ruthjones

ideally I would love to keep one, but it would need to obviously be excellent as far as conformation and as far as what personality can be picked up on, which is of course entirely possible, however since they havent been born yet, a bit hard to pick hehe not sure if I would go for a girl or boy, I guess I have to see exactly what she ends up having! I am worried I won't want any of them to go though, thinking I will be more attached to these than the birds I used to breed! Luckily my girl's breeder is being excellent help, unfortunately, she lives in another state to me! Just not sure if they will sell, seems to be a lot of supply in the breed atm, would be ironic if I ended up not being able to sell any! Although the lady at Dogs Qld did advise to be careful because it will be just before Xmas! Ruth

Well it probably would be easier to let them go before we move, but they will literally be just 8 weeks, plus I'm not sure if there is much chance of selling them in Ipswich/Brisbane area as there are a fair few breeders around here. Besides, I may be trying to keep them a little longer for cuteness factor lol Ruth

In all honesty, I dont really mind where she has the puppy, except maybe my bed being off limits! I am wondering though if the ensuite fascination is because it is cooler in there than most of the rest of the house, perhaps she is feeling overly hot being big in QLD at the moment. She doesnt seem to actively dislike the whelping box, maybe she just doesn't want to be reminded of what is coming lol. She has always liked eggs, but they have been limited to one every 3 days previously, is it possible that it is just about her being hungry and she knows they are good to eat? Her diet is based on 1/3 pasta or rice, 1/3 mince (lean) 1/3 vegies about 1 1/2 cups of this/day with good quality dry food (from livestock store) about 1 cup/day this is split into two feeds (morning and night) lately we have been adding puppy food twice a day as well between her main meals (about 1 cup / meal) should I look at adding some chicken necks/frames to this as well? we normally add the egg to the dry food on the morning of the third day, however if our dumb chickens happen to lay in the yard, the only trace you will find is shell crumbs within seconds! I never thought they would try to eat the shell! Okay, I can easily buy more puppy toys, we only have oh, about $400 worth of dog toys at the moment lol. I will give her some goats milk and see if she is interested, I always thought milkl was a no-no though? does that only go for cow's milk? Socks has a toy stuffed puppy he carries everywhere with him (in fact he has several, in case it should be missing in action lol) so part of me is slightly concerned he might try to kidnap the real puppies as a toy! I had great fun explaining to my husband that when we move in November, we are taking a whole litter of puppies with us (they will be just over the 8 week mark) the darling didn't even flinch, much, lol, he even asked if they were flying or if they were coming in the car with us! I am thinking flying will be less stress, trying to imagine a car with a litter of cocker spaniels and the parents (if the puppies are driving, they would be too) and our 4 human kids and us and a weeks worth of clothes etc, hilarious thoughts though lol He didnt ever mind when I told him how much it was going to cost to microchip and vaccinate the tribe lol. I just hope she doesnt have too large a litter is all, a bit scared though, she was from a pretty substantial litter! is that an inherited trait? Ruth

Okay, thanks, I'll keep him back and do introductions very gradually with intense supervision, I might keep the chicken run locked from her to stop the egg issue. The dogs have never tried to hurt the chickens, socks will chase them until they sit down, patches just loves rounding them up, must say at first i was concerned they would see dinner on legs, but they dont seem interested in that possibility (unlike my aunt's dog who caught one of her neighbours chickens that came over the fence and ate the whole thing!) I just wasnt sure about how much the dog would undertand, from what i am getting now though, i figure all he cares about is getting it in the hole lol. Is it best if I buy new toys for the puppies, I would hate to provoke a jealous attack over possession of toys? I am constantly amazed by how much she wants to eat lately! she has always loved her food but she would eat all day at the moment if she could! Are there any other specific supplements etc I should offer her? I know raspberry leaf tea has been mentioned but I was told that could make her go into premature labour? one web site said to keep them calm for 3 weeks before the birth, I would like to know how! I'm not planning on taking her for marathon walks or agility trials at the moment or anything, but if she was calm and sedate I would think something was wrong with her, she just has a busy personality i think! Lately she will let me lie her down on her side so I can check everything is ok and no suspicious discharges etc lol. and I dont know why she wants to live in the ensuite lately! she goes straight there as soon as she comes inside and does not want to come out, i guess the cozy whelping box in the spare room with blankets isnt acceptable to her! Thanks Ruth

Yep, I know it is 63 days post ov, however have been using mating dates as a rough guide (as we dont know exactly when she ovulated) Thanks for the info regarding sires not recognising the pups instinctively, it was one area that none of my reading ever actually spelt out. Don't get me wrong, the sire is beautiful, wonderful temperament, never would dream of hurting anyone, but I dont want to take unnecessary risks so I wont chance it. Poor girl is so big now, her tummy is so stretched and tight looking! I am making sure that I am handling her as frequently as I can, just to make sure she is as comfortable as possible if there is anything I need to do, I would hate her to panic! I've even been watching youtube videos of cocker spaniels giving birth, although my husband has to keep telling me I cant close my eyes during the yucky bits! (Sad I know, I keep going back to having my first and the midwife asking me if I wanted to feel her head during birth and apparently shaking my head no very quickly) but just trying to make sure that I know what is normal and can tell when I need to intervene and when to let nature take over. Ruth

Okay, So patches is due any day now (Saturday by 63 days post mating) our paperwork is all in order (prefix still pending though) so I have a couple of last minute questions Is it normal for the bitch to still be so active? She is as hyper and playful as ever! She loves to guard the chickens, and if you let them up, herds them constantly (cocker spaniel) but she is still trying to jump up on chairs still, hasnt become sedate at all! Does a sire generally recognise/accept their own offspring? Patches will obviously be living inside for a while, but at some stage the pups will be going outside for play etc, do I need to remove our boy (their sire) from the area or will dogs instictively accept their own pups? Would it be wise to bring the sire inside with the pups for a while too? or is that a recipe for disaster? I'm worried that Patches is eating too many eggs, she likes to steal them from the chickens and eats them so quickly it is ridiculous, but it has only been the last couple of weeks that she has become obsessed with them, should I let her do it under the theory of at least she is eating and it isnt completely crap or should I be stricter with enforcing a limit? (we have 4 chickens so there is only 2-3 a day anyway) So yes, I know they are newbie questions that I should probably already know, but I just want to be sure. Thanks Ruth Jones

Adorable, give them all a cuddle for me! So glad they made it home in time! I reckon you are probably due for some sleep now lol! Best wishes Ruth

Hi all, Can I join in, we have a litter of Cocker Spaniel's due on about the 25th September (our prefix is awaiting their selection from our list) Our first litter so I am very nervous. Thanks Ruth

Fantastic News! Make sure you let us know how the vet report goes.... And of course puppy pictures !!!! Ruth

oh, of course, sorry for my stupidity Best of luck Ruth

Can I ask a question? not trying to be difficult or anything, just wondering if you do not receive these dogs back until after the puppies are born, are there difficulties in registering the pups? Sorry, I have no idea where they are but I truly wish you all the luck in the world that they come back as soon as possible. Take Care Ruth

,oh and a puzzlepup too please lol all in the biggest size possible Ruth

ummm, Can I get one of each? platypus, turtle, dinsoaur, fish and also an IQ cube and a hide a squirrel, not sure who will like them most, pup or the kids lol. Ruth

Ohhh, is it too late to get some of these toys? They would be very well loved I think lol Ruth

Ohhhh - I want I want ... just about everything, is it too late? Ruth

Hi, Maybe I am just naive but can a 10 week old puppy of any breed really be 20kg? That would be something scary! Ruth