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The Breeder's Home Page
Friday 7th August 2009 It is now less than 10 days until Sabah is due to give birth to her litter. We have no real idea how many puppies she will have although we have made a guess that there will be 6 or 7. It was very much easier to estimate the size of Elsa's litter two years ago as she had the appearance of a barrage balloon on legs! We are giving Sabah her daily food in three meals now: morning, lunch and tea time. In order to supplement her calcium intake we are adding cottage cheese to Sabah's meals. We are no longer feeding her the higher protein puppy foods as it was causing her motions to be very loose, instead we are supplementing her complete food (Burns) with either chicken or scrambled eggs. Sabah appears to be carrying her pups quite high up, causing pressure on her diaphragm. Quite obviously when she has eaten the pressure increases quite considerably. She began to show signs of nest building earlier this week and we now know that if she can't be seen she is either under the Privet bush, underneath the Gunnera plant or hiding behind the sofa. Fortunately she hasn't yet shown any inclination to dig a hole anywhere. We have now shortened her daily walks although she still seems quite willing to do around four miles at a time and go for a swim in the sea. Friday 24th July 2009 Sabah is now into her sixth week of pregnancy and all seems to be going smoothly. She has now fully regained her appetite that she lost around week four and we are beginning to supplement her diet with a small amount of puppy food. In order to ensure that her puppies are born worm free she will be given a daily dose of worming granules from tomorrow. Sabah is quite a keen swimmer and will take to the sea on most days. As a result of that her muscle tone is very strong and it is only during the last week that she has begun to exhibit an expanding waistline. The other symptoms she has displayed during her pregnancy so far have been a little 'morning' sickness, the enlargement of her nipples and, in the last few days, there has been a slight opaque discharge from her vulva. We have not altered her exercise regime and she continues to be quite happy to walk between four and eight miles daily. Clearly as the puppies develop and Sabah's waistline increases we will be reducing the the duration and length of her exercise periods.
Friday 26th June 2009 On Monday and Wednesday of last week we took Sabah off down to the Devon seaside home of Cooper (Muskan Make My Day). Her first visit coincided with the 11th day of Sabah's season and although she had been giving a number of indications that she was reaching the receptive stage it was perhaps a day too early. Nevertheless the mating went off quite well. On her return visit on day 13 she was very much more welcoming to Cooper. We are now awaiting the first real indications as to whether the matings have been a success or not. Friday 12th June 2009 In the 14 months since we last updated this page things have gone quite well with our two dogs, Elsa and Sabah. Last November the girls took part in, and passed with flying colours, the Kennel Club Good Citizens Bronze Award and in the early part of this year they both earned the Silver Award. Excitement is mounting at the present time (particularly amongst the 'boys' in the neighbourhood) as both Elsa and Sabah are in season. If everything goes to plan Sabah will be off to see her new husband next week and we should hear the patter of tiny paws early in August. Wednesday 16th April 2008 It is now more than 10 months since Elsa had her first litter and nearly 8 months since the last of them went to their new homes. We do occasionally hear from their new owners and have often been tempted to pay them visits. Most of them have gone to homes that are quite far away although Danny (Yarra Kingfisher) and Miree (Pride of Victoria) still live in Dorset. Elsa and Sabah are both in very good health. Whilst rearing the puppies took its toll on Elsa in terms of weight loss and poor coat, she now weighs in at slightly above the norm at 34 kilos and her coat is thick and lustrous. Both she and Sabah have been swimming in the sea throughout the winter although they have been quite sensible and avoided going in when the weather has been rough. Monday 20th August 2007 The house seems quite empty now as all of the puppies have now gone. We both feel quite emotional now, more so than when the first of the pups went to their new homes. It seemed that the fewer pupppies we had, the more we became attached to them. In the early more hectic days after they were born, we were looking forward to this day when we would be able to get back to 'normal'. When I, for one, would be able to have a lie-in every morning. When we could reclaim our dining room that had become a whelping room and nursery. Now they have all gone it seems anything but normal. Normal was creeping downstairs every hour during the night to check that they were all still breathing or that Elsa wasn't laying on any of them. Normal was being greeted each morning before six by a wild but happy bunch of pups that would grab hold of any exposed leg or ankle flesh and if they weren't available then your slipper or trouser leg would do. Normal was trying to sweep and mop the floor with ten sets of teeth clamped around the broom or the mop. Normal was wanting to spend the whole of the day playing with them all. Normal was saying goodnight to them in their cage and calming the few of them who wanted to play rather than sleep. Normal was coming down at one o'clock in the morning because they needed to relieve themselves in the garden. Nothing will ever be normal again now that they have all gone. Will we breed other litters? Too right we will! Saturday 18th August 2007 All but one of the puppies have now gone to new homes, the one exception being Bathurst Boy. Batty as he is affectionately known, seems to be making himself very much at home here with us. On Thursday night, after Shyla had gone, we put him to bed in a puppy cage in a spare bedroom. Unfortunately it was not to his liking and he soon let us know that he was not pleased to be there. After a couple of hours we relented and allowed him to sleep in our room with Elsa and Sabah and, apart from a couple of trips to the garden, there he slept at the foot of our bed until shortly after six at which time Sabah decided it was time to get up. We have already decided that if no one buys him before next Thursday, when his second injection is due, we will keep him. Batty (we will rename him if we keep him) is a very bright puppy and has quickly learnt to sit on command and to shake hands. He will even come up to me, sit down and offer his paw unbidden. House training is coming along but we have had a couple of minor accidents, generally speaking though he does use to garden most of the time. We met Miree (Pride of Victoria) on the beach today. She was being carried by her new owner. Elsa and Sabah both appeared to recognise her. Having been relieved of her mothering duties, Elsa is reverting to her usual playful self. She is quickly returning to her normal weight and her coat is beautifully shiny and soft. Apart from the obvious area around her nipples, when you look at her it is hard to believe that she has just raised ten puppies. Tuesday 7th August 2007 They are now approaching eight weeks of age and already three have gone to new homes. By next Sunday at least four others and maybe one more will also have gone. We have received good reports from the three who have already gone: Glenrowan Boy, Kurri Kurri and Boggabilla Lad (affectionately known as Boggie, he was my favourite. The seven remaining pups seem to have grown overnight to fill the space vacated by the other three, they most certainly have increased the volume of noise to compensate. I can't remember the last time that I had a lie-in. Each day starts at around 0530. Elsa is usually waiting to get into the puppies cage to relieve some of the pressure caused by the build-up of milk overnight. This mother-pup bonding session usually lasts for only two or three minutes before mum is off to find sanctuary elsewhere whilst she awaits her breakfast. Once the pups are let out of the cage the next ten minutes are usually spent picking up 'deposits' around the garden before the mess can be trodden back into the house. In the few minutes grace whilst Elsa is feeding the pups I normally have time to make a quick cup of tea, put some of the puppy biscuits into soak, tie up the dining room blinds out of the reach of the pups, prepare Elsa's and Sabah's breakfast, collect the cleaning equipment from the shed, wash the floor and feed the cat! Once the morning's toilet session has been completed then the food is distributed. Whilst they are all occupied its time to clean out the pen and fold it away for the day. After they have all eaten the pups then begin to play. As these sessions tend to be rather noisy it is necessary to bring them back into the house to allow the neighbours to wake up in their own good time. Thankfully the post breakfast siesta soon occurs. Thursday 26th July 2007 Six weeks old and the puppies are really coming along well. In the last week alone they have inceased their weight by an average of 40%. The total weight of the litter is now 83lbs 8ozs (nearly 6 Stones or 37.9 kilos). Some of them are going to be with us for at least the next three weeks but, thankfully(?) some of them are going to their new homes at the end of next week. They are very responsive and will come (as a pack) when called, they will even wake from the deepest slumber when the word 'food' is called out. On the subject of food, they are entirely on Royal Canin Maxi Dog biscuits which have been soaked for half an hour. Over the coming week they will be introduced to the dry biscuits. The pups spend long periods in the garden, weather permitting. During their earlier forays into the garden they kept well clear of the two ponds we have, even so we had to watch them continually. As the days went by they got bolder and bolder and approached the water. One morning marked the turning point when six of them stampeded to the pond's edge and would have gone for an early morning swim had they not been diverted by the promise of an extra snack. The ponds have now been temporarily fenced off and we can relax when the pups are outside. Today also saw their third and probably the easiest worming session to date. I can see why it is necessary to carry out this treatment regularly as puppies have no qualms about eating anything and everything. Tuesday 17th July 2007 The litter is progressing very well. It is now 13 days since we began to wean the pups and although they still suckle from Elsa, their main nutrition consists of a liquid diet of ground Royal Canin Maxi Baby Dog food, powdered milk and water which is fed to them four times a day. The proportions of each of the powdered ingredients changes each day so that by the end of this week the meal will contain only Maxi Baby Dog food and water. We have had some minor problems that seem to have been associated with a too high milk content which has caused a few of the pups to bring up their meal. Having now reduced the proportion of milk powder the problem seems to have gone away. Last Saturday saw the first visits by prospective buyers. Although we are new to the breeding game we are acutely aware of the need to ensure that the puppies are going to good homes, whether or not we succeed, only time will tell; we think that we will. How do you identify someone to whom you are going to trust the well being of one of your puppies for the next 14 years or more? It's probably easier to try to identify someone who isn't. Conversation is the best source of the information you are looking for. How has that person found you and your puppies in the first place? What did they say to you when the first contact was made? We found that taking notes at all stages helped. Have they had dogs before? Have they raised puppies before? Are they prepared for the changes to their lives that a puppy undoubtedly causes. How do they propose to train the pup? What questions have they asked you? When they visit, how do they react to the pups and their mother. How do their children react? (always make sure that they come along too).
Friday 6th July 2007 The puppies are taking to the semi-solid food quite well now although we are not exactly sure how much is being eaten and how much is being smeared in their coats and on the newspapers. The water in the bowl in which the puppies are washed at the end of each session has almost the same consistency as the food they were originally given so perhaps that is a clue. They all seem very much more alert now and will play fight with each other and attack the toys in their box. The puppies also respond to our voices and if we crouch down, with our head over the box, they will gather round attentively. When Sabah goes to see them they will respond similarly, however, as soon as Elsa approaches there is a tremendous commotion with plenty of yapping and scrabbling about; it is clear that their sense of smell is very well developed and that they can detect when their mother is close by. Wednesday 4th July 2007 Elsa and her puppies are continuing to do well. Today we began to introduce the pups to semi-solid food (dried puppy food soaked in puppy milk then liquidised) but not before we had taken the precaution of laying down plenty of newspaper! Each puppy was shown the food and those which seemed initially reluctant to try were given a food-soaked finger to lick. Five of the puppies soldiered on and either lapped up or plastered themselves with what remained of the food. Luckily mum and Sabah were on hand to clean up the mess. The second semi-solid meal of the day was given a far better reception with eight out of the ten puppies trying their new food. Unfortunately practice doesn't make perfect (or perhaps it does!!) as they managed to spread the food much further than they did this morning. Afternoon tea was followed by a bath (for the pups and the breeder!). Tuesday 3rd July 2007 We have experienced one or two hectic days. Last Thursday evening (27th June) Elsa began to show signs of stress. She was very unsettled and panting all of the time. As her condition had not improved overnight, the next morning we took her to our vet where he diagnosed the beginning of mastitis. Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication were prescribed. Fortunately it would seem that the mastitis was identified at an early stage and Elsa's condition rapidly improved over the next 24 hours. Some of the pups, however, developed diarrhoea a side effect of which is dehydration. This meant that we had to keep the pups under closer observation and provide supplementary fluids where necessary. Elsa and the puppies now seem to be well although the daily weight increase of the litter has been less over the last few days. Monday 25th June 2007 The puppies are now 11 days old. Each morning the puppies are weighed and their progress compared against previous days and the average litter size. By monitoring puppies in this way it is easy to pick out those that may be in need of supplementary feeding, this is done by giving them a puppy milk substitute from a babies bottle. Some puppies find it quite easy to suckle from the bottle, others appear to dislike it, in which case we try to supplement their milk intake by putting them to their mother for extra feeds. Whilst persistence can lead to pups willingly taking the bottle, there is a danger that in forcing them to take milk by hand they may become too distressed or breathe milk into their lungs causing choking. Up until now it has been possible to turn the infra-red lamp off for short periods during the day in order to get the puppies used to normal temperatures. Although they are now at that stage where they can begin to regulate their own body temperature, the weather has turned wet and colder and we have been forced to keep the lamp on all day. It wont be long now before the pups begin to open their eyes, even so, they make great use of their senses of hearing and smell to locate Elsa whenever she comes in to feed them. Their wobbly movements around the box are quite comical. In a matter of a few weeks these ungainly little creatures will be galloping around house and garden getting their noses into everything. A few days 'puppy proofing' is called for to close up all those small dog-sized gaps behind kitchen cupboards and under garden fences. Monday 18th June 2007 It is now almost 4 days (96 hours) to the minute when Elsa gave birth to the last of her ten puppies. It was a unique double-first as this was Elsa's first litter as a mother and our first as prospective breeders. We had bought Elsa, our first Golden Retriever, as a puppy just over two years ago in May 2005. Although we had previously owned dogs, Yellow Labradors, there had been a gap of several years since our last one, Pepsi, had passed on. Elsa was followed by Sabah, a cream coated Golden Retriever, in September of the following year. I had always yearned for the companionship of another dog but I am probably correct in saying that my Wife did not. Not that she is anti-dog, far from it. I have another passion and that is walking. Such a pursuit, in my view, cannot be enjoyed to the full unless it is in the company of a quiet, loyal, undemanding and sure footed companion. A fellow traveller who will sit in silence with you when you stop to admire nature in all its glory. Never once will a dog suggest that it is getting a bit late and that we should be getting on home. Neither would such an amiable partner dream of suggesting that one had taken the wrong turning, or complain that their feet were killing them. When it comes to a walk in the Great Outdoors, nothing enhances the experience more than when it is shared with a friendly dog (or two). Acquiring any dog, not just a Golden Retriever, can be a comparatively easy step. Taking a hyperactive, happy-go-lucky, lightning-quick, sharp-toothed, seven week old ball of fluff safely along the route to 'sensible' adulthood; whilst at the same time retaining your sanity, household possessions and friends is a decidely different kettle of fish. I almost included 'usual routine' in the last list but unless you are fully prepared to forget your pre-puppy way of life then I would strongly suggest that a puppy is not for you. A dog owner's 'usual routine' PPA (post puppy acquisition) includes hours of house training (and more than the occasional accident), disturbed nights spent standing in darkened back gardens, early morning demands for PPF (pee, poo & food), long walks every day whatever the weather, hours of training and, hopefully, hours of pleasure and fun for all concerned. There will sadly be occasions of heartache too. Puppies and dogs become ill and get injured in the same way that we humans do. We too have had our share as in August last year Elsa was kicked on the head by a horse. Fortunately, with prompt veterinary treatment, Elsa made a rapid and full recovery. (To be continued...) |
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