My bitch is coming into season and I'm wondering if I should breed her again after a horrible first experience? And if I do breed her again, what tips could you give me?

Hi there,

My name is Helen and I live in the U.K. I am the very proud of owner of 2 gorgeous Rottweilers and on April the 21st 2007, I bred my very first litter!! It was a litter of 15 puppies but 2 died at birth, so we were left with 13.

From day one of Lara giving birth it has been one hell of an experience right up until the end, even though I'd bought a whelping box for her she decided to give birth on my bed while I was asleep, RIGHT NEXT TO MY HEAD! lol

I had been awake with her all night as she had gone in to labor but had decided to take a quick nap, and what do you know the moment I do she pops one out. lol.

So, anyway, the very first night she was all comfortable in her box with her puppies and it seemed as though her milk flow was fine as the puppies seemed content but after an hour of me closing my eyes and waking up again I hear them crying soooo loud, Ii look in to the whelping box and I see her sitting on all of them, I immediately panicked and grabbed them all from under her and placed them in boxes away from her.

I checked the box and found that it was soaking wet from where she must have toileted and whatever else so the puppies must have been a little chilly and then i checked her milk and found that she was empty! I then realized afterwards that she wasn't trying to hurt them she was just scared and wanted them to shut up! She was a first time mum and only 2 years old so she was a little clueless!

So from that moment on I decided I was going to care for all of them myself! I had no idea it was going to be so hard, never in my life have I ever heard about this! I was told by my vet and by reading online that the pups would have to be fed every hour then every 2! I thought ok, I can manage, and I could have if there hadn't been so many! 8 I could do, even 10, but 13!! I would start with 1 pup, then move on to the next so by the time I'd finished feeding the last one, 2 hours had gone by and the 1st pup that I had fed 2 hours ago was hungry again!

I never EVER got any sleep! Once I'd started bottle feeding them it was to late to turn back as Lara had built up an infection in her teats and where there was so many I'd have to bottle feed some anyway.

By the time they were 3 and a half weeks, I thought I'd crossed the worst hurdle of all, until one by one the pups would stop suckling and would grow weak, they were still alert but just would go hours without feeding and would just go really weak. So I'd be up and down the vets with each one every time and I would be told the same thing, they're fine and there's nothing I can do, sometimes you get sick puppies.

So I would just give them maybe 2 feedings a day the best I could, or give them a supplement of sugar and water and within 2/3 days they'd be back to their old selfs again! But this had happened with almost the whole litter and I was finding things hard, I didn't understand why the healthiest most bouncy puppies would just suddenly get ill for days! So when another pup fell ill I did the same as I did with the others but I was so tired and depressed that Ii tube fed this pup the wrong way several times, and unfortunately she got humonia and died.

Once the 12 puppies left got to 5 weeks, everything went smoothly and they were blossoming into full grown terrors! I got them on to solids and found them all new homes by 8 weeks!!

Now my bitch has come into season again, and I'm just trying to decide weather or not to breed her again? I feel like she could be a great mum this time round, as she did try with the first litter.

I just would really appreciate your advise on if and where I went wrong last time round?

And if I do breed her again, what tips could you give me?

Any advise you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Helen