I don't know if anyone can shed any light on this or if anyone else has experienced this but here goes....

Cassie is now on day 58 of her pregnancy. On Thursday night her temp dropped to 37.4c and then on Friday to 36.7c. All weekend we have been on edge waiting for something to happen.... she has been licking herself, her teets are swollen (although no milk yet but its her 1st litter so no panic there) she has been in and out of the welping box (no shredding) and switches between eating loads one day then nothing the next. Her temp goes up and down between 36 & 37 her tummy is so swollen she looks fit to burst (although we get to see clearly the puppies are moving). She has even been playing - although for a very short periods.

Cassie isnt in any distress, but is obviously getting uncomfortable with the size of her belly. It's almost like she starts then changes her mind and stops, is this common? I only ask as all the books ect say that if the temp drops to below 36-37 then expect pups within 24 hours. I am not to worried as its only day 58 and she isnt in distress (I haven't noticed any contractions) I'm just a little confused by all these false starts.

Although this is our first litter, my daughter works for a breeder (German Shepherds) and we have read almost every book going to ensure we are fully prepared. I do expect the puppies to arrive imminently and she will probably surprise us when we aren't looking !!!

My female dog, Coco, mated around 21st +, unfortunately having some problems of our own we didn't record the date. She surely is due any day now, but isn't showing many signs of it. she was bred by a considerably smaller jack russell. I think some people call them Irish mini's, and of course she's a parsons. She hasnt gone off of her food at all, maybe eating a bit less than usual. I don't honestly think she's the kind of dog to lose her appetite though. Her stools have been getting increasingly running to the point that yesterday she was squatting and pushing out droplets of it. The pups are moving a lot, though they aren't so much today ( no room?!) . She's weeing an awful lot, Not really nesting as such, she just scrabbles around for a few mins before settling. Coco doesnt stay still for long periods of time during the day, I guess she is very uncomfortable. No milk but they are very well developed!

However i'm going to say it anyway. This morning i had another argument with one of my oldest friends and the breeder of my dog Essa. Some of you may remember me saying some time ago that Essa was orginally destined to be kept by her and be breed from because she so closely meets the breed standard. My friend says that she's been waiting for a bitch like Essa all her breeding years. (I just feel like she's trying to make me feel guilty) This has been an on going conversation for many months with me normally trying to dodge the subject onto something else. However now that Essa has reached the breeding age of 2 1/2 yrs my friend is very keen to talk me into breeding her. (almost pushy) Even though i've told her i'm not sure that this is something i want to do. She still very keen for me to do it even if it's only the once. Claiming that there are so few "breed standard" jrts around that she carrys an important gene that should be passed on. She also wants to keep a bitch from the litter. Anyway it all came to a head this morning and we've had a really huge row. We both said some nasty things to each other. Which has been upsetting me all day. She's one of my oldest friends and i love her to bits.. she's always been there whenever i've needed her and visa versa. But Essa is MY DOG! and i should be the one to decide wether to breed her or not. Ok so i'm no expert in Jrts but i'm not completely stupid. The reason it all came to a head today is because she came to my house armed with a stud book. Which she thrust at me saying that she has chosen 3 possible matches that she would like me to meet up with next week!. I'm afraid to say that i went a bit mental, well she chose a really bad day to drop this on me. As i didn't sleep very well last night and woke with a bit of a cold, so i'm tired and grumpy. I really don't want to fall out with my friend but Essa is my dog. No matter how good her temperament is or how good her genes may be. I have previously breed collies so i understand only too well how costly it can be not only in terms of the money involved (not a problem) but also in sheer emotion. The fact she didn't even think to ask me first really p***** me off! .... . .am i so being unresonable ?

sharyn x

so dead cute

im a very tired mum and knew it would happen when kids went away and hubby was at a show lol

I've been reading in this forum and in other forums and websites about this delicate issue and I'm forming an opinion about it. I'm a first time dog owner so please, forgive my ignorance in both knowledge and ethic regarding this issue as I'm facing it for the first time.

Pancho is a nearly 2y/o JRT and he has always showed a huge interest for mating, even when he was very little. Every time the season begins we literally go through hell as it becomes nearly impossible to let him off the lead as he want to run away in search of a female. When on the lead he pulls and cry so much. Of course hell is not just for us which actually can kind of cope with this twice a year, but it's mostly for him. It's really heart breaking hearing him crying so badly because of the frustration of not being allowed to mate with a female.

I know this is controversial, but we decided not to go for castration straight away as we feel that, despite being common practice and a valid alternative and civilised option, it's still a mutilation and we think we should do it only if other solutions wont work out. So we decided to wait and see how things would have turned once facing the problem. I must say I (I was the stronghold of holding back castration) came to the conclusion that we can't leave the situation as it is and we need to take a decision and address this problem as, like I said, we feel that both us as well as Pancho are going through hard times twice a year.

So we decided to see if mating him would calm him down. We placed an advert to a local website and we found some people interested in breeding. The problem is we are conscious it's not as easy as it might look and the dilemmas we're facing at this stage are:

1) Will Pancho become more aggressive and territorial after mating a female for the first time? This means we'll go on the opposite direction than desired.

2) if he does become more aggressive, is castration after mating a good idea or does it hide problems, for example it wont work as he already got to know the pleasures of mating?

Is there anybody who could give us an indication on these 2 points? It would be much appreciated.

It's quite clear at this stage that we need to be careful if thinking of breeding regarding health issues, genetical issues, over population and other risks.

Thank you Paolo & Natalia

Pepper named by my daughter (after pepper pig), is my lovely little jack russell, she is just over 2 years old now and just had her 3rd season.

This is the story so far: pepper is a great example of breed and has no defect's whatsoever- she has a great temperment with kids and other animal's- even our chickens! About 3 months before her season was due i started to look for a stood dog/breeder, i wanted a stud that would stand upto my pepper's quality, and if possible even exceed it! After lots of looking and visiting breeder's i eventually found a nice man who had been breeding jack russell's for over 20 years, but not done so much in the last 5 years. He had a lovely dog called jack who was a little broader than my pepper but also an excellent example of breed.

After lots of chatting to jack's owner, i decided to take my pepper to his house for a visit to see how they'd get on together (pepper wasn't in season-i just wanted to know she would be o.k with jack). It was a sucsess, they really liked one another!They played together in the garden all the time we were there!

I agreed with jack's owner some basic terms and that pepper would stay at his house next time she came into season fo a period of 4-6 day's.

Some weeks later pepper came into season, and i contacted jacks owner on the first day of her season, so he could prepare for her coming to stay.

On the 9th day of her season, i took pepper to stay at jack's - she dragged me from the car to his door on her lead! she couldn't wait! lol.

No sooner had we got inside they instantley hit it off again and went in the garden to play- within 10 minutes they 'tied' ! you would have thought my pepper was an expert at this and done it lot's of times before! but infact this was her very first time and i was pleasantley surprised at how at ease she was with it.

So pepper was mated with jack on days 9 , 11, 13, of her season. Since pepper came home i have started to prepare a few essential's, but if anyone can offer any idea's of what else i may need i will be very grateful: i have a whelping box, a good set of digital scales, i have sorted out some towels for the delivery, and i would like to get a whelping pack- does anyone know where i can buy one from? i have phone number's for the breeder and vet should i need any advice when the time comes. Any other suggestion's will be much welcomed.

thanks for reading & advice, emma.

i have attached a little picture of my pepper when she was a pup- this is her a 9 weeks old!

I am new to this but not new to the site, i have been visiting this site for the past few months. I have a smooth haired jack russel bitch named Maggie hence the name as Maggies-Mum who is 2 years old and expecting her first litter tomorrow which I am very excited about! Our Vet has said there is a minimum of five expected.

I do have a concern which i would apprechiate any advice my Maggie has not yet produced any milk, when should this be expected?

I will keep you all posted

Maggies Mum

It is not comprehensive by any means and was just something that i wanted to do for myself so i could look back at it at some stage and reminisce. It is not devised to promote breeding or as a reference for those considering breeding but I think it gives a realistic picture of the last experience we had and expresses both good and bad elements to taking on such a big responsibility.

Its too big to post on a thread but if anyone is interested in having a look i am happy to email it out if you pm me.x

Many thanks.

I have a lovely JRT called Michka born12/10/2009. she came into season on 1st may at 6 1/2 months.. just a slight discharge & was bleeding properly by the 4th . today is the 30th & she is still bleeding. More watery & straw coloured than blood now. Her vulva is very swollen now & hers nipples are very obvious/pert in the last 5-6 days.

she has been nowhere near other dogs All of the books say 3 weeks approx per season so is this normal .

Any suggestions??

Tricia

NO I AM NOT GOING TO STUD MY DOG XX

Thought I would share this fab pic of my girl's recent litter at 10 days old. They were born 24th April! More pics to follow

As the title suggests im looking for a bitch that has a great temperment, small size, good colouring to breed with our Jack Russell dog called Tinker :)

Tinker is a very cute loving Jack Russell boy who is about 2yrs old. The reason we would like to breed him is to keep one of the puppies. He has the best personality in the world along with great looks too. I believe if we find the right bitch they would make absolutely stunning puppies.

If your thinking of breeding then please do not hesitate in calling me so we can talk further and possibly all meet up. We are certainly not looking to make any money out of doing this, just hopefully a great family pet.

I live in Reading, Berkshire and my telephone number is 07811 806 969

Look forward to speaking with you.

Lee

Thanks again to everyone for all of your advice and support x

My friends live in a huge country house with acres of land and someone is home at all times.

They currently have a labrador and a standard size JRT(not parsons) but are looking for a miniature to join their family.

Temperament is the most important thing as the dog will not be worked and just a family pet. Any details please PM me.

Thanks guys :) x

Any other advice welcome Thanks