LizT

4 weeks old now. We nearly lost him, he got sick at three weeks, he started to lose weight but several vet visits and lots of TLC got his weight back up and he is doing well again.

Just want to ad that while desexing is a good way to avoid Pyometra, and if you rehome your bitches it certainly prevents them being used to breed. I myself have never owned a desexed bitch in my life. Most have never been breed (only the Cavaliers I have owned in the past 7 years have been bred from) and none have ever had Pyometra. This has been my personal choice since adulthood and simply due to circumstances when a child. My parents only ever desexed male dogs if we had a female as we didn't want to breed. We didn't desex male dogs if there was no bitch around. This is not to say that I wouldn't desex, but I choose to do so ONLY if medically necessary. Many breeders I know have had bitches that they still were intending to breed and who were quite young come down with Pyometra, so it isn't just about being older. Yes, it's a risk. No, it hasn't happened to me yet. I thought one girl of mine had it last year. She was ill, wouldn't eat and had a smelly discharge. Ultrasound showed no fluid in the uterus, she was given a course of antibiotic and recovered in a few days. Did she have early onset pyometra? One vet believed so, the other thought not. Either way, being alert to her being off colour and getting her to the vets early was paramount in her recovery IMO.

A week old and coming along ( thank goodness! )

Lovely! Congratulations on the special delivery. :)

Thanks all. Yeah, who'd be a dog breeder right? The last surviving boy is doing well and slowly gaining on his day 6. It's his due date tomorrow. I am quietly hoping that we get through the next few weeks and he gets past all his little milestones.

Saffy presented with a black discharge last Tuesday. There was nothing for it but to perform and emergency c-section. Two puppies had died in utero and there were three remaining. All very small and a week prem at Day 56. We lost the tiny boy (85 grams) on day 2. His colour was never quite right and while making a small gain on supplemented food he never had strength enough to nurse off mum. The surviving two were of good colour and feeding well at that stage. Last night the little girl was not as vigorous as she had been and had been dropping back in weight (born 94 gms) despite making small gains and picking up weight. She was ok at 12.15am but found listless at 1.30 am. This is the hard part of being a dog breeder. The last remaining puppy, a boy born 120gms dropped back to 115 gms and is back up to 125gms and feeding well exclusively on mum now. We quietly dare to hope.

Congratulations to all those with new babies safely landed.

Congratulations! What a busy New Years Eve for you! :)

I have a litter of Blenheim Cavalier babies due on Australia Day! January 26th. :)

My babies are now five weeks old and loads of fun!

Fingers and paws crossed. :)

Had a temperature of 36.7 degrees yesterday afternoon, and a very restless night of nesting. At the pointy end now. :) ***HAD TWO TRI BOYS, 1 BLENHEIM BOY AND A TRI GIRL THIS AFTERNOON. MOTHER AND BABES ALL DOING WELL***

The E-collar I used to break my GSD of barking habit had a "No longer than 12 hours" recommendation..so was fine for overnight while I was at work (night shift) and the family slept but my neighbour didn't!

It's a big craze in the US for Poodles. You can buy the Polish yourself and do it...one toe at a time.