Accidental mating

[padfoot]

I've had contact from a lady who has had an accidental mating with her pet cockers  :roll: Accidental meaning she thought a 10 mth male could not impregnate her entire female  
The pups are already here and there are NINE. She doesn't know what colour they are yet, except that they are "white with patches" (blue roan?) She won't go through cocker rescue as she wants to sell the pups, but only to cover her costs, she insists she doesn't want to make profit and only wants a modest sum.
What would people suggest as the best route to find good homes? One of the dog mags? I've offered to foster some for her if she hasn't found homes by the time they are terrors at 8 weeks  :wink:
Any more ideas? Or have I now homed them all for her by posting this here?                        

[Michele]

I would suggest getting in touch with the secretary(s) of the Cocker Breed Clubs nearest to you
http://www.thecockerspanielclub.co.uk/breedclubs.htm
I've been inundated with puppy enquiries recently and have forward them on to said clubs.                    

[padfoot]

Thanks Michele, I'll pass the details on to her, I think she lives in the South.
Kelly x                    

[Magic Star]

:shock: Awwwwwww, hmmmmmmmm, awwwwwwww, where is she?

                     

[PennyB]

Can I join the queue for fostering if the time comes , and no doubt pigs might fly if that ever happens. Am sure they'll go quite quickly. Not sure where the best place to advertise as I guess it depends on what sort of owners she wants for them.                    

[padfoot]

Um...Penny I have already volunteered you anyway  :oops:  LOL. I told her I knew someone else who would probably volunteer  
I doubt it will come to that once she advertises them. It would be dangerous for me to foster one anyway                      

[Jane S]

I think it's highly unlikely that any Breed Club will pass on enquiries for a litter which has been born as a result of an accidental mating like this from someone completely unknown in the breed. I would suggest that if this lady wishes to sell her puppies, then she should register them with the KC & then pay a small sum to advertise on their Puppy Sales list which will generate lots of enquiries. The KC won't accept registrations from bitches under 12 months old but I'm pretty sure this rule does not apply to the stud dog. She could also supply 6 weeks free insurance when she sells her puppies - doing this via companies like Pet Plan would allow her to appear on their Puppy Sales List free of charge (though they do have certain conditions which have to be met, details on their website I should think). Wherever she chooses to advertise, she will have to vet all potential owners very carefully - I hope she will have the patience for this as the temptation for some novice breeders is to try to sell their pups asap once they get to be really hard work ie about the 6 week stage

Jane                    

[padfoot]

Mmm, this is what worries me. I am hoping she might allow a couple of us to foster for her so that she doesn't make rash decisions as I homecheck and I also know lots of other homecheckers.
She said she can't register them with the KC for some reason, I don't know why? She said her dogs are not kc registered so their pups can't be, is this true?                    

[Jane S]

Yes that's true which makes the situation even worse - if her dogs aren't KC reg, then it's not likely they will have come from reputable breeders & there will be no health-screening background. I didn't think she could have got her dog pup from anywhere reputable or she would have been warned about keeping him together with an entire bitch :roll:  It's cases like this one that make me understand why so many are in favour of early neutering! I'm not sure if Pet Plan require pups to be KC reg for breeders to go on their list but it's still worth looking into - the alternatives are ads in local papers, free ad websites etc                    

[padfoot]

Apparently the girl is kc registered and came from eye-tested parents but the boy was from a litter someone her husband knew bred  :? No kc reg, no background on him.
She can't find his pedigree either which makes the situation even worse as the couple who bred him only had that one litter and have moved away  :roll: She sent some pics and the boy DOES look like a pedigree cocker but that's not going to help as far as writing pedigree's out goes.
She doesn't know what colour they are either as she says one parent is chocolate roan and one is blue roan.

I know what you mean about early neutering. Toby was neutered at 6 months, I wasn't taking any chances.
I'm trying to be as friendly and supportive to this lady as possible, because I don't want her to disappear on me, I think the least she can do is try and find loving pet homes for the puppies. I've told her NOT to use free ad sites and newspapers but to put an ad in a dog magazine saying homes will be vetted, and I'll get the homes homechecked if people reply. I hope she will agree to this  :?
I know that's not a great way to find homes but it's better than free ads I suppose                      

[Magic Star]

Just wanted to ask Kelly!  Maybe the pups would have a better chance of going to a good home, if she let them go via the rescue route :!:  OK she will lose some money, but surely the welfare of these little puppies are more important!  Gawd knows where they will end up via the free ads :cry:                    

[Jane S]

Trouble with advertising in dog magazines is you have to send the ads in way in advance of publication date, ideally before pups are born, but if she acts quickly, she may be able to place an ad in Dogs Today or Your Dog which will appear before the pups are old enough to leave home. I don't think she'll be eligible for a free ad in Dogs Today as she won't meet their criteria - not sure about Your Dog. Its worrying that she has no pedigree/papers for the father - this will make finding good homes that bit more difficult

You can tell liver roan from blue roans even when newly born as their pigmented patches will be brown not black. I would think all these pups will be blues unless the Mum carries the chocolate gene (not all that many do)

Jane                    

[padfoot]

Emma, I totally agree. I have tried to persuade her to approach either cocker rescue or a smaller rescue to rehome the pups but she insists she wants to replace her costs as she has a large family and has paid a lot of vet bills etc  

On the plus side, it does sound as if she has looked after the mum and pups quite well. She had the pups dewclaws removed, she has reared them in the home and has had the vet out several times to check on the babies. She has also talked about starting to worm them when they are old enough and mentioned she is feeding mum as much as she will eat.

I've ordered her some Burns Canine Extra as she was feeding mum Bakers and apparently it arrived today and she is mixing it with the Bakers for now. I also sent her some links to websites with advice about rearing puppies, although her vet has helped her a lot.

I've arranged to go down and see her. I am so worried about these puppies, I know it's silly and that this probably happens all the time, but because I am directly in contact with her I feel almost responsible. I have no experience of breeding dogs whatsoever but I would like to see the pups and where they are being kept because the picture she sent me showed them on dirty old blankets. I've already got some new pet blankets I bought on Dogpages ages ago that I've not used so I might take them down to her. It sounds as if she has very limited finanical resources.
I will talk to her about getting the parents neutered, does anyone know which areas the Dogs Trust schemes are in?  :?                    

[PennyB]

Kelly, the dog's trust operate their voucher system in a lot of areas (their website might give you a clue), but not all vets in those areas will accept vouchers—mine does but the vet down the road doesn't.

I got some really good double blankets that I cut up for Ruby when she was a pup that I got from a local charity shop for about £1.50, which she also still uses (they dry really quickly as well as they're made from man-made fibres).                    

[padfoot]

That's a good idea about charity shops.
The lady in my local petshop is getting a blue roan cocker puppy in June and I was talking about this woman to her. She has offered to donate some toys and bones for the puppies  
According to the Dogs Trust Website, her area isn't covered, but it's confusing as on one page it says the scheme only operates in 4 areas and then on another page it implies that anyone on benefits (which she is) can get their dog neutered for £10  :?  I have emailed them to clarify.
Are you still up for fostering a pup Penny?
Kelly x