sigh My Gordon Girl, Kharma, has come into her second heat period, and
my 10 month old male, Nick, is… VERY interested in her. At first, I had
the perfect plan: Nick went to stay with my friend Gary, who is also
training him for field work. It was a win/win situation.
Gary loves him , Nick got field training, and Kharma didn’t get bred. Oh,
and I got SLEEP at night. But yesterday, things got interesting.
Gary’s son-on-law is being deployed to Iraq, and Gary & his wife had to go
to Texas at the last minute. Which means Nick had to come home. Right
when Kharma is at her most fertile.
I have them BOTH wearing diapers and am doing my level best to keep them in
seperate rooms. It doesn’t always work out, and when they DO end up in the
same room for a split second , they are like magnets. I’ll say this…
Nick will be quite the stud dog when/if the time comes.
They both slept in crates last night. Well, maybe ‘slept’ is too strong of
a word. Since there was quite a bit of howling going on. I have been
trying to split my time between them, so neither feels neglected. Not that
I think either one cares a whit about me right now… it’s EACH OTHER’S
company they crave, not mama.
I have used the Vick’s in Nick’s nose… not much help, that. Any other
suggestions on how to make this time a little more bearable… for ALL of
us??
Our local PetSmart doesn’t offer this service , and even if they did , I couldn’t afford it. I am barely making ends meet at the piddly little job I am working.
Ironically, it is at a grooming/boarding/doggie day care. I asked my boss about keeping Nick there, and she said she would have to ‘let me know’ if they could offer me a discount, and never did. While I am grooming dogs at a 30% commission. :mad: My last check was $231 for 2 weeks’ work.
Seeing as they’re not fixed, and they’re both jonesing for each other, what would be the problem with letting them breed? If I understand your OP you live in a region where people go hunting, and it wouldn’t be hard to find homes for well-bred Gordon Retriever pups.
Um… Well, you answered your own question: well-bred Gordon pups. Well bred means that homework has been done. Because if you’re going to breed, you’re better to do it right: study pedigrees, do your homework, get all the health clearances, all that fun stuff. Also, keep in mind that it’s possible that the two dogs are too closely related, line-wise? Or that while they are both fine specimens, they are not a good “match” to better the breed? What if Nick is under 2, or the bitch currently in heat is under 2?
Baaaad bad suggestion, Spectre
I have seen way too many puppies come into rescue from those litters that were bred because it was easier than keeping a bitch and a dog apart. Puppies, or young adults come into rescue with this back story all the time. I work in Aussie Rescue, and we get that a lot in regions where there are lots of farms and placing a puppy of breed "x’ should be eaaaaasy. (never is.)
Responsible breeders PLAN their litters. For a long time. Breeding decisions are made to better the breed, to better a breeding program… not because it’s more convenient than trying to keep two dogs apart during standing heat.
Now - for the OP - wish I had suggestions. Vick’s usually works, but not always when the bitch is receptive and in standing heat. Any family or friends who could take the dog in for a few weeks? I feel the pain. They can be pretty persistent about it, can’t they. Bastards
Do they have the canine equivilant of the equine drug regu-mate? It will keep your mare from coming into heat so you can show without worrying about the distraction of a mare in season. I know the vet said women need to take care not to let it even touch their skin because it’ll throw their cycle off-kilter.
I think now is the time to plan for the next cycle. Perhaps a kennel you can swap them in and out of.
In the meantime if you have to, I’d not hesitate to keep one tied to something (sturdy!) just in case they’d get together, even leave a line on the other one so you can grab them.
Are they closely related? I understand your concern about them breeding. You are going to want the pups to be claimed before the act even happens.
Good luck and the good news is it will soon be over!
Eventually, I do have hopes of breeding them, I have matched up their pedigrees for generations back , it was one reason I bought Nick, and also matched up their physical strengths and weaknesses. It is the ONLY reason Kharma is not spayed :-P.
BUT…
Before they are bred, they both will beed to be OFA (Orthopecic Foundation for Animals) certified for hip & elbow displasia , have their hearts checked for murmurs, and eyes checked for Progressive retinal atrophy. The OFA X rays can’t be done untill age 2, so Nick still has 14 months to go. Kharma is old enough, but I don’t have the cash for it at this time . I also want to finish their championships before they are bred.
Then there is the question of the expense of breeding a litter. I simply don’t have the funds to do it at this time. Dew claw removal, puppy shots, the possibility of complications-C sections, eclampsia, mastitis,pyometria… my mind swims.
Can I just say what a relief it is to see a responsible owner with “intact” animals? Huzzah! Too often I see people with martyred attitudes talking about their female dog or cat in heat, who just think it’ll make cute babies sometime. Ugh. Thanks for demonstrating that responsible breeding takes a lot of work and a need to wait until both the mother and father are mature enough. Awesome.
Thank you Beadalin. I have shown dogs off & on since 1982 , and have waited a very, very long time for dogs the quality of the 2 I have right now, particularly my male, Nick. He really is the answer to all my dog show dreams. Where he needs the most improvement is his headpiece, it’s definitely not BAD, but isn’t as typy as I would prefer, and this is one of Kharma’s strong points, she has a gorgeous head. When the time comes, they should produce spectacular puppies.
Most definitely. While I love working with the dogs, this job is not all it was cracked up to be.
When I started, I was hired on at $10/hr. Not 2 weeks after starting , they told me that they can’t afford to continue payingme that much , that they were losing money. So I was bumped back to a 30% commission on grooming, and when I do kennel work, I now make $7/hr. But I VERY rarely do kennel work , because they hired a high school aged girl (drop out) at what I am sure is even LESS than $7/hr for kennel work. So, as an example, I recently groomed a very matted Bearded Collie; the grooming price was $55, of which I made $16.50… and worked for almost 4 hours on the dog.
I am still looking for a job, but have had no luck thus far. Really, really frustrating.
. I also want to finish their championships before they are bred.