Dog Breeder Expert

Every now and then I surprise myself. Well sort of, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I'm talking about something that happened this morning when I was drying off after a bath. My son came to the bathroom door and told me someone was on the phone to talk to me. I quickly dried off  the last bits of water and went into the room where the telephone lives.

So, wrapped in my (thankfully large) towel, I answered the phone. I didn't ask who was on the line, I just said hello, the person said hello to me and immediately launched into a question about how do you tell if your bitch is about to have puppies.

They told me a few of the things their bitch is doing this morning, and I told them it sounded like she'd have pups in the next day or so. It was a textbook case - panting, somewhat confused, looking at rear end, digging huge hole, looking for cosy places and so on. I worked out quite quickly who the caller was - a dear friend who owns a kelpie girl who my friend told me a month or so ago had come into season for the first time and had been mated by a dog at the shearing shed my friend was working at.

I asked my friend when exactly that mating had taken place, and she said that from her working out, next Friday would be 63 days from that mating. My friend told me what she'd been doing - she had a cosy place in her shed for her girl to have pups, and she'd shown the place to her girl dog. It all sounded quite good, and I wished her well in the adventure in having puppies.

My friend already has an order for a boy pup if there is a good one in the litter. The conversation ended with good wishes from me to her, and satisfaction for us both that I knew my stuff and what I was able to tell my friend was useful and comforting to my friend. She'd been doing well, having seen over the years of our friendship the set up I had for my pure bred show dogs.

After I hung up the phone, I thought about the call. I was pleased to have been able to use the knowledge I'd gained from over twenty years of dog breeding to help a friend,and put her at ease. My friend promised she would ring and let me know how it all went. I will go and see the pups and also see my friend's new home. She and her family have recently moved about 80km further away from where I live, otherwise, I'd probably be there with her now.

I will enjoy seeing the new puppies and I hope it all goes well for all of them. Having puppies is a joyful thing, but if you've never done it before, it can be a worry. Having a friend who knows what to do can be a comfort, even if they aren't right there. Comforting words over the phone can be enough. This is what friend do to help!