Millie & Bonnie on heat ! Rugby, Clarks, Argos & Tesco's ! Updates !

Had a very hectic week that has carried on into the weekend. The weather is good so you start trying to do all those outside jobs & with me forget the time & then the children start asking whens tea & the dogs are looking at you expectently.
Millie is just approaching being a week on heat & now Bonnie started on heat on Friday so starts the journey for are next litters of pups. I always count the first day of heat as the first day you see a bloody discharge as a bitches vulva will start to swell slightly at first & then after 24 to 48 hours of the swelling starting they will start to have a bloody discharge from the vulva. Most bitches are at their most fertile that is ovulating around 11 to 14 days but this can vary so care must be taken with a bitch throughout her heat to catch her at the right time. A heat lasts around 21 days but this to can vary by a few days each way. There are a few tests that can help in knowing when your bitch is at the best time to mate & these are a good idea if you are travelling far to a stud dog & need to know it is the right time so your journey is not wasted but we use the old method of letting the dog see if she is interested in a little romance. When you have your own stud dog it does make it easier & I feel more likely to be a successful mating as very little stress is envolved due to no travelling, not being in a strange place & not meeting a dog for the first time. All are dogs know each other & every day all happily run out together, so have a sense of pack which I feel does help with the breeding process.
When are bitches are mated we put the bitch & male dog in an enclosed area were I can keep a check on them & then check every few minutes, as I believe if two dogs can not get it together naturally then they should not be mated. Mating is the start of health & temperment selection for me. If the dog is not capable of mating a bitch on his own merit then he should not be a stud dog & the same goes for the bitch if she is to timid or scared of being mated & is right on in heat she should not then have a lined up mating were she is held against her will & forced to be mated with the dog. Temperment & health are what we are trying to reproduce in are pups if Mum & Dad need help at the conception then I feel that this is not a good platform to then build on. 
Most bitches even if they have had pups before may yelp a bit as the dog mates them as once the dog ejuculates the bitch for reasons that we are not to sure of constricts her vagina & holds the male dog who whilst this is going on still attached to her positions himself bum to bum with her & this is called the tie which we all like to see in a mating although the dog will of ejuculated all his sperm in the first minutes of mating the longer they stay tied the better we think the mating has success but matings can occur from what is called a slipped mating when the dog just mounts & ejuculates & does not tie. The bitch may get slightly frantic as the tie occurs & if very stressed I will hold her then smooth & talk to her which normally calms the situation. They can stay tied upto an hour but the norm would be around 20 minutes. We mate every 48 hours whilst a bitch is on heat so they may have two or three matings as a bitch may be susceptible to a male dogs charms for a couple days or sometimes a week. Bitches can concieve from seperate matings so can concieve from two or three different dogs if allowed to be mated with or accidently mated with.
Have got some nice photo's today of a couple of are boys below & Pupster are old neutered boy who still is a charmer even though he is neutered.

Hit the ground running today as up at the crack of dawn to do the dogs whilst husband tended the children & then I was off to Rugby with the 3 boys in Barnstaple getting there at 9.45am. Husband David stayed home due to the fact that he needed to cut & split wood for are woodburner that we get all are heating from & hot water. Luckily it was a bit fresh but sunny. The Rugby did not finish until 1.15pm. I enjoy Rugby but was starting to loss the will to live by the end, lol, so quick bite to eat in Barnstaple Rugby Club house & then zoomed up to Clarks shoe shop in Barnstaple High Street a place I rarely venture for 3 pairs of school shoes for the boys, then across town to Argos to buy a new shower & order a new dishwasher as the shower burnt out a couple nights ago. The dishwasher blew up last night, I think my electrical appliances are trying to kill me at the moment as opened up the dishwasher last night for sparks to jump out at me then all the plugs tripped out thankfully. The only good thing that came out of the dishwasher blowing up is that it made me be in Argos the same time Toni came in who has got Big Poppy from are last litter of Cavapoos. Toni said "Hello" & she was with her Mum & Dad on the way to taking Poppy out to Westward Ho! for a walk on the beach. So I got to see Big Poppy who is now just over 3 months old & what a gorgeous little girl she is. I am sure she remembered me as she licked my face & then was equally happy to see my 3 boys. That made my day ! Thanks Toni for waiting for us & the email you have sent me too, what a wonderful job you are doing with Poppy she is a credit to all your work.
Well after seeing Poppy it then was a whirlwind trip around the dreaded Tesco's for food supplies & home. From leaving Rugby to getting home 2 hours I am proud of that time, buying shoes, going to Argos, the assault course that is Tesco's & home in the door in just under 2 hours that has to be some sort of record.
Managed to get a lovely leg of lamb on the meat counter half price to, so bunged that in the oven or husband David did that as luckily for me my husband will cook & clean the same as me & does not see jobs as a woman or a mans but he does think its best that  he does not teach me to use the chainsaw as I am not the most safety concious which I tend to agree with him on that one.lol.
 So meat in the oven , groceries unpacked, children out running about then its doggy time. A good brisk walk with dogs & children then back home potatoes roasting, veg steaming, Roast dinner, children to bed & crash out with David & dogs lovely end to a very long but enjoyable day. Monday tomorrow must book some dogs in for eye tests at Tavistock. Looks like the weeks going to start like it ended ! 
Lastly tonight as need to get to bed. I got an update on Florrie who has just been spayed & is doing fine. She is nearly 1 years old & is Bonnie's daughter. Amy sent me a photo of her just after the operation wearing her collar to stop her biting & licking the wound but they took it of the next day as she is not taking to much notice of her wound. Also a couple photo's of Charlie who is Smudge's brother whos Mum is Millie. Tess & Lorraine say he is going on fine & he does look a handsome young man. Thanks everyone for your updates I must go now before I fall asleep at the computer.