message to admin ~ sorry not sure whether to put this in general or breeding.

i have read some of you say that you will know when your bitch in whelp wants to slow down and how far she wishes her walks to be...... HOW???
My bitch is a SBT, they dont slow down or stop or give up with anything :D so will she let me know?, i have just come back from her morning walk, and yes she was slower, she didn't run around like her usual loony self :D but if i had wanted to make the walk longer she would have done it, so, shall i just make her walks shorter and more often or carry on as normal?. I am taking her out at 8.30am, walking her up to school then on to her usual fields and then coming home for about 9.30 (we do stop for about 10 mins for a ciggie(me!) in the park on the bench) then if it's not too hot we walk back up to the shool for around 2.30pm, go the field for 15mins before picking up daughter, if it is hot then we go about 8.30pm for a repeat of the morning walk(without going into the school of course!! lol). She is on day 42 today and she is rather big

i would appreciate your advise on this.

Emma :)

I carry on as normal right up until they give birth, of course being sensible about not taking her out in heat, and very strenuous climbs.

I sent a picture of my most recent pregnant bitch a day or two before whelping to friends and they thought she looked like she would only have a couple.

She didn't have a large litter, was carrying 5 of larger than avertage pups, they were 14oz to a pound (rather than the usual 10 to 12oz), one was stillborn.  This is her third (and last litter) and she will be 7 on 1st October, so you would ex-ect her to be a bit saggy, not a bit of it.

Pups are now 45 weeks old, content as anything, barely interested in solids, as Mum is doing them so well, and bitch is in excellent conditon, maybe a bit overweight, but this will stand her in good stead for the major moult that comes after puppies in a thick coated breed.

I wouldn't encourage games such as fetch, or any silliness, but would expect her to knwo what she can do.

<<<45 weeks old, content as anything, barely interested in solids, >>>

I take it you meant 4-5 weeks old- lol :D

No just meant 4 weeks but must have hit between keys :D

hi Emma

when i have a bitch in pup i up the walks and try to keep the bitch in good shape, i do not over do it i go as far as she want to go.  if your bitch has had enough she will let you know and as long as you are not walking her in the middle of the day when it is hot then she should be ok

wispa walk up to 45 mins aday.on the lead,
she a bitch that like to go for a walk come back and within5 mins she drop a puppy,on the may 25th i new she want to go out for a walk so i waited for my husband to get home walk 45 mins when she got home went in the whelping box a couple of pushes then the pup was out.she a very fit bitch,

thanx for that, i am just a little confused when you say
<<if your bitch has had enough she will let you know >>

How? from when she was a puppy if we started a play session then we would have to stop when we wanted because she would carry on forever, walking, she will go for miles and miles, you know yourself with a Staff that they will do what their owner wants for as long as the owner wants to do it, it's part of what makes a Staff.
Will she seem a little reluctant, or walk close to me instead of up front when off lead, or just stop ( i really don't fancy carrying her home lol)?
I don't walk her in the heat and shower her often in the garden when she is out in the sun, something we have always done, not just in her condition now :)

Thanx
Emma
x

It is impossible to give an exact answer to this question, every bitch is different but if you know your bitch well you will instinctively know when not to take her too far.  Peanut used to glue herself to my side when she was in the later stages of pregnancy.  She also didn't want other dogs too close to her as I think she was afraid she might get knocked.  Actually I don't think i particularly shortened the walks until about the last couple of days, she just did rather less during the walks as whilst the rest roamed around and raced about she stuck to me.  With another of my bitches I noticed she began to hang back a bit so I kept to her pace.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth 

what i would do if i was you is keep to what she is used to.

and if she has beed walked in the morning and seams a little slow getting ready to go later on in the day then either dont take her or take her on a shorter walk.

this is how i walked one of my bitches when she was with pup.

Sally was 5 years old and in week 8 preg
she was walked in the morning for about 1 mile as we have alway done then nothing all day as i did not have time than later about 8pm i would take her with a friend and my other 2 for a big walk, we would do this walk every other day (all year) its about 7 miles all on the road and on lead but mostly up hill.  she loved it before she was in whelp and when she was in whelp (and so did my other 2) we did this walk right up to the day she had the pup's (which were 2 days late) and she never needed to slowed down and how i know this is 3 days before she had them we went on the big walk and when we got to my street we left all the dogs off there leads (up the lane) so they could all have a pee and if they need to have a little run.  well the only dog to run and play about was Sally.  she was the oldest of the lot and it was 3 days before she had her pup's and she was running around like we had not been on a walk for a few days.  if she had not been like this (she was laway like this) i would of know we had gone to far and would of not done it again untill after she had had them

Hope this helps
ps she went on to have a litter of 7 and they were all over 1lb when born