We are in week seven with the Springer Spaniel puppies now. We have been following them every
week since they arrived. With me now is their breeder and owner Lisa, here we are week seven.
We have made it. What has been happening in the last week? Really in the process now of
being fully weaned. They are still getting some milk from mum but they are being fed
four times a day now, a mixture of dry food which I soften a little bit and some wet food.
They have been out for their first journey in the car. So I took them in the car to the
vet. Check them over. And microchipped them. So all that is recorded on their docking certificates
from their tail, you will remember their tails were docked at the very beginning. The vet
would come to me to do it but I quite like them to go out in the car. So they have already
been in the car. They have gone through that. They saw the nurses and everything. So that
went really well. In addition, because I am an Assured Breeder, I need a note from the
vet from each puppy saying that he has checked them, he is happy with them, they are healthy.
The only slight hiccup, not even a hiccup, is Bramble and Reggie - fine. Stenson had
a slight umbilical hernia which is really common. Does not really matter. Just a small
hole like a normal hernia. Can I interrupt, which one he is in the pack just so we can
pick him out. Stenson, he has the wider white on his head, the wider blade on his head.
And what do you do about this problem or is it not a problem. You do nothing. Nine times
out of ten it heals itself. That comes from Mum chewing the umbilical cord. It depends
how she chews it. It is not really a birth defect it depends how mum does that. And he
had one undescended testicle, but again because he was just coming up to seven weeks more
like six weeks at that point, the vet said it probably will come down, but the other
boy, Reggie, both his were there. So it is just something to keep an eye on. But the
only way that would affect you would be iff you were going to breed form them. But I know
the people are not going to use them for breeding so when he is neutered the vet will sort out
everything. So neither of those issues are a particular problem. No. If you were selling
him as a breeding dog yes. If I was keeping him as a breeding dog it might be. The worst
case scenario with the hernia is - when they get bigger - the hernia should stay the same
and it should just disappear. The only problem would be if the hernia kept getting bigger.
Then they would just need to fix that. Then if the testicle does not descend the neutering
process is a slightly more complicated operation as they need to find it. It will be somewhere
in him. Now obviously they are a litter of three, you have had larger litters before.
And basically there has not been as many of them to share Mum's milk, so are they larger
than the puppies have been in the past. Yes they are probably a little bit larger. Normally
when you have a big litter - the last one was eight - you always get one or two that
you would say are the runts of the litter. Which does not sound very nice but it just
means they are smaller. So these are actually three that are almost exactly the same size
which is good. It is much better. In the big litters you will get one big one which is
the one that steals all the milk and the little ones that you have to help along a little
bit. Whereas with the three they have been fine and they have had plenty of milk and
plenty of food. And the vet check that you mentioned, that is something you do with all
puppies before they go off to their new homes. It is something I do. Yes. I have to for the
Assured Breeders Scheme. I think most people at this point, legitimate breeders are doing
it because the puppies have to be microchipped. You can get people off the internet who will
come and microchip, but I always go to the vets. So it is my peace of mind as well so
I know they are going - what I do not want to do is to send someone home with a puppy
and get a call a few days later saying we have taken it to the vet and this is wrong
and that is wrong. It is just not good. So I am happy that my vet is happy and I say
to everyone who buys a puppy form me, within twenty four hours take them to your vet, let
your vet check them, make sure that your vet and my vet agree with each other and any problems
get back to me. Do vaccinations come into the equation yet or is that something for
later in the puppies development. That is later I do not vaccinate . Legally in the
UK you don not have to. The only legal requirement is microchipping. I do not vaccinate for two
reasons. One, I think it is a good way of ensuring that the people take the puppy to
the vet who bought it. Most people who are buying from an Assured Breeder are the kind
of people who would go right to a vet anyway, but what it means is that person has made
an appointment with the vet, will start a relationship with the vet surgery and that
their vet will see the puppy when it is small. We are in week seven, the puppies will be
going after they have reached eight weeks old, what advice do you give to those new
owners when they go away with your puppies. They will go away with a puppy pack which
will have about a twenty page leaflet in it where I explain everything, from grooming,
feeding, exercise, everything like that. I also say to them be prepared for a couple
of nights crying and barking. The feedback I have had is most people do not have problems
with that. They probably will not. This lot, Bramble, she is going to a house with no other
dog - the other two are going to houses that already have my dogs. So if there are other
dogs you tend not to have a problem. And I just say, you just might find a day or two
where they are to eating really well or untying. It will just be nerves and just them in a
new environment. And i say, whether anyone listens to me, when they are crying at night.
Do not go down stairs to them. Difficult. Difficult. And the worst I think is to have
them in the bedroom with you. Some people do. So really it is up to the family who take
the puppy. But I will not have dogs upstairs. But some people will get upset by hearing
the puppy cry and then bring it upstairs. And you are starting this whole cycle of they
want to be upstairs with you all the time. But some people it does not matter to them.
So it is up to them. How will you feel when they go. You are a professional breeder but
you must get attached to them. Who would not. Yes, they are very cute. For me, I breed them
to go to other people. So you always know that. The families are always nice. I make
sure who they are going to. And actually while you do miss them, it is nice to just have
your own dogs back. And your kitchen back. And my kitchen back yes. But to me the two
dogs who are here are my dogs. The puppies are other peoples dogs. And it is actually
just nice to go back to Mum and Dad, Dylan and Poppy, and just go back to normal life
for a while. Because the puppies are like any small children, they take so much energy
and time and effort away from other relationships. Well we wish them well and really want to
thank you for letting us visit weekly to pester you. It has been really interesting what you
have told us. It's been great. I hope you and the puppies do really well. Thank you.