wow. chessieish, thats a mouthfull lol.
on the spay thing, had a working female cocker, spayed, best worker in the world, wonderfull feild dog, great flusher, and actually MORE dedicated to work once spayed (hormonal gone = clearer mind, as a human in the same seat (not spayed but as good as) ive found that that lack of hormonal swings has helped me concentrate more!) so dont use "loses will to work" as an excuse not to spay.
femals also dont come into heat exactly every 6 months, some breeds its closer to 8 moths some dogs it all dpeends on what the weathers doing lately, just like human females sometimes there NOT regular, and even when they are there never to the day,
accidental litters are one thing, its just that this is open to more accidental litters, we dont know if nay of the pups whent home with at lease a spay/neuter clause in which case they too are now open to producing more "accidental" litters.
i mean i KNOW vixies supposed to come into heat around the end of may, that will be 6months from her last heat, however im EXPECTING her to come into heat anytime from the end of april through the beginning of june... you can never set your calendar by a dogs heat cycle...sry!
ill be the first to admit YES there are many purbred dogs in shelters but ill also tell you this, no RESPONSIBLE breeder will ever let a "product" of their breeding program end up in a shelter, thos purebreds you see in the shelters 99% of them come from irresopnsible back yard breeders and puppymills who dont offer the extra support after the puppies head to their new home.
even breeders have the posisbility of an accidental litter, lets face it even breeders have lives and family and how many times has a child who knows no better left a door or a gate open and the male gotten to the female? but even those pups are either emergency aborted or found homes based on spay.neuter contract only and even then still under the same support as any non accidental puppies.
any puppies i prodice will be sold only pet contract (spay/neuter) and on contract that under any circumstances they cannot keep the dog it will be returned to ME. i produce the pup therfore for the rest of that dogs natural life I am responsible for its wellbeing.
i speak for MYSELF
im sure many RESPONSIBLE breeders also have the same clauses and restirctions and desire to do right by the puppies they produce!
now all that being said (and i know noone wanted to hear it) the pups are cute glad there finding new homes, hope it doesnt happen again with your girl and hope it doesnt happen with any of the pups in the future!
And please, wherever you heard that is changes their will to work, there are MANY spayed females in agility and feild trials, all of them WONDERFULL working dogs. if thats the only reason you wont have herspayed then please redo your reaserch and reconsider. its a MYTH! (just like fixed dogs will get fat and lazy, belive me, in a house full of both fixed and unfixed animals, if naything the unfixed animals are the lazy ones and the fixed animals the most active and eager to learn/work.
Yeah that sounds like you were real careful. Bitches DO show signs of heat, at least two weeks of signs, not to mention the 3rd week they are ready to breed. It is a matter if there is someone monitoring them as closely as they should be doing. I am not one to push altering a pet if someone choses not to, for whatever misguided reasons (in this case) they choose, however I would hope the owner be more responsible and prevent pregnancies. Seems like this wasn't the case here. 
