Frenchie OVERLOAD!!!!!!

Thanks!!!
 
Teddy is really a hoot! He reminds me so much of Honey when she was a pup, I hope he does as well as she did in the rings.
 
The pups sure are getting BIG!!!! They will be 4 weeks old tomorrow and I will start getting them on the gruel this weekend...
 
YAY!!! Messy food covered puppies!!! Momma's work is almost done and my job will begin [sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]

Yeah, and those first four weeks were just a total walk in the park. []  Sure they were!

Yeah, I know your trying to drag the truth out of me...LOL!
 
So I'll give you the run down.....Honey was due the 11th, I was entered in a dog show in VA & MD the 7th-9th Honey's temp dropped the 6th to 97 which means labor usually within 24 hours...trip to VA cancelled, called vet 8am on the 7th headed in for C-section at 10am, momma had no milk, converse regarding was this too early?? After speaking with Honey's breeder/co-owner, reading the Repo book we decide to go for it, on the last date of breeding she would be 5 days early which is passable...out come(to my surprise) 7 puppies, I thought she had 4 or less.
 
All pups are out and several people are working to wake them up...swinging pups, suction, rubbing, pinching...finally what seems like an hour a pup cries, then another and another...mommma is getting stitched up and woken up, still a little wozzy she looks for her pups who are all crying or should I say squeeking Glenda?
 
Once home, Honey doesn't have milk or want to really have anything to do with the pups. I proceed to make the powder milk replacement , get the heat lamp warming up the whelping box and set in for a few turns of bottle feeding 7 babies..getting the nipple hole the right size is always the worst part of that trick...everyone has been sucking, little bellies are full and they are sleeping. Honey still not wishing to know them but I force her to lay in there, after a few hours she complies, they start sucking, still no milk although it's coming as I see her nipples are changing and the plugs are coming out.
 
I am not into tube feeding, I am scared to death of it and know I MUST learn to get more comfortable with it. My very good friend came over around 8 pm and tube fed all the babies for me so I could get a little sleep before my sleepless night would begin []
 
 Who ever tells you sleep is over rated never had a litter of new born puppies!!!
 
The next 2 weeks were filled with semi sleeping on the sofa, checking the heat lamp often to make sure it wsn't too hot or too cold. Checking that Honey wasn't laying on the babies and making sure the tiny girl was nursing often...and to think I stopped having human babies why??????
 
 By the end of week 2 I was sleeping through the night except for one or two trips for Honey to go out to potty and she was being a GREAT mother...much better then the first litter which had me thinking I had the Baby Blues for a litter of FRENCHIES!!!! Which was so bad I told Honey's breeder that I had decided I was not going to be a Frenchie breeder...I was simply going to be a Frenchie owner after that first litter...she laughed and told me it's just like when you have babies, you forget all that you went through and do it again and hopefully the next time will be better then the first..
 
There are always problems and complications or just plain fluke things that happen when you breed and no way shape or form should this story be taken as easy. It was *easier* for me because I have three more bodies who live in my home, great friends who will help out if I need them(and they did) and a fabulous job who worked with me to allow me to adjust my schedule to limit the time when I was gone and DH came home. I have also been breeding since 1994 and have seen many things through that time and know what to look for if something isn't "just right" but even with my knowledge, help and friends problems can come on quick and if your not right on top of it you can loose both mom and/or pups.
 
 So far in this litter we've had no milk, a pup who is half the size of the rest, round worm squirties, shedding on the heads...in the last litter we had a septic infection causing an eye and body infection in a pup at two days old, another pup who's eye seemed to have gotten something in it and the eye ball wasn't growing as it should have but cleared up after treatment....it's not always puppy breath and smiles

All of the above being why I stopped breeding.  And then I jump into fostering and what do I get???  All the same headaches and heartbreaks you just described!
 
And yes, squeaking is exactly what I would call what I heard on the phone after the little ones were born!

oooh come on jamie, we know how easy it is to breed, thats why so many people are jumping on the band wagon, although only a few actually do it right. all kidding aside the pups look great, and im glad your the one dealing with all of it this time. karen and I get the easy part of this litter, Im just getting ready for may 11th when our next litter is do. then i get to live it all over.

What a face! Cute.

Don't worry Jamie, my Dandelion crop puts yours to shame!

Don't worry Jamie, my Dandelion crop puts yours to shame!

 
Yeah, they're everywhere!!!!!  Luckily my favorite flower color is yellow [sm=rotfl.gif]

jrobertson, I know that you are just joking about how easy it is to breed, but please consider the thousands of lurkers who visit idog.  Many will never post because they see how up in arms we get about irresponsible breeding, but when they read comments like yours, they *might* think that it really is ok.
 
I strongly believe that responsible breeders have a responsibility to accurately reflect the ENTIRE experience, good and bad, so that people don't think that this whole thing is just as simple as nature taking it's course.  JMHO

as i said all kidding aside, only so many breeders do it right, I also state that i was preparing myself for our next litter and reliving absolutely everything Jamie is going through right now. i didn't mean to offend

Great pics! They sure are cute! Love the frog faces []
 
Very nice litter, you had one like mine...light Momma and dark puppies...ain't genetics grand (well a grand pain in the ass at times!).

And you didn't offend, not me anyhow, but understand that there are sooooo many lurkers thinking that FiFi and PoPo would make just BEAUTIFUL pups.  And those are the people that we have to THINK about before we post.
 
Just a couple weeks ago there was a post on our local freecycle....gal with an 8 week old mixed breed female looking for a close to that age mixed breed male for her to BOND with.  Translation...a daddy for her babies.  I emailed her NICELY and just got blasted for my efforts.  Now if she comes to a place like idog and it is made to sound easy then she's got even more validation for her stoopid and irresponsible idea.
 
I'm very grateful to Jaime for sharing the vast amount of work this last litter has been and will continue to be. THIS is the kind of information that lurkers need to see.

Thanks Gina!
 I'm a little fond of them [] As far as color goes..I knew that I would have all brindles..not my favorite color but I was looking more at the temperament and overall structure first..I would have given anything to have a nice colorfull litter like yours since a lot of white on any of my dogs makes me []
 
Regarding the lurkers, yes, there are many lurkers as well as members who come here who have no idea of what really goes into breeding for the betterment of the breeds. Along with all the *Designer* breeds cropping up because it's the next big money maker.
 
Keeping in mind the most recent newer member who thought she found a good breeder and after several of her posts regarding what had happened and what was going on many of us instructed her that her breeder was not as knowledgable as she was letting on to this member. I still feel this particular member would be better of waiting and finding another breeder but she is very satisfied with her choice. I will respect that and be here to help her if she has any problems but along those same lines, if her breeder was involved and more knowledgable maybe some of those issues could have been avoided.
 
 Breeding is never easy, there is always the opportunity to have problems with smaller breeds even more so. I have more experience with my free whelping Am Staffs but even then we ran into problems that Mother Nature or the Lord felt we needed to learn from..nothing is ever text book

you are correct, and if you look back at my post in "why frenchies are so expensive" you'll see i more than understand the time effort and heartache associated with breeding frenchies, or any other breed. I love my dogs, and breeding, the amount of research and testing we do, to insure good healthy and happy animal are bred, are all part of the process, we need to always be responsible with our breeding programs.

I am truely not trying to pick on you, but most lurkers are not GOING to go back and read.  What they read is THIS post and they don't do a heck of a lot of research.  For THIS reason, every post regarding breeding needs to be carefully thought out.