Hi, this is the first post I have written. My gorgeous girl had a litter of 8 pups on Saturday, I helped her all the way through her pregnancy and labour with advise I read on this forum, I am totally grateful to you all. The labour went so smoothly and I was in shock when it was all over in 3 hours. However since then I have had heartache 5 pups were not feeding, I took them to the vets this morning, 4 had total cleft palets and 1 had partial cleft. I was advised to have them put to sleep which I agreed to do, except for the one with the partial cleft. I am hoping for advise from people who have any experience of this so I can do everything possible to try and save him. I'm not a breeder Bella is our family pet, we just wanted her to have one litter before we have her spade. The other three pups are thriving. Please can anyone help.

Its a very hard job hand rearing a pup with a cleft. Tube feeding would be best if you are 100% committed but its a 3 hourly regime and is very hard work for you. Pneumonia is your biggest threat from aspirating milk into the lungs, Is the pup drinking from Mum at all ? It is possible to do but it is not 100% and you may still loose this baby. Then there will be possible surgery and its not an easy task to home such a puppy so he will in all morality have to stay with you forever.
It needs serious consideration and your 100% attention for the next few weeks. I wish you all the luck in the world but part of me is saying let him go peacefully and enjoy the healthy pups, its a big decision for you.
Sometimes things go horribly wrong with breeding and its not for the faint hearted. At risk of sounding cruel and heartless this is why so many good breeders try so very hard to put off those who "Just want one litter" Life is well known for throwing a spanner in the works. You are lucky you have 3 healthy pups, enjoy them and love them, find them great homes and remember breeding is not easy and can be full of dangers to your bitch and her babies.

I agree with Merlot, let the cleft pup go, and concentrate on the healthy pups who deserve your full attention and for you to find them loving homes.

and yes just like you become a parent when you have a baby, if you allow your bitch to have a litter you are a breeder, with all the responsibilities and heartache that come with this.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes he does feed from his mum, he seems to keep the teat in his mouth where as the others could only lick the teat.
When Bella was 14 days pregnant she got a very bad infection in her glands, the vet gave her antibiotics which were safe for pregnant dams but they didn't help, so she gave her some which hadn't been proven in pregnant dogs. Do you think this could have caused the defect. I know I took a risk giving her the tablets, but I was more worried for her than the pups, I asked about aborting them, but was advised to wait and see. I was on cloud nine when 8 seemingly perfect pups arrived, how wrong could I be. I know you're right in what you say, but I will set a time limit and if there's no improvement I will do the unthinkable.

Thank you for replying. Yes you are right in all you said. I'm afraid I have learned the hard way, never again would I put my girl or myself though this.

You will never know what caused it so it is not worth beating yourself up about it. You did what you thought was best for Mum. Good luck I hope things turn out well for you but if not then you must put it behind you and give 100% to the healthy pups x

I'm very sorry that you have learned the hard way just how heartbreaking it is to breed.  And you are a breeder, like it or not.

Please let the pup go, it is going to be so hard for you when you lose him anyway.  I'm not trying to be hard, it's hard enough to rear a healthy litter and I am just being realistic.

So sorry to tell you that.

Thank you JeanSW, your right in what you say. I have learned the hard way, it is heart breaking. The little one I was trying to save has taken milk every two hours, but I just weighed him and he has still lost weight. My husband will take him to the vet and let them do the right thing, I can't believe how much it hurts.

Thank you for your kind words Merlot. We will do the right thing for the little one today, and try and but it behind us. So heartbroken.

Try and enjoy the three healthy babes and give them all the best.

I know we are not supposed to mention breeds on here, but as you are a first time breeder, perhaps this may be a fairly common problem in certain lines.  I hope you can enjoy the remaining pups and keep one to keep mum company

I'm terribly sorry to hear of your pain and grief.  Believe me, I know how it feels.  You have received good advice here.

I fully agree with those who have pointed out that the moment one breeds their female to a male, one has - by choosing to bring new life into this world - become a breeder.  And with all the joys, sorrows and consequences of that.

I have recently composed a small contract which I now ask every puppy-buyer to sign (along with the other paper work) when they pick up their puppy.  This contract simply states that no one may breed a litter (which would have no papers) from dogs which come from my kennel and bear my kennel name.  Not even a litter "just once, just for fun".  With this contract, I recently thwarted ideas in this direction in the minds and imagination of two of my most recent puppy-buyers!  They admitted that they were toying with the idea of "making puppies" with their female someday just for fun. 

I DO state in the contract, however, that if someone truly desires to breed in all seriousness and is ready to assume all the responsibliities, labor and costs involved, then they must proceed "as follows".  What I then stipulate is that they must do what I myself had to do:
study and learn about breeding for a year or two, consult with me, register a kennel name with the FCI, join the breed club, adhere to the breed regulations, have the dog qualified for breeding permission, and consult with me about a proper mate (only with accredited examples of the breed). When I found out about the ideas taking shape in the minds of the two buyers (both with absolutely no experience), I began to ask some questions:  Would they be ready to pay around CHF 1'000 for the stud?  Would they recognise if the female needed a c-section!  Would they be prepared to move, since their apartment would never conform to the demands of the breeding regulations?  Quite taken aback, they realised that breeding is far more difficult than they had ever imagined.  I didn't even discuss the grief and sorrow which sometimes occur.

I do hope you will enjoy the puppies which remain, and again, I can feel your pain.  A few years ago, one of my females had 7 puppies, 5 of which died at birth (c-section), so I went home with only two.  I will never forget what that felt like.  I wish you well.

Thank you Ells-Bells for your reply. Bella is not one of the breeds with this known problem. I don't suppose I'll ever know the reason why this happened although I still keep wondering about the antibiotics she had at the beginning of her pregnancy, but would this have affected all her pups. We possibly will keep one pup, just wish I could keep all three.

Thank you Nimue for all this information, it makes total sense to me after learning the hard way. Bella is such a pretty, intelligent and loving girl who has had two fantom pregnancies, so I got the romantic notion that she needed to have pups. I spoke to the vet and got lots of fors and againsts, I considered all the info and decided I could do it. I must have read the Book of the Bitch 10 times over, and read all the posts on this breeders forum to guide me through the whole 9weeks, I thank you for that after searching through lots of forums this one is definitely the best. I will be doing what your post says and if it's too much for potential buyers, it will prove they are not committed and will not provide the kind of homes that we want for our pups.
Thank you once again.

During the 4th week of pregnancy, the embryos are very susceptible to injury or disease.  This is the point at which defects can occur.  Was your female ill around this time (day 21 to 18)?  You mentioned the antibiotics.  This may have caused the defects.

Yes it was around this time she had the antibiotics, so like you, I suspect that to be the cause. I wonder why all 8 weren't affected.

When you come to register the puppies make sure you include the endorsement progeny not eligible for registration.

This may not physically prevent them being bred from but they won't be able to register so may think twice.

this endorsement can be removed if you want at a future date, normally when the owners have satisfied you as to their commitment and the health tests for the breed have been done (hip scoring and eye testing are the ones that most dogs should have to start).

It is very important that your puppy contract or separate statement shows that you have done this and under what circumstances if ever the restriction will ever be removed.  This needs to be signed by both of you with you keeping a copy.

Thanks for your help.

>Was your female ill around this time (day 21 to 18)?  You mentioned the antibiotics.  This may have caused the defects.

Just noticed my typo.  I meant, of course, day 21 to 28.  I had a female a few years ago who got a pretty bad intestinal flu just at this time in her pregnancy and had to take antibiotics.  There was one puppy who appeared to have what might have been a cleft palate, had it developed further.  Luckily it was something which could be described as a sort of slit between the two front teeth directly in the gum and a slight hole, if I remember right, somewhere in that area.  Of course I had it checked out, and there was no problem for the puppy (one didn't even see it unless one knew about it and looked), but that was the diagnosis:  an "almost" cleft palate.  I think it was the illness and the medication at that very crucial time in the fetal development.