Leema

Hi Daveri. Sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble finding a breeder. I find that phoning breeders have better results than emailing them, but still isn't fool proof. I don't think there is any problem looking for interstate breeders. If they may have something available for you, then you could always plan a trip if you desperately wanted to see parents. You never know, they may be using a QLD stud, so you might be able to visit half of the parents, anyway. It's only something for you to try and, if you're not comfortable, you can just stick to QLD. But it's worth a go, surely.

I wouldn't be adopting a dog from interstate unless the dog and your dog had a chance to interact first, to ensure all was well. I wouldn't be placing all my hopes on a puppy that is not born or promised yet. Breeding is a game of chance and luck, and there are no guarantees.

Hi LizT. I've just had a singleton litter, which is my second litter ever. I had an ultrasound at about 28 days, which showed she was pregnant with just one. On the advice of DOLers, I then had an x-ray to confirm numbers (as they are more accurate than ultrasounds). The x-ray was done 6 days before her due date. The purpose of the x-ray was to determine, a), if there was only one puppy and, b) the size of this puppy (to see if she would be able to deliver naturally). The x-ray showed only one puppy. The x-ray showed a puppy that was moderately large and, considering that it had a week to keep growing, it was conceivable that it would grow too big. When talking with other breeders in my breed, I was given the advice to have an elective caesar. I think it's important to talk to others in your breed to determine if singleton litters are often born with no dramas, or if they're problematic. For the few days surrounding her due date, we had progesterone testing done to determine the right time for her caesarian. Clover, however, had other ideas and came into labour. The vet was some-what on standby, so it ended up being a 'moderately planned caesar'. The puppy was born at about 300g, when the average puppy size in my breed is anywhere from 100g-230g. So, we were right, it was a big puppy, and the vet was even surprised at the time. We are happy with our decision, but it was a very worrisome two months for us, and I'm glad I have a healthy puppy and a healthy mum at the end of it. Puppy is 5 days old today. Hope this helps.

Get a OH that doesn't need convincing. ;) I read this thread to OH, and he thinks they just 'appear' here, too. I think that's a bit unfair - I normally tell him on the day, before he leaves for work, that there will probably be a new dog face here when he gets home. His response is normally, "Aww, doggy."

I am in South Australia, and I received a slip in my SSAE saying my numbers can be picked up from secretary on the day. I received this about a week ago. Got no idea about my cheque - I don't keep track of things like that.

I suggest you feed them separately, too. Dogs don't like to share food - that's not a biggy. Bernard's behaviour to Olive is a bit inappropriate and I would be intervening. One day Olive may 'snap' and no longer tolerate Bernard's attitude. I would do as others have suggested in this thread. If either of them get gnarky over your attention, I'd just stand up and walk away, perhaps even go on the other side of a door and wait a few minutes. They should learn that getting nasty over you means that you go! Not that they get you. Victoria Stilwell ('It's Me Or the Dog') has a few segments with dogs that have 'jealousy' issues like this. You might want to have a look at some of her older episodes, as they actually demonstrate the technique.

I have a reproductive vet that I see and like, but he is 1.5 hours away from me. When I want drugs for conjunctivitis or an ear infection or a progesterone test, I am not going to drive 1.5 hours (I'm sorry) and take 3+ hours out of my day for something simple. I will go to him for something important and 'non urgent'. I'm planning to move to a country town in a few years time, which has about 3-4 vets nearby... What happens when I exhaust them all?

I am reading the euthanasia thread with many people mentioning vets they've used for many years. I'm wondering if I'm being too pedantic, changing vets all the time, or if I've just had bad luck? Here is my little story, and I'd love to hear if I'm being anal or if you would've changed vets in these scenarios, too. Sadly, a vet I really liked stopped practising in 2009 (approximately). I continued going to this clinic and saw 'Vet A'. Vet A knew that I was into holistic products, but kept trying to sell me homeopathic products (I do not believe in homeopathy). I tolerated this, but one day I took my dog with an ear infection in and she said, "He has dirty ears and fleas. He doesn't have an infection." He had neither dirty ears or fleas. Two weeks later, I took him to Vet B who diagnosed him with a bad ear infection. Vet B became my regular vet. They were a bit annoying, trying to have me vaccinate my dogs annually, but I tolerated it. I took my dog there to have hip x-rays and they were shit (i.e. no conclusions could be made). I was a little annoyed about this, but kept going there. I booked my puppy in to be vaccinated with the tri-annual vaccine to have them ring up on the day of the appointment (1 hour beforehand) to say there was no triannual left, and would I like to bring her in to be vaccinated with the normal vaccine? The answer was firmly no. I spent a lot of time trying to find a vet that would use the triannual vaccine, delaying this puppy's vaccination protocol. The clincher, however, was when I got sent a letter by Vet B telling me how much at risk my puppy was from my 'beliefs'. I found this letter belittling, and cancelled outstanding vet appointments to then go to Vet C. Vet C never bugged me about vaccinations. I could go in there and get just what I want. I'd tell them my dog had x,y,z, and they'd agree and give me the drugs I wanted. Perfect. I took my bitch there for progesterone testing on Friday and then again on the Saturday. Each day they took her I said, "Please don't clip her." On Saturday, they brought her out and they had clipped her neck. They then were going to charge me $35 more for that testing, compared to the day before. I still haven't received the results from that blood test. So now I have picked out the next local vet to start again. I'm just a little bit jealous of all these relationships people are having with these vets, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one that gets the shit vets?!

It can be done. I agree with Ozstar's suggestion to desex (or sterilise) the puppy before going, just in case. If the puppy buyer is still interested, then they are probably genuine.

Thanks for your comments. I'll keep an eye on things, but it sounds like I'm just being paranoid at the moment. Last litter she had 3, and I could just move puppies around at will when any boob looked fuller than the others. This singleton has attitude already.

Thanks for your help. I'll relax... Ish.

Sorry, attached now. File was too big and I had to resize.

Okay, now I'm heaps scared after reading about mastitis. Here's a photo of one of the boobs in question. They both look similar, but this one looks 'worse'. Do you think it's cause for concern? EDIT: Attached pic (was too big).

Don't all babies look the same?

Hi Christine, I hope professional help can assist in making him a more confident and happy dog, and reduce your worries about visitors entering your home. Sounds like your new doggy addition is very luck to have you to help him work out his issues.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll leave puppy alone. What are some obvious signs of mastitis I should look for? The back boobs are starting to look 'lumpy' ('cellulite-like'). I'll also cut back on mum's food. She isn't getting anything incredible, anyway, but I'll be conscious to not be ridiculously generous. I am hoping that in a couple of days, she'll realise that she only has one pup and reduce her milk production?

I have a singleton litter born by c-section yesterday morning. Puppy and mum are doing well. Puppy is drinking by herself and doing all normal puppy things. However, a couple of mum's boobs are looking more full and I want to put the puppy on these nipples. Puppy seems to prefer the front 5 nipples, and disregards the back 2 nipples. Whenever I try to move the puppy onto the back ones, it goes to sleep? Or, it just moves towards its favourite 5 again. If I am persistent, puppy gives up and goes to sleep. Any suggestions on how I can get it onto the back boobs? I have tried squeezing milk out of them and dabbing saliva on them to try to make them smell appealing... Thanks in advance.

SURROGATE AVAILABLE. Please cross post. Clover (border terrier) gave birth by c-section to one puppy on the 24th of October. She has plenty of milk so I'd be willing to take puppies from another litter that need care. Willing to take both rescues and pups from purebred breeders. Please PM me for contact details.

Clover's singleton girl puppy arrived this morning by c-section, 8:10am.

With the current rules, people will continue to show bitches in heat. I don't have a problem with it. Generally, I will scratch my bitch if she's in season - but if it's an important show, a speciality or a particular judge, then I will exhibit her. I think it would be a strange affair if in season bitches were banned from the show ring... The only sport where they have to be entire, they are penalised for it. A bit of a bizarre suggestion.

Thanks for posting. An interesting piece of legislation.

I agree. It also is only going to quash illegal puppy mills. I don't know what separates a legal puppy mill from an illegal mill, so the beauty will be in the legislation at hand.

I have found both JetPets and DogTainers a bit blah in terms of their customer service. Neither company is very nice or professional to communicate with. However, I haven't actually had any problems with either in terms of their transport of my animals. Everything has been done as requested. It sounds like Dogtainers Adelaide were just like Dogtainers Adelaide always is - a bit lacking in customer service. It's unfortunate.

Please answer these questions in a general manner. I know we could get into specifics regarding the wording of each question, particularly question 3. By 'desexing', I mean any permanent procedure that means an animal can no longer reproduce. If you use sterilisation, please post as such. I welcome any posts regarding this topic.

Thank-you for your continued discussion. I am very interested in your experiences, and also any further links on the topic.