SLF

so so quiet in here we are at day 57, my girl wants to stay close, and sit on everyones lap, pity she is well over 20kgs now. Felt the puppies moving in her belly today and can see them wriggling around. Looked at the weather forcast and its meant to be 39*c on her due date....

Ptolomy, someone mentioned the other day about putting water on hotwater bottles and freezing them. I thought that sounded like a good idea. If your girl is feeding and there is room, place cold facewashers in her arm pits and groin. Also keep her well hydrated, can you get a dog rehydration mixture to keep up a good fluid level and maintain milk production ? just a few thoughts :) all the best

becks - I was having to weigh my bitch initially bc she had dramatic weight loss at the beginning of the pregnancy. Since then we have been weighing her as she has had a very limited appetite and we are just keeping an eye on her as she is quite leen apart from the puppy belly. She had another weigh in at day 55 and was 21.5kgs. Another weight gain of 1.5kg in 9days :)

I have had a baby 2 1/2 yrs ago who was born with some medical issues. This is why I have not been 'up to date'. I have not been working full time and only just keeping in touch during this time. A timely reminder to keep in touch with whats going on. Quite embarrassed that I have come across as being so out of the loop. I have heard of triennial vaccinations, though the clinic here does not encourage this practice and is quiet proactive in promoting annual vaccines....I did not read Mixedupups post as she was using this method, my misunderstanding, sorry.

Wow, in my 12 yrs as a vet nurse I have never heard of this....perhaps in our area we live under a rock ? :) Of course I dont think you should have to pay more than you need to, I had just never heard of not needing to renew the vaccine yearly, if you are using annual vaccine protocol. TBH I have never seen a client ask for a titre test or a vet reccommend one. The vaccination prices in my area are quite high if you take an individual animal, if you take more than one at a time you only pay one consult fee which helps a bit.

am I missing something ? but why dont you vaccinate every year? especially if your working in a vet environment and fostering dogs, visiting farms etc....also if you dont do it every year then wouldnt the cost be minimal anyway?

My girl is at day 55, doing all the right things as far as I can tell. Staying close to home, being a bit sooky and loving a sit on your lap and a cuddle, yet still plently energy to have a play with the young dogs and jump the baby gate we have put in the house to contain the pups once they arrive. Eating small amounts often, drinking etc.. However in the last 24hrs her stools are quite loose, not watery just very very loose. Im assuming this is a normal part of late pregnancy, as it is in women. Her feed has not changed. But thought I'd check with all you experienced people in here. Thanks

Minigirl, hindsight is a wonderfull thing. Merry Christmas to you I hope this situation works out as best it can. I hope you enjoy today, without the worry of what may come of this :)

Mixeduppup - I agree with you about farmers 'protecting their investment'. Its about time too. Though I treat my $70 dog the same as I treat my $6000 dog ;) (I know that is not what you were implying)

Around our property the dogs are chanied to the centre of the ute. On short chains that prevent them climbing onto the top of the roof, and reaching the sides. They are short enough that yoou can have 2 dogs on at once without issue. When travelling distance we take the other car which is a Captiva and they go in the boot/rear section. Behind a cargo barrier and still teathered. I have seen too many dogs injured by falling off or slipping or injured from braking quickly in my job as a rural vet nurse. If you teather or chain on a ute, you MUST check and maintain the chains.

in regards to the termination, from memory it is a series of 3 injections given by the vet at 'precise' intervals from the time of mating. The bitch may then have a small bleed, or none at all. I have personally never seen any ill effects from this treatment.

I wonder if you need to talk to your vet, because the risk associated with terminating are pretty low, especially when you take into account the toll of the 3rd pregnancy will take on her body. If you chose not to register the pups isnt that just trying to 'hide' the mistake. Im not sure I would miss my bitch being in season ? especially if she had had previous seaasons. Did you not notice any changes in the last 10days. (sorry edited to say, I missed the bit about her getting through the barrier :) ) I have 3 that run with my boy, and I am very very carefull to avoid such things happening. Yes accidents can happen, but you still need to be responsible about how you deal with them. I hope you get the best result you can.

with less than 2wks to go, Im getting my whelping supploies sorted, vet bed cleaned and whelping area set up. My bitch doesnt seem at all interested in nesting yet....:)

ok, so after our very rocky start of losing weight (2.3kgs in the first 2 wks) my girl is now sporting a pregnant looking belly and eating happily :) on our last weigh in she had gained 2kgs in 6days...I thought that was ALOT. However the vet didnt seem too fussed and when he broke it down to btw 500gm-1kg of weight gain per pup, I started to think WOW if there are 8 pups in there like we think there might be thats a huge weight gain. So Im curious to know how much did your girls put on while in pup and how many pups did they have ?

Well done Dasha :) My girl is just over 2 wks to go, she is BIG but still wanting to get on the bike, work and even manages to still jump over the fences. Not sure how long she will keep that up as she has put on over 2kgs in the last week.

Dasha, we did my Kelpie girl at 23days, we could see lots of little balls in there but the vets numbers were btw 5-8 puppies. So a bit variation. My vet like to u/s at 35days as he finds that a good time to get more accurate numbers.

Quiet in here, sureley there are more to come. How are the 'expectant mothers' going? we are much improved here since our rocky start. Off to vets tomorrow for a weigh in, and possible u/s. Now at day 37gest.

Well it appears she is feeling better, back to swimming and playing with the other dogs. She will eat anything with sardines on it! so sardines it is. Weigh in this morning is 18kgs, so she has put on 1kg in 7days which is good to see. Belly is widening, and lots of mammary development. Funnily she is now 'hiding' food in every corner she can find to snack on later :laugh: not really what I'd like planted around the kitchen/dining room though.

Yes the 'puffing' was only a new thing I noticed. She is extremely fit, and our other girls have worked untill the were HUGE and basically couldnt move, as you metioned. Which is why it stood out to me.

So we saw the Vet. No temp, all good, midly dehydrated..weight gain of 600grms in 3 days dispite the lack of eating. Did prog test...will u/s again at 35 days which is Friday to be super sure. Vet seems to think that its due to how many pups are in there, she is very big already...alot of mammary growth. She gets puffed out very easy etc etc..on the scan at 23 days we saw btw 5-8 pups which surprised the vet as apparently thats quite early to see them so clearly and so many of them. We came home with Nutrigel, more sardines! and fresh milk (which she is really enjoying). Obviously if the hydration doesnt pick up fluids will be needed, though on our return home yesterday she went straight into the water for a swim :D and ate some lamb chop table scraps. I really appreciate the advice, thanks again.

She seems to be a bit more 'herslef' she went swimming (of her own accord) yesterday, and I got her to eat some dog roll mashed up with sardines. My version of YUK, however she seemed to think it was ok. She also had a fatty pork treat. Not her normal appetite but she probably ate about 1 cup full without prompting. I will take her to the vet for a weigh this morning, I doubt he will do a PROG Test. The Vet saw her on Wed of this week and she was fine except for the loss of appetite and the docile nature, when she had an ultrasound and we saw at least 5 little pups in there.

watching daytime TV

I have stopped all her work, just a play around the yard for her untill she picks ups..or has pups which ever comes first. I really noticed it yesterday when she didnt even want to go swimming. Water is her second passion next to working. As for being a princess, she is not at all like this normally, however after spending yesterday on the couch (hiding from the heat) and being hand fed salami by my son (who we call the dog whisperer) I think she is definately a DIVA !! :laugh: She is nibbling at dog roll and fresh meat, so will try small amounts more often. thankyou.

thankyou, yes I will definately lessen the workload. She has taken to sleeping at the back door, instead of looking for work (she is normally a workaholic) which I took as an indication to slow her down. Thankfully it is not warm here yet, still in the low to mid 20's but I have purchased some silvermesh in anticiaption of the warm days when she is outside.

So thanks to all for their advice during the breeding phase.....I am very happy to say today I saw at least 5 pups inutero, with the vet predicting up to 8! However my lovely girl has lost 2.3kgs in just over 3wks...she is nibbling at her food, but not really interested at all. Her normal diet she will not touch, so I changed to an old favorite and she ate that for a few days, but only about half of her ration. Now she has a nibble and thats it. So I have tried meaty fresh bones, tasty steak etc to entice her appetite. Today she even knocked back her favoriate treats. Im sure she will eat eventually but as she is in full work I really need her to maintain a good healthy bodyweight. I would love to hear your suggestions.