Continue

Here are some MAJOR red flags when you look at a breeder contract or "health guarantee." Continue

There are a couple hundred of them, so I don't want to clog the upload by posting them all, but come over to my blog and see :)

Aggie

Harper…

Continue

You guys ROCK! Thanks to the efforts here and the hard work of the Cardi people, we know his pedigree, his breeder knows about it, and she's contacting her attorney in the morning. He WAS sold on a neuter contract and without papers (which is why they were looking to use him to make mixed-breed dogs) so there is hope that she can either get him back or rehome him appropriately.

I am always impressed with the care and commitment of dog people :). Yay for you all!

Clue's puppies are now nine days old!



They are all doing well; with such a large litter I am extra vigilant but so far weights are looking wonderful.



Just in case anybody thinks it might be fun to be a breeder, here's what every day has been like since last Friday (and what I do is not in any way unusual for good breeders - I was "trained" by someone who has done this for 30 years):



- The puppies are never left. They have at least one human next to them 24 hours… Continue

Clue did beautifully through her c-section and we ended up with nine (NINE!) gorgeous puppies. All are decent to good weights and they're vigorous and nursing well. Now the hard work begins for me!

Here's a first picture; there will be many more to come.

Last week:

Today:

Last week:

Today:

C-section is at 11:00 AM on Friday the 22nd, unless her temp drops on Thursday and then we'll do it that day.



Not long… Continue

Just as a reminder, here's Clue a week ago (three weeks to go):

And tonight:

With Friday (who I guess was trying to show what a normal Cardi looks like, because she kept pushing in and lying down):

From the top:

Poor thing is pretty much miserable,… Continue

Poor thing; she is really uncomfortable now and she still has a long way to go. I should be able to feel puppy movement in another week or so, but right now it's all belly. I'm feeding her lots of small meals a day because she can't eat a lot at once anymore and I am worried about her being underweight nursing what is obviously either a big litter or a bunch of BIG puppies. She can still hop up on the couch but she moans and groans a lot when… Continue

You think she's got some puppies in there? ;)



It's amazing how fast she's popped. There is now not any angle at which she doesn't look pregnant, and sometimes it's startling.



Clue attended Christmas at my parents' house (she's with my baby sister above) because a bunch of family dogs got dropped off at our house and I didn't want her to be stressed by the chaos… Continue

Showing off her topline in the snow.

With Bramble, who is convinced that he's the one who did this. They pretty much ignored each other except to play until she was in heat, and since then he just follows her around and spoons her whenever she lies down. Poor guy has NO idea that he's… Continue

I'm so excited I can barely stand it. This is my first litter in four years and I have a LOT of shopping to do!



Clue is Ch. Pecan Valley A Blue Clue, but she's more often known as my best buddy and the leader of the dog household. We bred her via chilled semen (flown in from Arkansas) to a gorgeous black boy named Ch. Pecan Valley Draco. Draco's kids are not only lovely - his daughter won the 2008 Nationals Sweepstakes (a puppy competition held in conjunction with the CWCCA National… Continue

Most puppy buyers use the Web to look for puppies. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you realize that bad breeders are not sticking to the penny saver or ads on the supermarket wall anymore. They know where their buyers are and they know how to pull them in. It’s up to you as a buyer to do your research, but I know it can be very confusing because bad breeders will claim all the same things that good ones do. Here are some things that help me tell the difference.



1) Good… Continue