I wrote on here about if I should use Leo as a stud for another female. Well things kinda went in another direction. I, after a very long thought and health testing, decided to breed Leo and Bailie. I got them both vetted and the vet even encouriged me to go through with it as they are very good specimen of their breed. The vet was very impressed with their temperment and calmness. The mating is completed so now I am just waiting to see if it took or not. On one hand I am exited about breeding my first litter, especially from these two but at the same time I am terrified of everything that could go wrong with my little girl. Thankfully I have a few experienced breeder, both in my breed as well as some who breed others, in my corner and I can discuss this with them at any time. I was thinking of writing on here as things go along if that would be ok. Sort of a diary of my first litter. Here are pictures of the parents:
Great that you have experienced people from within the breed behind you, a great vote of confidence. Look forward to seeing your puppies
I've never bred any puppies, so it will be wonderful to be able to share the experience with you. Can't wait for the first pictures!
Good to hear you are being mentored by people in your breed Dagbjört - this is a sign you on the right path I shall look forward to reading your updates, and if you need a good book, the Book of the Bitch http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Bitch-J-M-Evans/dp/1860540236 is meant to be really good.
Can's wait to see all the lovely photos of the puppies When I bred K9 & Skye I decided to keep the puppies that's how I have ended up with 6 dogs,(K9, Skye & the 4 hooligans) would of been 7 if Ruby had got on with her siblings.
I will also recommend "The book of the bitch", very good book and have been recommended it myself by breeders. Look forward to following your experience, I would love to breed a few litters in the future and love following peoples experiences
Thank you all I will definatly get this book and I also found two other books: Breeding a litter and The complete book of dog breeding that I want. I just have to find a seller that will ship to Iceland. I have been talking to vets to figure out what is best to feed her. Even if I don´t know if she is pregnant yet I still want to make sure she gets everything she needs in case. I have come to the conclusion that the feed she and all my dogs are on is good. I feed Regal puppy food mixed with raw and add "feldbætir" to one meal a day. Feldbætir is an icelandic product made as a supplement and is kinda like fish oil for humans but made for dogs. I also have to give them puppy food because it´s the only way I have found to keep their weight on. I am going to make an appointment for a sonar on the 10-12th of next month. I have already begun to think about placement for her since she can only stay in wiremesh crates and i do not think that is a good place for puppies. Her past makes her terrified of plastic crates. I want to make sure she will be comfortable in her puppy place and that she will have gotten used to sleeping there. If you have any suggestions, they would be very much appreciated
I used a baby bath inside an babies wooden playpen with opening door when Skye had her puppies, using a wooden playpen meant I was able to check the pups without to much trouble, I put cardboard around the outside of playpen to give Skye some private space from K9.
Thank you 6JRT´s. I can borrow a puppy pen and I will use the cardboard idea to give her some space from Destiny. Leo is terrified of all puppies so I have no worries that he will come anywhere near the puppies. A babybath is a great idea. I am thinking if I could maybe use a really big plastic dog bed. I still have Cody´s old dog bed. It would serve the same purpose wouldn´t it?
I used two nursery fireguards pushed together as a puppy pen, and a large cardboard carton with one side cut down a bit as a whelping box. For a bit of privacy I covered the whelping area with a blanket.
As long as Cody's bed is plastic as there is lots of bloody yuky stuff to clean up, I placed a black bin bag in bath them put really old towels in, so after she had given birth it was easy to clean up, then when the puppies were 3/4 weeks old I turned bath upside down & put Skye's bed on top to give Skye a break from the puppies.
Thank you for the ideas. I don´t know what nursery fireguards are though? I think Bailie would dig through a cardboard box as she digs her blankets around to get comfortable and she can get kinda enthusiastic about it. Yes the bed is plastic and big as Cody was a lab/bc mix. I was also thinking about getting a plastic table"cloth" to put in the puppy pen as I have carpeting to save the carpet when the pups start climbing out of the dog bed.
I put black bin bags down first then a decorating sheet & finally an tarpaulin, I then put newspaper down then I taped puppy pads together & put them down (Skye would not leave puppies for 6 days we at to coax her outside) 1 hour old puppies Skye taking her puppies back Skye & her 4 hour old puppies
They are absolutly gorgous!!!! I want to make a space for her to minimize any stress and get her used to her place so she won´t feel any need to move pups around.
It´s been two and a half weeks since the first mating and I am waiting anxiously to be able to tell if my girl is preggers. She is acting strangly, sort of like she does when in heat, she is barking at everything and seems to be more jittery that usually. She is still playing and chasing her tail like usual but is far more clingy and needy that she normally is. Her appetite is still the same and I will be keeping an even better look out for that in case she gets morning sickness. I wonder if ginger will help dogs with that like it does with humans? I need to check that out just in case. Also if anyone here has advice on that, it would be greatly appreciated. I might be crazy to be putting so much thought into this while I don´t even know if she is pregnant but I´d rather be crazy and prepared than "normal" and freaking out when and if the time comes
