We went for Shalva's ultrasound today.... and it appears that Shalva will be the proud parent of a rather large litter of Flat Coats..... the vet found at least 9 pups on the ultrasound (All are spoken for and have been for about six months now). We are a tad stressed about this big litter but it will all work out..... my girls do whelp naturally and that is important to me...... I had a feeling it would be a big litter when after 2.5 weeks of pregnancy she started getting wings at her waist... a sure sign of a shape change.... I am thrilled, nervous, excited, stressed.... my puppy people are ecstatic.
now just for the record.....
I breed for the love of my breed, not for money.. the term professional implies that breeding is what one does for a living.
I never breed unless I plan on keeping a puppy, I mean what other reason is there to breed.... why would I want to risk my girl if I weren't keeping a pup.... and every litter is risky.
I show my dogs in multiple venues..... conformation, obedience, and hunt tests.... I have been toying with rally but am not sure its competetive enough..... (just my opinion)..... but I make my dogs prove they are worth breeding.
I do all health clearances..... and some extras......and provide copies of these to my puppy folks
I do not use the dogs that I have.... I have never bred two of my dogs..... ie. my male and my female.... the best dog is not necessarilly the one ya gots. The sire of this litter is a successful dog out west.....
I interview all of my puppy people and say no to more people than I say yes to..... and I DO refund any deposits.... I don't want someone taking a puppy they aren't really sure about because they don't want to lose their deposit.
Every family must have a fenced yard.......or demonstrate to me that they have managed to keep a dog safe in the past..... I do have families in NYC where a fence is not a possibility.... but they provided many references and they live on the 20th story so they cant just open the door.
I do check references.....
I make each individual initial each provision of my 8 page contract...... and in addition sign seperately a right of first refusal which states that I have first rights to the puppy if ever they can't keep him/her...... my puppies always come back here......
I take their puppies when they go on vacation...... my husband and I will teach them how to train......
all of my puppies go home on a natural diet.... with just basic vaccines to keep them protected and a microchip where I am listed as first contact.....
while I can trust myself to keep the data updated... I am not always so sure that puppy people remember to do that so I am first contact if the pup gets loose and is found they call me and then I will contact the owner...... get them their dog back and give them the standard lecture about having the pup safely contained.
I put up training information and husbandry and care information on a private link on the web so puppy folks can educate themselves before puppy goes home and they go home with a binder of information on dog care ...... poisonous plants..... clearances for both sire and dam..... photos...... training information and applications to the National breed club and local breed club.
Puppy people are required to join the national breed club
All of my non-performance/ show puppies are sold on a limited registration and I am co-owner on all of the other pups...... I by contract make all breeding decisions and approve all litters. If that provision is not followed I WILL Take back the dog.
I am not a professional breeder...... I am a sociologist and University Professor. I do not breed to make money. I think I made 14 bucks on my last litter if I didn't count incorrectly....
so before anyone started getting upset I figured I would state all of this and I would be happy to answer any questions about why I bred the dogs that I did....
nothing to hide here.
S
Very cool nevertheless.
Thanks for sharing the ultrasounds...I have never seen one on a dog...how amazing!
