again no issues with them being outdoors, i do feel sighhoudns are a breed that shouldnt be outdoors year round and needs more one on one human interaction but thats beyond the point...
my biggest concern here is the op talking about how the puppies NEVER see a vet...
when vixie had her litter, the vet came to me to give them a quick check over...your worried about all the scary illensses at the vet, find a vet thatll do a house call...
while i feel that a healthy litter shouldnt have to see a vet through most of it, i personally would want them at least a quick once over before they leave, for both mine and my "buyers" peace of mind, if a buyer claimes 2 weeks down the line "this puppies sick and its from when i got it" i at least have the vets say that the puppy was perfectly healthy when it left. (a good friend of mine had this happen when the new owners son took the 12 week old puppy to a dog park where it picked up worms and giardia...she tried to insist the dog was ill before she got it and wanted the vets costs plus "compensation", vet did fecals and a check over before the dog whent home...and her case for puppy lemon when she tried to take it to court fell through based on that...it wasnt untill after court her son admitted hed taken the dog to the dog park where hed seen it eat poop)
the part where the op does NOT intervene in the birth, if a puppy gets stuck what then?! the dogs birthing alone, no vet on call, what if its the first pup?! you can lose an entire litter AND the mother...what then?!
Oh its natures way...
what if she retains one?! ends up with a nasty infection ect?! just natures way of saying shes not "healthy enoguh" to have puppies...and since the op openly admits to letting snake bites take theour course and not seeing a vet ect would the bitch simply wait the infection out and hope for the best?!
and agreed on the virginia winters issue, yes the nights of the middle east can get cold, but not feet of snow cold...yes hay will provide some insulation, but not realy enough. if your all for "au natural" youd be living in the middle east with those dogs, nothing about their current environment is natural.
pops: just to address, im not sure about the cresteis youve been around, but ive started spending alot of time around the bred in the past almost 3 years, ive talked to alot of GOOD breeders, and the many cresties ive met, most dont realy bark so much as yodle and whine, they come into heat on average once every 8-12 months, and they are NOT easy train easy handle dogs, while they bond very strongly with their person (and do tend towards seperation anxiety) they are often highly aloof with strangers, and can be VERY hard to train, they need a very certain hand.
the modern crestie however is definatly far removed from the breed it used to be in terms of traits, this breed was bred to hunt, now its rare to find a crestie who will chase small game outside of a "hey lets play" Ruby is very much a hunt and CATCH kind of dog, but doesnt have the instinct to kill, jasper at 6 months has also shown his hunt and ability to catch, (though hes all feet and likes ot bat at his catch like a cat does)