To conclude

Breeding dogs is a very unique experience. I really enjoyed it, but I am not looking forward to do it again sometime. I would like to do it again when I have A LOT of free time, there I would really love to breed many puppies, expecially golden retrievers.

I love my puppies. I hope they are in a good home. I would like to make a reunion party after 1 or 2 years to see them all again. That would be lovely, and impossible.

Fito, the 2 month old male pup. 

Lilo needs a little help. 

All pups trying to drink water. 

All pups want to go out to play 

Kansas and their pups looking really tired. The pups in this picture are 1 and half month old 

All the pups and their lovely colours! 

Bibliography

This are all the sources I refer to in the previous posts:

seeFIDO (2006) "Dog delivery (whelping)", seeFIDO, http://www.seefido.com/html/dog_-_puppy_delivery__whelping.htm, 6 January 2006

topgoldenretrieversites.net (2006) "Did you know", Top Golden Retriever Sites, http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/, 6 January 2006

Lee, E. (2001) "Re: Why does it take my dog two months to have puppies and a human 9 months?", http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/
jan2001/980868940.Dv.r.html, MadSci Network, 6 January 2006

crazyforDOGS (2000) "Celebrating Your Dog", Crazy for dogs, http://www.crazyfordogs.com/glossary/glossary.shtml, 6 January 2006

Yahoo! Pets (2005) "Tips Archive", http://pets.yahoo.com/pets/dogs/tip-previous, Yahoo!, 6 January 2006

SGRR (2006) "Golden Facts", http://www.sgrr.org/goldenfacts.htm, Sooner Golden Retriever Rescue, 6 January 2006

Dog Names! (2006) "20 most popular male and female dog names", http://www.geocities.com/dog_names/
most_popular_dog_names.html, Dog Names!, 6 January 2006

pedigree.com (2005) "Parenting your puppy", http://www.pedigree.com/PedigreeCenter/Articles/
Relationship/Dog+care+tips/Parenting+your+puppy.asp?FILTER=Puppy, The Pedigree Center, 6 January 2006

Brotherton, M. (2006) "Bathing your Puppy", http://www.petbitsforyou.com/bathing.html, Pet bits for you, 6 January 2006

AbsolutelyGolden.com (2005) "Grooming Your Golden Retriever", http://www.absolutelygolden.com/
golden_retriever_grooming.htm, AbsolutelyGolden.com, 6 January 2006

eHow (2005) "How to Select a Golden Retriever", http://www.ehow.com/how_8327_select-golden-retriever.html, eHow, 6 January 2006

Shipman, G. (2004) "So You Want a Golden...", http://www.dmgrc.org/Own%20a%20Golden.htm, Des Moines Golden Retriever Club, 6 January 2006

Welton, M. (2000) "A Golden Retriever For You ", http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/
buying/goldenretrievers.html, You Purebred Puppy, 6 January 2006

Adams, J (2000) "Feeding Your Puppy", http://www.rspcansw.com.au/Templates/Story
Template_Process.cfmspecie=Dogs&story_no=33, RSPCA, 6 January 2006

dogbreedinfo.org (2006) "Golden Retriever", http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/goldenretriever.htm, Dog Breed Info Center, 8 January 2006

One puppy

I have only been left with one puppy. Yes, with Fito. He is very cute and playful. He bites everything, since he is in the stage where he needs to bite something all the time. It was very hard to convince my parents to keep Fito, since having a puppy at home means destruction.

Fito is still at the puppy stage. However, he does not drink collustrum anymore, so I buy him puppy food. The quantity and the time of the meals should be considered "puppies should have 3 or 4 small meals a day until 3 months of age, then 2 meals a day until 6 to 12 months of age, depending on breed" (Adams, 2000). The quantity is stated in the food's packet. Usually is 3 cups a day.

Puppies meals must be controlled "Take care not to feed your puppy whenever and however much it likes. Obese puppies grow into obese dogs and are at risk of serious diseases such as diabetes. Large and giant breed puppies can develop bone defects if they grow too fast and it is essential to control their daily portions" (Adams, 2000).

Fact of the day: The fact that golden retrievers like to retrieve objects with their mouth can bring advantages. Golden retrievers need to do daily exercise so that they don't go obecese. Therefore you can play and exercise as well fairly easily with your golden retriever by playing games such as throwing and retrieving the ball (dogbreedinfo.org, 2006).

For the ones who missed the opportunity

Selling the puppies was a hard task because they were all female and they didn't have any pedigree. For the price I was giving them, it was a very excellent offer. This is for the ones who missed the opportunity of acquiring these precious golden female puppies:

• Dr. Herm David, Ph.D. says: "The AKC has an infinite supply of numbers. It's a good business to be in." (Welton, 2000). The AKC are just registration papers which register the puppy which parents were registered before. My puppies did not have any registration papers, and this is not necessary at all because this is just a waste of money. Pedigree is also unnecessary, since it is just a family tree. What do you need a family tree for? to see if he is purebred?
• "Registration papers don't suggest quality in a dog "(Welton, 2000).
• A dog can be purebred without having any registration paper and also there is a possibility that a non-purebred dog has fake registration papers "Always remember that GENES make a dog purebred. The presence or absence of registration papers doesn't change the genes inside a dog. He can be purebred without having papers -- and sadly, he can have papers without really being purebred" (Welton, 2000).
• ONLY acquire a puppy with pedigree if you are going to breed him in the future. Pedigree watches that you don't breed dogs which are closely related (Welton, 2000).
• Female puppies give benefits "Female dogs tend to be quicker to learn and are not as easily distracted during training sessions" (Welton, 2000). On the other hand, "Male dogs have obvious genitals, which can make for embarrassing moments if they become aroused or decide to lick themselves" (Welton, 2000).

Thought of the day: Female dogs aren't a bad choice. So why people prefer males? They have almost the same number of benefits and female dogs have less disadvantages. However, we unfortunately still live in the same society which will not change.

Goodbye puppies!

After my puppies were about 1.5 months, they started to go to their new homes. It was a sad moment for me.

Each buyer did not wanted to pay the price we set at the beginning. We then had to decrease the price, until it was a very good price hard to ignore. Few people tried to negotiate, and we had to of course accept their offer, since no one else would be interested. Overall, I think the puppies were sold for a good price, and it benefited most to the buyer than to me ;).

Each new owner had to reckon the weight of responsibility of having a golden retriever at home. These are the things we said to the owners:

• These dogs are very loyal and good companions. They love to play with children and they are not aggressive (eHow, 2006).
• These dogs can easily be trained because they try very hard to please the owner (ehow.com, 2006).
• These dogs are very social to both humans and other animals (eHow, 2006).
• These dogs are expected to grow very big and "reach a height of 21 to 24 inches at the shoulder and weigh around 55 to 65 pounds" (eHow, 2006).

At the end, all the puppies went to their new home before they reached 2 months old. I am going to miss them very much :'( . I hope these people take good care of them! This is how the new owners looked like:

• Abby was the first puppy to leave. She was very calm, and that is what most of the owners want from a dog. A family consisting of both parents and a one year old son took her. This family never had any dogs before, so I hope they can take good care of her.
• Pucca went with her father, Chester. However, Chester's owner sold her afterwards.
• Goldice went with a man who looked rich, since he had a fancy pick up with a driver. He said he had a big land and that he wanted to give her daughter a puppy to play with her.
• Lilo went to a friend from my sister, whose previous dog died in an accident.
• Nala went to a very happy family. The children believed in Santa Claus and though that the puppy was a present from him.
• Cinnamon went to a family that live in Santa Ana. I hope that golden retrievers spread in that area! However, I am very worried since this family had previously a dog, which died maybe because they did not take good care of him.
• Lana went to a friend from my sister's friend. She is a dog lover, so I feel relieved.

Tip of the day: Choosing the right golden retriever is very important, since they are going to be your companion for the next 10 to 15 years (Shipman, 2006). The puppy must be in good shape and healthy.