Litter of puppies

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

Bear with me folks as I write this. Our Lab had puppies today. which is a good thing. Her last litter was 10 and because the guy who 's dog we bred her to only THOUGHT he had registered his dog, we couldnt sell them. Over and done with, moved on a long time ago. well we bought a Male Lab pup as a live in boyfriend for her about a year ago and this is her first litter since. She had two pups. And one was a breech puppy and didnt make it. So we have one viable puppy. Took her to the vet and made sure there werent any other puppies via xray ($300 all told) and nope just those two.
Here is where things get all confused for me and why im writing it out. First I am very glad that Bailey, The mom, is fine. She is such a great dog and we would have been devestated to loose her. But we were planning on selling the puppyies since they will have papers and using the money to help pay for our vacation to Disney next spring. I figure with an average litter we could have made around 2500-3000 dollar profit. That would have been over half of our trip that we currently have planned.
I should be Happy that she is fine and the one puppy is fine and nursing and all that. But im still just crushed right now at the lose of money we were rather counting on. And here is the kicker, I feel bad for feeling disapointed. I feel like a bad person for being disapointed in the litter size and not being thankful for what we did get. I am sure its a temp thing and I will get over it fast but i needed to get this off my chest so to speak.
We are going to try one more litter when she comes into heat again in about 4 months. The Vet said Sampson might have been to young to sire a proper sized litter at his tender age of about 17 months old himself. we know he TRIED to get her the heat before this one but he wasnt shooting live rounds yet. So hopefully this next time round will be more normal.

Im just bummed out right now and wondering how we are going to scrape the money together so we still go when we want to go. Hopefully I will feel more optomistic about all this in a week or so. God never closes a door without opening a window somewhere right?

[PirateLover]

I think it's OK to feel a little disappointed. At the same time you've learned that age old life lesson never to count your chickens before they hatch... or in the case don't count your puppies before they are born.

That being said I wouldn't allow myself too long to feel bad about this situation. Remember, dogs pick up on the emotions of the owner. You are not a bad person! In the meantime, If the money is tight, is there anyway to cut back a bit on your trip?

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

Forgot to mention, we had been planning on going for a while and we can still do it but the sale of the puppies would have really helped make things easier.
Just going to have to use more of that 8K we are going to get back for the housing credit than we were going to initially.

[SBETigg]

Sorry about your feelings of letdown. But so glad your dog is safe and healthy, and there's a healthy puppy. It think it's natural to feel a little sad when reality doesn't live up to our expectations. Don't be too hard on yourself. And maybe something good is coming to you.

[sassafras]

We had the same situation about 5 years ago. Our Old English Sheepdog had pups with our male (who was about the same age as your male). Out of 4 pups, only 1 made it. We were thrilled that Zoe, the mom, was fine, and were worried to death that something would happened to the surviving pup. Plus the pup was born on my late father's birthday. Needless to say, I couldn't give the pup up, so I kept her. Our plan to pay off our son's college education by breeding OES's went out the window after that. Yet, we were very happy with our three OES's for several years. Since then Zoe and Brody have both passed on, but we still have the pup who we named Patience, since she had none and I had to have a lot. Would give anything to have her momma back, but we still have a very special piece of her with us. Try not to stress, it should be better the next time.

[disney obsessed]

HI.

I have had the opportunity to see three litters borne to my AKC lab, Molly. It is a great thing a lot of fun, a great birth control lesson for my children but also, a lot of work. I, too, would have been very dissapointed in only 1 puppy. Did you bred her more that once with the sire? We generally do it two to three times, once every other day. We have been able to have a litter of 7, 8 and 6. They helped pay for vacation each time we had them and being a stay at home mom it was my "job" to take care of them. (It really is a LOT OF WORK)..

I am concerned that you are thinking of breding her again the next cycle. PLEASE wait one cycle. She needs the rest and to recover properly. I certainly understand the allure of the pay off but please make the choice to be a responsible puppy breader. I do not mean to be preachy and please do not take offense to my request. I have just seen to many dogs and puppies that have been through the "mill".

Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion.

[mixelate]

Sorry to hear about the situation!

I do hope that you take into consideration that it may be unhealthy for you to breed her again so soon! I believe is it recommended to skip a heat cycle in between litters.

And as mentioned, could you rearrange your trip so it is more manageable?

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

The Sire of the litter is also our dog so I'm certain her got to her quite a few times.

That being said, I see where you are comming from about letting her recover a cycle and We will probably do that if we can keep them apart when she comes in heat again, but if he does get a hold of her im not going to stress to much.
Not sure how easy its going to be keeping them apart but we will try.

[justtobeme]

I am sorry for your saddness but I have to chime in here. I actually joined this site in order to reply.

As dog breeder/trainer/exhibitor (Breed/obedience/agility/flyball) I have lots of experience in this. A person who breeds dogs properly will NEVER make money. First off a dog that is bred should meet all standards of it's breed. Before breeding BOTH parents should be OFA certifed, PRA certified, VWD certifed, elbows certified. All these certifications cost lots of money BUT they are done to ensure puppy buyers aren't left with adult dogs with lots of problems. Both your ***** and the stud dog should have been tested for "doggy VD". If your ***** contracts this it may inhibit her breeding future FOREVER.

One should never breed "just to make money" the ONLY reason breeding should take place is to further the perfection of the breed.

Vets don't care if you breed your animals that just means only more money for them.

What if your ***** had to have c-section and you ended up with all dead puppies? This IS the life of someone who breeds dogs. I had a ***** who I showed to her championship, $10,000 later, YES 10,000 later when I bred her she had 3 pups none survived and she never reproduced. Ahh such is the life. Not to mention the 600.00 stud fee.

Please Please give up the "dream" to make money selling dogs it's the worst possible thing to do to a breed. Do you want a bunch of people coming after you in 3 or 4 years wanting you to pay money for their dogs' treatment for hip displaysia or blindness? They WILL win in court if you cannot prove you have done all the genetic testing available and then sometimes they'll win even if you have. Not to say this WILL happen but it has happend more times than you realize.

Love your baby and the little one...I LOVE me some puppy breath!!!

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

Ok folks,
Perhaps I didnt make myself clear earlier.
1. We are not a puppy mill. These are our two family pets (ok now three I guess)

2. Our Disney trip did not hinge on the sale of the pups, it just would have made things easier on the poket book to be honest. We have plenty of money comming back in our Federal Housing rebate since we bought a house last summer. We could have just put more of that rebate against other household bills like the mortgage.

3. We are not going to breed these two until thier organs run out.

[disney obsessed]

Hi again. You might want to try to separate them and only let them mate every other day. The sires sperm count will go down with repeated mating sessions. I was really surprised to learn this. I learned a lot about breding from the sires owner. She had been a very successful breader for over 25 years and had been through it all.
Is there someone you can have take the male for a day at a time while she is in heat? I would even consider boarding if you do not have other options. The once every other day method really does work best. Also, do not let her urinate after breeding. Immediatly put her in her crate or the bath room or laundrey room or wherever she can be quiet and not urinate for at least an hour. This allows the sperm to travel and not be pushed out. This discussion may be a little sensitive for some readers and I apologize for the content if it offends.
Good luck!!!

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

I didnt think about the whole no going to the bathroom thing before but i guess it makes sense. We will have to remember that.
Boarding costs so much that we will prob just live through the "fun" of him barking at her (they sleep in seperate crates) while she is in heat.

[disney obsessed]

Dear just to be me,

I certainly understand your position. And I agree about the standards issue, however, education goes a long way to making change. I have seen dog breeders be very passionate about their cause, as you are. However, I also think we need to remember that there are real people on the other end of the post and to be appropriate educators. I think that there are a lot of people who think it is easy to have a litter of pups and I was one of them. Thanks to a patient, kind and responsible breader, I learned a lot, had my dog tested for all the things necessary, and worked with her each time we had a litter. I now know better.
It is a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. But I believe that we produced pups that were on the scale of any good, responsible breader in the country. We currently have a lab that does not have the proper points or the proper body style for breeding, but I would have never known that if I had not had the experience I did with the litters. I guess we also need to remember that not everyone wants to have an AKC puppy. There are a lot of people who want good pups, raised from a family who loved it and socialized it with the greatest of care.

This is my last response to this post. I really come her to have fun and relax.

Have a great day everyone!