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What my first litter experience was like.
When I finally made the decision to move forward with breeding my beautiful little French bulldog, after a good 2 years educating myself, on every aspect of this breed, and getting Mila health tested, I was so excited. I've delivered pups, raised pups, trained and professionally groomed. I've covered almost every aspect of pregnancy in dogs. This was my first artificial insemination experience. Mila doesn't like her nails done, blood taken, I could only imagine how fun an insemination would be. It went as well as I thought it would. She was not happy, and she had no qualms about sharing her feelings. The breeder that was performing the A.I. for me, is very experienced. We decided on 3 inseminations. The first time we went, she screamed bloody murder. I was so upset for her, I almost decided to stop and go home. We drove all the way from Maine to PA for this, so I could learn how to properly inseminate in the future. It would have been a long drive for nothing. Thankfully, Eric was very calm about her behavior. It didn't bother him at all. He was patient with her and took his time. Very easy to see this was old hat for him. The reproductive vet I took her to for a progesterone test, couldn't do it, and told me I shouldn't bother to breed her. It reminded me a bit of my children's teachers. They all want the cookie cutter kid. The easiest to work with, best behaved, quietist. As an early educator, I always leaned a bit towards the misunderstood children and animals. Thankfully, Eric was not bothered with this behavior, and he knew what he needed to do to make it as easy on Mila as he could. Each insemination after that initial one got much better. I was thrilled to find out, that after all of that, the A.I. worked.
Her pregnancy was great, nothing scary or exciting happened. We went and had an ultrasound to verify the pregnancy. Now all we could do was wait. This was the most stressful part for me. I know what to look for when a dog is in labor, but what if something happens in the middle of the night. I played out all kinds of scary scenarios in my head. I know some frenchies have given birth naturally. I was not ready to find out if Mila could. I was very scared of something happening to her, even with a c-section, I worried. I'm not one to worry, but I'm a bit of a control freak, and this was out of my control. I worried about the timing of it all. If your too early or too late, lives can be lost. We picked a c-section date, I ended up canceling it, because I knew it was too soon. We ended up picking a Tuesday and she went into labor on Monday, of course. They did a progesterone test, and thankfully I timed it perfectly. They delivered 6 beautiful, healthy pups and mom was ready to go home and rest.
Now the fun begins. I stayed downstairs with her and the babies for almost 4 weeks. I needed to be close in case something happened. I got a camera, so I could monitor them when I wasn't with them, and when I went back to my bedroom. It's very much like having your own child. You worry for a few days, until you realize, everything is and will continue to be fine. Mila was such a great mother. Attentive, protective, nursed without an issue, cleaned them, she was just an all around excellent mother.
Next was getting the word out. I'm new to the French bulldog breeder world, so I was starting from scratch. I made an instagram page, tiktoks, face book, joined some French bulldog, and breeding groups. I knew little of the viral world, and I was ok with that. Now I have to learn how all these social networks worked. I did have fun with it. Taking photos, and videos of all the babies. Sharing their development. In doing this, I met some very nice people. I started getting inquiries about the babies, and at first, I was a bit sad about it. The thought of sending them away and not being a part of their lives was difficult, but I found wonderful families for the 4 babies I sold. Knowing, I have had a life changing impact on others makes it a bit easier, and thankfully they keep me updated on their development.
This is not a world to enter into lightly. Not if you plan on doing it right, and I plan on being one of the best. It's expensive and time consuming. I mean, it takes up all of your time. This is my job. I don't see how anyone can work out of the house and do this properly. I spend so much time with each pup. I work on nails, grooming, stairs, potty training, leash walking and start training the basic behaviors as early as possible. Keeping everything clean and disinfected, the laundry never seems to end. These are just a few of the things you do daily. I'm still learning the most efficient way to do certain things. I read what other successful breeders are doing. I want to make sure I am as knowledgeable as possible.
I am crossing my fingers that we will be starting the puppy process over again very soon. I'm not sure how confident I feel doing the A.I. this time. Only time will tell. I don't have a large bevy of females I breed. I just have Mila, she is my world, and after 2 more litters she will retire and her daughter will take over. I am not doing this to become rich. I realize, many people churn out as many, as quickly as they can. It's important to me, that my babies are happy and healthy and make wonderful companions, and the more you have the less time you can give each one. I find the quality time they are given at a young age makes all the difference in their behaviors as adults. I know they get a great start here and will make their new families very happy and proud. This is also why I keep them until 10 weeks. Many people prefer 8 weeks, but that doesn't benefit the baby at all, it just makes it easier on the breeder. The longer the baby can stay with it's mom and siblings the better adjusted the pup will be.
I'm hoping to make future blogs that help dog owners with any and every aspect of a dogs life. From beginning to end. So keep your eyes out for my future informational dog blogs, and thank you for reading about my experiences thus far.