Thank you Brainless! Felt like the thread went very off topic and very critical very quickly so thank you for your reply. She is provisionally booked in.

> Last question- does anyone know how long after whelping we should wait before getting her spayed?

I have always gone for 12 weeks after whelping.  It seems just about right to me.  I guesstimate that being the "in between" time as far as possible.  None of us can be 100% certain when the next season would have been, but the 12 week wait has worked for all my girls.

I didn't get any real sleep the first night, my wonderful hubby sent me up for an hour or so when he got up the next morning. Since then I've been sleeping by the whelping box, the first couple of nights I napped in 15 minute bits here and there. After that though I'm still sleeping by the box I'm relying on me being a very light sleeper that I wake up any time Hetty moves or the puppies squeak. There's only 3 of them and she's being a great mum, so I am fairly confident she won't squash them, specially as they are very strong and active and have been wriggling out whenever they end up under her front legs etc. But my head is right up against the edge of the box so I only have to reach out an arm to check they are all ok. :-)