underfoot

Congratulations 10 babies what a legend

shhhh!!! no she is not. lol. She is in great form though. Eating well, sleeping well and is really happy to plod around. Even in the heat she still was smiling when she had to go outside to the toilet.

wohoo!!! keep us updated. Good luck!

ok we have hit the 7 week mark and now in the final countdown. Lots of kicks and bumps from her belly. Seriously she is not that big

not long for you now Goldielover. She looks happy in the photo here's hoping for 8 healthy bundles for you.

Yes I agree. All her family have 8 (European lines) but my others who are not European have 10 nipples each. Something I might look some more into as I did not really think about it till now.

sorry brain just working. Yes she has 8 nipples and raised 12 previously. Other I own have 10 nipples so she is lacking in the amount of nipples.

underfoot has Miss Willow only got 8 nipples?? Yes she does why?

I hate large litters. I find 8 puppies hard enough anymore and you have a lot more sleepless nights and a lot more work to do. This will be the last litter for us for a few years.

I am hoping it is just gas...... Fingers crossed for 8 healthy girls Good luck Leopuppy it will be better this time.

one more lol

Thought I would post some photos with 2 weeks for miss willow to go.....

Welcome to February Everyone. Here's to some successful whelping. My Girl is BIGGER than last time with 2 weeks to go (she had 12 previously) but she is doing so much better. This time last time she could hardly eat and was very puffed when she walked around too much. This time she is much bigger and is eating like a vaccuum cleaner. Here's to hoping this continues. Cant wait to see the pics and hear the stories as I wait patiently for our turn.

Thanks everyone. I worry a bit using any commercial type cleaners and am always interested in more natural methods. Shall try some soap and water and then some vinegar. Baby wipes are a great idea!! thanks

Ok I have pulled out my whelping box from the garage, to get ready for my girl to whelp in, and it is filthy. Mind you I put it away nice and clean. What do you guys use for cleaning the whelping boxes, if anything? I am especially interested in what people also use to clean the box out as the paper etc is changed daily?

The best advice I got was to get a good vet (reproduction specialist), mentor and read some old breeding and genetics books. Nothing has been more valuable than my mentor.

Well February is not far away and I have fingers crossed for everyone having a successful and healthy litter. Not to forget here's to hoping it contains the BIS we are all hoping for. Miss Willow is at 5.5 weeks and already looks like a house. She had 12 last time and we were hoping for less than 10 but I don't think the big cheese was listening. An xray done in the last week will give us an estimate. So excited till then.

Its sad that you had to go through so much rubbish. I have seen many more similar prefixes than yours especially in the staffies who all have staff at the begining of their prefixes. Just reading through the ones on dogzonline makes you seriously wonder what on earth Dogs Vic are doing. I am sure if someone challenged this legally they would have no leg to stand on. Honestly its a crock of shit! I am glad you have a prefix approved now and I hope it does not cost too much more time or money to fix the change.

I have to admit I am usually weary of emails or calls of people calling on behalf of friends or relatives. I am of the opinion of talking directly to the people interested. I do let them know this though as I reply to all emails and calls. It is sad that people are feeling this way but I do know that with breeding issues can arise preventing a promised puppy to people. In our breed they can be deaf and we have them euthanised by the vet when the hearing test is completed (at 6 weeks of age). For this reason we will try our best to accommodate people and if by some chance there is not one available we do our utmost best to find another breeder to help them. I have even heard stories of whole litters passing away and this cannot be prevented either. mmmmmm a tough one.

Perhaps a little early here as well. We have a Dalmatian litter due 19th February. Fingers crossed for everyone.

Babies also get tired easily and running them around a ring many times takes a lot out of them. Plus could you imagine a baby dally trying to move at the speed of the bigger dalmatians? Not possible and could have many running up each others bottoms.

What seems to be putting some newbies off showing is they are scared of the big champ shows. In the past there were plenty of open shows were newbies could practice so to speak and could have a chance of winning a ribbon which in turn built their confidence. Even being experienced when I took a break from the ring to have some children I was scared coming back into the 'professional' championship ring against the professionals. Plus the bitching that went on does not teach our kids good sportsmanship but it is part of life as someone always needs to lose. The old open shows seemed more friendly and helpful for many reasons (for the aspiring judges as well no bet).

37 degrees on Sunday argh!!

A carrier of a recessive mated to a clear can never produce a puppy with problem "later in life" or any other time. Before you make blanket statements you need to consider the nature of recessive genes and that different diseases have different modes of inheritance. You can improve the breed by breeding from superior dogs with a known genetic fault far quicker than breeding from mediocre dogs with no known genetic faults but quite possibly still carrying some genetic condition which no one has discovered a test for (yet) This was not a blanket statement. It was my opinion ONLY. I am in a breed that does not carry many genetic issues so for me it is not an issue. I do understand the need for other breeds to consider using dogs with genetic issues hence I said I try to avoid faults that are passed on though offspring that may affect them later in life.

I guess it comes down to the question......Are we breeding to improve the breed? Personally myself I try to avoid using any dog with any known genetic fault that can be passed on through their offspring. But that is my choice. The last thing I would want to see is a dog in a pet home having problems later in life due to a fault I could have avoided. Cheers