Labradors Forums banner

The TRUTH about Ex-breeding bitches

1 reading
21K views 45 replies 22 participants last post by  claire.contino  
#1 ·
I have been speaking to Marie about the adopting of ex-breeding bitches and dogs, and she has informed me that some people are put off them because they are hard work.

So to give them a fair chance within the world of rescue, we thought that it would be a good idea to give you an insight on them from the fosterers and adopters point of view, who have actually had one to one contact with these lovely girls.

IF YOU HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF FOSTERING OR ADOPTING AN EX-BREEDING DOGS, PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS.

This is the best chance to make anyone who is interested to consider adopting one.
 
#2 ·
I have had the honour of fostering 2 ex-breeding bitches from Many Tears Rescue.

They have both been very similar characters.

When I first got her home I introduced her to my dogs in the garden and they got on well, they both seemed quite nervous around the other dogs, but after a couple of hours, they seemed to settle in well.

As you would expect neither were housetrained, but having another dog to copy, they were housetrained within 2 days. They would occassionally had the odd accident but not often over the following week.

I remember one bitch in particular was frightened of her dog bowl, so when you fed her you had to put it by your feet and slide it across the floor to her, as she would duck otherwise as though you were going to hit her with it. That was very upsetting to see her do this.

Around the house they would follow me like a shadow, but as each day pass, they would become more and more confident, especially when they have another more confident dog to copy and show them the way.

I only had them for 2 weeks, and in this time I taught them how to walk on the lead, starting off in the garden and progressing to road walks. I would walk them around the streets a bit longer each time to show them that nothing is too scarey. They seemed ok with cars, but one was very frightened of bicycles, so I just stood there with her and showed her that nothing was scarey about it.

I also after a week or so, took her out with my others in an enclosed field and let them off the lead, and she would not run off with them, but stayed with me, much like a puppy does when you first let them off. Too scared really to leave your side, but again after a few times of doing this they soon learned from my others that it was fun to run about and chase a ball, and nothing bad was going to happen to them just because they were having fun and were free to run about.

Dont get me wrong, there are some ex-breeding dogs out there which do take a lot more work to socialise them, but these two that I had were quick to respond to their new lives.

I REALLY do feel that a lot of this process is due to me having confident dogs that they copy and follow their lead on. A human can show them so much, but for them to have another canine to show them they can see from a dogs point of view, nothing is too scarey.

I am still in regular contact with one of the girls that I fostered, and she has come on so much in the past year. She went to live with another labrador, and she carried on the work that we had only just started with. She is such a confident girl now, still a little shy around people in particular, but has grown so much.

So please do consider them, they are so worth the time and effort.
 
#5 ·
we've have an ex breeder. she really is a great dog. i know very little of were she came from and she has deep scars on her legs and some scars on her face, who knows how they got there. she is very loyal and kind of obedient :D she is great with kids but hates horses, i always say she should of been a Chihuahua cus she loves to get on your lap. with tillys help she has turned out to be a wonderful dog and im proud that she is mine, both of them. :D :D

forgot to add she was also really over weight and had a really saggy tummy when she first came to us, she has now lost loads of weight and her tummy is much much better.
she also had very hard brown skin on her elbows which i thought would never clear up, but over time even this has gone.
 
#6 ·
Tammy I hope this isn't inappropriate to stick a bit about Rhuna, we believe she'd had several litters although she'd also been worked as a 'champion' gun dog according to the little information we got when we took her in.

Rhuna was an absolute delight, she came to us stinky and with a few kennel sores, and was very, very thin. The couple that had taken her in ran a farm and wanted to find a better home where she could get individual attention and good food, as she was just fading away with them. We reckon she was about somewhere between the ages of 12 and 14, and she came to us with huge amounts of mammary tumours.

When we first brought her home she used to grin submissively whenever you went anywhere near her, which made us feel as though she'd had a hard time at some point in her life. We got in some complete food for senior dogs, and she wolfed everything down we gave her, gradually put on weight and even got a bit of a shine to her coat. She didn't seem to know how to play with balls or toys, and it took quite a long time but eventually we got her playing and retrieving with tennis balls, but the cheeky little madam preferred running off back to her bed to defluff them. We had been told she wasn't house trained, but we only ever had a couple of accidents and that was when she was a bit off colour, she just seemed to follow our two in 'holding on' until she could go outside.

She settled right in and was obviously very proud that she had a bed! We had a couple of moments where I think she hadn't had such luxury in her life and wasn't going to share so was a bit grumpy with Indie and Tau, nothing more than a grumble though, and she soon learned that there was always more than enough to go round for everyone.

She loved her raw chicken and wouldn't eat her complete if there was any chicken wings around. My favourite memory of Rhuna would be sitting in the kitchen in my dressing gown with the first (of many) cups of tea waking up while the girls played. There'd be several tennis balls and Tau would always have to have the one Indie had, so they'd wrestle and in the middle Rhuna would steal the tennis balls and take them back to her bed. She'd end up like a mother hen with all the balls sat under her! Eventually Indie and Tau would realise there wasn't anything left to wrestle for so they'd run off to try and get their balls back.

Rhuna was a very special girl, and I couldn't recommend more to anyone to take on an older girl that's had a hard life. She wasn't strictly speaking a breeding bitch but her story might have put people off in the way they might be put off taking in a breeding bitch. If you have the space and are thinking about getting another one in there, I can't express how rewarding it is to help make a happy ending.
 
#9 ·
We rescued Rhuna via word of mouth. Her original owner was dying from liver failure and she'd been passed from pillar to post a bit, and wasn't in the best of states when we took her in. All it needed was a bit of love, good food and somewhere nice to sleep and she soon turned round. I was amazed at Indie and Tau and how they helped Rhuna learn how to play, it really pulled at the heart strings to see the effect they had on her. Rhuna was only given weeks to live after an initial vet check, but liked life with us so much she decided to stick around for about seven months. She started going downhill quickly, and after trying AB's and steroids we decided the underlying cause was probably too serious and weren't willing to put her through lots of tests, and the vet agreed it was time to call it a day. We had Rhu cremated and scattered her ashes in a wood we often go for walks in so that we can meet up with her for a while. We all still miss her, but definitely don't regret one second or penny spent on helping her have a lovely twilight.
 
#10 ·
Miss Maggie
I don't think for one minute that Maggie is your average ex breeding bitch (if there is such a thing),from what i've read on others. She came to me after being in foster for 5 mths then spending a week in kennels which sent her backwards .But thankfully not too far backwards and she soon forgot the kennels. So having said all this don't think that Maggie is like all of these lovely dogs her story to start with could well put people off but i feel i should say how she was and is warts and all so here goes.............

I won't lie and say that the evening i met Maggie myself and my OH both looked at eachother and could have cried looking at the pitiful site of this gorgeous lab laying in the doorway of the kennel wow did i get a shock when a lead was put on her she thrashed about like a crocodile thats caught it's prey then hit the floor and made like a rock then started to shake from head to toe my heart broke to see this. At that moment i did think to myself OMG what have i done but it went as quick as it came she was mine and i was going to help her .
I had been told that she was one of the worse cases that they had seen in along time so was prepared i think. The journey home i could have cried i wanted to get in the back with her this poor dog was so petrified of us and couldn't have got any further away from us if she tried she shook from head to toe all the way home from middlesex to luton. We had to carry her into the house and as soon as she was put down she ran straight into the nearest corner. I sat and watched her thinking how in gods name can someone supposedly human do this to a dog ...............
So thats the sad part over and if you haven't fallen asleep then we'll move on Maggie was frightened of everything including her own shadow and especially men but loved Baxter and my son who was then 7. She wouldn't let me touch her so i didn't i left her and just spoke to her in fact i had full blown conversations with her she had everything about what i was doing explained to her and within a few days she would let me stroke her i was
overjoyed.
My next major hurdle was getting a lead on her i posted about it on here for advice had my own ideas on what to do and people confirmed them she was so so terrified of the lead and would just bolt around the house like something posessed so leaving a lead on her wasn't an option. My OH thought about it and after a month or so of being with us he came home and said right put the lead on her we're taking her out so we did carrying her to the car and driving somewhere very safe and with Baxter we had our first walk which was more of a crawl to be honest. We did this every night for weeks and she slowly went further and started to take interest in things . We were off and she hasn't looked back it seemed that by replacing the horrible association she had with a lead with nice experiences has worked wonders and the scary things are in the past although every now and then they rear there ugly heads but i just ignore it and we carry on. She still has issues with my OH but it has changed form being scared of him to loving him and she shows this by talking to him which can be a tad annoying at 3 in the morning when he comes in!!!(we are working on that) :lol:
Maggie came to us at the end of March 07 so mentally traumatised and now in January she still has a way to go but wow what a difference. She is not a 'normal' lab and i doubt she ever will be but every day i see a difference something so simple that we take for granted with our normal labs taking food out of our hands,a belly rub,picking toys up,playing with toys the list goes on but we are getting there and i am so so proud of her and never for one minute regret getting her watching her develop and her character come through (she is quiet a strong willed madam at times) is brilliant and so rewarding. I can't find the right words to say how it makes me feel watching her only today i watched her playing with the others in the fields and a month ago she wouldn't do that. She is my shadow now and i never worry about her when we're out as she's always where i am unless she gets a wiff of something and forgets herself and goes off at breakneck speed nose to ground then suddenly remembers she's not with us and comes flying back in true Maggie butterfly running styley (her co-ordination is a bit hit and miss as she obviously had no muscle and is very badly bred so when she runs her back legs look like she's doing the butterfly stroke ) :lol: This i might add is improving as her muscle is building bless her.
Maggie has come such a long way in a short time and to go through all of what she has accomplished with the help of Baxter who has been a star with her, would take forever.
I think i've waffled on enough could talk about her for hours can you
tell????

Sorry if it's so long but so much to tell about her and this is not all of it hard to know what to put in. Am sure those who've met Maggie as i take her to as many places now as i can will tell you she is 'unique' . :wink:

SO FOR THOSE OF YOU TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF A RESCUE AND JUST SKIP BY THE EX BREEDING DOGS DON'T THEY ARE A PURE JOY TO OWN AND THANKFULLY MOST ARE NOT AS BAD AS MAGGIE. IN FACT WITH LOVE AND PATIENCE CAN AND DO BECOME FABULOUS FAITHFUL DOGS WHO ARE A PLEASURE TO OWN AND REWARD YOU TEN FOLD JUST FOR A CUDDLE AND A KIND WORD.

I KNOW I WILL GET ANOTHER EX BREEDING BITCH ONE DAY ...............

Thought it only right to add pictures of my gorgeous girlie .........

MISS MAGGIE

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
 
#12 ·
i thought i'd add a post... hope u don't mind... i don't own a ex-breeding bitch but i have the pleasure of knowing the gorgeous Miss Maggie.

When i first meet her back in spring 06, we were on a mini gt at woburn woods. She stuck close to Marie and whilst the others were being lab hooli's, she just sniffed along behind Marie. Lorri's son Luke was trying his hardest to get her involved... with tasty treats. She didn't know what sit meant bless her.

as the months have passed, i've watched Miss Maggie change... slowly she became braver and started going off on her little sniff adventures. If the others are swimming, Maggie can be found exploring the shallows, snuffling off to find treasures! She will come to others for treats, she'll sit with the rest. if you ever lose sight of her, check behind you, as she'll normally be trotting along at knee level waiting for tasty treats to fall from the sky! :D

Her running has definately improved!!!! she used to 'butterfly swim' run with her back and front legs but she's now found co-ordination!

But the most amazing transformation can be seen if you go to Marie's house... the quiet shy Miss Maggie... oh NO! meet hooli, 100mph Miss Maggie!!!!

she's a joy and i feel privileged to be in her 'circle' of trusted ones. She's a lovely dog and a true credit to Marie who i have the upmost respect for. she claims its nothing but love she's given maggie to turn her around but its a pretty amazing love!

so thats it from me.

If you have room for a rescue lab, don't dismiss the ex-breeding bitches... you'll get nothing but reward and love from them

love u Miss Maggie!
 
#16 ·
I can third that!

Miss Maggie is a truly special girl, she is intelligent, inquisitive, responsive, great company and always, without fail, makes you smile when you are with her.

Out on GT's, every now and then, her sheer joy just sort of tips over and she goes bombing off, splashing about in the shallows or just galloping bunny style across the fields and, knowing where she has been, it makes me want to laugh out loud and cry at the same time.

Marie has done a wonderful thing for Miss Maggie, but, as she has said, Maggie will repay her in bucketloads every day.

I've always had rescues and will DEFINITELY look for an ex-breeding dog next time, I can't think of anything more worth doing.
 
#17 ·
OMG MY EYES ARE LEAKING AGAIN :lol:

Thank you so much Helen (who will be starting Miss Maggies fan club) Am sure it was you Helen that gave her the Miss before her name.

Can i just add that Maggie also has a very soft spot for Auntie Helen so huuge licks coming to you to from Miss Maggie
 
#18 ·
Breeding Bitches

Tammy,

What a brilliant post. Last year we helped several ex breeding bitches, we have one currently with us who has recently had a litter of 9 puppies and we are also expecting a couple more in the next few weeks.

They were a little timid, but with some work from the kennel staff the dogs had been turned around and were housetrained within a matter of days.

Alison
LRSE&C
 
#19 ·
that is great Alison.

I have today collected my new foster, a 7 year old ex-breeding bitch, who had her last litter 2 months ago, so we estimate that she must of had approx 10-12 litters.

I have got her home, after helping her to jump in and out of the car. She walks nicely on the lead, she is great with kids, dogs and cats, and she has done nothing but wag her tail since she came home with me.

She has such a lovely temperament, and is really a very lovely girl.

She is unsure of the steps that lead upto my house, but she will have got used to them within a couple of days.

She is settling in well so far, and follows me around the house.

She seemed a little hand shy a first, but after lots of strokes and cuddles I think she now knows that she can trust me, and comes upto me for kisses.

I will continue to update you on her progress whilst she is with me.

As you can see, some ex-breeding bitches are not hard work and it will not take them to long to settle into your life and her new routine.
 
#20 ·
I can add here - even if I only met Rosie, the ex breeding Bassett, for a few hours.

We dont know if she had lived in a house before or not, but it probably only took her 15 - 30 mins for her to feel like she was at home. She loved my dogs, loved the kids and loved us all. She was happy, playing, chewing on a Nylabone she found - just like any normal dog. She was a pleasure to have as a dinner guest. If we had the room she would have been welcome in our house. Meeting Rosie has made me realise that you cannot tar all ex broods with the same brush. Rosie will make someone VERY happy indeed. I hope she finds a home very soon as she deserves to have a happy normal life from now on :D
 
#21 ·
Thanks Marie for pointing out this thread to me......another excuse to rave about Kimmy!! :lol:

Firstly, before I forget, I want to say don't be put off by the scared look on the faces of the dogs at Many Tears and other rescue websites. I used to think you could tell a lot from a photo, but think about it, they have been taken from their home or 'existence' and put into a loud kennel environment, with total strangers, and are having their piccie taken usually on the first day. Please don't write them off by the sad, shy or terrified look on their faces. It's often not the real dog at all. Go and see them.

Kimmy looked scared on her photo and she was. But by the time we visited her in her foster home, she was a waggy soft and happy girl.

She had been a pet at sometime, which is really sad. She sits up and begs on two legs.She rolls over for her tummy to be tickled even form across the room! I don't know how she became a breeding bitch, but she has had quite a few litters according to the vet. One of the characteristics of an ex-breeding bitch is patience. Kimmy lets Rolo maul and goad her endlessly. I used to try to stop it, but now I let them get on with it as I'm sure Kimmy would tell Rolo if she didn't like it!

We visited Kimmy on the Saturday afternoon and stayed over in Chippenham that night. The following morning when we picked her up, the front door opened and out ran Kimmy, flying into the car boot as though she knew she was going home.

She is the sweetest adorable dog you could wish for. She follows Rolo's lead a lot, but is very quick to learn and extremely obedient. She is very greedy (not like a lab, eh? :lol: ) although sometimes lacks confidence, which we are working on. If Rolo finishes her food first, then she'll have a sniff at Kimmy's bowl, but Kimmy will give a warning growl, but wag her tail at the same time :lol:

As for problems.....it's hard to think of any. As Marie says, Maggie was one of the more extreme cases. We were told Kimmy was afraid of 'skinny men'. After a couple of weeks, she overcame this.

The only thing I am wary of is the children approaching her when she's asleep. Once she got a fright when my youngest son went to stroke her, and jumped up and snarled. With their pasts, you don't know what they're dreaming. That was the only incident, and we've had her 5 months now. She's as soft as clarts and like a big teddy bear.

Also, don't be put off by their saggy teats. Kimmy's were long and saggy but with all that charging around with Rolo, she is really fit and in great shape. She has a lovely waist and no more wobbly bits :D

Don't be afraid to say no if it's the wrong dog for you. It's best all round, especially for the dog as they need to be in a 'forever home'. The chances are when you get there, you'll fall in love. :wink:

Ex-breeding labs are fantastic. They are intelligent, trainable and you will be rewarded so much.

Well I just have to post some piccies here as I think she is really bonny...but I'm biased!!!

Waving her paw...

Image


...sitting beautifully in the beer garden...

Image


Image


...and we took her to the Lake District for a holiday and had some lovely walks...

...all girls together...

Image


...a dip in Rydal Water...

Image


...yes, she did come back!

Image


I'm so proud of Kimmy, I could take her anywhere too. Good luck with your new girl Tam :D

Lindsey, Rolo & Kimmy XXX
 
#22 ·
Holly is on day two.

She has already mastered the steps that she was too afraid of. She will think about it first, but then runs up them, so I give her such a fuss when she gets there, each time is getting easier for her.

Last night she was dry and all day today as well. I am very impressed seeing that she has never lived indoors before.

She met one of my cats full on today, nose to nose sniffing each other, and then walked away.

When we were out on our walk up the moor. She met another lab, and was so good with him. When she was not sniffing the ground, she walks by my side looking at me wanting a fuss, and if I dont, she nudges my hand so to be stoked.

This girl is really so very very happy, her tail has not stopped wagging since she came her.
 
#23 ·
Most of you will know that I adopted Feather in July 2006, from MTR. Very soon after that, I noticed Que and Queen on their website, but didn't dream I would end up with them too. I watched the site, and no-one wanted Que and Queen at all. There was a picture of Que's bum all burned from sitting in her own wee. They were fostered with Rosemary in Somerset, and I rang Rosemary at the beginning of October about something else, and said I knew someone who would love Que and QUeen but that she worked. Rosemary didn't see that as necessarily stopping someone from having them. I told her it was me! She knew how life was working out for Feather as I gave regular updates. So I went down to pick them up, and came home with Snowie too. Snowie had jumped all over Feather, and reacted well to me, surprisingly. So I couldn't leave her behind. We later found out that Feather is Snowie's mum.

They are a wonderful family, learning every day how to be doggies in the lap of luxury. They have developed each day. I never push them, everything has come naturally, or from watching my beloved Jazz, who is very laidback. You have to let them take things at their own pace. Maybe because I have so many of them together, it has been a slow process. But I'm sure they are enjoying life, which is what it is all about.

I feel so strongly that these girls are worth every minute of care I put into them. I would have more if I could. The others above have said so much of what there is to say about these special doggies, I can't just keep repeating it. But they are SO WORTH IT.
 
#24 ·
I first saw Suzie on the MTR website in October 2006, she looked so sad and appealing my heart went out to her. At the time I was really not looking for another dog as as had very recently lost my beloved Beauty very suddenly and was still heartbroken. BUT, I could not keep from going back to look at Suzies picture (or Choosy as she was then called).
I only waited a couple of days before I contacted MTR and made an appointment to see her.
She was in a kennel with another ex-breeding lab and would not leave her side, she was a nervous wreck. I went to collect her a week later. Shirley had to carry her to the car and lift her in she just did not want to come with me, it was heartbreaking. She just lay in the back of my car all the way home and I kept talking to her, trying to reassure her. She had a large lump on her chest where she had probably been kicked (how brave is that of a human).
At home she immediatley started to follow Katie around and would not leave her side, even now she hates to be separated from her. She was not house trained but she soon learned from Katie.
I never once tried to make her accept us or push her into doing anything she did not want to, just let her adjust in her own time.
She was under weight and her coat and skin were in a dreadful condition. She had very dry, sore and cracked skin and her coat was very thin and patchy.
I had to bath her in Malaseb 3-4 times a week for about 3 months, she never once complained or grumbled about it.
The look in her eyes as she gradually began to trust me was worth all the time I spent nursing her.
She had a great mistrust of my OH and would not go near strange men. Gradually she has learned to trust and is now a very happy girl.
She is so grateful for every little thign that I do for her and is totally devoted to me.
I had never had a resuce before, always has pups. I can honestly say that getting Suzie was one tof the best things I have ever done. The love I have shown her has been returned ten fold. I would definitely recommend an ex-breeding bitch as an adoptive dog.
Suzie is one of the most loving girls I have had. She has learned how to play with Katie and I am sure one day she might even try a swim, she only paddles at the moment.
 
#26 ·
I have really been thinking about special things I have seen in the time I have had my girls. That is due partly to this thread, and also because of my darling Queen's current health problem.

They are all small things, but make you realise what you are doing for, or giving to, these doggies.

Queen's surgeon says she now weighs 40kg, but was only 37 when I got her, and she is slimmer now. This means she has converted fat to muscle, which is heavier, through exercise. Queen had been kept in a box. She was stiff, and had no stamina. Our kitchen floor is ceramic tiles. A nightmare for Queen who did Bambi impersonations all the time. Now she snoops round the kitchen and remains upright when the others push into her in the stampede for a crumb! A year ago she had learnt to keep out of the way, but now she's joining in without any risk. In recent weeks she has trotted in the fields albeit in short bursts. She could do no more than plod a year ago.

You might remember that Que couldn't stand up properly when she was rescued. She then had to lose half a paw when I first got her. After about 7 weeks she could finally start going out for walks. We started by going out of the gate into the field, then going 50 yards out, then 100 yards out and so on. She now trots round for most of the walk, about 3/4 mile in total. We do it twice a day in the summer, and sometimes twice in the winter. It won't seem much to some people, but it's a whole lot further than when you are a labrador kept in a box, probably in the dark too.

The rescue and fosterer thought Queen might be deaf at first because she didn't respond to being spoken to. That soon changed with gentle soothing talk. She quickly learnt the w-word, and "dinner" here.

Snowie goes to training now, more for socialisation than anything. We were moved up to the second class this week. She's learnt to sit. She is a slow learner bacause she remains so anxious, but it's easier than it was. She knows some of the dogs in the second class who moved up before us. It is much more civilised so I think she'll learn more quickly here.

Their learning to play has been a long time coming, but they are now taking toys off each other, with the occasional game of tuggy. They love soft toys, and Snowie de-squeaks anything that makes a noise. All soft toys end up de-stuffed. As is well documented elsewhere, Que has a penchant for Sky remotes.

Feather would rob shoes given half the chance. She's had several of my daughter's. I had to fling them in the bin, and when Sarah next wants them, she's no idea where she's left them, so Feather gets away with it. I learnt my lesson with Feather and shoes very early on, but Sarah rolls home at all hours, in all states, so has no recollection whether she even had her shoes when she got in. Only Snowie and Feather have an interest in balls, but don't like them being thrown. They like chewing them to little bits.

There are so many small things, which I forget now, but I have been reminded recently of how things were for them when they first arrived, and thought I would like to share them, particularly for this thread.