SLF

we have puppies!!! thanks everyone

I am very happy to announce that my litter of Kelpie pups will be due on the 4th January :)

I wont be shy, my maiden bitch was mated 18 days ago, and in the last 2-3 days has started humping all the other dogs. male, female, older or younger she isnt fussy. She really holds on and wont let go. She is usually a dominant girl, the top of the pack, but I have NEVER seen her mount other dogs. She is not at all agressive, actually apart from this behaviou is quiet placid atm. Im hoping its hormonal and either goes away or if she is in pup Im happy to live with it. Im sure someone here will have some experience and hopfully fill me in :) thanks

Good luck to you for trying, I think personally that milk fever is related to pregnancy and birth. Due to the fact that if there was no pregnancy or birth your bitch would not have developed milk fever. I would say that the fact they paid out for mastitis was an oversight on their behalf. Though I support your challenge in every way and wish you luck I think its a very fine line. Out of curiosity are their Pet Insur. that will pay for breeding/pregnancy related things? I am with Petplan also and only every claimed for treatment and diagnosis of a phantom pregnancy.

All the best with it. Do you mind me asking your stud name? so I can keep an eye out for you in the Kelpie world. Im a new kid on the block 'Surrylea' and Im in Vic.

Dasha- I would never remember if I didnt write it down. Also I would of asked the breeder where the dog was what days she was joined so I knew exactly when to expect the pups. Im a sucker for detail. Im sure I write down every time my bitch sneezes when she is in heat. It serves me well though when I need to reference something...

I havent read ALL the replies, but I get the general idea. Firstly let me say that I too breed Working Dogs and can understand about the trialling. However, if I were in the situtaion (which in the future I may be) I would choose either to compete or to mate. Thats just me. :) In any case I think you should choose the BEST match for your bitch, genetically. So that you produce the best quality pup you can, otherwise whats the point. If you want to compete and join her, as some might say have your cake and eat it too...I would choose the best sire and go on the days before and after the trial. Cross my fingers and hope for the best. If it is a repeat mating do you know what days she joined last time? can you use that as an indication instead of just going with the 'text book' days? This might help you as in the case of my bitch she wont let the dog near her untill day 12, so the visit on day 11 would be a waste of time. Good Luck and would love too hear how you go.

Ok, so I ended up doing a fresh AI on Monday. So with a tie on day 12 and an AI on day 14, when she was super keen on standing heat, fingers crossed we get some pups. Day 15 she wasnt interested at all. Im not sure why the dog couldnt mate properly after that first time. He seemed all in a hurry and not really getting anywhere. Then he would give up. Poor girl was very paitent and docile, not her normal demenour at all :) Thanks again for the adivce.

Thankyou for your help so far. Today I put them together again, the dog is much better if I am NOT around so they go into an small enclosed yard. He was very keen and mounted her several times, but they didnt tie. Is this a problem? I thought because he did it once he shouldnt have any trouble again. Im not sure why as the bitch stood nicely and he tried and mounted nicely stayed there for a while looking like all was going well and then just hopped off. He did this a fair few times, 7 in fact and then I seperated them as he was looking a bit worn out to be honest. So I tried them again tonight and same thing. So what do I do tomorrow?

We had a tie this morning !

This morning the bitch is raising her tail and 'flaring' herself at him...he still sniffs and licks and then moves on. So I have left them alone in a small enclosed area for a while (so I can spy from the house) to see if it makes a difference having her off lead. Perhaps Im getting in the way? She has only yesterday gone from very heavy bleeding to lighter pink bleeding, we are currently on Day 11. Her last 3 heats had varied btw 19-21days.

Quick question... how long does the 'foreplay' go on for, as in how long do I let them be together before I know if it IS or ISNT going to happen? At the moment he has a sniff and a lick and off he goes, she wants to smoother him and follows him around.

Im am a kelpie breeder in Wst Vic :) The dog is very experienced, an old hand at it...my girl can be a bit bossy and hopefully she will play nice. I have a friend in my dog club who use to breed, before turning to agility. I might ask him to be on standby for me just in case. thanks for the tips.

I have a maiden bitch who I am joining this heat. I have the stud dog picked out all going great...untill my mentor and owner of the dog gets called away for 3 1/2 wks just at mating time! So I now have the dog and the bitch at my place, instead of his Im sure Im over analysing. My bitch is at day 5 and tends to have heats of 19days. So my mentor/breeder has said to just put them together every second day untill I get a successfull join. This is also the advice from my Vet. My Vet said there wasnt a great need for testing my bitch as I had both parties here and why interfere when you dont have to. So I welcome any tips or tricks you might have so I can make this go as smoothly as possible. Thanks

Ive been reluctant to join in, dont want to jinx myself. Should have a litter of kelpies due 13th Mar. All going well at this stage.

Weasel- of course training is essential. Sorry if I wasnt clear. I also think your idea of rewarding calm is great.

thats sounds good, 8/10 times. Just remember that when you call her away from the shadows etc..you are asking her to go against her natural instinct. Its not naughty, its instinct. Imagine she has instinct (the devil) on one shoulder and you (the angel) on the other shoulder..... She needs to trust you know better than her, by being the pack leader she will listen to you over instinct. It can be done, but it will take time.

thankyou, my older two get a bit porky on the working dog food, but I will definately try out what you have suggested for this young girl. Off to the shops now......

aidannoris- she sounds like a dog I have. She only listens when it suits her, bc you are NOT the boss here, she is. So the only trick you need is to become the Boss or Pack Leader. How does she behave otherwise? who else handles her? what is her daily routine? etc.. (sorry if Im asking you to repeat yourself) ETA; the focus as you say is a trait called 'eye'. This is breed into them, its a great working kelpie trait. You wont ever be able to undo it. But if you gain more respect from her, she will start to trust you command over her instinct. Therefore you will be able to get her to 'turn off', because you will tell her to and she will listen. good luck ;)

I have a lively 12mth old entire female kelpie. She is currently on a 'complete balanced' diet of Pedigree Working Dog. However I am finding it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. So I started her back on Advanced Puppy in the morning and Working dog in the evening. She is still only just in a healthy weight range. She is healthy, wormed, vaccinated, flea treated. Just an active young dog, who burns alot of energy. I have tried increasing her total amount, but she leaves it and doesnt eat it. So she is full, but still on the very trim side. Any ideas on ways to up the calories without increasing the volume of food? all advice appreciated. thanks

I am only new to breeding, but I think you need something other than your opinion that your girl is a good example to breed from. I agree with the adivce of putting her through the ring, it may be difficult to organise but the experience and knowledge you will gain should outway this. If you get good results in the ring, this will only work for you when it comes time to have pups, and selling offspring. I posted here recently for advice, I was asked simliar questions by the other members too. I too am a vet nurse, but I still have ALOT to learn about being a dog breeder.....get as much real life breed experience as you can. See as many dogs, talk to as many people, go to shows, lectures, what ever it takes to find out how the best of your breed do it.

wow so much good adivce. As both the bitch and the dog are experienced, I am hoping to let nature take its course. The fact that these two have produced a litter together before gives me hope. I have spoken to my vet and the stud dog owner, I am happy to vag swab and prog test, as this is MY first time with my OWN bitch and Im sure I am driving my girl crazy with all the looking and poking and peaking at her every move. It will be her last chance at a litter so I really want to get it right. Also the stud dog owner may not be at my beck and call when the time arrives and I might have to go in alone. So if that is the case, I have my Vet on hand to help out if needed. I will also take all this advice, good and bad, and sift through it and store it in the memory bank for when my next bitch (who is still too much of a pup to be a mum) is ready for her turn. A vag swab yesterday showed not significant changes despite vulva swelling the last 4 days. I think if I pinch my nose one more time I might end up like pinocchio!!! I really do appreciate what you have all contributed, I will keep you posted. Fingers crossed.

Tralee if you are confused it is Working Kelpie Council. Australian kelpies are/can be registerd under two seperate bodies, WKC for 'working' dogs and ANKC for 'show' dogs, in short it is due to the development of the breed and the need for the working dog to have different qualities than the show dog. It is a bit complicated and some grey areas, as Jumabaa has pointed out. However I didnt meant to start a thread on WKC v ANKC, I just had a question about joining my dog.

Working dogs do have their own registry, however like I stated in an earlier post there are a limited few breeders that have dual registration. However, this is not what my original post was about, and hope that we can move back to that topic. Thanks to Janba and Jumabaar, I will talk with the WKC and see if they can clarify.

I have not been informed that that WKC will not register ANKC registered animals. However I understand the limitations on a ANKC registed dog. thankyou, Janba :)