Well I'm sat here with a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea listening to the music channel on TV and watching the puppies play. My morning puppy washing is whirling around in the machine and all my disinfecting is done for now. Pups have had their breakfast and snooze and its now playtime. They are 6 weeks old today and have really come into their own personalities now and it is hitting me that they will be leaving soon. I'm now 20 weeks pregnant and what with having 14 pups and my girl having a terrible bout of mastitis where we were told there was a 95% chance of us losing the teat and needing constant checks, treatment and medication (it's made a perfect recovery and is as good as new now) its been an undescribable amount of hard work and stress. But now that the puppies are puppy pad trained and are playing their little hearts out I get chance to watch and laugh at them and really appreciate them. This for me is when I start to worry about their new homes and where the rest of their life will take them. We all do everything possible to check out new owners but as we know and hear countless times circumstances in peoples lives can change and not go to plan and pups can slip through the net we have to protect our puppies years down the line. The responsibility of raising these little monsters and sending them out into the world is sometimes terrifying.

For me, this age, when I'm watching my happy, confident puppies playing is when I can really see and appreciate all the stress, weeks on the sofa, tears, tantrums and headaches have really been worthwhile.

I'm in a soppy mood today.....must be the pregnancy hormones!!!!

Well I feel like wringing my pups neck this morning lol! They are soooo noisy and I'm really not a morning person. They have been fed and are now, after an hour of squawking, then eating, then running around still squawking at times, are starting to settle. Some are settled and others are still making a noise for no reason whatsoever. I've just picked one up to stop her noise. It pierces my ears! lol I love them really.......... :)

cant believe they are six weeks old!!!  its gone so fast, thats a lovely thread sounds like you have done a great job in raising such a large litter and being pregnant in another couple of weeks you will be able to have a well earned rest xxx

May I ask what your routinge is? My pups are not even 4 weeks old yet (there are 10 of them) and are really lively. They don't sleep for long periods. Do yours have free run or are they confined to a whelping box/pen? I'm considering letting mine just run around the kitchen all day and only confine them when I'm cooking.

my last litter have gone they are 9m soon.
I found it easier to have two large puppy pens one is attached to the whelping box giving plenty of space to play its in a quiet room where they whelped and where I sleep with them during the night.. the other in the living room where they can see everyone and get used to noise and people plus the other dogs.
It also makes it easier to keep the pens clean by alternating ,at 4 wks depending on the weather I take them into the garden right after meals to toilet (makes toilet training easier for new families) bit of fresh air a roll around and back in (they only need around 10 mins if that then they fall asleep for a good few hours.
When they wake up I let them out to run around the hall and living room with supervision a good frolic with mum where she can teach them a few manners and back into the pen for another rest. ...that basically it.

the part I love is when they are up on thier feet and starting to play with each other hopefully then all the worrying is over...when you can enjoy them as its all over too quickly.

> They are soooo noisy
> after an hour of squawking,

I call this the demented Seagull noises, it really sets my nerves on edge and is what worries me regarding the neighbours, which is why I prefer this stage to be in the winter (you hear that girls who miss and come in season late), that way daylight and them waking is later and neighbours safely behind closed double glazed windows and doors.

I find from 6 weeks on they are no longer a single entity as in the litter but all becoming increasingly demanding individuals, by the 7 - 8 weeks stage your no longer feeling quite so 'how can I see them go' but thinking Gosh they need individual attention and people of their very own.

Also you want the puppy your keeping to yourself to concentrate on.

So I would say my favourite puppy age a s a breeder is 4 - 6 weeks, and then with a sole puppy, 4 months is nice, then the first shows, and everything being new to them.

To be honest my favourite puppy age is when they are about 3 years old ;).  I love them 10 years and over best.

For the first 4 weeks the pups and mum have free run of the lounge and pen although pups are put away for half an hr a few times a day when mum needs feeding, toilet or time out. Then I started  putting the pups in the whelping pen (also in the lounge) without mum for an hr at a time 5 times a day. At 5 weeks they go into the pen at night without mum (from about 11pm until 4am) and mum goes back into her normal routine playing with the other dogs and coming to bed with us and visits the pups 2 or 3 times a day for an hr or so. Pups last feed is 9.30pm and then an hr and a half to snooze, play and empty themselves. I used to leave food down constantly for the pups so they could graze little and often but I found puppy pad training impossible so now I feed every 2 hrs from 3 and a half weeks until 5 weeks (puppy mush) and then every 4 hrs from 5 weeks to 7 weeks gradually reducing water content of biscuits until it is just moist. I have found it so much easier to potty train and monitor consumption and stools of each pup that way. And for the last 3 nights none of them have pood in the pen at night and run straight past their food bowls to the pads to empty themselves as soon as they have come out in the morning and then gone back to the bowls for breakfast!!!!!

Thanks so much for the replies. (sorry to have hijacked the thread) My pups have been taking solid food since 2 weeks and 2 days and are now on raw minced chicken or fish4dogs puppy soaked in puppy milk. I have been free feeding because some of my last litter became resource guarders. Their mum is allowed to get at them during the night but I don't think she goes into the whelping box until they wake at 6.30 - when the squawking starts.

I call this the demented Seagull noises, it really sets my nerves on edge and is what worries me regarding the neighbours OMG thats exactly what I've been saying! They are not shouting for food, I'm not quite sure why they are!

I'm sure I need to get into a better routine. I'll let them outside today, the weather is lovely :) Jackie

I love the 0/3 week time, when they are cosied up with Mum in the lounge and all you hear are happy little grunts. My pups are born in the welping box in the lounge and at two to three weeks once they are up on their feet and when they need more room they go into the dinning room with the welping box and a large fenced in run (Large breed!). From 4 weeks onward they go out into the garden first thing with a huge area, mostly covered, but my breed don't mind a bit of wet, and a large kennel to sleep in during the day then back into the dinning room in the eveningand overnight.  They get some one on one time during the day when I will take them out one at a time to come indoors with me and the big dogs. (Not forgetting that I am in and out of the run, poo collecting every 5 mins! and cuddling of course!) Mum has usually had enough of them by 5 weeks preffering to hop in and out for very short periods during the day and though she has open access to them at night very rarely goes in. By 7 weeks she activly discourages feeding!!! but by then they are on 4/5 (depending on how many and how hungry!!!), meals a day of raw tripe/chicken/beef etc...
Don't you just love that squalking seagull noise!! Luckily I have great neigbours and quite a lot of seagulls around...so I blame them!!
The worst time is waving them off at the door with new Mums and Dads...I always cry :( :(
Aileen

Our are 6 weeks old today i love this stage, mum will still feed them though, but i am limiting time she is with them now, we are keeping 1 maybe 2 so im happy happy

I cry like a baby too when they leave ...thats when OH say no more!!

6 WEEKS!!!! OMG!!! How the time has flown!

I call this the demented Seagull noises

That's funny, that is exactly what I call it as well and most people think I'm mad when I say it LOL!

My favourite stage of puppyhood is when it's gone!! :) :) I often say I wish all pups were born 2 years old. :D

Birth! I know it sounds crazy, but I just love the whelping! The excitement of seeing those tiny babies being born, then checking to see what colour & is it a girl or a boy.....:) Then there's the clearing up! Not so keen on that...might get wellies for the next litter lol

My favourite stage is when, at around 3 weeks, they start to play. Firstly with their 'invisible friend' and fall over all the time - then with each other.

That's the time I think they're here to stay and are individual little people not just little sucking machines.

My favourite time is 3 months. My pup is that age now and she knows I'm her mum!! I love my precious puppy kisses every evening and our time for playing. She is great to eat, sleep and play and I just love her!! As do my other dogs. Even my cocker is getting used to her.

I love all the stages. As I sit here reading all your replies. I think, yes I can relate to that. Mine are 2 days old at 5.42pm and 5.50pm. They are lying here suckling away and Mum is so contented. Then I know I will feel different when their eyes open. I just love it all. They are so much fun then when they start moving around.Birth is an absolute miracle and never ceases to amaze me how instinct kicks in immediately.

> Birth!

Well I wonder if my other half is unusual for a man, he like the whelping bit best too, seeing new lives come into the world, making sure they are well and breathing, getting them on to feed etc.

> Well I wonder if my other half is unusual for a man, he like the whelping bit best too, seeing new lives come into the world, making sure they are well and breathing, getting them on to feed etc.

Yes i think your other half is unusual, mine freaks, i have to send him out of the house lol x

> Yes i think your other half is unusual, mine freaks, i have to send him out of the house lol x

lol mine is the same too.... he was nearly sick when he saw her eating the afterbirth!! I had to keep my 11 year old daughter with me and she was fantastic getting all equipment, writing checking times etc making me drinks. Don't know what i would have done without her really!!

edited as forgot to answer the question lol.... I love all the stages from about day 50 of pregnancy all the way through to the 8 weeks. I'm not saying it isn't hard or stressful, but I just thoroughly enjoy it.

> love all the stages from about day 50 of pregnancy all the way through to the 8 weeks. I'm not saying it isn't hard or stressful, but I just thoroughly enjoy it.

Yes i do too, im just glad im keeping at least 1 of my litter, the female, and hopefully the male too, fingers xd.