Welcome to the Punk Litter

I am delighted to announce the safe arrival of Ounce’s second litter – the Punk Litter! A bit of a contrast to the Lovely Litter; I think we are in a different place now. On Tuesday 8th February, between 8.30 and midday, Ounce gave birth to 4 beautiful puppies! The dad is Mikared Vega Thorium at Leberkind (Bodie), who is a beautiful boy with a sweet nature.

Labouring away

Whelping, or giving birth to puppies, is an exciting time! But it can be quite a challenge. It takes just 63 days to make puppies, although the dates are not exact, as there is usually more than one mating and delivery can be a few days early or late.

Dogs start by being restless and fidgety, but also reluctant to leave your side. They can just lie beside you all day, or take themselves off into a corner. Then they start panting. This may last all day and night and can be a testing time. I usually set aside the time to sit quietly with my girl, being with her without demands.

It can be hard to see your dog uncomfortable and it’s easy to panic that things are not moving quickly enough. It’s very tempting to ring the vet and jump in the car, but patience is required. In the end, things start moving and after around forty minutes of contractions, the first puppy arrived. I find it so exhilarating! It is thrilling to have the puppy in your hands when it takes its first breath. To be the first person to see that dog, hoping it will go on to live such a long and happy life.

Choosing colours

For Ounce’s last litter, many different colours were possible. This time I wanted something a bit different. I really, really wanted a girl I could keep and have puppies from in the future. The Lovely Litter girls have become fabulous dogs, but they are just not quite me. You know how much I love purple!

I have talked often about the reason for having a pedigree dog – it should mean you have the same as every other dog of that pedigree. The fact that you know what you are getting and can plan for it. You know the temperament fits your lifestyle and the health of the dog is what you want.

At the same time, it is interesting to have something a bit different, isn’t it? There is nothing wrong with that, as long as health is not compromised. Border Collies should NOT be bred merle to merle as this is almost guaranteed to cause birth defects, including deafness and blindness. This is true of other breeds as well.

I always check colour combinations likely to appear in my litters, using the brilliant Anadune Border Collie Database. This helps me ensure that I am breeding the healthiest dogs with sensible amounts of family lines in common.

What did we get?

With this mating, I was guaranteed to get only lilacs and blues, with a supposed 75% chance of blues. Ounce produced five puppies last time, so that was the likely number of puppies. Bodie produced seven boys and one girl in his first litter, so I knew I would get mainly boys.

We have three lilacs and one blue. Three boys and one lilac girl. Lucky me! And they are all absolutely perfectly marked, just like their mum. Very exciting!

At birth, the puppies weigh 200-300g. They gained 10% of their birth weight within 24 hours. I weigh them every day to start with, to check they are all feeding well. Once they are well established I don’t tend to worry too much.

NB: All have homes

I do have homes for ALL of these puppies, subject to confirmation. I look for a loving homes, suitable for a Border Collie. Read more about the breed if you are interested. Or read about what it is like to own one.

Visitors required

If you have known me a while, you will know that I like to have lots of visitors to see my puppies! I invite close friends and family (no children) for the first three weeks. After that, I like to see a wide variety of people I know, including children.

The last couple of weeks are often quite busy, so don’t leave it too late. They will be gone all too soon.

NB: Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Remember..

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NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

NB: I am not a dog trainer, or a dog behaviourist, just a dog breeder and owner. I can only offer my opinion, based on my experience.