Aetherglow

Tarja did a great one recently in front of first-time puppy visitors - came hobbling over on three legs, holding her front leg in front of her. We all immediately leaped up to find out what was wrong and she plonked her paw in my hand, covered in fresh, wet poop. They still wanted a puppy, even after that little demonstation!

I've heard that cost for a grooming visit as well - I assume that's to use actual bathing facilities, and there was a mobile dog wash trailer there last week when I was there.

Getting a pair of puppies is actually much harder work, as in order to ensure the puppies don't become focussed on each other to the exclusion of other dogs and humans they have to have lots of seperate, individual attention - in other words, twice the work and time of one puppy. Definitely not recommended in this situation! My thought was a corgi, as well. Maybe a Bulldog? A cocker spaniel might be too high energy, but a carefully selected one may suit. There would be a lot of sand tracking, though!

I know I've said it elsewhere, but congratulations, Sankari! Lots of Lappies :-) Seeing as it's so quiet in here, I thought I'd add a photo of the boys at two weeks. I feel for all those photographers who take photos of small children :D

Oh my gosh, 6 live babies!

Go Reba! She's already shown she's strong. Fingers crossed!

I hope it works out for you all. Some girls are perfectly fine when they have puppies to look after and don't miss home at all. The first girl used to think visiting her breeder and getting to play with the other dogs was like holiday camp!

Haha - my family's old boxer was a tongue kiss in the mouth type as well! Unfortunately for her, she was a dark brindle with a black face, and people used to do a wide circle around her in fear when we were out walking. She missed out on so many opportunities

I have twice had a bitch go back to her breeder for a litter. The first time was our family dog many years ago, and we took her a couple of days before the puppies were expected, but she ended up whelping that evening. the breeder sent her back at four weeks which was as far as I could tell their normal policy as they weaned all litters at this age. I doubt that this would be standard practice these days, even if the pups are weaned keeping the mother with them for social development would be better for at least a couple more weeks if she's still happy. As a sequel, the bitch was in emergency vet care with pyometra a day after coming home, so it was a bit of a disaster - not that I think the breeder would necessarily have spotted that she was sick before she came home - we didn't realise she was more than just a bit tired out and adjusting to the big change until we saw her nearly collapse. Had she stayed at the breeder's she would have been seperated from her pups anyway due to medical necessity. With my current girl's breeder we went to the x-ray together and my girl went home with the breeder, and whelped that night - again, several days earlier than expected. She came home to me at about 5 weeks, which was earlier than planned, as she had weaned the pups and was fretting so much that the breeder asked me to collect her early. It worked well for the pups as my girl's mother had whelped a litter a few days after her, so they had their grandmother and the breeder's other dogs to socialise with as well as the other litter. I was only able to visit a couple of times, and while my girl had had plenty of visits with the breeder and her other dogs before then and knew them well she still just wanted to be home. So it sort of depends on the bitch and the circumstances, but going from these experiences it's probably best to get the girl settled in at least a week before due date!

Good luck! Fingers crossed here.

Go little bub! Fingers crossed, and yes, watching the thread!

Sorry to hear that two didn't make it, but 8 puppies is still awesome! Congratulations.

That's excellent news! I hope things continue to go well for her and you. It must still be very worrying, though.

Thanks Poocow! Tarja spent a very long, hot day in first stage, but ultimately decided that she wanted to wait for the cool change and had her babies this morning. Five black and tan boys, all good sizes and less than 50g between biggest and smallest, all doing very well. Tarja was very tired by the time she delivered number 5, but is recovering well.

So far so good. Keeping lots of fingers and toes crossed for you and your girl! Tarja has had her temperature drop overnight, so hopefully we'll have news here soon :)