This forum has been invaluable to me during my first (and last) litter so I thought I'd pick your brains again :)

The dreaded day approaches when my babies have to go to their new homes. I'm happy with all three sets of owners, they have all visited at least once a week since the pups were 2 weeks old. I've done my best to make sure they have happy, healthy, well socialised babies. I'm giving each owner a 15kg sack of puppy food and a tin of lactol, photos of their pup since birth, worming/weight record and feeding guide and a fleece that smells of home and their mum. Have I missed anything?

How do your bitches react when the pups leave? Do they pine for them or search for them? My girl doesn't really have much/any milk left and only spends short periods of time with the pups now but I'm wondering if she will be stressed at their leaving - although of course she will have one daughter left.

As all the pups are staying locally is it better to deliver them? I could take their Mum too and stay for a while till the pups settle? Also then when I leave with Meg she will know where her pup is rather than possibly searching the garden etc for the missing baby?? Am I getting too stressed about this??? I've already considered just keeping them all!

chaumsong,
understandly you get attatched to the pups, but I think you have to give the new owners achance, after all you are happy with them.
Your puppy pack seems okay and I would, if recievig it be happy with it.

This might be a bit excessive, but I'd also give them the www.apdt.co.uk website so they can find a positive trainer in their area, and explain a bit about positive training.

Hi chaumsong,

I don't know what breed you have but my pups went with a lengthy breed specific guide on what to expect during their first few weeks through adolescence and to maturity, training tips towards basic housetraining / bite inhibition, and recommendations of how best to continue the extensive socialisation etc they'd had while still with us; also medical info for their vets re. breed specific reactions to certain meds.

My bitch was a little upset when the first two pups left - on different days, I didn't let any two go on the same day ;)  But it was only a brief upset to her and I personally found she got greater pleasure when the pups were down to just three (there were 8) and when the only one remaining was our own she seemed remarkably relieved :)

Personally I wouldn't recommend taking her with you to deliver the pups - I think this may be more stressful for both the puppy and the dam.  By all means deliver the pups if you prefer (we only had one in reasonable distance to us) as it may give you more peace of mind to see them settled in their new homes.  TBH, every single one breaks your heart as it leaves - there is no magic cure for the breeder to get over the trauma at the time but providing you've brainwashed your new owners into not only calling you on or immediately after their arrival and keeping in regular contact, you'll start to find that eventually you're worries are reduced and you can concentrate on the little one that you're keeping.

Good luck and best wishes, Teri :)    

Know just how you feel, I will not be breeding again either, I have kept 1 pup the only bitch, and my two little  dogs went to their new homes bank holiday weekend, one on the saturday and one on the sunday, I was heartbroken, cried for 2 days and still cry now. really did think seriously about keeping all of them, but it would not have been a very good idea, to have two bitches and two dogs, the vet would have been making another fortune out of me for operations. I gave one of my pups away to a friend in the same street as me who has a 13 year old bitch the same breed, he is being spoilt rotten and loves his playmate, although she is 13, she is running around like a 3 year old, seems to have given her a new lease of life, she is with him all the time, absolutely mad about him. My other pup went to my husbands workmate for next to nothing, he is also being spoilt from what I hear, his teenage children took it in turns to sleep on the sofa with him the first few nights he was there. I could not bear to sell them, in case they did not get good homes. My girl did not seem to take any notice of 1 being gone until it got dark, then she kept going in the garden to look for him, and the next day when the other one went, she saw him go, she just sulked for a couple of days, did not play much with the one we kept, for quite a few days, but she is fine now. Hope all goes well for you and you do not get too upset.