Mine & my girlies first litter, any advice?

Make sure you have atleast £1000 incase she needs a C section, and get your vets details at the ready

Offer life time back up to all of the puppies, so if 1 needs to be returned at 3 years of age or another at 6 for some crap reason, make sure you let the purchaser know to bring it back to you, not pass to to rescue.

Thats my only advice, Im sure you will gets loads more.
 
^^^ This, please provide back up for later life, plus if you can avail of an experienced breeder to come and sit with you for the first while just in case something does go wrong, don't mean to scare you but sometimes less experienced people will not know to spot potential problems early on, when it counts.
Hope it all goes smoothly for you both and they all get 5* homes.
 
i will be watching this, my basset hound is due end of november.
so far i have;
£1500 set aside for vets
heat pad
heat lamp
OH is making a welping box
please ad the rest
 
mrchives, if she is due a week today she could whelp anytime from now so you should have everything ready now to be on the safe side. To add to CCs list, newspapers to line her whelping box, clean dry vet bed for when she has finished, a baby listener is a good idea so you can monitor her from a distance as sometimes bitches like a bit of peace and quiet. Presumably you know what to look for as regards problems, if not then a good idea to have someone knowledgeable there. Hopefully she will have a copy book whelping but if things do go wrong knowing what to do can mean the difference between a live and dead bitch and pups. I can thoroughly recommend Kay Whites Book of the Bitch if you can get hold if it in time.
 
CAYLA said:
Make sure you have atleast £1000 incase she needs a C section, and get your vets details at the ready

Offer life time back up to all of the puppies, so if 1 needs to be returned at 3 years of age or another at 6 for some crap reason, make sure you let the purchaser know to bring it back to you, not pass to to rescue.

Thats my only advice, Im sure you will gets loads more.
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Ditto this, my parson terriorist had 9! A year on, with anal home vettings/buyer screenings pre-sale, I have two back. (one thanks to Cayla's wonderful help and advice!- thank you).
Mine also had a c-section, I think by the end, including scans, c-section, medicine, follow-ups etc etc my bil was £1500ish. That was excluding wormer and then Jags.
I don't know where you are keeping them but we live in a quiet farmhouse and got a puppy playpen online which is a bit like a kids one but you can hose out. Fab thing, mum can get in and out at her ease but pups are safe.

Good Luck!
 
A genuine question regarding the litters due in the next week. Have you realised that your puppies will be ready to go to their new homes at Christmas time, have you factored in to your costs etc that you will (I hope) be keeping them an extra week at least to avoid the christmas period, which in turn means your Christmas socialising will be non existent as you will have babies at home that will need feeding 4 times a day?
My bitch who I may mate in the future, has 2 very regular seasons in February and August, I will not be mating her in the August for the above reasons, which means if I take her in the February and she misses I will have to wait another year, but rather that than Christmas puppies.
 
Pix said:
*Considers Christmas without time for family and friends*


I've decided to take up breeding! :p
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I used to use the animals as an excuse anyway, have to be back to feed horses, dogs etc, when my mum was alive either we went to her or she came to me, we both understood that the animals came first.:)
 
Please, please dont let them goes as christmas pressies, the old saying a dog is for life not just for christmas constantly plays through my mind when I see litters born at this time of year.
On a helpful note, the book of the bitch is 'The bible', c-section's wow cant believe how much you all get charged glad now to be living in the south west when my girl had one it was £265. Have lots of warm rough towels at the ready, remove the birth sacks from the pup's noses as soon as they are out so as not to inhale any fluid, mum may do this but if maiden may not, help her out if she lets you by rubbing the pup's with said rough towels to get the circulation going, a welphing box, heat lamp (a must at this time of year) but dont let them get over hot they wont be able to regulate there own heat when newly born or until about 3 weeks old, lots of clean vet bed, and keep and eye on mum now she may have them early. Oh and catch up on the sleep now you wont be getting much of it when they are here!
Is there anyone who has had litters before who can help you?
Hope this helps.
 
Very good point MM, it would be very irrisponsible to allow a puppy to go nayhwere near Xmas, as a rescue we stop rehoming mid December and do not start again until Mid January, and thats a lot of cost keeping all those dogs in, and then we brace ourselves for the Xmas chuck out's, as like toys they become boring you know:rolleyes:
 
Thank you sooo much for the quick replys
she actually had her pups, so i think i may have cursed it?!!?
She has had 4 healthy puppies, luckily i realised before i dissapeared out for a ride :-S
And they will all be going to family/friends, it was a complete accident so couldnt help the timing
Thank you again for the quick replies, that helped me to be ready :D
 
Pix said:
*Considers Christmas without time for family and friends*
I've decided to take up breeding! :p
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Oh my, how lucky! I would kill for a family free Christmas!

MurphysMinder said:
I used to use the animals as an excuse anyway, have to be back to feed horses, dogs etc, when my mum was alive either we went to her or she came to me, we both understood that the animals came first.:)
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My parents don't really get that I will walk dogs and sort out horse on even Christmas day-they need looking after!
 
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