Crazy Daisy

Thanks everyone for your kind words, I really appreciate it. I was scared to say anything thinking that I must have done something wrong but going over everything I can see it was just a case of bad luck. Maybe your friend was right GW. I had to have three c/s with my own children due to mother nature throwing me curve balls so maybe she thinks I could handle a sucky first litter too lol. I don't know if the amnesia is the same but at the moment I am saying never again. I wouldn't wish this experience on any responsible breeder but I wonder if a puppy farmer's first litter cost upward of $6k if that would deter them!!

Thank you so much for your replies. It's funny because I have had dogs all my life, been a dog groomer for 16 years and this was always a dream to have a litter of my own. Well at least I can say I tried. It was a shame because I did what I set out to do and that was breed something for the show ring that was better than what I had which is what we all do, try to improve the breed. But I couldn't keep the puppy, every time I looked at him I cried and it brought back the memories and I thought it wasn't fair on him. It is so lovely to see photos of them all and how happy they are with their new families. That is the best part :D

Well my first breeding experience was horrible . It has been three months and I still wake up in the middle of the night crying sometimes. There were great times and I ended up with 10 amazing puppies who are each adored by their new owners and I have had so many updates with the owners raving about how great their puppies are socially, at training and to live with. I am proud so proud of that. However I am still so emotional every time I think about the experience as a whole. Here is a brief overview. I have been planning this litter for four years. I own both the bitch and stud dog and they are from amazing kennels that I have admired for over 15 years. I did every test and they passed with flying colours and had brilliant hip and elbow scores. They both have done well in showing and complemented each other well. We had a great mating and a text book pregnancy until 58 days. My bitch seemed to double in size over night. Within 24 hours we were at the vet having an ultrasound. We thought there were six pups and the vet was worried about the pups heart rates. We went home and were on watch for signs of labour. We went back for a scan and the heart rates had picked up but my bitch hadn't. Another 24 hours and my bitch wasn't looking well and her joints had started to swell. I was syringing lectade into her as she wouldn't eat or drink. She couldn't get comfortable and I felt she was trying to be brave when I was with her so as heart breaking as it was I sat outside the door and left her to try and settle. It broke my heart to hear her try to lie down. She stood the whole time!! I kept calling the vet and emergency vet to ask questions and thank goodness for the emergency vet at 3am talking to me or I would have gone insane! Everyone kept saying "just watch her it sounds like she is in labour", "any time now, just be patient", "the first stages can take a while". I was home on my own and wanted to be strong for my girl so would go outside and sit down and just sob, wipe my eyes and go back into her with a huge smile and tell her what a great job she was doing. I rubbed her back and tummy and made a sling to try and hold her belly to give her a little relief. We both didn't sleep for two days. The next day I couldn't take it and knew she had had enough too. I took her into the vet and we decided to give her a c/s. This is the part I feel so very terrible about. I started to have chest pains, a panic attack. I couldn't breathe and was shaking terribly. My girl kept looking at me and I was falling apart. The nurses made me go outside for a walk but I felt so dreadful leaving Aria alone. I had done this to her, I had wanted this litter and I had made the commitment to do this with her!! The last thing I said to the vet was "Whatever happens, save my girl". I couldn't go in for the c/s and stood outside the door. Then I heard the last thing anyone wants to hear. "Holy shit, get more help" Time just slowed as every horrible possibility went through my mind. After what felt like an eternity the most amazing sound, second only to the cry of my own children, was the scream of a tiny little baby being born. That's when the tears of the last couple of hours came and with every cry of another puppy being born I felt the pain in my chest ease. I heard them count and say there were 10 puppies! 10! I was expecting 6 not nearly double that! I had the courage to go in and help with the puppies but no one would say anything about Aria. All I was told was it wasn't good and they were doing everything they could. I couldn't bring myself to look into the theatre but the vet talked to me through the door. He said he had got her back but it was still to early to tell. What????? What do you mean got her back? It turns out the vet thinks she had a condition called maternal hydrops and said each puppy was surrounded my approx 1-2 litres of fluid! No wonder Aria was so big with 10 puppies that is almost 20 litres of fluid and she was a slight golden retriever to begin with! After the pups she looked like a skeleton. What had seemed like a good healthy weight gain had just been a huge belly of puppies and fluid. Her heart had stopped beating twice on the table and they had to shock her to bring her back. With that much fluid around it was very dangerous I am told. She was then monitored very closely as her heart beat was extremely rapid. It was decided to take her to the emergency specialist vet for overnight observation. Due to recent parvo outbreaks in the area I couldn't leave the puppies so took them home with me. It was now midnight, and my birthday, happy birthday to me. I now had to learn how to hand feed new born puppies. Not to mention toilet them and burp them. I didn't even know puppies burped! Thank goodness for my 'bible' by Dr Karen Hedburg. I had read it cover to cover and was set up for most just in case scenarios so had some bottles on hand and cotton balls for toileting. It took me 1.5 hours to hand feed all 10 puppies and I had to do this every two hours. After three days of no sleep it is a miracle they all survived. The next day I was able to bring Aria home and thank goodness for friends coming over to help for a couple of hours and my vet doing house calls and checking on the puppies at home. Aria was a brilliant mum but after her trauma there was no way I was leaving her. I slept on the couch next to her whelping box for three weeks. Surely there can't be more?? Yep, two bouts of mastitis with me doing massage, hot packs and cabbage leaves. Aria was on antibiotics so I had puppies with the runs on and off for five weeks and nearly loosing three of them with an unknown virus. There were many nights I went to sleep sitting up on the lounge with a puppy or two down my shirt to keep them warm and hope when I woke up they were still with me. Then there were the times all of them would somehow escape their run in the garage and 10 puppies had had a ball pooping and weeing all over the garage and rolled in it. Then there was the great times! They all weaned without a problem and thrived. We would all play outside for hours rolling around in the grass with 10 happy fat puppies. We found amazing homes for each and every one of them and they all were perfect little balls of fluff who were nearly fully toilet trained by 8 weeks when they left us. So would I do this again? Absobloodylutely NOT! Everyone says I will change my mind but I just can't see it. I am proud of the puppies I produced. All the research I have done says it is a rare condition that is suspected to happen when two lines don't blend well and most bitches go on to have a normal second litter. I have had breeders of 30 years who say they have never had a litter with so many issues. I don't see how I could ever put Aria through something like that again. I did this alone as a single mother of three children. There were lots of people that said they would help me but when it came down to it people had their own lives and it was very lonely and exhausting. My question is has anyone had a traumatic litter? How long till you got over the trauma of it? Aria is perfectly happy and healthy and loving life jumping on the trampoline and wrestling with the other dogs but I still struggle with the memories. Sorry this has been longer than expected

Our Boston was very quiet and chilled when she was a puppy, three days after she came home and her real personality came out! I agree, most Boston's aren't your chilled out lap dogs anyway. Best of luck with your puppy. Please post photos when you get him/her.

This is what I did when I moved to Brisbane from Sydney. I started in the local vets, they gave out my business cards and the clients rang me directly and I called the vet two days before to tell them how many dogs I was doing and at what times and they made a space available for me. I gave the vet 10% so on a $50 groom they got $5. It was beneficial for the vet as I was able to recommend the grooming client see the vet if there were any problems I noticed. It works well for both parties as I brought in clients from word of mouth of my grooming and they gave me new clients from in clinic referrals.

I was going to say Beagle x pug too. Definitely doesn't look like a purebred to me. Very cute though.

I also love watching the Afghans and the Shih Tzu's because I'm envious they can manage the coat and I got frustrated and shaved Daisy. :laugh:

I couldn't imagine what that poor mother went through. I'm sure if my 4 yr old daughter went missing I would say some things I would later regret. Never trust everything you read. How do you know that the journalist wasn't asking something along the lines of "Aren't you concerned about the dogs?" And flustered she made that comment??? Other articles say she is grateful for the dogs being with him. Don't jump to conclusions because of one sentence in the media.

Morning Fresh is just fine to use and works especially well if a dog is really greasy but yes conditioning after is best. We had a huge problem with fleas a couple of years ago and I also paid to have the house sprayed inside and out but there were still fleas. After two months of comfortis there were no more fleas. Best thing ever!!

I think it would depend on who the other co owner was. What about a rescue group? I'm sure the dogs would love to be spoilt for a whole weekend.

Done. Good luck with your course.

I have used Jason too when I can't get into Furkids and he is brilliant too.

We use Furkids on Middle Road, Greenbank. The vet and the staff are all breeders and have lots of experience. They are fantastic to deal with and very accommodating with special needs. Here's their number 3200 0498.

That is fantastic news! I love the photo too.

Really? They must have changed the rules since I did an ad. Bummer

Maybe put an ad on the front page of Dogzonline in the wanted section under employment?

I see your spots Arcane and raise you some stripes Or maybe a flower? Daisy loves playing in the multicoloured hair after it's done. She thinks it's as good as playing with the stuffing of a toy without the hard work of getting it out!

Oh Please, the dogs love the attention. You should see Daisy when I get the grooming box down. She runs to the grooming table waiting patiently to get up and most of the time when she is being dyed she falls asleep on the table! The dye is non toxic and doesn't even have a smell, it is nothing like human hair dye and there is no ammonia. The colours fade and then the dog is shaved off and its not like this is happening to them every day! Probably only once or twice a year. You couldn't use a dog that didn't like being groomed so these dogs obviously love the attention. I have a lot of respect for my dogs and probably spend a lot more time looking after them than most people would. But each to their own, I'm sure there are lots of people who do things to their dogs that I would find inappropriate.

I found grooming a great way to try out different breeds. I loved every single Shih Tzu that I groomed and I think I will always have one. They are a great little dogs and their personality seems to suit me well. The Goldens were a different story. I was looking at an Alaskan Malamute and went to a few shows to meet them but one day visiting my OH's old neighbour who bred Goldens and I knew I was hooked. They suit me and my young family right now. There are lots of other breeds I would like to own one day too but I believe in getting what will suit me in whatever stage of life I'm in.

The only distressing thing Daisy found at dog grooming competitions was having to stand on a table and not playing with the other dogs! I would never attempt most of those designs, those groomers are so very talented! Amazing.

I have three but my son does junior handlers and wants his own dog (the Goldens are too big for him) but I just can't imagine going to 4. My little group works so well I don't want to mess it up. Looks like he'll just have to keep borrowing a dog at shows till he gets bigger for the Goldens.

She's gorgeous and I love her name! Congratulations :)

Can I ask what is sparing supposed to look like exactly? In those clips that Showdog posted there was the dogs who approached each other, went up in their toes and wagged their tails and then there were the ones who jumped up on their back legs pulling on the lead and sometimes made a small bark. Does it matter if their feet come off the ground? Or are they just supposed to look at each other animatedly.

There is a condition commonly referred to as winter nose or snow nose. The dogs nose normally goes lighter during a certain period of the year and then returns to normal. It also seems to become more common with age.

If she was a breeder maybe call the GR club of NSW and ask if anyone knows the place?