Whelping My Labrador

[Steve]

When you know better you do better. Fact is the dog is pregnant and clearly there is much to be learned. In my opinion as a registered breeder who has witnessed and helped in 100's of whelpings

with dozens of breeds this bitch has been over managed and again I will say.

The temp needs to drop to under 37 - you need to observe her shaking as this happens. If you just take her temp 3 times a day and observe her from a distance you will see the drop and the shaking.

Low lights, isolation and peace stimulate the hormones which allow her to have her puppies. Its rare for a bitch to eat within 12 hours of labour and its common for them to vomit.

This is triggered as part of their survival instincts because if they just go into labour and drop puppies in the wild without being sure they are safe first it would put their lives and that of their puppies at risk. They seek out quiet isolated positions so they don't have to worry about predators or humans getting to them. You can delay or turn off these hormones if you fuss or interfere before you should.

Based on what you have described here she may have up to a week to go.

While you are waiting and before you get anywhere near your dogs mating again you have much to learn about your breed and what you need to do to ensure you are not breeding puppies which will grow into dogs with less quality of life and cause their owners heartbreak and huge vet bills. You need DNA tests to clear them for PRA because unless you know you may doom your puppies to blindness and you need to have their hearts ,hips and elbows tested at the very minimum.

When you sell your puppies you need to be very clear to the people you are selling them to that these are things you have not done and because you cannot say what the potential is for any of your puppies to be affected or carriers of some pretty horrible genetic problems you need to ensure that every single one of them is desexed before it leaves your house and goes to its new home.

I would also consider going to a vet who is more experienced with in whelp bitches if you decide to breed again.

There is an introduction to canine breeding course which will cost around 100 dollars and will help you to understand and learn some things which are important. This course is available to anyone and it cuts down on time usually spent making mistakes and learning the hard way. http://www.mdba.net.au/index.php?cPath=33_21

[labsrule]

jamieson I do hope you stick around and keep us informed how Pearl is doing and of course how the pups are going when the birth happens. :D This forum is full of very passionate dog lovers, myself included who are anti BYB's and puppy farmers who breed and cross breed our beloved breeds in appalling conditions with scant regard to any of the dogs/pups health and welfare all in the name of profit . Many here are involved in Rescue so are confronted daily with dogs in atrocious conditions, heartbreaking stories of so many dogs being abandoned/dumped and the neverending quest to rehablitate and rehome these poor unfortunate dogs.

Our beloved breed, the Labrador, being the most popular breed is bred and crossbred unmercilessly by puppyfarmers and BYB'S all for profit and with no or little regard to mum, dad or pups health and welfare. These poor unfortunate pups who are not given the best start in life, then find themselves in unsuitable homes as the people that bred them do not care what type of home they go to as screening potential puppy buyers is not the priority, the exchanging of the money is

Despite the flak and criticism you have come under, there has also been some great advice, so I do hope you take it all on board in a constructive manner and learn from it and understand why people feel the way that they do. If you are considering breeding again, I really hope you do something about becoming a registered breeder and find an experienced Lab breeder as a mentor and of course have mum & dad given all the relevant health tests to ensure any future lab pups are given the best chance in life health wise.

We all care about what happens to Pearl and her babies and wish her all the best for the whelping and hope she produces healthy lab puppies who will all find wonderful loving homes. Please keep us updated

[Cockerlover]

Jamison ,You have had a lot of good advise & caring folks follow yr thread ,but under false pretences sadly ,you may not fully comprehend the back lash u r now recieving from we registared breeders ,

.There is so much to learn ,& I for one ,am still learning after many years of breeding ,this is a fantastic site & one cannot fault they information provided by those of us that have had experiance both good & bad .

PLEASE take Steves advise ,A good recomendation to start with & also if u wish to have continued support from breeders ,do the right thing & become registared as one !!!

WE are all devoted to the welfare of our dogs & the welfare of those pups less fortunate then the ones planned by registard breeders .

WE Learn from our mistakes ,pls learn from this experiance .