Quote: Angela Burrell

You are letting your mom dog just lay on the floor in the corner? Really?

Yes, a small room aside from the rest of the house where no one goes, its quite there. The walls kinda hug a 4x12 room. That bad?

 Quote: Melissa Thom

eesh...

Dog breeding and puppy raising is not for the faint of heart. While it's not uncommon for a bitch to have puppies up to 24 hrs later it's also not preferable.

Also get a kiddie swimming pool and a 42 inch X pen and put your girl in it. First time bitches often need a reminder to be with their pups rather than lounging with you. For my little guys simply letting the litter be with the bitch in a crate works fine but for larger litters a whelping box or a kiddie pool is a huge asset.

So long as your girl isn't mental or aggressive she should get over her concern with you handling her pups. You should be handling them daily and weighing them.

When in doubt, take your girl to a vet to make sure she's done and is doing well.

Also there are several websites devoted to puppy raising along with a great many books written on the matter. Puppy raising when done right is a very labor intensive - gross activity, I didn't sleep well for about 5 weeks during my last litter. I put countless hours into four little pups of which I sold only one puppy. I imagine for that litter I made about 1/2 cent per hour if I was lucky.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I have learned more whelping and raising a dog of my breeding than I ever expected. I'll never make a dime doing it, but for me the gain is there. I couldn't imagine doing this with another person though who wasn't 110% on board with that lifestyle though.

luckly she is giving them 90% of her time with just a little for bathroom and a little running around. We do have a crate we could use it just seems like it would be really small

The kiddies’ pools are great, and I have used them for most litters. The problem is that when they are not confined, they may start moving around and get too far away from mom or the rest of the litter and get too cold. It also relieves some of mom’s stress to have her puppies safe and in one place.

If this room of yours is really 4 x 12, then a great compromise would be to place a divider, about 3’ high to block off a 4 x 4 foot area for the “nest”. Mom needs to have a door to go in and out (a lip about 4” high will keep young babies in), and later the babies can play in the rest of the room but still be confined when you need them to be. What kind of flooring is in this room? If it is carpet, just go ahead and remove it now. There will be nothing left of it soon. I can give you ideas about substrate for the babies as they learn to walk and potty on their own if you want.

Just an FYI, I always take a mom and babies in at 24 hours for a vet check. They can check out mom and each baby for things like cleft pallet that you may not know was there. Keep exposure to a minimum.

Raising pups is not rocket science, but there are a lot of little things that can make it very tough. I don’t know you, but I assume there was a very good reason for the litter. I hope they all work out and thrive. Good luck, and get used to ear plugs now…

I second the kiddie-pool idea; we have a small, well ventilated room just for puppies and mom, and put the kiddie pool in there. No carpet. All surfaces in there are easy to clean and disinfect, and instead of a door we use a gate so we can see and hear everything that goes on. We keep the kiddie pool filled with clean shredded paper, and change it often. I like the kiddie pool because it's really easy to keep clean. If you have two of them, you can hose and disinfect one and give it time to dry while the other is in use. Make sure all disinfectants are puppy-safe and well-rinsed. There are good kennel disinfectants designed for this purpose (Yes, I'm a clean freak where puppies are concerned).

Make sure mom gets ample breaks to potty, eat and drink. I would take all of them to the vet to make sure all of the puppies are healthy and that mom hasn't retained any. Like Jessica said, it's not rocket science but it IS very labour-intensive and becomes even more so as the pups get older. I'm also hoping you have this litter for a very good reason.

ok made that devider, great idea. Had the mom and puppies checked by a very respected breeder/mobile vet lady so she really made us feel tons better about everything and gave us a ton of instructions ect to think of that we havent. So between you all here and our new friend we are on track we think and have learned allot.

The reason for the litter is we love GSD's and these two are so amazing in personality and background, we have talked about breeding when i retire from the Army so figured we'd try it, we thought we had more time then we did. We've learned allot like plan way before they even mate then document and watch every thing to the tea to assure for success. Not sure if thats what you all would consider a good reason, but that is our reason.

 Quote: Frank Davis

The reason for the litter is we love GSD's and these two are so amazing in personality and background, we have talked about breeding when i retire from the Army so figured we'd try it, we thought we had more time then we did. We've learned allot like plan way before they even mate then document and watch every thing to the tea to assure for success. Not sure if thats what you all would consider a good reason, but that is our reason.

IMHO, it is not a great reason, but everybody starts somewhere.

For the record, most people who are fanatical about breeding insist on the breeding stock being proven to be good enough and to better the breed. This means different things to different people, but typically means the dog has won titles in a discipline (like Schutzhund, ring sport, or whatever trial the breed was developed for) to prove that the animal is temperamentally and instinctually correct and/or had the dog titled in conformation. Being a great pet is not the purpose of working breeds and rarely is this considered an acceptable reason for breeding.

The problem comes from average (not that it is bad&hellip being bred to average will almost never create a great dog (meaning for the breeds purpose) and will often create pups that were worse than both parents. Often so many pups bred from great pets are the ones that end up in shelters and have traits that are not breed characteristics. This is how you get labs that look like mutts and are aggressive, or Rotts that are 150 lbs and zero drive.

Now that you have entered the world of breeding, learn about why we do these dog sports (to prove our stock) and what different lines produce when crossed with others (because in GSDs there are many lines&hellip. Pick your stock accordingly and prove them through competition. Then, after they have proven their worthiness, begin contributing to maintaining the breed.

BTW, I am serious about that carpet in there. I have been thinking about it all day. I am glad you have found a local mentor that can help you and answer questions along the way. And always feel free to ask a million here.

PLEASE take some pics of the babies and post a link here. I want to see the little balls of warm cuddliness... And thank you for serving!

 Quote: JessicaKromer

 Quote: Frank Davis

The reason for the litter is we love GSD's and these two are so amazing in personality and background, we have talked about breeding when i retire from the Army so figured we'd try it, we thought we had more time then we did. We've learned allot like plan way before they even mate then document and watch every thing to the tea to assure for success. Not sure if thats what you all would consider a good reason, but that is our reason.

IMHO, it is not a great reason, but everybody starts somewhere.

For the record, most people who are fanatical about breeding insist on the breeding stock being proven to be good enough and to better the breed. This means different things to different people, but typically means the dog has won titles in a discipline (like Schutzhund, ring sport, or whatever trial the breed was developed for) to prove that the animal is temperamentally and instinctually correct and/or had the dog titled in conformation. Being a great pet is not the purpose of working breeds and rarely is this considered an acceptable reason for breeding.

The problem comes from average (not that it is bad&hellip being bred to average will almost never create a great dog (meaning for the breeds purpose) and will often create pups that were worse than both parents. Often so many pups bred from great pets are the ones that end up in shelters and have traits that are not breed characteristics. This is how you get labs that look like mutts and are aggressive, or Rotts that are 150 lbs and zero drive.

Now that you have entered the world of breeding, learn about why we do these dog sports (to prove our stock) and what different lines produce when crossed with others (because in GSDs there are many lines&hellip. Pick your stock accordingly and prove them through competition. Then, after they have proven their worthiness, begin contributing to maintaining the breed.

BTW, I am serious about that carpet in there. I have been thinking about it all day. I am glad you have found a local mentor that can help you and answer questions along the way. And always feel free to ask a million here.

PLEASE take some pics of the babies and post a link here. I want to see the little balls of warm cuddliness... And thank you for serving!

Nicely put and I understand and can see the value in what you wrote. There is a local Schutzhund Club we did start going to and training but just did not have the time available to continue, we have done training with both our dogs, just not to that level by far thou, we will greatly consider your view seriously before ever allowing another litter. And rest assure we will be extremely picky on the placements of these little handfuls, lol..... We know how much work a gsd is. Again thanks much for your input its greatly appreciated.

Pic of the puppies

Myspace

Oh! So cute!

Give it, ummmm, six weeks, and they will be such little devils you will be counting down the last two weeks! Five is not too bad though. Try twelve!

yea ummm i cant imagine! We are looking forward to taking the time to socilize and train them best we can before they go to their new homes, do you feel their is an age thats perfect for them to go to new homes?