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GWP puppies to come!


Shabz
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Hi all,

 

I have an awesome working gwp (her full brother is one of three ftch gwps in the country), she's good on birds, foxes and I've just started deer stalking and she seems to be taking to that like a duck to water, so I've decided to breed from her. I found a sire that works with birds of prey and points well on feathered game in the hope that pups will have some falconry skills too (I don't know if that's how it works, but it can't harm and I know the dog has great game finding ability and that's good enough for me!)

 

So, I had the bitch lined a week or so ago, and am looking for advice on how to prepare. They're due on August 11th and will be whelped outside. I've sorted a separate run but need to get a kennel in there. I'm hoping August will be warm enough for them but will get a heat lamp in case. Can anyone reccomend a suitable kennel? What size will I need? Will I need a whelping box inside it? What else can I get to help me be fully prepared? Do I need to organise tail docking? My bitch isn't docked and it's never been a problem for her, but docking would probably help sell the surplus puppies after I've kept the ones i'm keeping?

 

Thanks in advance, It'll be the first litter that I've bred and want to be as prepared as possible!

 

Cheers, Shabz.

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I would buy a small shed rather than a kennel, a 6x4 would do the job.

Run electric to it and put the lamp on a few days before the bitch is due to welp.

G.W.H ponters need a bit of room to welp, so turn the back 4x4 into a welping box with welping bars fitted 3 high.

Edited by Actionpigeons
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The dam and sire haven't had the health checks done, no, but neither have ever displayed any sign of von willebrands disease and both are in fine health with good confirmation. No problems with eye(lid)s either. The vet checked the bitch over, but I didn't go into DNA tests etc.

 

I'll try and put some pictures of them and their pedigrees up, so you can see the breeding. The sire comes from gavic lines and the dam is gavic and trudvang. I chose the sire because of the distance between the pedigrees, there arent many of the same dog in both ( nearly none in the pups pedigrees), that and his working ability and temperament.

They're both very chilled (as chilled as I've seen a gwp at least) dogs, not at all sharp.

 

I found a vet that will dock them, as someone that will be looking for one in the future, would that be important to you? I was considering having half docked so that the others may compete in shows. It's not my cup of tea, but I'd hate to breed a potential dual champion for it not to be allowed for lack of tail!

 

Saying that, the pup(s) that I'd keep would be docked.

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Good luck with it just as a side note VWD can be clear by parentage and basically its that and Hips that the Kennel club recommend. DH I'll be having a litter next year if all goes to plan and it will have had all the checks done, so far the bitch has scored very well on hips and VWD clear. Personally I'd have them all docked simply because I'm not fussed about the showing side at all and even kept in the house they do seem prone to injuring tails from smacking them about as much as anything.

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some pictures of the dogs and their pedigrees.

 

 

i bought a 6x4 shed on my way home today, i'll have some work to do this weekend! i'm gonna pave an extra area next to my existing kennel and run some electric to it and sort some running water somehow!

Edited by Shabz
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Why haven't you had any health tests done? Is it the cost? Did you ask why the sire has had no health tests done?

 

Do you think you could afford The Book Of The Bitch?

 

How many pups are you going to keep?

 

What is your motivation for breeding? Is it for the betterment of the breed? In which case, you ought to have had all recommended health tests done. You never know, you might inadvertently sell a pup to someone who is just in it for the money.

 

Why not consult the experts on:

 

http://www.versatilehpr.com/forum/index.php

 

BTW you have an "awesome working gwp" precisely because breeders before you took exceptional care with the breed. I hope you can live up to their standards.

Edited by Greymaster
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My motivation for breeding is for betterment of my kennel. Yes, cost is a factor in why I haven't had her health tested and the sire is owned by a friend, chosen for working ability. I'm planning on keeping two of the pups myself and have promised four to friends (assuming she has that many). All at what it costs me for docking, rearing and injections etc.

 

Believe me, if I were trying to make money from her, I'd have had her health tested! These pups from expert breeders, although obviously very good puppies and what i would reccomend if asked, command a very high price! Far more than I would charge. Hopefully, she won't have more than six. But I know that they do.

 

Thanks for the link, and the book reccomendation, I wasn't aware of either and I'll check out both.

 

I'm very grateful to the breeders before me, but I like to think that I had a little to do with her training too. She's been hard work for a couple of years!

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Thanks for your reply.

 

Your breeder seems to have been very remiss in educating you as to GWP breed health issues, so here is a link: http://www.gwphealth.co.uk/health.html

 

I am surprised your breeder has not placed a restriction on you registering puppies from your bitch which is placed with the Kennel Club. Most reputable breeders do this and are happy to lift the restriction once recommended health test results are found to be satisfactory.

 

You might consider going down this route yourself when you transfer ownership of the surplus pups to new owners. This way you can make sure that you have not helped create an increasing group of untested GWP's, which perforce will be secondary and sub-standard and will undermine those breeders who have worked so hard to protect the breed from known health defects.

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As a point of debate, I'm not sure many owners of gwps have the breeds best interests at heart? You see litters advertised all the time that are not health tested. Irresponsible, maybe, but the breed does have one of the lowest average hip scores of all breeds and von Willebrands disease is very rare. I'm not saying that this is an excuse or that it isn't necessary but the chances are very low of there being a problem.

 

Anyway, I looked into DNA tests and it doesn't cost nearly as much as I'd thought, so if there are surplus pups, I'll test them individually before selling them.

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Thats pretty pointless really, as it can be just a mouth swab you could still do the dog and bitch and if clear then the pups will be clear.

They are generally healthy but there are some breed issues that funnily enough have roots to inbreeding by some of the noisiest breeders on the hpr forums. Your pedigree looks to avoid the worst and has dogs that were used by some of the better kennels which is a plus point. Hips wise it's too late to test and though not a guarantee it does give some form of idea. What you'll see is the breeders will have them tested as early as possible to get the best score they can which then stays with the bitch. Mine tested as 3 : 3 which at 4 was well above breed average, it's worth having done think it was £110 done through a friend. It now shows on her kc record and if I come to sell pups in the future then they can all check,

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