My Animals

[nanna 0]

I am a very big animal lover so i thought i would share with you about animals i have at home.I have 3 dogs and 4 cats.My dogs consist of Mozart a mongrol 15 years and 5 months old then comes Lucky the black labrador 5 years old then last but not least is Dido the black labrador who will be 2 years old on 1st december.Now for my ***** cats.First we have Ninja who is 7 years old then we have Ebony who will be 3 years old in febuary a year July just gone Ebony gave birth to 4 kittens her first ever litter.Ebony had 2 girls and 2 boys of which we kept a boy gizmo and a girl smudge they are just a year old.While Ninja,Ebony and Gizmo go out smudge is an indoor cat she loves human company and she loves teasing Lucky and Dido.I get a lot of pleasure from my animals.Keep your eyes peeled to this post i might have some news about Lucky and Dido in a fews weeks time.

[sheepdog 10]

It's certainly good to see a pet lover here on this forum, I get kind of lonely here all by myself! I'm not really a cat person, it's about impossible to find a cat fast enough to live here, but I make up for it with lots of dogs. We have rabbits, chickens and goats too.

[nanna 0]

Im also glad there is another animal lover on ks too.Its nice to meet you sheepdog.I hope we might be able to swap some of our experiences about our dogs.I should know within the next 7 - 10 days if our labrador dido is having pups.If this does happen it will be first time any of our dogs has ever had puppies so it will be all new to us.I will keep you updated on dido's progress.

[sheepdog 10]

Great, will look forward to more stories about your dogs. If you have any questions about the impending whelping of your lab, just ask. I have been threw countless whelpings and puppy raisings. Since you have a week or so left before you girl is due, make sure now that she is on a good quality dog food, the pups do most of their growing the last few weeks and her nutrition level needs to be at it's best. Also, as the pups grow inside her, and there is less room in there, many dogs will start eating less, so make sure she is provided with frequent meals rather than expecting her to be able to eat enough once a day to fill her up. Make sure her exercise level stays about the same. Now is also the time to start preparing her to use what ever whelping area you have chosen for her. Unless you want that gooy mess of puppy juice and blood in the middle of your bed!

[velma 6]

First of all, how is DIDO? Did she have her puppies yet? pictures?

I am a very big animal lover so i thought i would share with you about animals i have at home.I have 3 dogs and 4 cats.My dogs consist of Mozart a mongrol 15 years and 5 months old then comes Lucky the black labrador 5 years old then last but not least is Dido the black labrador who will be 2 years old on 1st december.Now for my ***** cats.First we have Ninja who is 7 years old then we have Ebony who will be 3 years old in febuary a year July just gone Ebony gave birth to 4 kittens her first ever litter.Ebony had 2 girls and 2 boys of which we kept a boy gizmo and a girl smudge they are just a year old.While Ninja,Ebony and Gizmo go out smudge is an indoor cat she loves human company and she loves teasing Lucky and Dido.I get a lot of pleasure from my animals.Keep your eyes peeled to this post i might have some news about Lucky and Dido in a fews weeks time.

Wow, you have quite a lot going on there Give Mozart a kiss from me, 15 years is an achievement. Smudge is such a cute name for a cat

Well my brood consists of 3 cats, 2 dogs, 2 crows & 1 mouse. My poor mother usually associates "I've got a surprise" to a new pet nowadays The younger dog is asleep under the covers, head on my pillow & on top of my bed as I write this. The crows are semi wild since they sleep outside but stick around with me all day when the cats aren't around, their names are Seraphina & Luca Brasi (They both insist on being HAND FED!) and will not eat their food unless there is an egg mixed in it. Talk about sassy!

I originally had 4 cats but my youngest cat, my grand daughter got lost in December 2010 miss her terribly, we feel someone stole her when she was out. Her mother is a calico, the second cat, another female is white with heterochromia(one green eye while the other is blue) and the last is a grey striped/white tom cat(the only indoor boy ) who is fat and loves to rub his nose against my chin, the flipper move as I call it since he jumps to reach my chin many times.

The two dogs are mongrels, one is a cocker/rottie mix while the other seems like a fox terrier/lab mix.. They are medium sized doggies though who love my father.. The fox terrier is 8 years old while the other brat is 4 years old. The older one "Loves" my father, she'll never leave his side and will growl, nudge & push my mom off the bed if she dares try sleeping next to him... She doesn't seem to mind my mother once she[doggy]falls asleep.

it's about impossible to find a cat fast enough to live here

I think I know what you mean since one of my friends has a Weimaraner, a breed notorious for hunting. Her name is Sapphire, the gardener's cat happened to sneak out one day while Sapphy was frolicking in the garden. The dogs(Weimaraner, Golden Retriever, G.S.D, Husky, Labrador mum & Labrador daughter)have a vast land to run in so one tragic day, the cat happened to be in the same area as the dogs.. It was horrible, Sapphire reached the cat in a flash and before we could react had broken her neck. Poor little cat.

I'm not really a cat person, it's about impossible to find a cat fast enough to live here, but I make up for it with lots of dogs. We have rabbits, chickens and goats too.

I love goats!!! I find them marvelous but my mother has warned me I would have to start living in my van if any goat children got adopted I used to spend hours with my uncle's goat, I think I got rammed by it too.. though I am not sure. Maybe we should have a show and tell of our animals?

[nanna 0]

The only animals I've ever been brought up with was cats and dogs.I remember when I was at home as a child we ever had 3 dogs, strange, I remember their names too: Rex,Bitter and Bessie.And I remember 3 cats we had too: Snowy,Whiskey and Blackie.I also remember when I was very young we had a budgie too.Mrdee and I have been married 25 years and we have had many pets in the 25 years.We have had a total of 9 dogs so far and 6 cats so far.We also have had numerous birds, I love canaries which I am hoping to get another canary in the near future Mrdee would love a Mynah bird.When our 2 children were growing up we had 1 or 2 guinea pigs and we had several hamsters which are buried in our back garden.Our son also had his own ferrets, smelly animals that they are.Mine and Mrdee's first pet we had was Mira the dog she was mrdee's dog but when we moved in together I became her mummy, she was so special to us being our first pet we had together. One of our saddest losses of all our pets was Brandy the poodle, we used to run a cafe and every day we took Brandy with us,this one day it was a warm day and as usual the door of the cafe was open and Brandy never ventured out the door.But this one day I needed to go and get a bit of shopping and I left brandy at the cafe with mrdee as I knew I would not be gone long. While I was away, Mrdee was doing some cleaning in the cafe, and Brandy walked out the door to go and look for me and got hit by a van .A vet was called but they could not do anything to save her .We now have the exciting event of Dido having puppies, they are due any day from 23rd October.When the puppies are born we will place photos of them in the gallery.

Edited October 6, 2011 by nanna (see edit history)

[velma 6]

The only animals I've ever been brought up with was cats and dogs.I remember when I was at home as a child we ever had 3 dogs, strange, I remember their names too: Rex,Bitter and Bessie.And I remember 3 cats we had too: Snowy,Whiskey and Blackie
I also remember when I was very young we had a budgie too.
Mrdee and I have been married 25 years and we have had many pets in the 25 years.
We have had a total of 9 dogs so far and 6 cats so far.We also have had numerous birds, I love canaries which I am hoping to get another canary in the near future Mrdee would love a Mynah bird.
When our 2 children were growing up we had 1 or 2 guinea pigs and we had several hamsters which are buried in our back garden.
Our son also had his own ferrets, smelly animals that they are.
Mine and Mrdee's first pet we had was Mira the dog she was mrdee's dog but when we moved in together I became her mummy, she was so special to us being our first pet we had together.

Bitter! such a unique name for a dog. Love for animals is a quality shared by both my mother's family and my father's so we were never far off from a menagerie be it our own home or a cousin's place. My birth home had 20 cats, 2 dogs, an aquarium of fish in our home, a small artificial pond of fish in the garden, a parrot, a squirrel(prey of one of the cats) and a few monkeys who were wild but stayed on our roof.... All in one house lol, my mum had almost ripped her hair out. I am with Mrdee, I love mynahs.. I had nursed one a long time back, amazingly brilliant birds. Hamsters, guinea pigs depress me, they die too quickly but they are so adorable, I am tempted to keep a few guinea pigs in the future. My uncle offered to give me a pair of iguanas, mother offered to keep me in the shed

Mira sounds like a really good dog, was she a Labrador too? Do you have any pics of her? She must have been one special lady

One of our saddest losses of all our pets was Brandy the poodle, we used to run a cafe and every day we took Brandy with us,this one day it was a warm day and as usual the door of the cafe was open and Brandy never ventured out the door.But this one day I needed to go and get a bit of shopping and I left brandy at the cafe with mrdee as I knew I would not be gone long.
While I was away, Mrdee was doing some cleaning in the cafe, and Brandy walked out the door to go and look for me and got hit by a van .
A vet was called but they could not do anything to save her .

We now have the exciting event of Dido having puppies, they are due any day from 23rd October.When the puppies are born we will place photos of them in the gallery.

It's terrible to lose a pet especially when the cause is so traumatic, may she rest in peace. I lost my Irish setter mix to Cancer. He had to be put down, I was probably 6 or 7 years old... I still remember my grandfather trying to explain why Rocky wasn't coming back home with us from the vet's. I love dogs and they seem to like me, while I was working with the family vet, I used to go out on rounds and have been around during a few whelping including my own dog's. Can't wait to see your puppies nanna

[nanna 0]

Well Dido is 45 days far not long now till the puppies come along.

I ordered a lindam soft sided playpen with a one handed gate opening which I am going to use for a whelping box for dido and the puppies.

I cant wait to see the puppies and cant help wondering how many she will have.

If anyone reads this can you let me know if you think the playpen is a good idea to use as a whelping box please let me know ASAP.

I am including an image of the playpen.

[sheepdog 10]

Hate to say it, but for whelping this isn't going to work very well. Pups need to be kept very warm the first few days, and the open or mesh sides will let in too much air. Drafts are not good for newborns. Also, if the pups get to crawling around, the openings on the gate are big enough for a puppy to crawl threw, getting away from mom and possibly getting chilled, or cause mom to panic and tear the whole thing down trying to get to her missing pup. Another thing is it's too light and airy. A dog likes a dark, quiet place to whelp. It could be improved by hanging towels or something around it to lessen the drafts. It will be ok for later maybe, when the pups are a little older, but since it is designed for human babies, I don't think it would stand up to much abuse from sharp toothed little puppies.

Edited October 18, 2011 by sheepdog (see edit history)

[mrdee 1]

The whelping box has been adjusted now:

 

The mesh on the sides has been covered, making it warmer and darker

The floor is adequately covered wih blankets, sheets and newspaper will be added now

No more draught can come in and the door will not be an escape option to the puppies.

Dido is on day 57 now, getting a bit slower than usual, and also a bit more restless, on top of that she has also began to secrete a bit of milk from time to time.

 

The time has now come to monitor her closely and take her temperature regularly because I feel the birth of the puppies is getting very near.

 

Unfortunately it is Diwali now, and there are lots and lots of fireworks going off in the neigbourhood, which seems to lead to some increased anxiety for our poor Dido, which is not really helping.

 

Now, all we can do now is wait, and go on wondering, until it happens, what things will be like, such as:

 

How many puppies

Will things go well

Will all the puppies be all right

Will the puppies look like the mum or the dad

Will they all be black (no guarantee that, when two black labradors mate, all the puppies will be black)

Fortunately it is not long before we will have an answer to all these questions now.

I really hope and pray all goes well for the mum and the babies.

Edited October 27, 2011 by mrdee (see edit history)

[sheepdog 10]

I'm not the most familiar with Lab genetics, but I believe black is a dominant color, and most likely all the pups will be black. But I could be wrong. And labs can have have very large litters, a dozen is not unheard of or all that uncommon, but honestly, I'd way rather have 6 fat healthy pups than a dozen scrawny ones. Hopefully the fire works will be over soon, that could really be stressful for her. I take it she's not from hunting bloodlines that would be thrilled and happy about the sound of gunfire. I did see your post in the vent too. I'm sure things will be fine, most of the time they are. But I will check in here frequently to help you if you need it. Another tip.Don't hover! Dogs are very sensitive to their owners feelings. If you are nervous about the impending whelping, your dog will know it and it can cause problems for her. I really feel that a large percentages of the c-sections are not the fault of the dog, but the fault of the owner for making th dog nervous. Dogs can up to a point, control or stop their labor. If you make her nervous, she can hold off having pups, and this will throw her hormones all out of wack, and she may not be able to easily resume labor when things calm down. Even if your dog loves you very much and is your best friend, it's her natural instinct to be alone in a quiet place to have pups. Try your best to remain calm, and if possible, watch from a bit of distance and don't hover over her.

[mrdee 1]

Thank you for your reply, sheepdog.Yes, I agree: I would rather have 6 happy healthy puppies than 12 that are constantly struggling.It does not really matter to me what colour they are (although I must say I do have a slight preference for black labbies, but I like the golden and chocolate ones too), but it is not uncommon for two black labs to produce a golden one or a chocolate one among their litter.I even saw a litter of puppies from a golden retriever and a black labrador and all of them were black.I don't think our Dido is from a hunting bloodline, and it does seem the fireworks are making her somewhat nervous, unfortunately, they will now go on until at least Bonfire Night (5th of November).Her temperature is still normal at the moment, and I must say she still looks her usual, happy, normal self.Yes, it is true that the need for a Caesarian is often provoked by the owners (quite often with the best of intentions, but ignorance is bliss, as they say), and we are trying to leave Dido alone as much as possible and not to fuss over her, obviously, during birth, things will have to be monitored from time to time.So, we are waiting for things to evolve and we will be updating you (and others) through the forum here.

[sheepdog 10]

Sounds like you really have the situation under control. Sure you haven't done this before? Most labs are long removed from their hunting heritage, as are most dogs today bred away from what they were originally bred for. Much as I love them, I don't know of a single Old English Sheepdog that will still herd or protect sheep. Of course, now they can devote their attention to caring for human babies, for which they do a wonderful job. One of our pups taught his owners grand children to walk, they would pull themselves up on to their feet by his hair, and then hold on to him for balance and he would walk them a few steps. Yes, any color can occur, it all depends on what is in the background of your dog. If there are a lot of yellow or chocolate dogs in their backgrounds, you can get colors other than black. It is black that is dominant though. I had a beautiful blue male Standard Poodle years ago, he never threw a single blue pup, all were black.

[mrdee 1]

Well, sheepdog,"Am I sure I have never done this before?" I would say "yes and no" I have a confession to make:Many moons ago, I used to work for a vet, and although I am not a qualified veterinarian surgeon myself, I did learn a lot there, and, yes, I did assist in a few Caesarian sections.That is probably as far as the "yes" goes, meaning I have some previous knowledge of things, and I have seen it happen (although not the "natural" way) and I do know a thing or two about animal care, pre and postoperative care and pre and postnatal care.However, for the "no" bit:Although I have had quite a few dogs in my life, I have never had one that got pregnant, so, there has never been a canine birth in my family.Also, like I said, my work for the vet was a long time ago, and people tend to forget things (especially me ).The thing is, although I have helped delivering puppies (by surgical means), I was still in the presence of a qualified and experienced professional medic, so I was properly instructed on what to do next.I do remember the things to do once the puppies are out of the mother's womb, but, it might be quite possible the nerves step in a little bit (I won't use the word "panic", as that would be taking things a bit too far...).However, it is always good to get some proper advice from here and there too, for example, you have quite a bit of experience in the field, nanna has spoken to the vet too, so if we can now combine that with my knowledge, we should be on our way to have some great, healthy and lovely puppies.That does not, of course, alter the fact, that we are very grateful for your advice and input.Keep watching this space.

[sheepdog 10]

Ah Ha! Thought so. Wanna know what gave you away as to your not being a complete novice? You mentioned taking her temprature before I did, and there just aren't many people that would of known that otherwise. I used to raise bulldogs, so I have assisted my fair share of c-secs. All our vets in this area expect the breeders to help, when those puppies start coming out it's all hands on deck to get their airways cleared, get them moving and breathing and woke up from the anestetic they get from mom just before they come out. It can get rather hectic for a little while. One winter day when the roads were bad, my vet actually came here instead of me dragging a large in labor dog threw the cold to his place. We did a c-sec on her on my kitchen table. She had one huge pup in her. That dog happened to be a Dogue De Bordaux. (or the Turner and Hooch dog) I sure understand about forgetting things! Now when someone asks me a horse questions I really have to stop and think about it before I can answer. All these years of dog stuff has pushed the horse knowledge to the dusty back shelves of my brain. But don't worry, when the time comes it will probably all come back to you. I'm really quite glad your here and going threw this. Sometimes I feel as worthless as teats in a boar hog around here, knowing nearly nothing about computers like I do, so this gives me a chance to contribute something for a change that is right up my alley.