[bobbiej]

It's funny I was just talking to a lady about this today. She's going to go to pieces when her girl has her pups and even worse when she has to give up the pups. Some people just aren't made for breeding. I have over the years developed a knack of loving them, socializing them, playing with them, nursing them and still keep a little part of me detached so it's not so hard to let them go. Also I screen the new owners very well, before I sell. If anything seems out of whack, I back off and sell to someone else!

my last litter before this one, I had 6 pups, 2 little bitty ones and the rest normal size. I lost the little girl, which broke my heart, but managed to save the tiny male. He is now 5 months old and weighs a whopping 1lb 6 ozs as of today. Don't think he's gonnal make it to 2 lbs full grown, but he is healthy and wonderful, and everyone falls in love with him.

I will stud for pick of the litter, but never heard of a whole litter going like that. I also have a very precise contract that both the buyer and seller sign at time of purchase, so there is no misunderstanding on either side.

I usually retire my bitches at about 7 years old. When I do retire them I have them spayed immediately to ward off a lot of health problems in later years. I'm a vet tech so I know what can happen if they are not spayed.

I too sometimes breed each time. Sometimes I skip a couple of cycles. I have one bitch that is born to breed, never has a problem. She is healthy as a horse and has gorgous babies. I get my chocolates from her. So guess the answer is there is no hard fast answer to any of your questions, but hope everyone has helped a little anyway! Good Luck!!

BobbieJ