It makes me so mad when I hear of people breeding just because they think it would be nice to have a puppy or its easy money, I have had a couple of litters over the years, (all bitches and stud dogs fully health tested) This time its been a nightmare, easy whelping but bitch didn't have a lot of milk to begin with so had to top up, thankfully it only lasted two days an mum took over again, at ten days one of the pups eye started oozing green puss, vet said to bathe it until it was fully open, when it did open it was all red so back to the vets again not sure if its a ulcer so he had to have drops six times a day for a week, went back and saw the head vet she thought a spot on the lens of the eye maybe attached to the eye ball, more drops, saw her a few days later the eye is very large and completely white so its got to be removed when he is eight weeks old, the only good thing is he cant see threw it anyway so at least he wont know any different. :(
So as we were going to the vets anyway I took another pup with me because I noticed that every morning she had urine all over her bottom as if she has peed in her sleep, vet said she had a slight water infection and she didn't think she was incontinent! so she's on antibiotics and to be honest it only looks a little better so I am worried about that, and it doesn't end there, got up sat morning mum could hardly walk vets again she has mastitis, so its antibiotics for her and hot compresses all day sat an sun,  Sunday night as I was expressing the rubbish out of her teat like the vet had told me the side of her mammary gland split open and all the infection came pouring out,  I had never experienced this before so rang the vet who told me this can happen and keep doing the hot compress and now she would probably start feeling better as the infection was coming out, by Monday she had a big split all down the one side of he teat, so its anti inflams as well now... I have to say she is now doing better than me jumping around like a fool again but with a huge open wound!  So there you go that's to anybody who thinks its easy money, god knows what the vet bill will be by the time puppy one has his eye sorted as well, I am just very lucky I have a very reasonable and very helpful vet.. 

Oh poor you!!   It never rains eh.

Just to let you know we had a puppy who, the moment her eyes started to open, I saw one was cloudy.   Off to the vet - drops.   Eventually, not responding to the drops, the eye blew into a nasty mess, and she had to have it removed at which point we found an abscess (well vet did).   Nobody knew it was there.   The good news was again never having had sight in that eye, she was fine.   We tried to close the eye socket (stitches) but try as we did, it never closed properly so we just didn't bother - and again she was fine.  The only thing she did have was quite often a dry nose on that side. 

We've had the occasional mastitis, but nothing like you've had.    We did have a litter, whelped in a November and for some reason, it was never really what I'd call a strong litter.  Could have been the breeding, but I always put it down to not having the benefit of warm sun on their backs - this was out in Canada so they didn't get to go out before they went home.   And another thing, dad was very young (I'd planned this mating for my bitch's next season, but left them together because at just under 8 months, I didn't expect him to do what he did - and my breed usually needs 'help'.   He never did!!   My bitch was older - her second and final litter.   Could the age difference have affected the vigour of the puppies?   Dunno.

I'm totally with you re 'nice to have a litter', or 'for the kids to see the miracle of birth.   Hah.   What about the tragedy of a disaster!!!   I hope the remainder of raising this litter goes well.....

Yes after the upset of losing 2 of  the 3 girls in my last litter and my OH saying we can't have another litter it is too distressing I am here again.
Apart from puppies that have been still born or not thrived, the worst was the little girl that I hand reared because she was not taking enough and I thought it was because she was very small. went to her new owners at 8 weeks ( she was eating from a dish by then but not huge amounts) and died at 15 weeks as one of her kidneys did not develop normally. They still wanted one of mine and I let them have the puppy I was keeping for myself. I see her once a year and they are forever grateful. I think some of these owners say such rewarding things sometimes, it helps as well.
I too have had all sorts happen over a number of years but it never gets any easier and I suspect people do not realise how hard it is when you have seen a bitch through to birth and then begun the task of seeing puppies through the first weeks of their life in the hope they will have a long and happy life even if it is not withyou. Hope and the desire to pick out "that" one and to hear from new owners that their pup is doing well keeps us going.
Hope your fortune changes.

Poor you. :( :(

It is better when a mammary abscess bursts like that, as if it bursts inwards instead it could potentially kill the bitch -I know a breeder it happened to. When it happened to one of mine I was given IntraSite gel to squeeze into the hole as it encourages healing from the inside and out and it was absolutely fantastic, I always keep it at home now, great for other deep wounds as well and it is not prescription.

That all sounds so stressful.
I have to say my first litter are now 3 weeks old and having planned this for years I thought I had it all planned and sorted. I never really appreciated just how stressful it would be. Don't know what I would have done without my mentor or if I had encountered anything like u have.
It's an amazing experience but not something I would do again for a long time.
The pups are all doing well but I have worried and gotten stressed over every tiny little thing.

Gosh, that was a nightmare! I've had 2 litters, one totally easy and straightforward, the other almost as easy apart from needing a C section as it was a singleton. I hope I have a lot more experience before I have a bad one!! I'll be re-reading TBOTB before mating my girl this year. :-) (all health tests done, before anyone wonders)

Yeah its been a long few weeks, especialy last weekend with the mastitis, ive never had any probs but I have only ever had three litters, this will be my last for a long time, and you do worry about every little thing, I am just so glad my girl is looking so much better I could not believe how fast the mastitis came on very scary.... I've just gotta hope now this little girl only has a water infection an is not incontinent... so far she is the naughty one of the bunch! bless her.  

If this doesn't clear up fairly quickly it may be worth considering whether it is a ectopic ureter.

yeah that's what the vet was talking about... yesterday I washed and dried her back end and she was having normal wee`s all day whilst playing with the others,by the time I got up this morning she was all wet again, it seems to be worse during the night..

Wow, I'm so sorry.  I too had a couple of rough experiences - bred twice and neither was smooth, but second time cost a LOT due to emergency C-section for puppy blocking the birth canal, and 6 months of specialist therapy for puppy who's front feet and been all jammed up in the uterus and were born twisted (they turned out ok, but we ended up keeping her after all that in addition to the one we planned to keep).  Several buyers backed out and I had two extra pups (plus the 1 keeper and 1 with the odd feet) until almost 6 months. 

And yet these people who think it would 'be nice to have a litter' all seem (I'm sure it's not true, but it feels that way) to have everything easy peasy breezy :( 

I truly am sorry for all you are dealing with.  Poor pups, poor mum and especially poor you!!  I really do wish people would read posts like this and actually 'get' it!.  And I wish the best for you and your pups and mum.