Sad and Confused a Little Help Please*Long*

Got an email from my breeder today telling me that her bitch didn't have puppies. I'm a bit confused and sad because she didn't tell me if the puppies died or if she just hadn't confirmed the pregnancy... =(

She let me know she's willing to give me the numbers of breeders that are friends of hers that have puppies or I can wait till October which is when she's expecting another litter based on when one of her dogs should be in heat.

I'm not sure which way I should go. I don't really want to wait till October because where I live it's really rainy all the time in October and very hard to potty train. Also if my breeder isn't confirming pregnancy then I don't know that I want to wait till October to find out that there are no puppies again.

But if I go with one of the other breeders I might have to take the puppy right now, I'm going on vacation in 2 weeks and I can't cancel the vacation, I don't want to have my puppy being alone within a few weeks of coming home and while he's still potty training so this would not be acceptable. I also might have to pay higher price, (the breeder I'm with now is in the middle range of the price for this area.) which my parents will not accept (took forever to explain the reason for the price and this puppy is a gift to me from my parents so they will be paying for it.) my parents are used to pet store prices, this is the first dog that they will be buying from a breeder so the price is quite a shock. (totally worth it but still a shock) I've offered to pay for the difference in price if it's higher but my parents wont accept that.

I'm so sorry this is so long! I'm just a bit sad and need a little guidance so I don't make a poor decision at this point. Should I stay with my current breeder? Would it be a rash decision for me to try one of the other breeders? I'm afraid if I go for one of the other breeders I'd just be doing it because I "want my puppy right now!" I'm planning to call her later this week and ask her if the pregnancy was confirmed and what exactly happened. Any suggestions? Thank you for listening I'm just so heartbroken h*lp

I will let those who are experienced breeders chime in, but from my limited knowledge this does happen, the breeder believes there is a pregnancy and it turns out to either be a false pregnancy (which are more common then I would have thought) or the momma dog loses the puppies. There are risks to doing certain tests to confirm the pregnancy early on and because of those risks some do not do them. I do not think that this happened is necessarily an indication of a bad breeder. However, before you committ to another puppy from her I would want to talk to her about what happened. She should be willing to discuss what ocurred with you.

One thing you do need to remember is that you can be on the list for a puppy from a litter and the litter ends up being too small for everyone on the list to get a puppy. If this breeder is as good as you believe, and if she is doing MRIs to screen for SM and all the right heart and eye tests, that does a long way, you may decide you want to wait for her. Or you may decide you first want to talk to some of the other breeders who have puppies available, to whom your first breeder refers you, before you make a final decision. I would take the latter approach in your situation.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you for your reply ppotterfield, I really do need to talk to my breeder and get a few questions answered. I'd also want to ask her a few questions about the other breeders and talk to them as well before I make this decision. Hopefully if I choose to go with one of the other breeders they would be willing to keep the puppy with them until I get home from my vacation so that my baby wouldn't be disrupted so terribly!

Batel said:

Hopefully if I choose to go with one of the other breeders they would be willing to keep the puppy with them until I get home from my vacation so that my baby wouldn't be disrupted so terribly!

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If the breeder believes you are a good match for their puppy I would image they would be willing to keep the puppy a couple extra weeks. You might also disuss with them taking the puppy but having the puppy board with the breeder when you go on vacation. Depending on the length of time you would have the puppy before you left (if it would only be a week or so it would not work), this may be a viable option.

I'm leaving April 2nd so it would be 2 weeks max that I'd have the puppy with me if the puppy came home this week. I will be gone 5 days so it would really be better for the puppy if he could just stay with the breeder till I got back, so he isn't going back and forth.

The lady who bred three of my dogs had a bitch who absorbed two litters before finally having a healthy one. She had definitely been in pup, but something went wrong along the way.

This happened to me also- the litter was absorbed. That was how I got Holly - they said they were sorry, but they had no pups apart from a little BT girl of 9 weeks who'd been given to them as a stud fee. I hadn't actually wanted a BT, but I wanted a pup and after months of waiting... Holly's nearly five now and is as fit as a fiddle, albeit rather neurotic. She's an adorable, cuddly girl and I wouldn't replace her for the world.

My story is very similar to yours. I waited for 8 months after 2 failed matings. I could have gone elsewhere but I decided to wait for a particular breeder. She also didn't mind that things came up and I couldn't take Dylan when he was 12 weeks and she looked after him a little longer.

I'd say it doesn't hurt to look around but the main thing is the health certificates of the parents and grandparents of your pup. As long as they are good AND you get to see them, I wouldn't worry about changing your plans.

Im so sorry you have to wait longer but if you really feel you have found the right breeder then I would stick with her. I would contact the other breeders though, you may find one of them to be just as good. Hope you get your puppy soon!

Thank you all wow such wonderful helpful replies! I don't feel so alone knowing others have gone through this. I really love my breeder, I'm going to talk to her about this but I really think I'm going to stay with her and wait till her October litter. Now I just have to figure out something to keep me busy until then!

Just on the flip side, if you did decide to go with another breeder with puppies, few good breeders would even have an issue with hanging on to a pup for a couple of weeks, I think -- and most likely, the pups in other litters are all going to be ready at different times and probably not immediately. Most reputable breeders in the US do not home til 10-14 weeks so there's a lot of room in there. I've seen the difference between taking a puppy at 8-ish weeks, as is the norm here, and 12-14 weeks, and the older puppies that get more time with mum and siblings are just so much easier, calmer, focused, socialised and on their way in training. Much less puppy nipping, started on housetraining, less shy. So I'd view two extra weeks with the mum as a bonus, not a problem -- and think few breeders would be unhappy to get two more weeks of one of their puppies.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with this litter though -- interesting replies from everyone; I learned a lot!

I too really wanted to go with the original breeder we had sent in an application to. After waiting 13 months, and expecting a pup in May from her planned Feb 1st whelp, we found out that the breeding did not take. In fact, another breeding she planned also failed. We were soooo sad to think that it might be another 6 or 8 months to have a chance at one of her pups. Then she decided to put up our little girl at 6 1/2 months. She held her back for show potential, but she didn't have the right attitude for the ring. We took her home and found that even though we missed the foofy fluffy puppy stage, she was SOOOO EASY! Dottie had been lead trained, accustomed to grooming and nail clips, doggie door and potty trained by the time she came to us. She was one polite, very balanced little girl. So, you never know what will happen! Will keep our fingers crossed :xfngr: that you get your pup soon.

same here

I had a similar experience with Toby as hbmama and her Dottie. I wanted to wait until June to bring my puppy home so I would be out of school. He was born in February, so he was about 4 1/2 months when he arrived. He was already potty trained, had no problem sleeping alone in his crate, was very calm and very polite. I really think he benefited from spending the extra time with his mom. So I would say, an older pup could very well be ideal, still very puppy playful but fewer accidents!
I really hope you get that puppy! :xfngr:

Batel: Breeding is anything but an exact science. I can think of lots of things that could have happened to change things, like a lot of people have already mentioned. When we have bred one of our girls, we do an ultrasound about half way thru pregnancy to confirm pregnancy. But anything can (and does) happen between then and the welping date; and after the puppies have welped. I hope this isn't a mistake, but I'm going to let out one of our secrets. On our second ever litter when we were first starting out, we had a girl that had 2 puppies. Our puppy people were contacting us almost every day starting a few days before the due date, so when the puppies were born, we immediately contacted the first two people on our waiting list. Well one puppy died at about 4 days old of Fading Puppy Syndrome and we had to tell a family that their puppy had died. I don't EVER want to have to do that again. So now we tell people a due date that is a week or so later than it actually is because we have never had a puppy die once it made it to a week. Much easier telling someone not enough puppies born.

If you have researched your breeder and feel you have a good breeder who tests and truly cares about the dogs and puppies they have, it's probably worth waiting. If your breeder is willing to give you a name of someone she can vouch for, I would say that's also a sign of a good breeder; the good breeders I know will always recommend others if they don't have anything available. As far as your vacation, if the other breeder is a good one, she will hold onto a puppy until you get back; we and other breeders do that all the time, not a big deal.

Sorry you were disappointed; just try to be patient. Easier said than done I know; Kris and I have been waiting for a good show prospect from a breeder for close to a year now.

I know there are a lot of things that can change, and I'm not the type to start emailing and calling right away on the due date because I know that it's an estimate and also that my breeder will be busy with the new pups. My breeder gave me a 10 day estimate of when the puppies were due and emailed me on the last day saying there were no puppies. I was just more confused initially because she left it very open ended when she emailed me and didn't let me know what happened, as in, did the puppies die, was there no pregnancy, was there too many people wanting puppies and so I didn't get one.. thats why I was confused. I emailed her back and she clarified that it just didn't "stick". I don't believe she does the ultrasound to confirm pregnancy like you do Bruce, but I will ask her if she does next time I talk to her.

She's a great breeder and does all the testing so I'm willing to wait for her. Going with one of the other breeders is an option but it would really be tight time wise, and instead of bringing the puppy home in early June, he'd be coming home much sooner. It would be nice, but it would also mean I don't go on a family vacation that we were planing for right before the puppy came home this May. (trying to get a few vacations in before the puppy comes because I wont want to leave him once he's here)

Being patient and waiting for one of these angels it totally worth it, and I'm willing to do that.