Baileys mum

If you are happy with breeder 2 & are ready for your new puppy now, then I would take a trip down to Vic & atleast meet the breeder & the pup. Good luck, make sure you take lots of piccies & post them on DOL when you get your puppy.

I have to say I totally agree with this. There is nothing wrong with giving a forever home to a breed that you know & love, & a breed that you know already suits your lifestyle. Aslong as you buy from a reputable breeder & not supporting puppy farms & BYB's then there is nothing to be guilty of.

That's worrying Andisa. I can't believe he said to you, that he would take care of the docking himself & lock the dog up. I just hope he failed to get himself a pup, what a weirdo. I too have a traditonally docked breed, so it is worrying & sickening that there is people out there that think they can do this. Nicole

I'm expecting my first litter in a couple of weeks time, & I have to say this is the part I'm not looking foward too. I am looking foward to talking & meeting with genuine lovely buyers,& the satisfacton of my pups going to a perfect home & making a family happy, & hopefully getting progress reports & piccies, but I'm so not looking foward to dealing with the idiots & time wasters. I just hope that being my first time I will place my puppies in the right homes & don't make a mistake. I will be writing out a list of questions to ask them, which they will have to answer to my satisfaction before I give them my adress & agree to come & see a pup. Anyone that tries to negotiate price with me too, will be an instant fail. My babies will not be negotiable,& if a buyer can't or won't pay the average price for a pup, then I will have doubts in my head of how the puppy will be looked after in the future. Maybe I'm being to strict, but I don't care, this litter is going to mean the world to me, & I wan't to find the best homes possible for them. I'm sure all of you feel the same with your babies. I was just wondering where all of you usually advertise your litter? Seeing this is my frst litter I haven't got a web site up & running yet, so I was planning to advertise the litter on DOL & with the Vic Aussie terrier Club. Do you think this will be enough? I don't really want to advertise with too many places, or I will probably end up with too many time wasters. Also do you usually advertise the price with the pup or do you usually do POA? Sorry for the silly questions, but this is probably the part of breeding that is stressing me out the most, probably more than the whelping & the rearing. My OH has joked to me, that we should just keep the whole litter to solve the problem. I've said to him, if she only has one or two there's a good chance of that happening.

I owned a Cairn terrier when I was younger so I would have to say "Toto" from The Wizard of Oz "Marley" from Marley & me (Gee that movie makes me cry & cry every time I see it ) "Eddie" from Frasier All the dogs from 8 Below (another movie that makes me cry)

This is what I do too, & I have never had any problems. I don't allow stealing from each other, & will always supervise especially with treats. I gave them all a pigs ear this morning, & 1 finished before the other 2. I knew she wanted to try & steal from the other 2 but she also knew I was watching, so she wouldn't dare. :p I would never give them treats unsupervised in the back yard unsupervised, unless I'm asking for trouble. I do sometimes fill up a bowl full of kibble, & they all happily eat out bowl at the same time & share the food with no problems.

Yep it sickens me that some people think that dogs are so disposable. :D

Rumour is just on 6 weeks today - she was 5 and 4 days when I took those photos. Oh wow , so our girls could be whelping round about the same time, Brandy is exactly 6 weeks from her last mating today.

Congratulations Kaffy Magee Good luck with Kijana for Wednesday week, I hope she proves the vet wrong.

Very cute piccie of Rosie & her tragic dying act redangle. What is it with dogs chasing cats when the ph rings? I've never heard of dogs doing this till this thread. But I've never owned a cat, so don't know if my dogs would act this way. We use to own a Cairn terrier years ago that would howl when the Ph rings.

I just read it too, & I must say I have to agree. Getting nasty is certainly not going to help the dog in question or the breed. ;) I don't think the OP deserved to be attacked like that ,especially when she was obviously so upset & sorry about the situation.

;) I know I shouldn't laugh over this, but I can't help it. Poor cat!!

That's hilarious, what does She/he actually do? ;)

Thanks everyone, all your replies have put a smile to my face & also gave me a bit of a giggle. ;) It just amazes me how smart dogs can be & how easily they can pick up things all on their own. Sometimes I think my dogs are smarter than me, I certainly can't get away with anything with them. They let me know when it's time for their walkies, they let me know when it's dinner time, they know exactly the time of the day that my OH usually comes home from work & will wait for him at the front door, they even know when I'm going out & will try to sabotage me, by trying to steal my shoes & socks when I'm putting them on or try & steal my keys. They are just so smart & funny, which is one of the reasons why I love them so much.

I was just thinking about this today, I have 3 dogs that are very intelligent , have all had basic training & are fairly obedient. But of course they all have their individual personalities & over time have discovered that each one of them can do something quirky & funny that I haven't formally trained them to do. First of all I have my Old girl Jessie, (13 yo Aussie terrier x) Anyway one day when she was about 1, she decided to crawl along the length of the room on her tummy when we where playing with her, (she looks so funny doing it ) Anyway we started to call this behaviour "The Belly crawl" & even to this day, If we say to her "Jessie Do the Belly Crawl" she will start doing it. Next we have my beautiful heart dog Bailey (3 yo Aussie terrier ) He has a thing for singing & also trying to talk. I usually sit him on my lap & start singing to him (He has a few favourite songs ) & he will sit there & howl the whole song along with me ( I guess he really loves my singing ) & then after the singing is over I will say in a High pitch voice "I Love You " & I would swear that he says it right back in a doggy voice. It just sounds exactly like it. Then Finally I have my sweet little girl Brandy (2 yo Aussie terrier) She has a fantastic knack of remembering words, especially the names of her toys. She has a mountain of toys, but she probably has about 8 that are her favourites. Anyway if say one of her toys is a monkey, we will start calling it that from the minute she gets it, if it's an elephant, we will tell her that's what it is, & if it's a frisbee, that's what we call & so on. Anyway She may be just sitting there & my OH or I might say to her, "Brandy can you get the Monkey" & she will look at us then she will trot over to the pile of toys, dig through the pile until she's found the monkey & then bring it to us. We will then ask for the frisbee, & she will repeat the action, until she has found it. Even if we deliberately hide the toy at the bottom of the pile, she will still dig it out & bring it too us. She's 6 weeks pregnant at the moment & feeling a bit sorry for herself , so I decided to buy her a new toy yesterday, A Lion soft toy. Anyway we started calling it a lion fron the minute she got it, & now she already knows what it is . She's just so bright. But's its not like we did any heavy formal training for her to learn this,we just started calling the toys by name, & she just remembered it by herself. :D So that's our 3 dogs, there's so many other things that they do that I could tell you all about, but then this post would go on forever, but these are the things that specifically stand out for me. None of these behaviours where formally taught to them, they where just little things that they picked up by themselves, that we have encouraged them to keep doing, which gives us some lovely enjoyment & entertainment. ;) So my question to you all, is what Quirky, cute & funny thing does your dog do, that you haven't really trained them to do.? Nicole

No I would never buy anything from a pet shop that sells live animals. However I do understand your frustration & sadness at seeing the poor pup locked up in a glass cage & wondering what sort of future it has. I mean it's certainly not the poor pups fault where & how it was brought into the world. My OH & I walked past a pet shop a few weeks ago that had some pups for sale. From memory I think they where JRT x something else, absoulutely gorgeous little things. They had a sign on the window of their cage that stated they would be ready to go on a certain date, which had a date that was 3 weeks away, which meant they where probably only 5 weeks old at the time There poor little things where so excited to see us when we went over to the glass cage, jumping up on the walls & crying for just a cuddle & some human contact. When we walked away, I could just hear them crying so loud, they didn't want us to leave. Yes it breaks my heart to see a baby of my favourite animal locked up in a cage like that, that probably has an uncertain future, but then I think about where it's probably come from, & the suffering that it's parents might be going through, & I just can't for the life of me support an industry like that. I usually shop at pet stock for my dog food& things like Advocate, & then their are plenty of online pet stores for all my other pet supplies. ;)

Oh Jules how horrible for you & how horrible for Renae!! Glad to hear she is home with you anyway, I hope she is feeling much better soon & it is nothing serious. Sending out healing vibes to Renae & hugs to you. Nicole

Congratulations Derharv!! When is the due date approx? Good luck for Monday Kaffy Magee!! I know what you mean about the suspense, it was such a relief when I got confirmation. Great piccies Ravensmyst00 How many weeks is she? It's so much easier to see the changes on a short haired breed. A little bit harder to see on my longer haired bitch until I roll her over & see how huge her belly & nipples are getting. I still keep meaning to get piccies, but my camera is in my hubby's car & I keep forgettting to take it out. Will have to remember today when he gets home from work The days seem to be flying now, only another 3 weeks approx till whelping time. ;)

My dogs breeder (mentor ) lives 3 hours away, but will be available to help via ph,& my vet is 5 minutes drive away. My neighbour across the rd breeds Aust Silky terriers , & has also offered to help if I need it. My bitches dam has always been a free whelper & from what my dogs breeder tells me, so was her mother before her.

Christina this is exactly the reasons why I initially would like to see if my bitch can cope on her own first. I worry that if I interfere too much it will upset the bonding process. Like Ashananali, I would probablly like to observe closely how she responds to the first pup, & then take it from there.

Thanks oakeydoak1 for the link So it seems going by your thread, that the majority of Dol breeders like to completely assist their bitch during whelping. I'll see how my bitch copes, but after reading everyone's replies, I'm now leaning more to totally assisting her. I think I'd rather play it safe than be sorry. I would still like to know what everyone's opinion is about allowing your bitch to eat the placentas though.

Hi everyone, I am expecting my first litter in about 3 weeks time & am now starting to think about the actual whelping. I recently purchased a DVD called "How to raise a litter of puppies" by Jane Harvey. I don't know if anyone's heard of it or know of her, but she lives here in Vic & use to breed Airedale terriers. Anyway all of the filming was done in the mid 80's, & even though the picture quality isn't the best, I still found it to be an excellent DVD for novice breeders like myself as she runs you through everything from stage 1 labour, to the actual whelping of 9 puppies, to puppies first weeks, weaning , early training & going to the new home. One thing I did notice about the actual whelping is that Jane pretty much completely assists the bitch. She opens the sacs, cuts the umbilical cords, rubs & drys each puppy down with a towel,cleans the mucous out of the mouth & nose, & only after she has done all this will she present the puppy to the bitch. She also does not allow the bitch to consume any of the placentas as she believes they can cause digestive upsets. Now I also have alot of dog breeding books , & alot of them say that it is best to let the bitch have the opportunity to whelp naturally & do everything herself, & for the breeder to just observe closely, but be ready to step in if the bitch is in trouble or if she fails to do her job properly, or if an actual puppy looks like it is in trouble. Most of the books I have all say that it is a good idea to let the bitch consume atleast one or two of the placentas. So the purpose of this thread is to just get an idea of what DOL breeders do. Do you let the bitch do everything & only assist her if she needs you? Or do you completely assist her like Jane? Do you let the bitch eat any placentas? Or do you dispose of all of them? I'm still working out how much I plan to get involved when it comes to my bitch's whelping. I've spoken to my dogs breeder about this, & he says that for the most part , Aussie terriers are free whelpers, & he pretty much lets the bitch do everything , & only gets involved if he has to. He also lets the bitch eat atleast 1 placenta, & has never had a problem with this. My bitch is a maiden, so I will have to see how she copes, but so far I've been thinking that I might atleast cut the cords, & let her eat atleast 1 placenta. Of course if it comes to a worst case scenario & she needs a c- section, then we won't get the opportunity to assist her at all. So just out of curiousity, it will be great to know what all the DoL breeders do. Thanks everyone Nicole

Well my Brandy's belly seems like it has expanded overnight You can really feel how much heavier she has got when she sits on my lap. I will have to get some belly piccies to show you all. She has got a little over 3 weeks to go & has become incredibly sooky & feeling sorry for herself, she has become very attached to me, I like to call her my little velcro girl ;) She still has some play left in her & sometimes forgets herself & starts to rough play with the other dogs, but I usually put a quick stop to it if she becomes too rough. She is also still enjoying her daily walks. She is still being a little picky with her food, mainly with her kibble. She will eat raw & cooked mince & raw bones, but has now completely gone off the Holistic select dry food. I have been trying her with a little bit of the Advance puppy food, & she will eat some of it if I hand feed it to her, & I have also been soaking some of it & mixing it thru her mince, which she seems to be eating aswell. It's very frustrating as she is normally a very good eater & very rarely fussy.We've also split her food in half & feeding her morning & night to make it easier for her. Over Easter my hubby said that he had some work to do in his work shop. He was very busy for a couple of days , but wouldn't tell me what he was doing, he just kept saying it was a surprise. Anyway he came home on the 2nd night & walked in carrying a brand new whelping box, which he had built himself. It was such a wonderful surprise & looks very professionally built. He has also saved us a stack of money as I had every intention of buying a new one, but his one IMO is just as good. So I beleive I have one of the best hubby's in the world. He is also very excited about this litter, but I keep saying to him if he will still be excited when there is stacks of poo & wee to clean up , & noisy pups giving him a headache. He says none of that will annoy him at all. But we shall see. I have put the whelping box in the family room for now (will be moving it to quieter quarters as the date gets nearer) so Brandy can get aquainted with it. We have filled iit full of comfy blankets & encouraging her to sleep in it. The other dogs try to get in it too & are very jelouse that she has a special box to sleep in and they don't. I've also ordered a stack of whelping supplies over the net & have to go pick up my parcels tomorrow. I've already spent so much money just with setting up & vet bills so far, & I know I will be spending a hell of alot more before the pups are go off to their new homes, which doesn't worry me in the least, I'm actually enjoying buying all my whelping gear & am already planning what I am going to put in my puppy packs,but who was the crazy person that said breeding dogs was a great way to make money ? Anyway that's enough of me rambling for one night, will try to get some belly piccies of Brandy lying in her new whelping box in the next couple of days to show you all. I hope all the other expectant mummies & anxious owners are doing well, & sending some puppy dust your way if you are still in suspense. cheers Nicole

I no longer wear collars on my dogs at home, after reading some tragic stories here on DoL where dogs have actually choked to death when their collar has got caught on something. We live on 40 acres & my dogs never stray from the property, plus I'm home most of the time , so they are hardly ever outside by them selves. When we do go out they are locked up in secure dog runs, that they can't get out off. My dogs are all microchipped aswell.

Yeah it's funny how many vets have never heard of Eagle pack. My vet does sell Advance, & she actually confinced me into buying some of the puppy rehydratable to feed to Brandy. However I compared the calcium in the Holistic Select with the Advance, & the Holistic Select actually has a higher calcium percentage. So I'm going to keep feeding her the Eagle pack & might save the Advance puppy for weaning the pups. Brandy really got her appetite back this morning & very eagerly tucked into a bowl of the Holistic select ,so that's a bit of a relief. She also enjoys getting a raw chicken wing every other day. I will be crossing my fingers & sending some puppy dust your way that you receive good news for both your girls.