Cavapoos 5 days old ! Smudge is a young lady !

It is now 5 days since Lucy gave birth to her 7 Cavapoo pups & she is looking really well & her pups are starting to tubby up. Lucy is a good eater which is a great help after she gave birth as eating well is only going to help her produce milk & recover quickly after the effort taken to give birth. Carrying growing young in the womb & then giving birth is to me still one of the miracles of life & I never lose the feeling of joy & surprise of watching these little pups coming into the world. Watching these little pups growing each day & my children interacting with Mum & the pups is priceless. The trust that Lucy is showing with us all with her pups is a reflection of her lovely passive & calm temperment. A good Cavalier should include temperment as they should not be nervous, noisey or snappy, after health of a Cavalier to me temperment is then the next important attribute they must have before I would breed from them.
It has been extremely cold at the moment & the lane we live down is only just passable due to sheets of ice over parts of it & it being quite a steep lane this adds to the problem. The dogs though seem to love this weather & they do keep beautifully clean which is a bonus. This evening I have noticed that Smudge has come on heat for the first time she is around 7 months old & any time from 5 months old you can expect a bitch to have their first heat, some times they can come on again 4 to 6 weeks later & then they should settle into a pattern of coming into heat every 5 to 12 months with around every 6 months being the average. A heat lasts around 21 days & in all of those days do not let them near a male dog. Normally around the 12 to 14 days a bitch is at their most mateable but they can be caught any day & some times unless you having been checking your bitch regularily they may already been on for a day or two before you noticed, if you think your bitch has been mated accidently get them to the vet as they can give them an injection up to a few days after mating to stop the bitch concieveing the earlier done the better. If your bitch keeps coming in heat every 4 to 6 weeks after their first heat you should seek veterinary advice as they may have a  problem & need to be spayed. A bitch can be spayed before her first heat & in America some vets spay at 6 weeks but I personally think after their second heat is best as they are a bit older to deal with the after operation recovery, if you do not wish to breed from your bitch I would think seriously about spaying them & spaying your bitch is something that you need to disscuss thoroughly with your vet. Smudge's mother though did not come into heat for the first time until she was 14 months old & she is nearly three now & she is due her 3rd heat this spring as she cycles in heat every 12 months which is quite nice.
Click on photos below to see full size.