LizT

Oh Congratulations on the lovely brood. Sad about no.11, but as you say 10 was a bit touch 'n go so.. Anyhow good luck with your exam today!

Well after all isn't that what breeders are supposed to be striving for..excellence in the Pets and family members they produce. Nothing nicer than seeing a well bred dog going for a walk with his people is there. :D

Perhaps you could send them vouchers instead. ie... if You use Artemis (as I do), then you could ask if they could sell you a voucher so that the puppy buyer could redeem in their state. In other words rather than getting a bag of food Artemis the puppy buyers gets a voucher to the value of a bag of food - this would be attached to a list of suppliers in their state Vouchers are a good idea in essence...but....I thought the point of sending a puppy off with food in it's puppy pack was to ensure that it had what is currently in it's diet on hand, so that the new owners didn't change it's diet suddenly by ripping out to the only supermarket that's open, when they got home and realised they didn't have anything to feed the new baby!! Sometimes people get a bit forgetful and disorganised when they're excited. As you all know the first day in a new home is not the time to change pups diet. It gives them some time to do it gradually if they choose to. Yes but the smaller bags dont cost much to send whereas larger bags cost a bit, so you send a smaller bag with a voucher. I didn't mean to just send the voucher Fair enough. I guess with the larger breeds even a short supply is going to get quite bulky compared to Toy breeds. How many days supply would you consider to be sufficient?

I would suggest that dogs that ethical breeders sell because they don't meet the standard as well as others in the litter still meet the standard a hell of a lot more than your byb, puppy farmer, pet shop. Agree, and sometimes it's not confirmation or health issues that preclude a dog from the Show Ring. Sometimes it just doesn't have that "look at me" attitude that gives a good show dog the edge. Or in a large litter there are only so many 'berths' available in the Show Dog home. It's not always so easy to tell if a pupppy will pan out into the type of Show Dog you're hoping for. Possible the better pup may very well end up in the much loved pet home.

This is my first litter and I've started taking my bitches temerature at about two weeks early to get her comforable with it and to get an idea of what's normal for her so I have no "history' such as you have described but I find it interesting that her temperature sits at about 37.7 degrees. That's almost a degree down from what's "normal". So I'll be looking for a drop to about 36.7 for her to be close to whelping I guess.

Well Bonnie is 50 days today (going by the first mating, of which she showed only "mild" interest) and looks like she has a 'belly full'! So somewhere around the 9th -11th I'm guessing. She has that "I'm over being pregnant" look about her Tried to chase her tail yesterday and stopped abruptly with a look that said "How come I can't bend in the middle so well??!!"

Perhaps you could send them vouchers instead. ie... if You use Artemis (as I do), then you could ask if they could sell you a voucher so that the puppy buyer could redeem in their state. In other words rather than getting a bag of food Artemis the puppy buyers gets a voucher to the value of a bag of food - this would be attached to a list of suppliers in their state Vouchers are a good idea in essence...but....I thought the point of sending a puppy off with food in it's puppy pack was to ensure that it had what is currently in it's diet on hand, so that the new owners didn't change it's diet suddenly by ripping out to the only supermarket that's open, when they got home and realised they didn't have anything to feed the new baby!! Sometimes people get a bit forgetful and disorganised when they're excited. As you all know the first day in a new home is not the time to change pups diet. It gives them some time to do it gradually if they choose to.

Interesting description!

Thanks

I wonder what we did wrong LizT. Anyway, my dogs seem to love the Royal Canin and do well on it - though my latest addition pup only likes the adult and won't look at the puppy food. I'm biting my nails as to whether to get just one puppy bag of Advance even though I swore off it Don't know..?? but I got onto their Website and just Registered as an "Advance Breeder" so I'll see what happens there. Both my dogs love their food as the second was an 'Advance Puppy'. I had the first one on Hills, which she loved, the second came with an 'Advance Puppy pack' and I switched them both to 'Advance'. When the second dogs seemed to scratch excessively I put her on 'Advance Sensitive', that helped alot but since I put her on Royal Canin she barely has a scratch at all.

I contacted 'Advance' with no response either so I thought I'd put my own together since I'm feeding Royal Canin now anyway. Thought I might put a 'puppy pal' toy in for the baby to sleep with when it leaves it's pals? I'll search for the other post as it's something I've been thinking about. I plan to put in puppy and Breed information.

That's what I was thinking. So provided the placenta has 'drained' it should only take about as long as it would take mum to chew through it, and she crushes as she chews it so a few minutes should do the trick I guess. The 10 minutes was for a large breed too so I guess that is for a larger cord. Sigh...with foals they just stretch and then break under the stress.

Hmmm. And particularly when it seemed to turn up in a "particular breed of a particular colour regularly"..some connections have to be made...so yes, even if the "Myth" is debunked there could still be a genetic connection thats only obvious sign was colour regardless of the genetics that couldn't be seen. Hence the 'link'.

So Ellez and BB if I leave a hemostat (I have two) on for 10 minutes and cut/break without tying that would be okay (as seen on Whelping Video I borrowed recently)??

i would say a red nose PB X amstaff. Here is my girl, i have been told she is a rose pitbull, a vizsla and also a ridgeback. she is just beautiful no matter what breed. What do you think she is? Is ther some Kelpie/Lab in there?

Just be aware that this may make some bitches do the exact opposite to what you desire. Many will find the urge to remove something from their puppies that doesn't belong there too strong to resist. Personally, I find that once they are no longer fresh, the bitches don't bother much with them anyway. Okay, think I'll play it by ear and see how things unfold with her. Do you hemostat, cut and tie Ellez or leave it to mum to "shred"?

Cavs, gotta love 'em!

Oh I win?? Gee do I get a prize I could do with a prize. Eggs or a milking cow (with a milk maid) would be wonderful. I have a bakers dozen now. The Bat sat on boy number 4 on day 4 and he didn't stand up to well to being sat on by his Mum. CONGRATULATIONS on your litter and I hope they are doing as well as this white wave I have here. The rest of the little dears are now between 1.5 kilos and 2.2 kilo's (at 17 days) so I think it may be fair to say they are doing OK and if my fingers tell the truth the Bat is actually gaining some weight, is well over having her butt washed and has gone back to work part time. LizT, I have no idea if it is *normal* for maremma to have such large litters but I am not fond of the idea of another litter if it is the case :D Well you certainly have your work cut out for you! :p Here's me thinking 4 - 6 possible little CKCS babies was going to keep me running round in circles (it still may) but you're going to have far more fun!! PS. You'd be wanting a "Milking Goat" not cow LOL

Thanks Fifi

Nor did mine, she ate her breakfast and delivered at 11am. I will say that she also vommitted it back up but not all Cavaliers go off their food. Quick tip, Cavs are great at pulling on umbilical cords and creating hernias, so put in your box something that you can place over the cord area of the pups. Goodluck, Sway has a good whelping supply shop. http://www.whelpingsupplies.com.au/index.php Thanks Cavalblaze, I've got some self adhesive dressing I'm putting around the bubs middle to temporarily cover them so mum won't "focus' so much on it. And I've got my supplies from Swayd but she's out of Unwaxed Dental floss and all the shops only seem to stock the minty waxed kind these days. Thinking strong 100% cotton should due the trick, if I end up needing some.

Did the even mention a breed?? Why do I suddenly have visions of "Cruella De Ville" in my head???

Bonnie has gotten so vocal at mealtimes now that it's crazy noisey whilst I make them sit/stay!!! Crystal thinks it's all a game and joins in when usually you don't get a peep out of her!

Congratulation on your beautiful babies!! Big breeds large litters...is it so for all large breeds???? CKCS average 4-6, the largest litter I've heard of with them is 9??? I had a German Shepherd boy once who was the runt, the breeder told me he was No. 18 !! Guess he was lucky not to be culled. He lived to 14 years of age.

Just as Breeders need to exercise patience with the many buyers who ring/email.... so does the buyer need to be patient with breeders. Don't despair...it's a conversation you'll soon get down pat.