Integrity Golden Retrievers

In the beginning…..there was a family who decided to purchase a golden retriever with full breeding rights. Juliet was chosen because of her blocky head/body and she turned into everything I dreamed of in a breeding dog.

We started her on the same kibble we had Toby on, not knowing any difference. Health testing was done, a stud was found, a mentor was on board helping me and weeks and weeks worth of research was done.

Time came and poof, Juliet was pregnant, our first litter would be due May of 2017. Juliet delivered the first 7 pups no problem at home. Then during the middle of the night a labor stalled. Well, actually labor continued with hard contractions, but no pup was coming. Around 3am the decision was made to take her to the emergency clinic where I was told she needed a c-section. I left Juliet in very capable hands and went home for a couple hours of sleep.

Of course after a c-section, antibiotics are given to prevent infection. Also, as newbies with 10 healthy pups we didn’t know any better and rotated those pups 5 on, 5 off to make sure everyone got fed. Mastitis developed when the babies were about 2 weeks old. It was bad. Her “milk machine” burst and gross stuff oozed out while I was on the phone freaking out to the vet’s office. Another round of antibiotics. Everything healed up nicely – whew. BUT…..mastitis hit again when babies were around 4 weeks old. Weaned the babies, dried up Juliet, but a third round of antibiotics was necessary.

Three rounds of antibiotics in one month. Juliet was kibble fed at the time with no “extras”. A few months after this is when everything spiraled downhill and our journey began.