[spoospirit]

I have something to share with all of you and before I begin, I just want to say that I DO fully expect to get flamed for it by some of you and rightfully so.

I had returned home from seeing Aaron off for his mission in Iraq and was going to stay with our mom who was dying when I noticed blood around the house on the floor and realized that Taffy was in her first heat. Because I had been away, it was difficult to pinpoint when she actually had started. We guessed maybe a couple of days before I noticed it.

I talked with my husband and we did everything that Dianne told us to do to prevent pregnancy as I have the stud dog as well. We kept Taffy crated or Billy crated depending on who need time to get out throughout this time.

Everything went very well.

Toward the end of her cycle, as we had calculated it, I watched them very closely. For an entire afternoon and for nearly the whole next day they were together with me supervising and never paid any attention to each other at all. Not even when I went outside with them to relieve themselves.

It appeared to me that she was past her standing heat and so I was comfortable with leaving the room that night to put my supper in the microwave. I no sooner got the plate into the microwave when I heard some rustling coming from the living room. I thought that the dogs were wrestling; which is not allowed in the house, so I went in to correct them. To my horror, they were standing quietly, back to back, tied. I screamed no in a reflex moment and then my mind kind of went everywhere. I was in denial, fear, bewilderment, you name it, I was feeling it. I cried. I was ashamed of having failed at my first handling of a heat cycle.

I let Dianne know immediately of course. She was upset of course, as was I. Dianne called our vet immediately to see if there was anything that could be done to terminate possible pregnancy like they do with women. She had heard of a pill that could be administered within the first 24 hours. They told her no. The only sure way was to neuter her and that was not a choice for us.

We have been monitoring her closely since. Dianne has palpated her a few times but had a very hard time finding anything. She thinks it might be possible that she felt one or two possible puppies. But, it may also be possible that she is going through a false pregnancy. We just don’t know yet and we do not want her x-rayed. We are treating it as the real thing and caring for her appropriately.

If she does produce any pups, they will not be registered and they will be neutered before being homed.

I fully realize that this is my mistake and I take full responsibility for it. Please don’t flame Dianne for what happened. If you feel you need to kick butt, kick mine!

I felt it only proper to be upfront and honest with everyone. I don’t believing in trying to hide my mistakes. I am very upset with myself over what happened and I know some of you are going to be upset with me too. I won’t repeat this mistake again.

 

[bigredpoodle]

How old is she ? Spoosprit this kind of thing does happen ! Please do not be upset by this ...

 

[spoospirit]

10-months old.

 

[bigredpoodle]

Well you certainly arent the first one to have a pregnant 10 month old from what I have read on this forum . I say it is not the end of the world accidents happen..hwell:

 

[spoospirit]

Well you certainly arent the first one to have a pregnant 10 month old from what I have read on this forum . I say it is not the end of the world accidents happen..hwell:

That's very kind of you Bigred. However, I am quite sick about it. I feel like I failed her and I failed our program that we have been so careful to develop so far. This has been very difficult for me to accept. I can't tell you how ashamed I feel right now.

The only positive I can think of to do about it now is take the best care of her and any pups if she has any that I can.

 

[plumcrazy]

:hug: I hope you can bring yourself to realize that this was NOT your fault and forgive yourself! There is a big (HUGE) difference between someone like you, who is commited to doing everything right but whose dogs' instincts overcame your planning; and someone who intentionally, purposefully, and with anticipation of $$$$ puts their young in-heat bitch in front of a stud and brings out the popcorn to watch the show!!!!

It is water under the bridge and it cannot be changed now, only managed. It sounds like you're doing everything right and isn't this how all human beings learn??? By being involved in mistakes and changing what we do to avoid them in the future???

Peace!!

 

[bigredpoodle]

Well you stop feeling that way right now ! this was not done on purpose and she will be fine !
Those puppies are going to be very lucky to have you !

 

[Keithsomething]

I think the fact that it was a complete accident speaks VOLUMES of you as a breeder!!
you ((from what I've read on the forum and this post)) would NEVER intentionally allow for this to happen!

I don't think you should beat yourself up about it though, it was a complete accident and you tried thinking of ways to fix it, and now you're doing the proper thing =]]
I personally think you're doing the right thing and taking care of your little girl =]

I'm actually horrified too because Elphie is in heat...according to the vet ((how long does it last?!)) and I watch her like a hawk because we only have a 4ft temporary fence until April and there have been a few boys hopping into our yard the past week v.v;

I'm not asking on peoples opinions on abortions
but does it hurt the female to spay her while shes pregnant?

 

[plumcrazy]

Keith, the only experience I have with spaying pregnant females is in shelter dogs who don't belong to anyone. Our vet would spay pregnant dogs if they were very early in their pregnancy, but really did not like to do it if they were further along (blood vessels engorged, more possibility of bleeding too much, etc..) Until the day they wanted me to have a dog spayed who was 1 1/2 weeks from DELIVERY... She was so far along that I just couldn't do it so they fired me as the manager of the shelter!! She ended up having 6 beautiful mixed breed babies in my house - I made sure everyone was spayed and neutered and found homes for them all...

If I had to make that decision again, for me it would depend on how far along the pregancy was, and which would be riskier; the spay while pregnant or allowing the bitch to deliver...

It is fully my plan to have Lucy spayed before her first heat cycle - I just hope she doesn't go into heat early!!

 

[Cdnjennga]

Thanks for sharing Spoospirit. Please don't be too hard on yourself. The reality is that accidents happen, even when we do our best to prevent them. This is why so many breeders have no or very few studs in their home (or have kennels). Because it can be hard to keep dogs apart when all their instincts are telling them to mate!

Anyway, your response to this situation has been admirable. And please do keep us up to date on what happens!

 

[Mercury's Mom]

I think the fact that you are upset and feel ashamed says a lot. You are no irresponcible breeder who is trying to milk what you can out of your dogs. What is important now is that you are dealing with the situation at hand and that you are taking good care of the teen mom and future pups. Perhaps there will be no pups at all and it is just a false pregnancy. If not, I know you will do everything in your power to make sure everyone involved is well taken care of. Good food, love and vet care goes a long way.

On a side note, I had heard that the rabies vacine terminates early pregnancy and that a vet can give prednisone as well, but perhaps that is a myth. The humane society here routinely vacinates all female cats when they first arrive to abort any possible litters but maybe that only works on cats.

 

[Spencer]

Quick question... why won't the puppies be registered?

Are Taffy and Billy siblings/closely related?

 

[Fluffyspoos]

How could we hold you responsible for an accident you never intended to happen? We can do what we can to prevent such happenings.. but dogs will be dogs! We all know that you intend on showing Taffy so you can't spay, and I personally respect whatever you do. You're being very professional about this, even though it's completely an accident.

 

[spoospirit]

Quick question... why won't the puppies be registered?

Are Taffy and Billy siblings/closely related?

Not at all....they are from completely different lines. Both of them are too young to have proper testing on them so we will have no idea if they are clear or not for the common poodle health issues. This makes us very uncomfortable about registering this litter.

 

[Spencer]

Not at all....they are from completely different lines. Both of them are too young to have proper testing on them so we will have no idea if they are clear or not for the common poodle health issues. This makes us very uncomfortable about registering this litter.

Gotcha. That is quite admirable, actually. I'm sure a lot of people with accidental litters would register them anyway and sell them expensively to uneducated buyers.

 

[KPoos]

Well, accidents happen especially considering what you were dealing with at the time. When your mind is preoccupied with something tragic, you might not be as on top of things as you normally would. I think you are going to be very responsible and that's all you can do in this situation. Please let us know how things go.

 

[spoospirit]

Thank you all for being supportive. It helps. Dianne and I will certainly keep you all updated as time goes by. We feel like you are all part of our extended family.

I love my little Taffy with all of my heart and was so excited that she was getting to the point where I could finally introduce her to the show ring. But that is not to be for now. I will love her through this and if she does have babies, I will love them and raise them well and make sure that they go to good, forever homes.

 

[wishpoo]

Spirit - I am so sorry that you have to go through all of this : ( , but as everybody else said - accidents DO happen even to the LONG time and seasoned and excellent breeders !!!! You did not do it on purpose and yes - it can happen in a split of a second ! It is extremely hard to have a stud and a bitch in heat at the same premises. Breeders I know usually have studs (even the one they own) placed in friends home or with handler until heat is over or literary have separate quarters in the house for a stud until the heat is over. It is very hard job and very complicated to control them - so really - what happened happened - not the end of the world - "love was in the air" . You tried your best after the fact and now all is in "natures hands". I have no doubts that you will find wonderful homes for puppies and that is all that matters now really : ))) !

For others who have un-spayed girls - be VERY careful !!! Dogs are known to "connect" even through a chain-link fence and girls sometimes "run away" from home to find a male in the neighborhood !!!

 

[amerique2]

Spoospirit, you are kind and loving and wouldn't have let it happen on purpose. It was an accident, and life goes on. Hate that you've had to shoulder the burden (along with Diane) up until now and worried about telling your forum family. We support you. You're doing a great job taking care of Taffy and her future puppies. Once the puppies are born she can continue on her show career. We love you.

 

[Keithsomething]

oh
and I wanted to add, I think I'd buy one of your accident puppies over half the breeders in my state
and thats just from the way you speak about your dogs xDD
how much you care for taffy is admirable :"D