Puppies… again!

[heathpack]

Who remembers this photo from 2021?

That’s our girl Smoke when she was just a few days old. The paw-as-pillow belongs to her mama, Phoenix.

Well, 3.5 years later, Smoke is pregnant with 4-6 puppies, diagnosed via ultrasound yesterday. Due on New Year’s Eve. We will likely keep a girl puppy, which will be three generations in our household. Wish us luck, there’s still plenty that could go wrong!

 

[TheHolleys87]

New puppies! I’ll be excited to see the photos and follow along as the new one learns the skills. Hope all goes well with the pregnancy and delivery.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I remember well. When the other one died, I was so sad. Now Smoke with babies. How cool! Congratulations!

 

[silentg]

How wonderful for 2025!

 

[Dori]

Wonderful news! Please make sure to post photos when the pups are born!

Dori

 

[Passepartout]

Awww. Another 'blessed event'. Best wishes to the upcoming new mother and her li'l wieners. Surely they'll be as cute and loveable as their Mom and Grandma.

 

[Glynda]

Each generation has been a beautiful and talented pup. I'm sure these will too!

 

[DaveNV]

This makes you a doggie great grandma, right? Phoenix was your first, Smoke the second, and now Smoke's kids will be the third generation. Quite a dynasty!

Congratulations!

Dave

 

[davidvel]

You don't spay?

 

[DeniseM]

Uh... These dogs are purebreds - not mutts running the neighborhood.

 

[Patri]

Uh... These dogs are purebreds - not mutts running the neighborhood.

And trained for competition.

 

[susieq]

Remember the picture well!!! Congrats and best of luck for the newcomers. Looking forward to a Generational Picture!!

 

[heathpack]

You don't spay?

Do you spay? Do you knows the pros and cons of spaying? Dogs in general, and dachshunds in particular?

 

[davidvel]

Uh... These dogs are purebreds - not mutts running the neighborhood.

Mutts. What if someone referred to your different kid that way? Purebreds never get out?

And trained for competition.

Even worse.

Do you spay? Do you knows the pros and cons of spaying? Dogs in general, and dachshunds in particular?

No. We get our dogs from shelters where they are already spayed or neutered. There is an overpopulation of dogs such that hundreds of thousands are killed each year.

Pure bred animals are pursued by a weird cult eugenics crowd.

 

[DeniseM]

I'm happy to answer your questions:
- I have owned mutts and purebreds - we bred the purebreds, but not the mutts, but we loved them all.
- No, I've never had a dog get out or get pregnant accidentally.
- Heathpack is a highly qualified professor in the field of veterinary medicine, so I don't think I'd call her part of a "cult eugenics" crowd. sde

 

[Passepartout]

Do you spay? Do you knows the pros and cons of spaying? Dogs in general, and dachshunds in particular?

I'd love to hear the quick discussion on this. First, we don't have a Doxxy, and second, a condition of adopting our mini goldendoodle was to have her spayed. We didn't want any 'happy accidents' or to have to plan travel around the pet coming into season.

 

[Timeshare Von]

To DAVIDVEL:
WOW! Let me start out by saying I'm generally in the "Adopt Don't Shop" camp and am VERY active locally in rescuing, fostering & transporting of dogs in the over-crowded shelter world. My hubby & I have a strong affinity and desire to help the bully breeds in particular because there are so many of them in shelters and on death row across the US. All of the dogs we've had in our 20+ years of marriage have been adopted or rehomed due to extreme circumstances.

That said, I also worked briefly in veterinary medicine as a practice manager of a large 2-location 6 vet practice. Our owners were leading authorities in canine reproductive medicine (she was the 2023 Westminster Kennel Club Veterinarian of the Year for her work) and I often struggled internally with this aspect of their practice. That said, I learned how invaluable professional reproduction was in providing dogs necessary for specialized and skilled services. Examples include therapy and rehabilitation services. The military also use trained dogs, as well as those used by first responders in search & rescue operations. So there are valid and important reasons for breeding and breeders to exist. I don't care much for those who are backyard breeders, merely into it for the money. And breeder farms treating dogs just like any other livestock is a line I personally cannot support.

I'll close by saying THANK YOU for adopting shelter dogs. I too believe in mutts and think they make the best family pets.

 

[geist1223]

An acquitance of 20+ years is a Breeder/Show/Judge. Her Breeders and Show Dogs are Corgies (both Prembroke and Cardigan). She is a Certified Judge for many Breeds. When she has a Litter in the first 6 weeks she has to decide which are possible Show Dogs and which will be Pet Dogs. This can be a real guessing game. The Pet designated Dogs are sold for substantially cheaper than possible Show Dogs. When she sells a Pet Dog part of the Contract is the Dog be neutered/spayed. Also in her Contract she retains the Right to recover the Dog is they are not being treated correctly. We Homed/Fostered one of her Show Dogs after he achieved Championship Status at age 2. She would pick him up for Breedings and Shows. After about 3 years she transferred Ownership to us and he was neutered. We also ended up with one of her females (actually Daughter of the Dog we had). She had wonderful Blood Lines and colour but was too large as a female to be a Show Dog. She was Breed once. Only 3 puppies. One was still born. One died shortly after Birth. The third failed to thrive. Breeding at this level is expensive. So after that Birth failure she transferred Ownership to us and she was spayed. So we had 2 wonderful Well Bred Dogs for upfront zero cost.

Since these 2 passed our Dogs have all been rescue. Though it is funny the first was a Black and White GSP. Who moved on at age 14. He was 29 inches and the Shoulder and 75 Pounds. The 2nd is a Black GSP. That stands 29 inches at the Shoulder and is 85 Pounds. He turns 9 in a few days. We have had him for 15 months.

 

[davidvel]

To DAVIDVEL:
WOW! Let me start out by saying I'm generally in the "Adopt Don't Shop" camp and am VERY active locally in rescuing, fostering & transporting of dogs in the over-crowded shelter world. My hubby & I have a strong affinity and desire to help the bully breeds in particular because there are so many of them in shelters and on death row across the US. All of the dogs we've had in our 20+ years of marriage have been adopted or rehomed due to extreme circumstances.

That said, I also worked briefly in veterinary medicine as a practice manager of a large 2-location 6 vet practice. Our owners were leading authorities in canine reproductive medicine (she was the 2023 Westminster Kennel Club Veterinarian of the Year for her work) and I often struggled internally with this aspect of their practice. That said, I learned how invaluable professional reproduction was in providing dogs necessary for specialized and skilled services. Examples include therapy and rehabilitation services. The military also use trained dogs, as well as those used by first responders in search & rescue operations. So there are valid and important reasons for breeding and breeders to exist. I don't care much for those who are backyard breeders, merely into it for the money. And breeder farms treating dogs just like any other livestock is a line I personally cannot support.

I'll close by saying THANK YOU for adopting shelter dogs. I too believe in mutts and think they make the best family pets.

While there may be some very specialized needs for a particular breed, this is a tiny percentage of bred dogs. Cretins pay thousands just to say they have an X-doodle or whatever. I think it is weird when so many are killed every day.

 

[heathpack]

I'd love to hear the quick discussion on this. First, we don't have a Doxxy, and second, a condition of adopting our mini goldendoodle was to have her spayed. We didn't want any 'happy accidents' or to have to plan travel around the pet coming into season.

It’s about as “not hard” to prevent your unspayed girls from getting pregnant as it is to keep them from being hit by a car. I understand both of those things happen commonly but they shouldn’t. We dont plan our lives around the girls‘ heat cycles but we did have to give up a sweet exchange to make way for puppies.

Juvenile (<1-2 yr of age, depending on the breed) spay and neuter is associated with a host of orthopedic and structural conditions (cranial cruciate ligament rupture, hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, type 1 intervertebral disc disease), cancers (mast cell tumors, hemangiosacroma, and lymphoma, depending on the breed), plus behavior issues like noise phobias. It is likely, however, that spay and neuter past the age of sexual maturity is innocous.

 

[heathpack]

While there may be some very specialized needs for a particular breed, this is a tiny percentage of bred dogs. Cretins pay thousands just to say they have an X-doodle or whatever. I think it is weird when so many are killed every day.

Well, I heartily disagree with you. Dogs co-evolved with humans, and both species got a pretty good bargain over the eons. Humans have sculpted various aspects of the predatory sequence to produce various working types and breeds, with truly amazing abilities. When a working dog is working, everything is completely right in their world. No trying to adapt to human expectations, the suburban paradigm, or playing the role of a “fur baby”.

To me, not valuing the work and purpose of a dog, to expect *all* to lie around on a sofa 95% of its life doing nothing, is to fundamentally disrespect the essence of a dog.

Someone upthread commented that I train my dog for competitions. That’s actually incorrect. They are born being capable of the work, and driven to do it. All I do is expose them to the environment in which they can do what their genes drive them to do.

I have no issue with pet dogs or adopting a dog from the shelter and taking what you get. That’s one way to have a dog, and I’ve adopted several myself. However to argue that adopting random bred dogs is the only “right” way to have a dog, and that everyone should compromise the health of their dogs via juvenile spay and neuter- sorry I’m going to have to say that I think *that’s* weird.

 

[davidvel]

Well, I heartily disagree with you. Dogs co-evolved with humans, and both species got a pretty good bargain over the eons. Humans have sculpted various aspects of the predatory sequence to produce various working types and breeds, with truly amazing abilities. When a working dog is working, everything is completely right in their world. No trying to adapt to human expectations, the suburban paradigm, or playing the role of a “fur baby”.

To me, not valuing the work and purpose of a dog, to expect *all* to lie around on a sofa 95% of its life doing nothing, is to fundamentally disrespect the essence of a dog.

Someone upthread commented that I train my dog for competitions. That’s actually incorrect. They are born being capable of the work, and driven to do it. All I do is expose them to the environment in which they can do what their genes drive them to do.

I have no issue with pet dogs or adopting a dog from the shelter and taking what you get. That’s one way to have a dog, and I’ve adopted several myself. However to argue that adopting random bred dogs is the only “right” way to have a dog, and that everyone should compromise the health of their dogs via juvenile spay and neuter- sorry I’m going to have to say that I think *that’s* weird.

Yor description sounds more like slavery. Do you also think thoroughbred race horses love what they do?

 

[Patri]

Someone upthread commented that I train my dog for competitions. That’s actually incorrect. They are born being capable of the work, and driven to do it. All I do is expose them to the environment in which they can do what their genes drive them to do.

That’s what I meant. LOL
But what you are doing is more than exposing. You are training them like a coach would, to win awards.