Hi guys,

I've been looking on this forum for a while now, I have a large breed bitch who was mated to a non proven dog

2nd may = slip
3rd may = slip
4th may = tie
5th may = slip

She stayed over at the stud for a week from monday 1dt and she was on day 11 of her season, we took her to our local scanner (not a vet but another breeder) and she has been scanned empty, I'm so devistated as all the hard work of finding a stud all health tests done and then there's people out there who just have bitches that easily get in whelp who don't health test, I've booked in with keith at fit n fertile this weds as I trust him more, I knew I was taking a chance with using an unproven dog but he fitted the bill with what I was looking for and I didn't just go out and use the 'flavour of the month' so to speak, my bithch is 5yrs and had a litter when she was 3yrs of 5 pups, we got her serum done on the last litter and she ovulated on day 12 but we didn't bother this time.

Anyways just thought I'd let you all know and I'm going to cry my heart out now lol xxxxxxxx

did you continue to try mating until she had definitely gone over (either she or the dog did not want to know anymore)?

Generally in my breed slip matings would signal she wasn't quite ready.

Hi brainless we took her on the monday (day 11) and she let him mount her but he just didn't know what to do with him being unproven, I left her there for the week and she had a few slips and 1 tie which the owner stated was a good tie, I know it was risky for using an unproven dog but his owner has over 30yrs experience, she told me she seemed ready on the friday which resulted in a tie, I'm kicking myself for not doing blood tests believe me.

Anyhow the stud owner said to collect her the saturday morning but she would mate them again to make sure which resulted in the last slip.

The scanner women seemed to know what she was doing but I don't know if she's any good.

It may be a bit early if fertilization took a few more days to happen after the final mating.

I would wait a couple of weeks more

I'm hoping that might be the case, I'm hoping that next week I'm coming on here to tell you she's in whelp after the next scan

Hi polished i really do feel for you i'm going through a very simlar situation with my bitch also only got slip matings she got a scan at 6 weeks and was confirmed pregnant now this week she seems thinner and she doesn't look pregnant anymore so i think she reabsorbed i'm absolutely gutted aswell like you i've had everything ready and this is a well planned litter i know what you mean by people who just randomly breed their dogs and seem to get puppies all the time yes there's someone in my area who has had 3 litters from the same bitch in about just 2 years now i know other people have other opinions but i would not let my bitches have more than 2 litters in their lifetime polished i think i'm going to cry with you it is very sad and dissapointing my hugs to you

Hi sofie

Thanks for that, I do hope your bitch hasn't reabsorbed, its so devistating, my plans were to hit the show ring with 3 of my pups but my hubby has said something to me tonight that's made me feel a bit better he said 'the plan hasn't changed just the timescale' I've been offered a pup from a breeder I know on the show curcuit but I would love to produce my own so I'm just going to leave it another week or so then rescan and if no pups then just back to the drawing board I suppose.

I hope you have a dog with a belly full just hidden in her ribs lol.

All the very best and I have my fingers crossed for you xxxxxxxxxx 

"my plans were to hit the show ring with 3 of my pups" - you weren't thinking of keeping 3 from the same litter were you?

I was thinking about keeping 2 and maybe running 1 on all from the same litter or at least co owning.

Yikes lol

WOW that is alot to share you time equally with and give 1 to 1 training to.

Well yes it is but if you have room, funds and time dedicated then its no problem, its like people that own more than 1 dog don't they dedicate themselves to 121 time with them as training doesn't stop when there an adult surely but yes its time consuming and bloody hard work lol

I do think that trying to train, socialise and spend one-to-one time with THREE puppies at the same time is quite different to having a house of adult dogs who have settled into a routine and had the benefit of being the sole puppy to concentrate on when they were young. There have been plenty of stories on this forum from people who have kept more than one pup from a litter, not always by choice, and who say what hard work it is and not often to the pups' benefit to have done so, with the best will in the world. Look at it this way - if someone came to you and said they wanted to buy 3 pups from your litter, what would your response be? I know what mine would have been!

If she was in whelp there is nothing to say that ANY of them are a good breed standard in the first place, I understand that it IS hard work as I am a full time dog trainer and a bloody good one at that my rep speaks for itself, however this thread is about my bitch possibly missing not about how hard it is to look after 3 pups, I'm a firm believer in training pups from an early age so if you think about it having a litter of say 8 pups to 9 weeks of age when 5 go it becomes easier with the 3.

My husband is a fully trained RAF dog handler so he knows his stuff too.

And to answer your question I would say NO to 3 dogs going to the same home as I haven't found anyone with the training skills that me and my hubby have.

I have a certain person in my breed that judges and shows but doesn't breed any more that's wanting 2 of my pups and I'm so proud that she's interested in my litter and most of you know who she is as she's a forum member.

I'm a firm believer in training pups from an early age so if you think about it having a litter of say 8 pups to 9 weeks of age when 5 go it becomes easier with the 3.

No it doesn't -that's when the hard work STARTS. It can be done, sure -but it's no fun whatsoever. If I had a choice between keeping two littermates (which I have done quite a few times, never out of choice) and having teeth pulled out without anaesthetic, I know I'd chose the teeth pulling. :)

It's important to point things out when they come up as people who Google so often find CD and might then think it's perfectly normal/easy to keep more than one pup.

I agree that it's very frustrating when you put in so much time, effort,blood,sweat, tears and finances into mating a bitch, for the right reasons and I know the gutted feeling when all of this results in nothing, I have been there myself a few times now and it's highly likely I will be there again in a few weeks time (rolls eye's and sighs)

Sometimes it's just not meant to be, as much as we would love it to happen.

Using a maiden dog can be a big risk but they all have to start somewhere and you just hope that it kind of happens first time, despite how it seems breeding is not easy and personally I find the whole experience just a nightmare, because I care and because I just so want all to be well and go smoothly, when things go to plan it is the most wonderful thing and such a joyful and honourable experience, alas not always the case.

Hope things work out for you

re keeping/raising 3 pet come show puppies, that's a whooping task indeed

Omg people give me a break I AM FULLY TRAINED, I understand that you want to advise people on keeping more than 1 pup but please don't advise me, I didn't ask you to nor will I condone it, yes it IS bloody hard work with lots of hair pulling till I'm bald and tears but I'm not a novice to raising pups and I find it an insult that your doing so.

Can I be totally honest, 3 of the breeders on here have come to me for advise on training a litter but they have asked me not to name and shame.

This will be the last time I'm on so please think wisely next time before you jump on the band wagon, think about and ASK what experience the op has.

And to think what's funny is I've spoke to half of you at shows.

Can we keep things friendly please ;-) To the OP, I can understand why you feel aggrieved but please remember nobody knows who you are on here and this thread will be read by many people, not all of them will have your knowledge or experience and so won't know the pitfalls in keeping multiple pups from the same litter.

Personally cannot see any point in keeping 3 siblings. If you intend to show them they will be competing against each other, much better to let someone else have fun with 1 or 2 of them...!!!

Polished01 - back to your original point.

I really feel for you, we work so hard and put everything into our litters and we invest so much into planned litters (the finances are fine its the hoping, longing, dreaming, wishing and loving that are really difficult).  I hope she is in whelp and if not then you can try again with her.  I am not quite in your position but was soooo excited about a mating our bitch had - I started thinking about all it could bring to there breed 2-3 generations later as well etc. Completely stupid as here I am with the most gorgeous litter consisting of all dogs - but I can't keep a dog.  I will not repeat the mating as it was my girls 2nd litter and she is now 5 so I just have to accept its not to be and hope I can find some show/breeding homes for a dog or 2 if they keep growing nicely.

Its also horrible to have to tell people who were interested that you can't provide them with a pup either.  I got to know a lot of the people who contacted me for bitches - we went for dog walks together, some visited etc. Then you have to disappoint them (even though you have said, if, maybe etc. the whole way through).

Mother nature blesses us with some amazing friends but she can be a meanie too at times