The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Marketplace => Topic started by: Dougal on August 22, 2011, 10:11:34 am
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My six year old bitch (Tiff) has welped in the night. Now instead of having 4 working collies I now have 15! 11 pups in the one litter! sheesh ??? There are six bitches and 5 dogs, all well marked black and whites. Therefore 7-9 weeks from now I'll be looking for homes for the pups. I'm based in N.E Scotland but i can easily meet people to cut driving distances. Pups will be £100 to cover the costs of worming and feed. Both parents are working farm dogs so the pups will work but i'm sure they would ajust to an easier life as a pet if that is what was wanted!
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Can you post pictures of parents and pups when you have them :)
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Hmm I'm not very great at the technical side o' try to get pictures onto the web, I'll speak to the better half and see what can be achieved.
The bitch is a tri colour with a roughish coat, she's got a really nice temperament as well. She's a good hill dog with a huge out run. The dog is a short coated black and white, real quick and direct dog. He's only really just starting his training but he shows a lot of promise. I'll happily take either of them to a days work without worry. Again he has a nice nature.
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Hi I'm interested, I've sent you a pm :)
Tania
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Very interested. I've been looking for a 'rough coat' black and white bitch pup to train to work the sheep for some time. Would love to see some pics and reserve one.
Gillian :)
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i sent you a pm as well......
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Why do very young pups look and sound like Guinea Pigs :D. Most off putting! All doing well considering that there are 11 of them. There isn't really a runt but the weeist one is a dog so he'll catch up as he gets older. The bitch is eating like a horse, working greyhound biscuits, three eggs a day and a can of cat meat (from a tin not a skinned cat ;)) every day. Any suggestions on other feeds or quantities that will help her milk?
Hope to get pictures up over the weekend at some point.
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11 must be unusual for a collie?
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I may be wrong but I always though cat food was bad for dogs due to some thing in it.
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The last time I had a bitch have pups I used cat food and there didn't seem to be any worries. It is only short term until she weans the pups.
I use cat food because the protein is a better quality than in dog food. Only animal derived protein in cat food (due to the cats more specialised gut system) where as in dog food they use a lot of plant material because it is cheaper and dogs have a more robust and less specialised gut. The cat food in tins is great as well because it is nice and moist and Tiff loves it, thinks it is a treat instead of boring old dry food all the time!
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Is it not the other way round, and dog food is bad for cats? Although my farm cats sometimes have to have dog food if we have run out, and they wolf it down!!
When we had collies, I thought a litter of 6 was bad enough, never mnd 11. And when the pups started to eat, goodness, they could eat!! Fortunately we had a good milking goat at the time, and she kept them supplied....and we made big pans of porridge with soaked bread in it......but they stood in it, and it was all over their little faces, feet, what a mess!!!!
When we took on a rescue dog, the vet advised me to keep her on porridge, with honey added, to give her energy, and get weight on her....maybe your bitch will need something like that to give her the energy to look after that large litter¬¬
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11 must be unusual for a collie?
I think it is. Usually only hear of 5's and 6's but the bitch is from a litter of 13! Must run in the family!
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Other way round, but it only applies if that is the only diet a cat gets.
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If a dog is fed solely on cat food the protein level is too high for the kidneys to cope with and they can end up with renal failure. An occasional tin or so won't do much harm provided it isn't the only source of food. I know of one case of a 3 year old Lab being put down because it's misguided owner only gave it cat food because it wouldn't eat anything else - that isn't surprising as with all that protein it is very flavoursome.
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Our dogs love it and will scrounge it if they can (hence it's in a locked cupboard with a hole in the door to let the cats in. I let them clean up any that's let in the morning before I wash the dishes. It's not usually much.
Dougal, hope the puppies do well. Pics if you can. You're spot on about the guinea pigs though.
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Yup, Annie is right, there's just too much good quality protein in cat food for a dog's kidneys. But it won't hurt for a few weeks while she's rearing. (And the thing about cats and dog food is, I guess, that there's not enough good quality protein in the dog food to keep a cat healthy.)
A collie on the next door farm had a litter of 13 last year but I think that is very unusual for collies.
If your girl is struggling with making enough milk for all those hungry mouths, maybe post a question in the Dogs section? There're a lot of very experienced people on here but maybe some of them are not reading this thread.
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I'm heading to the dog section now! Wouldn't be the first time I've been in the dog house.!
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Where are you situated i am outside perth, i am interested but would need a famly member to drive me, cheers Chris
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Hi,
I've sent you a pm & email,
John
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Thank you to everyone for getting in touch. I've broken out the paper and crayons so I can keep note of all those that are interested. I'll try and get the photo's up asap.
Pups doing well, still look like guinea pigs though (squeak like them too).
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My bitch had pups recently - although not such a large litter - I fed dried puppy food as that has higher energy / nutrients. Also Butchers tinned food is good - high quality and not too exoensive. Mine also liked raw i.e. chicken/rabbits/mince/tripe. I would feed her ad lib. Goats milk is good too.