Just a huge thank you really, to this entire forum, for your help and priceless advice whilst my litter were being grown in my bitch's belly and eventually out here in the big bad world. My little pup is 13 weeks tomorrow and it feels like a lifetime! I couldn't have done it without the gentle encouragement and support from this wonderful source of knowledge; with this forum and BOB under my fingertips I felt equipped far more than if any vet were there with me.

Definately one of the most moving experiences of my life to bring those puppies into the world, to be there for my girl when she needed me most, I feel it's brought us closer than ever and I can't thank her enough for letting me be there for every second of it, for handling her babies when they were moments old, and we both worked together to make them strong and care for them, as a team. It was very touching, and well worth every tear that brought us to that point.

I'd love to know how everyone's babes are doing who were having a litter at hte same time as us; I know Drover's are doing well, how are yours Jean? Have you waved everyone home yet? Would love to share pics but I understand that's against the rules, I'll just say that my bitch is turning out very promisingly and I've had some huge compliments from well-respected breeders, so I'm over the moon that not only was the litter safely delivered, homed fantastically, and all healthy and well, but I also got a beautiful bitch that can contribute to the breed positively. We'll be in the ring starting at the end of April, fingers crossed!

Thanks again folks, superb forum. Special thanks to JeanSW, Jeangenie, Brainless, Rhodach, Goldmali, Nova, and Stooge.

will be looking out for brags of how the baby is doing.

Lovely to hear such a good outcome, good luck for the future with the pup! :)

I am glad you have enjoyed the experience, there is nothing like it, I am looking forward to my next litter of pups, probably about this time next year.

Keep us posted re the show career.

It is lovely that you have come back to voice your approval of Champdogs and the advice it can provide.  As you know, we do our best!

Like you, my litter was born 13 weeks ago (to the day!)  Pupster that stayed is coming along nicely.  And I am delighted with the feedback I'm getting from new puppy owners.  I feel so proud when I get lovely comments about temperament.  Because without it, you can't do much with a dog!  :-)

Well done you on picking the right one!  :-)

Well done.  Sounds like you did a great job.  I'd love to see some pics of your little ones (I'll have to go back through my pm's and see if I have your website there, if not please pm me with it)

I also got some fantastic advice here - not necessarily to direct questions (though I had some of those too), but I started reading about 9 months before the planned mating and took note of soooo much.  I'm like a sponge - I'll soak up whatever info people want to pass my way LOL.

I do think it's great that there is a forum where we can come to and share our experiences and knowledge and help each other along where we can. 

Waggamama I know you were a delight for me when you were watching our puppycam :D  And so many others were very helpful with my pre-travel questions regarding travelling to Sweden.  And then as I said, just the sheer knowledge gained and shared from reading other posts as well...

So I'll happily jump on the 'thanks all' bandwagon :D

Wendy

I'd like to second Waga's post. My pups are 13 weeks on monday, the advice and support I received from this forum throughout the pregnancy, the stressful (week long!) labour and amazing birth as well as the trying few days afterwards was invaluable. As much as its possible to research and be prepared, nothing actually prepares you for the trials and tribulations of a first litter.

I'm hearing fantastic things from the two pups that are in new homes (one of which went to a good friend) hearing these updates makes me proud to be part responsible for bringing them into the world, the two I have here (one goes abroad next month) are lovely and confident and the bitch I am keeping is identical (and I cant stress just how much!) to her mum in both markings and temperament, she really is a fabulous bitch and hopefully will continue to grow and mature just as nicely :)

Wendy, if you look for me on facebook, I'm Bethany Hollingworth, I have literally hundreds and we could keep in touch then too. I did stalk your cam a bit, lol! My OH would sit next to me and we watched together each evening until they were about 9 weeks, it was so funny to see them rough-housing when it seemed such a short time ago they'd been little rolly-polys! I can't thank you enough for sharing the cam with us!

I can't agree more about reading up and absorbing; you're the exact same as me, I started reading the forum about two months before my bitch came into season when I felt BOB just wasn't fulfilling all of my questions, and haven't really stopped reading it.

It's just such a great feeling to know everyone here knows exactly what you mean when you say how special it was when they were born; raising a pup I've brought into the world is even better.

Drover, it was the best thing to have a vent/rant/excitement with you as our bitches were so close, lol!

Friend request sent :D

I think the puppycam was one of the best things I did, and would always do it again if possible.  It let family overseas (I'm from Canada originally) feel like they were involved, it let the puppy buyers feel like they were a part of the litter in ways they couldn't have been if they'd just visited once or twice, and it was fun to share all of that with friends, family and members from the other boards who were following the litter.  It also took a bit of pressure off having to constantly update photos as people could see the pups in real time.

The other thing was the litterbox training.  That just made cleanup with so many pups sooo much easier and other friends/breeders who have thought about it could actually see for themselves watching the puppycam that the litterbox training really did work!

I was going to have a puppy cam for my first litter but my mentor and other breeders said it may have put too much pressure on me so I set up CCTV instead for me to observe if I was out of the room, unfortunately I caught my foot in the flex and it snapped the day after the whelping.

I have a wirefree set up for next time which also allows watching remotely.

I didn't have it on for the whelping as if anything went wrong I didn't want that pressure like you say.   But I think I finally got it working day two or three.  Originally I was having it password protected for just family and close friends but I gave up on that and left it public.  I had the camera directly above so you could only see the bed or pen and not the surrounding house areas, and sound off so no one could hear private conversations. 

That was my concern, worried I wouldn't jump in with them because I'd be worrying about how I looked, etc. Next time though I think we'll do cam and just position it to one side of the pool. I can't thank you enough for that idea, Wendy! The pool/sandpit combo was superb and definately one I'll be continuing with!

I worried about that for the first day only.  After that I figured people were watching the pups and didn't care how I looked (as long as I didn't forget and jump in wearing a towel after a shower or something LOL).

I just wore long PJ's that looked like loungewear for the evening/late nights and figured if my hair was standing up it was something for them to laugh with. 

I'm glad the pool worked for you.  I'm going to nosey through your photos to see how you did the pool/sandpit.  We like the pool on it's own, but then our breed's a bit longer than yours and likes the curved spreading out space the poole provided

We used a large rectangular pool with a sandpit inside (without sand) because it was so large and I thought then she would have half the pool to relax in and eat without being far from her babies. It was such a good idea to snag from you, and since then a friend of mine who also breeds my breed has decided to nick it too! You're starting a revolution, lol!

We never got round to taking down our puppycam, our friends in America got sad whenever we mentioned it, and we rather like sneaking peeks while at work. Still not sure how good my puppy will turn out but I think she's nicer than poor little Hetty anyway, and she's such a darling (and of course monster) anyway! Can't wait to hear all your show brags - Lottie will be in the ring a few weeks before your girl. :-)