Hello, I own 2 dogs, one is Honey 16 months old, and the other is Clifford 19 months old.

They mated a total of 11 times in six days (they tied each time).

She is a lot bigger now, she is in week 6 of her pregnancy and her nipples are large.

I am feeding her puppy food and also give her a calcium supplement daily.

I have also heard of giving a hard-boiled egg daily, is this useful?

Since being pregnant, she has been a little aggressive towards Clifford, especially at feeding times.

Andrea.

Admin: edit terms of service

Hello, what breed are they?

Hi I am in Mildlands too.

I got my post deleted because I put their breed name on, oh well here goes they are yellow labradors!

Andrea.

Hi could I ask why she is still on puppy food?

And I have never heard of giving a hard boiled egg to a pregnant bitch

Well I am following a pregnant lab feeding guide.

http://www.chowchow.org/site/pages/html/info/whelping.html

My vet told me to keep her on puppy food. I also give her meat, and stress calcium supplement.

I know it's diff but my cat died of hypercalcimea, and it can happen in dogs too.

Andrea.

Hi,
I would be very careful using the "Stress" before the bitch has whelped. The only time I have done this I made my bitch very ill 3 days post-whelping because of the calcium imbalance, and she needed emergency vet treatment. The vets told me that extra calcium should only be given after whelping because of this. I've never done it again, and never had the problem again. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I wouldn't risk it.

After the sixth week I start to slowly increase the quantity of protein in her diet, and split her food into smaller meals. Only after whelping do I substantially increase the diet - too much food too soon can result in a fat bitch, and they can have a very hard time whelping. :(

Hope this helps.

Thanx!

I was also wndering about her nipples, they are very big but some kinda look weird like they are deformed or something, is this common?

Andrea.

I also have noticed she can't eat much at 1 mealtime. I can sympathaize with her, i'm 6 months pregnant myself! lol

Andrea.

Hope everyhthing goes ok Andrea, she is very young to have puppies and not yet mature herself. Good luck.
Dawn.

Hi Andrea,
Are you a member of any of the labrador breed clubs? I'm sure you can get some very good advice from them. One of the computer whizzes on here will sort out a link for you I'm sure....

Well I tried on yahoo groups, but none of them had many members, asnd weren't very active.

Andrea.

2 very active list`s on Yahoo Andrea, with the first one having 1,018 members & the 2nd 835 members.
[links]labsr4u-subscribe@yahoogroups.com[/links]
[links]labradorretrieverlovers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com[/links]
Christine, Spain.

Edited to make the links work(I hope)

They will take you to where you can join the groups.

Those links just took me to the yahoo clubs page.

Andrea.

Hi Andrea,
If you contact the Kennel Club (www.the-kennel-club.org.uk) they will supply you with the names and contacts for the various KC recognised labrador clubs.
HTH

Please join one of the Labrador Retriever Clubs, and listen to their advice. I believe you may be a fairly new dog owner, and you will find a rather steep learning curve when you embark on a litter of pups.

I do hope that both your dogs have their relevant hereditary tests completed already.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

What do you mean, "fairly new dog owner"? I have owned dogs for years. This is my first litter of labs, and my last, they will be spayed/castrated after this.

Some people get up one day to find their bitch has given birth to a litter of pups they didn't even know about.

I am a responsible dog owner, my dogs never go out alone, like a lot of peoples dogs I know, and are not used as money-makers, and ARE part of our family, and are very much loved.

Andrea.

Didn't mean to rub you up the wrong way - it's just that we wouldn't normally have let our dogs mate as often as yours have, and it sounded like your first litter. Anyhow, hope it all goes well, and repeat the advice not to give calcium before whelping - it can easily cause eclampsia.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

It was a little difficult to stop them mating as often as they did, I have children and I didn't think it was fair on my dogs to be seperated from each other, they were brought up together. (They are from 2 diff litters).

I thought not enogh calcium caused eclampsia, that's what happened to my pregnant persian cat. She died days before she was due to give birth. The vet gave her a calcium drip, and told me I could collect her later that day, but unexpectadly she died.

Andrea.

Re eclampsia, I was told by our vet that the level of calcium in the blood drops to a certain level when the milk comes in. If the level has been boosted before by supplements, there is further for the level to fall to reach this level (hope this makes sense), and it is the size of the drop that can cause the problem. It is more likely in small, immature bitches who have large litters.

This info was given nearly 30 years ago, so may be out-of-date by now, but that was the only time I had a problem with it. HTH.

Would the breeders of your dogs be able to give any advice on feeding, etc? They will know their lines better than anyone, and if reputable will be only too glad to help.

I wish!

Thee two breeders of my dogs have both moved away, and the kennel club cannot give me their addresses.

I will be fine, if I can manage 4 kids and 1 on the way, an iguana a hamster and a husband I will be fine! LOL

Honey should only have 3 weeks left, so I will start sleeping in my sitting room with her closer to the time till it happens.

I will start taking her temp in a few weeks.

I have got my whelping kit ready, I will give her a chance to deal with the umbilical cords herself, but will be ready to assist her if I need to. As this is her first litter, I will make sure she punctures the sacs, to make sure the puppies don't suffocate. I will time between the births of the puppies and I have a great australian vet.

I have delivered my sisters baby, so it can't be as bad as that.

Andrea

Labrador Retriever Clubs

The only bitch that I ever supplemented with calcium during her pregnancy collapsed with eclampsia shortly after whelping so I would definitely advise against giving extra calcium until after the birth.

Lisa
xx

Thanx Lisa, I will stop her supplement of calcium.

I joined a yahoo group for labs, and a breeder on there told me she gives her bitches calcium from 6 weeks pregnant on.

Andrea.

I forgot to add my dogs are clear for eyes, unafected by TRD,GPRA,CPRA,HC.

Hip scores were 5/6 honey, and 4/3 clifford.

Andrea.

hi honey, just wanted to say good luck and i wish i had been as prepared as u obviously are! :)

Good luck honey, I would think if u have her on puppy food their should be enough calcium in their for her, u should not have to give her more calcium. I know alot of vets recommend puppy food because it is high in calcium during pregnency and until the pups are weaned. Do keep us posted.

ttfn :)

Hi, just reading and catching up here. I'm a first time breeder, but all the information I have says don't give supplements, but to add boiled egg or cottage cheese on alternating days at 4wks, then add one or the other to every meal at 6wks. It's a more natural way to give them the extra nutrients they need at this time.Hope this helps:) LOL

Well done on all the tests, and good luck with the puppies :)

Honey is booked in for an ultrasound on saturday morning, i'm sooo exited!

Thanks for the encouraging comments,

Andrea & Honey xxx

Hi Andrea and Honey

Glad you are having an ultrasound - but remember - it will only tell you that she is pregnant - it is not a definite forecast of how many pups you will have! When Loki was scanned, 32 days into her pregnancy, we were told to expect between four and six - we actually had 7!

Enjoy the peace and quiet of family plus dogs and no pups whilst it lasts ........ another few weeks and things will change!!!

Regards
Margot

yup totally agree!
poppy was having 2 pups according to the ultasound.....she actually has 5! still even tho there not acurate its soo nice seeing the little heartbeats on screen x

I have read your post several times now and I am horrified

Andrea
By my calculations your own baby will be due when the puppies are 10 weeks old. Sorry to be negative, but it sounds like a nightmare to me. Are you going to get any help with the puppies/baby/other kids?
Jane

It will be fine, my husband stays at home with me. Puppies are not that bad, I have had puppies before!

I am going to be have sold al my puppies before my baby is born, i'm not due till 3rd of June!

Andrea

Labs are very popular around here, and the whole little usually get sold in one night!

You can stop getting funny with me TJD, I will be dealing with all of it ,and have thought it out.

You all think you're so much better than the next person. I have read several message threads and you take great pleasure in jumping on people! You can't wait to have a go!

This forum is supposed to be about sharing knowlledge with each other, but I see way too much competition between you all.

How sad,

Andrea.

I am not new to dogs or children. I am a mom of 4 children already. I also own horses.

Andrea.

Hi Andrea,
Sorry if you thought I was rude - that was not my intention at all. I was trying to be helpful. Sorry. :(

Oh Jeangenie you were helpful, I was upset about the comments made from another poster, referring to my pregnancy and how I will cope!

This is my 5th baby, my husband and I wanted puppies and we will do our best for Honey and the pups no matter what or how much it costs!

Andrea x

Thanks! I was puzzled I admit! :) :)

Edit: Not puzzled about how you'll cope, I mean! My home has reached the stage of chaos that a bit more seems to make little difference! :)

Lol Jeangenie! I agree!

What the heck 5 kids, 1 husband, 2 labs, 1 iguana, 1 hamster, a couple of horses, Hey whats another 7-11 lab puppies?!

Andrea x

I'm (nearly!) there! 1 husband, 1 official but variable number of teenagers, 4 dogs, and 2 guinea pigs = chaos! Good luck to you!

Hello Andrea

I am sorry but I think your Bitch is too young to be having puppies she is still a puppy herself, and you are taking on too much with being pregnant yourself. One eight week old pup is enough but if you have got a whole litter running around when you are 8 mths plus? How are you going to cope? What about solicising the pups so they turn out to be a well balanced as you can make them before they leave you?

have you got homes lined up already? If not you could have say 4 puppies still plus a new baby.

Sorry to be so negative but I really don't think this was very well thought out. You say you didn't think it was fair to keep them apart but what did you do for her first season?

This is the webite for The Labrador Retriever Club

Tracy

I'm wondering is Andrea is American - she certainly comes over like that. They do things differently over there, and have different standards, don't they?

May explain a different approach to breeding to the one we're used to

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Sorry Jo WRONG!

I'm from the UK, get over yourself.

Jo and the what? Your dogs reply too? WOW!

BTW Your homepage isn't working.

Andrea.

No, I know - I badly need a whiz-kid to sort it out for me, as I've tried to change it a few times since we moved from Pembrokeshire and it keeps crashing. Just stick with my Champdogs site for now - it's much better than the original anyway!

Yes - my dogs talk a lot more sense than their owner most of the time: they've taught me a lot - was going to say everything I know now - certainly about human nature ! :-) :-) :-)

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Andrea,

I personally think you are doing a great job, you're asking for help and advice, and If I lived round the corner I'd be giving you some hands on help too!! Whatever comes your way I think you're strong enough to get through it. Good luck with the new babe and the new puppies :) :)

Love Sandy x x x

Aw thanx Sandy!

I live in Shropshire anywhere near u? ;)

I just realized that the breed line in my male lab is Balrion, a well respected line.

Andrea xxx

Hi again, Just wanted to say I have a friend who bred thier bulldog, was 7mths pregnant, and has other children. It was hard and she's not sure she'll ever do it again, but things turned out ok. I wouldn't want to do it, but LOL :) Hope all goes well! Glad to here you have help. After helping with those bulldogs, I know you can use extra hands pregnant or not!:):):)

Well the puppies are on their way after a scan! can't wait!