posted 03-13-2004 11:31 AM         

So Kasey, please feel free to ask away. A first litter for a first time mom can be frightening, many females instinctually do most of the work themselves when it comes to whelping, but there can be complications. First talk to your vet, have her examine, then sit down and read through the links that Chickee posted in your other thread titled "i THINK she is pregnant" there is some good information there. Another site which should help is Debbie Jensens - http://www.debbiejensen.com/ there is a wealth of info on her site (listen to her audio first) From Pregnancy to Placing the puppies. Be sure to visit your public library or large book store and search for pregnancy & whelping books. Being prepared will help ease your mind.

Please keep us posted on your girl. Hope all goes well for her.

posted 03-15-2004 08:34 AM         

My advice to you would be to get a thorough vet health check. He can tell you if everthing is ok. There are some really great books about whelping. Be prepared for any ems that may arise, have a vets and a back up on speedile. You need to find a good sturdy box, some towles, and blankets. Make her her own quiet area, perhaps a spare bedroom or closet. I wouldn't let your children around her too much after whelping, unsupervised. Mothers can get very protective, especially with the heeler in her.

posted 03-15-2004 09:23 AM         

If however, you are willig to risk the safety and go ahead with the litter if in fact she is pregnant. You should be talking a lot with your vet. Also, do you know what breed the male was? You need to start lookin g for homes, so you should start advertising and spreading the word. You will need to hold onto the pups until they are about 10 wks. They will need to have their first shots, and because they are a mixed breed, you may not be able to sell them for too much $$. You will be spending a lot of $$ on the pups at first, and for advertising. Also, solid background checks should be done on prospective owners. You should be able to see their home, and what kind of living environment these pups will have,aswell as the other animals they have. Reference checks should also be done, like character reference. This could take a while. And you should also have a contract for the selling of your pup. And maybe even take a deposit. The pup is your responsibility. If the owner decides over time, that they can no longer care for the dog or just don't want it, its your responsibilty to take the dog back, no matter what. There have even been cases that have gone through court with owners having bought a dog that got soem type of disease and needed treatment, you will etiher have to pay for the treatment and let them keep the dog, or youwill have to take the dog back to take care of and refund their money to them.
This is just a couple of things to think about. You know how expensive one dag can be, just imagine haveing 3 or 4 for an unknown amount of time. $$$$$ Yikes!

Please be very considerate for all parties involved. You will be helping yourself, your dog, and shelter dogs looking for their forever home.

posted 03-15-2004 11:07 AM         

"ATTENTION ALL NOVICE POTENTIAL BREEDERS!!!!
SO YOU WANT TO BE A BREEDER?
Breeding the female

So you want to breed your female. You know what to expect if everything goes right. Your little girl will present you with tiny bundles of joy. She will lovingly nurse them and care for them until they are old enough to be weaned. You and your family will find great joy in watching and playing with these little dolls, and then when the time is right they will all (or maybe you keep just one) go off to special homes to live out their lives as cherished companions. But have you given consideration to what if something goes wrong? I have listed here a few of the problems that I myself have personal knowledge of. Everything listed has happened either to me, or some one I know. These are not isolated incidents. I’m sure other breeders could add miles to my list. Learn by others mistakes!. Let the breeding up to those who know what they are doing, have the experience, know what to expect.

What if during the breeding............

1) The stud dog you have chosen is carrying a venereal disease and gives it to your female. She not only dose not conceive but you have to pay the vet bills to get her infection cleared up and she is now sterile.

2) The stud dog you decided to breed your darling to is not experienced. Once the two dogs are joined tightly in a tie, he decides to chase the neighbor’s cat out of his yard. He bolts for the cat ripping his penis loose and causing your bitch to hemorrhage from within.

3) Your modest girl decides she doesn’t want the attentions of this gigolo mutt chosen for her without her consent. She snaps at him catching her tooth on his loose cheek and rips it open sending blood flying everywhere. He retaliates by sinking his teeth into her left eye.

4) You leave your dog with the stud owner because the breeding is not going very swiftly. In fact , it’s been three hours and nothing is happening. The stud owners leave the two dogs alone in the back yard. The dogs get out through a tiny hole in the fence and a truck hits your female.

5) You pay the $250-$1,000 stud fee up front figuring you will make that and more back when the pups sell. The breeder guarantees the stud service to work or you can come back again. After 2 months you discover it didn’t work and now must wait another 4 months to try again. Of course it doesn’t work again, so in another 4 months you take your dog to another male and risk loosing another stud fee.

6) You get her bred. Bring her home. She bothers you so you let her out (she is still in heat and still receptive to males). You here a commotion outside there is your girl tied up with the neighborhood mutt. When she whelps there will need to be DNA tests done on the pups.

7) You get her bred. Bring her home. Let her out. (She is still in heat and receptive to other males) but you do not see the neighborhood mutt breed her. The pups are born but look odd. You call the stud owner he suggests DNA testing (At your expense). You have a litter of mutts!
what do you do about the ones you have already sold?.

8) Or knowing she tied with the neighborhood mutt you decide to terminate the pregnancy and try again being more careful next time. But a few weeks later your female is very sick because you had her given a miss-mate shot and now she has Pyometra and needs a complete hysterectomy. All plans of getting a litter is gone and your females life is now in danger if she dose not have the operation.

What if during the birth..............

1) The puppies are too large for the female’s hips. She never goes into labor, the puppies die and she becomes infected by the decaying bodies.

2) The puppies are coming breach and they drown in their own sacks before they can be born.

3) The first puppy is large and breach. When it starts coming your female starts screaming, and before you can stop her she reaches around, grabs the puppy in her teeth and yanks it out killing it instantly.

4) A puppy gets stuck. Neither your female nor you can get it out. You have to race her to the vet. The vet can’t get it out either. She has to have an emergency caesarian section of course it is 3:00 am Christmas day.

5) A puppy is coming out breach and dry (the water sack that protects them has burst). It gets stuck. Momma tries to help it out by clamping her teeth over one of the back legs. The head and shoulders are firmly caught. Momma pulls on the leg, hard, peeling the flesh from the leg and leaving a wiggling stump of bone.
6) A dead puppy gets stuck in the birth canal, but your female is well into hard labor. She contracts so hard trying to give birth that her uterus ruptures and she bleeds to death on the way to the vet.

What if directly after birth..........

1) The mother has no idea what to do with a puppy and she drops them out and walks away, leaving them in the sack to drown.

2) The mother takes one look at the puppies, decides they are disgusting droppings and tries to smother them in anything she can find to bury them in.

3) The mother gets too enthusiastic in her removal of the placenta and umbilical cord, and rips the cord out leaving a gushing hole pulsing blood all over you as you try in vain to stop the bleeding.

4) Or, she pulls on the cords so hard she disembowels the puppies as they are born and you have a box full of tiny; kicking babies with a tangle of guts the size of a walnut hanging from their stomachs. Of course all the babies must be put to sleep.

5) What if because of some hormone deficiency she turns vicious allowing no one near her or the babies, who she refuses to nurse, or you have you interfere with.

6) You notice something protruding from her vagina when you let her out to pee; you take her to the vet to discover a prolapsed uterus, which needs to be removed.

What if when you think you are in the clear..................

1) One or more of the puppies inhaled fluid during birth, pneumonia develops and death occurs within 36 hours.

2) what if the mothers milk goes bad. You lose three of your four puppies before you discover what is wrong. You end up bottle-feeding the remaining pup every two hours, day and night. After three days the puppy fades from infection and dies.

3) The puppies develop fading puppy syndrome you lose two. Your bottle-feeding or tube feeding the last remaining baby. It begins to choke and despite your efforts to clear the airway, the pup stiffens and dies in your hands.

4) Your female develops mastitis and her breast ruptures.

5) Your female develops a uterine infection from a retained placenta. Her temperature soars to 105. You race her to the vet, he determines she must be spayed. He dose the spay in an attempt to save her life, you pay the hundreds of dollars bill. The infection has gone into her blood stream. The infected milk kills all the puppies and the bitch succumbs a day later.

6) All the puppies are fine but following the birth the female develops a hormone imbalance. She becomes a fear biter and anytime anyone tries to touch her she viciously attacks him or her.

7) Mom and pups seem fine, the puppies are four weeks old and are at their cutest. But one day one of the puppies disappears. You search everywhere but you can’t find it. A few days later another puppy is gone. And another. You can’t figure how on earth the puppies are getting out of their safe 4’ x 4’ puppy pen. Finally there is only one puppy left. The next morning you find the mother chomping contentedly on what is left of the last murdered puppy.

What if the new homes are not so happy?.......................

1) You give a puppy to a friend. Their fence blows down so they tie the puppy outside while they go to work. A roving dog comes along and kills the puppy. Your friend calls you up to tell you about the poor little puppy and asks when you are having more puppies.

2) You sell a puppy to an acquaintance. The next time you see them you ask how the puppy is doing. They tell you that it soiled their new carpet so they took it to the pound

3) You sell a puppy to a friend (you give them a good price and payments). They make a couple of tiny payments. Six months later they move to an apartment. They ask you to take it back. You take it back and of course the payments stop. The dog they returned is so shy, and ill mannered from lack of socialization and training it takes you a year of work providing socializing and training to be able to give it away.

4) You sell a puppy to a wonderful home. They love her like one of the family. At a vet check done by their vet it is determined that the puppy has a heart murmur. (Your vet found nothing when he checked the puppy before it was sold.) They love their puppy and want the best for her. They have an expensive surgery done. The puppy is fine. They sue you for the medical costs. They win, because you did not have a contract stipulating conditions of guarantee and so as breeder you are responsible for the puppies genetic health.

5) You give a puppy to your mother. She is thrilled. Two years later the puppy starts developing problems. It begins to develop odd symptoms and is suffering. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of tests later it is finally discovered that the dog is suffering from a terminal condition that was inherited. Possibly, from your female since you know nothing about her family lines.
6) One loving home decides your puppy is un-trainable, destructive and wants to return the pup and get a full refund, which you have spent on your vet bills.

7) One loving couple calls you and is very upset because their pup has crippling hip dysphasia and want to know what you are going to do about it. You have spayed your female so a replacement is out of the question, looks like another refund.

The Sale:...................

1) You put your ad in the local paper for your pups at the usual price and get only 2 responses and no sales. You cut the pup’s price in half and broaden your advertising to 3 other newspapers in which the advertising totals $120.00 a week.

2) You get a few more puppy inquiries from people who ask all about health testing you did before breeding and if the pups are registered. You tell them your dogs are healthy and it was enough and that you could get the papers. The callers politely thank you and hang up.

3) the pups are now 4 months old and getting bigger , eating allot and their barking is really beginning to annoy the neighbors who call the police who inform you of the $150.00 noise by-law.

4) Your neighbors also call the humane society who comes out to inspect the care of your dogs. You pass inspection but end up feeling stressed and harassed.

5) You finally decide to give the rest of the litter away but still have to pay the $1200.oo advertising bill and the $600.oo vet bill.

So you got to ask yourself
do I feel lucky?
Am I willing to take on such responsibility? "

posted 03-15-2004 11:55 AM         

Kaseybaby, what did you think of the article?

posted 03-15-2004 12:16 PM         

and the one I find most intresting is when a bear has a cub, it does the whole process in its sleep! The tiny little baby cub crawls from the uterus out the birthcanal and vagina, and then up the mothers tummy to the chest to nurse until momma wakesup and the cub is already almost a month old!

posted 03-15-2004 04:14 PM         

I only said

quote:

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like someone said " would you lock you 15 year old outside cause she was on her period?" well would you make your daughter do that?

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Because you said the dog was like your child or a person. I also said after that

quote:

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And what kind of human would be thrown outside for say having their menstrual cycle, who would throw their 15 yr old daughter out for that or put her in a situation where she could potenially get raped?

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Some victims of rape do terminate their pregnancies. I don't agree with human abortion, but to me animals are different. Thats just my personal opinion.

If you are really set on having the litter how are you going to get these pups in good forever homes? This is something serious to contemplate, espcially when purebred registered dogs can't always be given away for free it is much harder with a mixed breed and the chances of finding a good home slim to none.

Temperament problems could be a big issue. The homes they receive could be bad, like I mentioned in my other post.

quote:

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being neglected and allowed to have pups of their own every heat, being abused and beaten, being starved, raped, dumped off, and still meeting its death from neglect/abuse or humanely at a shelter. 2000 cats and dogs are born everyday, millions of pets are put down in this country and most dogs don't ever see their second birthday

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The other dog forum I was on had a guy on there who raped a 4 month old puppy, it was very sick to read, but it opens eyes to what can happy to pups going to people you don't know or dogs in the "Free To Good Home" ads. Not even a month ago I was feeding a sick, skinny Pit Bull, he was very malnurished and gross to look at. His owner moved to I went down there to feed him and hopefully help him regain weight/strength. These are very real things that happen more often then people think everyday. Its sad what humans do to animals but all too true.