tdierikx

In all of this excitement about becoming an "auntie" (*grin*), we have overlooked one very important question about your poor pregnant baby.... ... what is her name??? T.

That is totally awesome news k9angel... another brilliant job you and your family have done! T.

Ummm... Lab puppies actually come in one "flavour"... GORGEOUS... hehe! I have no real clue when it comes to colour genetics, but my yellow Lab girl had 10 black puppies - the dog that sired them was black, as were his parents, and the bitch's mother was black, her father yellow... it can be a lottery sometimes I think... *grin* However, if your bitch and dog came from solidly chocolate producing lines, then maybe you will get a higher percentage of that colour? I'm going to put dibs on 6 chocolate, 2 yellow, and 2 black... 6 girls and 4 boys... Anyone else care to lay their bets? *giggle* T.

Timewasting is also the bane of rescue... we get heaps of emails just asking what pups we might have available - many ask for photos of every pup we may have, without giving any indication as to what they are looking for - we usually respond by asking what they are looking for before we will send any photos of any available dogs/pups. Funnily enough we never seem to hear back from those ones... Then there are the phonecalls after they have seen the Petrescue listings or the rescue website listings about the available dogs we have at the moment - and they want something else... huh? We advertise the dogs we have AVAILABLE... that's what we have, OK? Please don't ask us for a purple spotted yellow Lab if all we have advertised are green Maltese types... *grin* T.

I foster large breed puppies (mostly) and they can be rambunctious little terrors at times. I and my older dogs tech them what "gentle" and "uuhhh" means... My current large breed pup is actually larger than my 2 older large breed girls and he does like to play rough sometimes - but when I say "gentle" he backs off the hard play and settles to some softer play instead. If I see that the older dog isn't really happy about entertaining him, then I say "uuuhhhh", and he leaves the older dog alone and will find some other thing to play with, usually a teddy or something he can chew on with impugnity... *grin* It's not all that hard to teach a young dog what is acceptable and what isn't - it just takes a little bit of time, and a whole lot of patience... T.

Sorry for the post and run this morning... the pitfalls of having to work for a living... grrr! And my work has blocked access to DOL... baskets! In position and dilated would certainly indicate something will happen sooner rather than later... *grin* I'm with Bilbo Baggins in putting my bets on a late night whelping... they do it just to be difficult you know... hahaha! My Labrador girl actually ate a full meal about 2 hours before she actually started presenting me with my "grandkids" - she had been nesty and slightly confused since about 3am that morning and finally presented the first pup at 7:30pm - the panting and really weird behaviour so common in a bitch in labour only commenced 1 hour before whelping. I had my vets on notice that she was going to do the deed from the time they opened that morning, and had checked who was on call that night if we needed any help... the whole staff gave me their numbers to call if we needed them... lol! My girl had 9 beautiful big fat healthy babies (all in the 500g range) between 7:30pm and 12:15am. At 2am I took her outside for a piddle, and then she settled down and decided to go to sleep - as did I on the floor next to the whelping area - woke up at 3am to the noise of the babies complaining that the buffet had moved, and found another (sadly deceased) wet pup had arrived while I napped... all pups were born with sacs intact and I had to open them as my girl had little clue as to that part of the procedure. Oh - and before I go - just a reminder that were are all going to want birth times, sex, colour details for each pup - and, of course, photos... *grin* T.

I'm tipping that she's going to do the deed within the next 12 to 24 hours... all of my girls have gotten the mad nesting behaviour within that timeframe before whelping... Is your pregnant girl comfortable with your daughter and hubby? I've known some dogs to hold off until their fave person is there to assist and give reassurance. If you can get the day off work, then it might be a good idea... If she successfully mated on 28 Feb, then she is due today (if she has a normal 63 day gestation). T.

My current dogs will take a pill from your hand as though it's a treat... except worming tablets... T.

Gently feel up the area of the "tummy" that is near the exit passage. Does it feel more distended than usual... like there may be a puppy or two getting ready to make it's last leg of the journey? I haven't seen many first time whelping bitches NOT make some sort of confused fuss over the labour part of the deal. My Rottie bitch panted up a storm for about 12 hours before giving birth, and just looked at me as if to say "what the hell have you gotten me into here" - my Labrador bitch just decided that she'd rather try to find the wettest and muddiest patch of dirt and dig herself a ditch (at 3 in the morning no less), meanwhile looking rather uncomfortable but hardly panting at all. In all honesty - trust us - you WILL know when the real deal is happening... then you have to wait for the puppies to start arriving... and all the fun that entails... *grin*... your girl will show you a side of her that you've never seen when she has her babies in front of her... you will be a very proud Grandma(?) before you know it, OK? Hope you have a good small towel supply for rubbing down babies - tea towels will do in a pinch... T.

Congratulations Mya... you did good girl!! T.

Another vote for Airedale - my neighbour has one just like it... *grin* T.

Hmmm... as an owner of large breed dogs, it is my habit to just open the mouth, shove the pills in, then close the mouth and blow in it's nose (makes it swallow)... ... also works successfully on cats if you are quick about it - poor things don't know what hit them... *giggle* Personally, as someone who is quite allergic to cats, I go for the quickest way to deal with them and get myself away from them... nothing worse than spending an evening up to yer neck in a Radox bath when you have other things to do... T.

Petfood Plus in Roselands is sort of like a PetBarn - but both stock plenty of animal accessories... T.

Since becoming involved with rescue, I'm definitely becoming a fan of a nicely marked brindle... but I really don't have too much preference for colour. Temperament and health would be my main choosing factors... T.

My vet doesn't charge a separate fee - must just add it into the overall charge for the medication... That said - the same pills that used to cost $5.50 each a couple of years ago (10kg worming tabs) are now $9.00... errr! Wouldn't want to be worming a lot of large dogs at that cost... T.

Ooops - double

My vets always send a really nice card after our dogs are given their wings - complete with nice words about the dog in question by all the staff that knew him/her... it's a really nice pick-me-up when you are feeling a bit lonely and lost and get something lovely like that in the mail... It's those little touches that make a huge difference... T.

I have 2 alpha temp girls here - Rotti X is 10 years old - Labrador is 4 years old. They have had their odd fights, but are generally very content with each other's company. Both were desexed when they were 2 years old, and the Lab was introduced as a puppy. I've had a few bitches that were quite happy with each other and had no scraps at all. I have also had intact males running fine together. I foster puppies up to 6 months old, and they tend to fit in just fine too... T.

Do you think that maybe Kenny did what he did because he's picking up on your stress and he needs to get his out? I've found that sometimes if I'm feeling particularly crappy, sitting with one of my dogs, or taking them out for a play at the park can work wonders for feeling better... Don't beat yourself up over it - I'm sure we've all done exactly the same thing at some point... and Kenny will get over it... T.

SQUEEEEE!! What an adorable little bundle of fluff! T.

I have been with all of my own dogs when they went for their final sleep - and was privileged to be there with my friend's dog also when he went for his. That boy was very special for me - I had been the first person he "knew" when he was born, and I was there when he passed gently assisted by the vet 13 years later. The walk out of the vet clinic holding only your baby's collar and lead, eyes bloodshot, and heart heavy, is one of the hardest things I think... I tend to schedule these things for the very last appointment of the day if I can - usually there is no-one else in the waiting room then, and I and the vet can have a good cry together and remember all the great things about the dog in question. I love my vets... It is never easy - but knowing that it is the right thing at the right time is some small consolation. T.

Way to go Bailey!!! You must be so happy when they get their perfect forever homes k9angel... 'cos I can tell you that I totally love it when I hear you've found great homes for your charges... T.

Go Tyson the wonder dog!!! Awesome stuff Jimmay! T.

Labrador? They shed like a bitch, but are otherwise not a bad family dog... recommend getting one from a breeder that does all health checks and breeds for even temperament... T.

When I had Rotties, the CC in my state had guidelines of 20 months for the bitch and at least 15 months for the dog (from memory - could be wrong about the dog age) - my girl was over 2 years old when she was bred - my preference... T.