply as yet. Will try and contact the other one in boat harbour this morning. Okay, will try and assist him a bit more, heck something has to work surely!

Well she feels very soft to the touch! They are both very keen, if anything it seems like she is standing better today than yesterday, wondering if he for some reason is purposely withdrawing before they tie, is that even possible, sometimes after he withdraws there seems to be fluid dribbling, not sure which one it is from, maybe this season just isn't meant to be