Hi guys

I don't really think I should be here as I am by no means a dog breeder but I would appreciate any help/advice that you could give me.

I recently inherited a house with a large garden that came complete with two tomcats, a 10 yr old OES dog and a 2 yr old GSD bitch (and several million fleas which I have been battling with for a few weeks).

The garden has a hedge down one side which is approx 150 ft long and I've just spent a fair amount of time and money chopping it back and running chicken wire along the full length. This appears to have stopped the GSD bitch escaping but, unfortunately, it seems to be a case of "after the horse has bolted".......my GSD bitch now looks like a snake that has swallowed a football :(

I've had dogs all my life but the emphasis is on "Dogs"...I've never owned a bitch before and I really haven't a clue what she needs to get through this. I've had many female cats..or rather my parents had...and queens have always sorted everything out for themselves, given a room of their own, a comfortable bed and plenty of food and water.

I'm going to try and get her into the vet early next week but my partner would not consider having her spayed and getting rid of the pups under any circumstances. We would be more than happy to keep a couple of the pups ourselves and have friends who would be happy to give a good home to others. None of the pups would be irresponsibly placed.

Any advice on how to help a bitch with her first litter would be very welcome, (practical advice, relevant books etc.)

Thanks :)

I wouod order 'The book of the bitch' by white and Evans pronto.  Also Do you know an expereinced breeder who your bitch could get to know, it really is best to have soemone on hadn that knows what is normal and when a problem is occuring. 

Trouble with labour is that what is too long in soem instances may be perfectly normal in others.  I had expereinced freinds help de3liver pups in my first litter, and was thankful for it as the second born pup needed help and lubrication to be born, I have also i my tuirn helped a freind whelp his bitch with their first litter..

Good luck.

Sounds like you have your hands full!! :D

Just wanted to welcome you  to the Forum :) until someone who knows what they are talking about ;) comes along.

Ali
:)

ooops

Said person beat me to it   :D

:D

Thanks guys....

I will get my hands on a copy of the book asap. Unfortunately I don't know any experiencied dog breeders and I know you're right about needing someone experienced present at the time. I'd never forgive myself if something went wrong and it was something I could have avoided if I knew what I was doing.

GSD bitches are notorious for being slow whelpers one of mine had a normal litter of 8 puppies born over 48 hours !

If the OES isn't castrated your bitch may not have strayed at all & you could be in for a very large litter of big puppies

If you have been used some flea preparations there may be problems with the puppies

You do need to get your bitch checked out by your vet asap

GSD x OES puppies?  I wonder what they will look like?? 

The OES was castrated many years ago. A young lady collared me the other day to ask if I'd seen her dog Barney who's a "reddish brown alsation sized dog" and had developed a tendency to roam over the last few weeks so i think we have a prime suspect. The GSD and OES both have flea collars on at the mo...should I be removing hers?

The vet appointment will be as soon as poss next week.

I would take hers off to be on the safe side

Thanks Moonmaiden........her collar is off now.

Not trivialising this but me and the gf couldn't help chuckling at digger's post.....conjured up some very strange images. :)

If you can have help from an experienced dog breeder that is the ideal ;)  You might also like to get "The Whelping And Rearing Of Puppies" by Muriel P. Lee - along with the "Book of the Bitch" this is a godsend if you are new to breeding and will give you plenty of knowledge to help you know if a vet is needed.  Both books can be bought in Pets at Home.  I wouldn't attempt to whelp a bitch without both being handy and read from cover to cover :D

Good luck
Regards
Dill

I agree, I've read my whelping books about 20 times and my puppy hasn't even come in season for the first time yet!! Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

Read the two books advised and any more you come across on the subject. Try not to end up a basket case after reading the things that can go wrong. And don't be alarmed if you start getting contractions yourself when your girls is giving birth... honestly! Most bitches are brilliant and it all comes naturally to them.

I'd definitely take off the flea collars (cut them into quarters and put a piece in your hoover bag). Go to the vet's for some Frontline spray (I don't like the drops on dogs personally). Not only does it works really well but it's supposed to be safe even on young puppies. It's expensive but it's one of hte few things that's really effective. Also treat the house really thoroughly - fleas are persistent little bleeders! And most importantly do the cats with it too as they're the main culprits - most fleas on dogs are cat fleas, believe it or not. And it might be better to use the drops on the cats unless you want a struggle with an angry feline.

>(I don't like the drops on dogs personally).<

Phoebe why not?

For the simple reason that they never worked on my old collie who had a flea allergy, but the spray did. We tried it a couple of times just to make sure and each time we used the drops she was itching madly again within a day or two.

Thanks Phoebe

I've taken her flea collar off but his is still on. The cat's flea collar is still on but he spends most of his time outdoors and doesn't seem to have any evidence of fleas.

I've used the Johnsons 4fleas tablets on the dogs which state that they're fine to use on pregnant bitches and they seem to be very effective at killing whatever fleas are on them at the time but no good for preventing newcomers a few days down the line, so I think it's going to have to be some industrial strength anti-flea stuff from the vets next week.

You're right btw....the more I read about what can go wrong the more worried I get.......

Have you thought of asking the vet if they have any breeders as clients who could befreind you and your bitch?

I can second that with my flea allergic oldie who got Hot Spots if I didn't use the spray. 

Last year a freind of mine got me some of the spot on version which I was using up, and for the first tiem in years Elka had Wet Excema again this summer!  I have used the frontlien spray every three months for year45s, but my freind didn't realise I meant the spray when she got it for me in Ireland last year.

Thankfully one of my new puppy owners who works for a Vets brought me a years supply (5 x 250ml bottles) over from Holland for £17 a bottle, quite a saving on the UK price.