fifi

aaahhhh...the 'personal leave taking' !!! funny how many emails were coming back from gt with the 'I'm on leave' tag once I began to question where my semen was ! and playing 'phone tag' with people who never got back to me too ! I would have joined you in a heartbeat regarding the class action, but luckily for me, mine has finally been located and hopefully documention on its way from the new QLD facility. I hope you have a successful outcome, I was too stunned to even become angry with gt at their lack of support/service. But there absolutley needs to be some kind of consequences for their cavalier attitude to priceless breeding material. all fingers crossed for you, I'm so glad your imported semen can be replaced at this stage. My heart goes out to those who have permanently lost their breeding future :-( fifi edited to add stuff !

What a lovely piccie, such a fur pile :-) and Womby looks so maternal looking down at them. And just look at that ample milk bar, no shortages there !!! fifi

Thanks Linda, Wow, she had done so well to only squash one without intervention ! some mums are great being careful and at counting I think :-) Yes, I'd love to watch the streaming vid, but we can barely watch a utube video after it takes half an hour to open ! and oh yeah, there's nothing like the utter exhaustion of living in the whelp box for three weeks !! some wolfhound mums would do just fine without supervision, but I've sat litters where if not for being there, there would have been considerably less pups !! and murphy's law applies....the one you lose would be pick puppy ! more piccies are needed in this thread by the way :-)) fifi

Congrats on your litter :-) Just a quick question about losing your pup to the dam, In giant breeds, many breeders sleep/eat/live in or next to the whelp box and with a very large litter, often have half in & half in a box with a heat source, rotating. Its three weeks full time and they are never left alone. To do chores we time it with the mum being out for toileting or put a puppy pen around the whelp box with mum on a mattress on the outside of the pen for a little while.. ect. Even then I know of the odd accident that happens with big elbows & bodies. I can't watch the streaming thing as our satelite broadband is pretty crappy, so I'm unsure how you manage such a large litter ? do you have to stay with them ? are Maremmas' careful mums ? fifi

LizT, I find the crochet cotton is great for tying off cords. I just cut a dozen or so at about eight inches and have them ready in a jar of metho. I just take them out with a pair of tweezers, tie off and trim. fifi

http://www.mastinoau.com/

Thanks Sandra :-) I think he's dividing his time between his own facility, Greencross and the Lakes - high demand !!! Yes....VERY relieved ! fifi

YAY !!! after a stocktake this morning, our semen has been located in the tanks at Gerry King's facility, along with the paperwork They are sending me a full report on the semen next week. What a relief !!! I can only hope people like Missymoo's friend have a similar outcome. fifi

There are some very good breeders who advertise on the dogzonline breed pages. One question, is your partner's mastif X desexed ? If not, that could be a stopping point for an ethical breeder who is worried about the possibility of X breeding. It does take time to get a breed like this, a good breeder will want to get to know you first to ensure you are the right family to take on a mastiff breed, in terms of being able to train, raise, house and be responsible for a guarding breed. And as readysetgo said, it can be a long wait for a good pup from an ethical breeder. fifi

My vague understanding is that FP at Calga is still operating but under a new name ? don't quote me on that, its only what I've heard. We are still hopeful ours will be found, the new facility are doing a stocktake of tank contents and documentation tomorrow. I just want ours and other people's irreplaceable breeding material to be safely located in good condition. fifi

Great post MelG fifi

It's a hard one SK, as it depends on the quality of food and level of skilled care / involvement ect. From a going wrong perspective, you can lose the litter, and or the bitch - especially for the novice who may not see danger signs if something is amiss. the vet bill could be in the many thousands, emergency ceasarian, sick pups, retained placenta/pup resulting in metritis ect. and for those many thousands - you could still lose the entire litter due to many factors. All going well - breed relevant health testing, high quality food for the pregant bitch, ultrasound, whelping box, puppy vaccinations, registrations, food, microchipping - you'd be at least up for the cost of several pups in one of those rare litters where its completely smooth sailing. I know many good breeders have spent many thousands on disaster litters that do crop up :-( fifi

Everything you & others have already mentioned, along with studying your breed's history - its historic form & function. And if you can get overseas as well and visit specialties & noteable kennels / doyens of your breed. Don't be in a hurry, let your eye develop as you learn the nuances of your breed. fifi edited to add stuff !

Thank you IW4ME, it is a worrying time. No help at all from GT in VIC - They are now saying as the service was sold - basically not their problem now :-( Now waiting for the vet in QLD to go through the files and match up data with what is HOPEFULLY in the tanks ! Missymoo, has your friend had any resolution to her search for the semen ? This whole thing is simply not good enough, doesn't seem like anyone is accountable, Im just thankful for the new facility and the hope that ours is safely stored. fifi

LizT, If this is your first whelping experience, I think at this point having an experienced breeder /mentor with you for her first litter would be the most important addition to your whelping kit. Nothing beats having those experienced hands and knowhow on hand. As to intervention / assistance, a lot depends on the bitch, the breed, the whelping, and the neonates condition as they emerge. I do open bags, clamp, tie off & cut cords while mum munches on the placenta. I usually towel dry & swing the pups. But with toy breeds I've assisted with, the dam has had most of the job done in seconds ! there was a great thread a while back where breeders listed their whelping essentials, someone better at searching than me might be able to find it for you. fifi

I hope they are found and have been stored correctly MM, its the most unproffesional company closure /windown I've ever seen. If I hadn't seen the hooha on ozshow and here, I'd have just kept thinking ours was at Laidly and paid the storage...none the wiser. what a shite way to treat your clients / customers. fifi

Well, at this point my semen is NOT listed in the paperwork provided to Redbank, but I'm assured the semen tanks are intact and have all the semen that had been stored at FP. Gerry has been fantastic, and been in constant touch. spinning in little circles here ! fifi

Yes, Gerry was very nice and reasured me all the semen he recieved is under lock & key and tanks being topped up. He has promised to check the paperwork tonight, as at this point there is no record of ours. I'm very p*ssed at GTpets though, it seemed like I was enquiring about a toaster, not irreplaceable breeding material. was very 'nice' of gt to let us know our semen had been moved. Just had an email from GT in VIC, they won't recieve the QLD FP files until later in the week and will investigate further when they arrive. all fingers crossed. fifi

Thank you also, I went to pay a bill for the Laidly FP, and looked at my invoice which has only a Victorian addy on it !!! spoke to the Victorian GT and now have just phoned Jerry King from Redbank plains in Brissie, apparently our semen was relocated there too - a couple of weeks ago !!!! Jerry King said I should recieve a letter this week, but at this stage he has to check that all of it is actually there (insert fainting emoticon here !!!) he said he'll email me tonight if mine is not on the list. to say I feel ill is an understatement :-( Like everyone, this stuff is irreplaceable. fifi edited to add; looks like some of the Laidly FP files have not yet made it to Victoria, so at this stage all of ours is considered missing :-( the staff have all been so casual about it, not particulary interested in reasuring us. and certainly not an apology or appreciation of how distressing this is :-(

Our patients always have a meloxicam inj on the day, and go home with two or three days worth of previcox or similar. Call your vet if no better today. fifi

Yep, wolfhound hair lined nests all around here !! the maggies used to grab it if I pulled the hair out of the brush and left it while I swapped dogs around, now I just leave it on a fence post for them !!! and poodlemum........mattresslets.......know all about them here !!! ours now have the steel framed beds with sacks, and fresh straw, I used to be constantly at the op shop for replacement foamies !!! fifi

;) So very sad for you Stolzs, they take a little piece of your heart when we lose them. huge hugs from us, fifi, danny & hounds xxxx

;) I'm so sad for you Pers, maybe small in size, but a big part of your life. I don't think grieving the loss of one so small is any different to losing our bigger family. Fly and sing little one. hugs, fifi xxxx

Love the piccie PF, and totally agree with you. fifi

pretty poor joke - there are a lot of sincere, caring and knowledable people here who don't deserve the p*ss taken. fifi