Dog Community

Puppies sooner than I thought!

Posted : 4/11/2007 10:28:48 PM

My mentor and I have two litters in progress. The first is scheduled to whelp around May 16th. And the other will hopefully be around June 11th. Today was the first breeding, so no promises yet. It works out well because since they are going to be summer litters, I won't have school and he won't be teaching classes so the puppies will get TONS of attention. My mentor will be on vacation the week the June puppies are supposed to be born and normally, that would mean she would go to another breeder we work with in TX so she can whelp them. But, he is trusting me with them! I'm so excited! It means a lot that he will trust me to whelp this litter! Gilda is the mom's name and shes a good dog. Kind of annoying sometimes with her noises(shes a talker) and she can climb very well(8 ft at least). But, she will come home with me for the week. I have all of my stuff that I had just in case Rose had her babies before I could get her to my mentor's. I will have to make a little box with everything! I can always call him if I need help, and I will have the vets cell number just in case. But, I've never seen any of our dogs have any whelping problems, so I'm not too worried. I'm so excited! Mostly just because I am being trusted with this responsibility! Ok, now I'm just rambling!

Susan Chandler

Posted : 4/12/2007 9:50:56 AM

Congrats! Can I ask a question? When you say you have a mentor, does that mean that you literally are under someone's tutelage and someone guides you through your births?

ColleenC

Posted : 4/12/2007 11:55:59 AM

What he does as a mentor is basically teach me everything I need to know about raising show dogs. Everything from nutrition(he is an animal nutritionist) to whelping and showing. I've helped with the births before and raising the puppies from day one. Last year and this year, I did all of the actual matings. He picked the dogs and I made sure to watch for heat cycles and kept track of each mating. I cared for Rose by myself during her pregnancy, but he whelped her because I was in class and she just kept getting to excited when I tried to help. She really did best on her own with minimal interference though. So, the only thing I haven't done on my own is whelping a litter. I'm kind of nervous, then I think about how he is trusting me with one of his favorite dogs and an important litter(they all are important, but this one is expected to be awesome) and I feel much better. I guess eventually, you just have to jump into this on your own. You can help and do most of the work on any whelping, but its different when its by yourself. I will have plenty of support though!

Susan Chandler

Posted : 4/12/2007 12:28:05 PM

OH that's amazing and interesting. I had NO idea there was so much involved in it all. Oh I have NO doubt that you will fly through this without a hitch! You sound fairly experienced in most of the areas needed now. This is just one more step. You'll do just fine - no worries! Let us know how it all goes K? Good luck and thanks for the information.