The Faces of the F Litter

TWO DAYS!

Why does the website turn the pictures sideways? And why only on some days and not others?! One of life's many mysteries!

All is well -- if very busy -- at Puppy Central. Yesterday Galen called us "Poop Central" as the little ones potty a lot. However, they are doing a great job going outside to potty so early housetraining is going well. I was standing outside in the dark this morning in barefeet (brrrr) as the puppies went about their early morning business, but that was way better than cleaning up messes inside!

We have two matches to report and also another intro! Jonn has agreed to let Ledger come and share his heart with Marley. I am sure that Ledger will love life in Frisco, Colorado with Jonn.

You already have met Terri some in the Blog -- she is the one who sent me her Nikon when my original Nikon had to go in for repair (it is still not back!) and Terri also wrote the lovely summary of her visit. Here is Terri's official intro:

"Hello, I'm Terri and I live in Portland, Oregon and really it doesn't rain here as much as we say it does! Currently we are having a glorious fall, the October weather has been fabulous, perfect for puppy potty training. Let's hope it stays that way for another four or five weeks at least so we can get a good start with the new Kaibab puppy and have no muddy paws at 3:00 am in the morning.

I live in the city about 4 miles from the heart of downtown, but our little neighborhood community and town center have a feel of their own. My 1920's house is only on a 50 x 100 lot, so the yard for a dog is small, but there are lots of wonderful places to walk and hangout. Portland is known for it's good local coffee shops, brew pubs and restaurants and many of them have outside patios that welcome dogs... so those are some of the of the places we'll be walking or bicycling to with Kaibab puppy!

Bicycling has long been a part of my life and one of the things I plan on doing with puppy is pulling her behind me in a bike trailer that I custom made just for transporting dogs (in addition to getting groceries!). It is also convertible into a draft cart, so when puppy grows up enough to be ready to do draft work I will have a cart all ready for her to use. There is a wonderful farmer's market 4 blocks from my home and I go every Saturday, May through November. Having the dog pull the cart to market will be a great way for her to do her ancestral work as well as being a fun way to introduce kids and adults to the idea of a working dog and berners in general.

This leads to how I found Mary-Ann and Kaibab's wonderful working berners. My first berner Siskiyou, whom I cherished dearly, passed away last spring, she made it to the amazing old age of 12.5 years! Knowing how much effort and time it would take to find a breeder whom I totally respected from the many points of view that were important to me I started my search fairly soon after Siskiyou passed away. That was a very hard thing to do, but my work schedule allows me lots of time in October and November so it meant either find a breeder who met my goals with a litter due early this fall or wait until next fall. The thought of waiting what at that point would have been a year and a half for another berner seemed unbearable! So I jumped into the search with both feet and an aching heart.

Starting with well over a dozen breeders who came recommended from various people and numerous emails later Mary-Ann hit the top of the list in all things I wanted in a breeder and in her line. The most important to me besides a pup from healthy lines was a breeder whom I could stay in contact with throughout the life of the dog and whose breeding ethics I respected, and the best part, she had plans for a litter(s!) arriving this fall! I flew out to Salt Lake City to meet her and her berners mid-summer and to give her a chance to meet me and my partner Jon. And after hoping and hoping and hoping that I made the cut for one of her puppies, I am thrilled to have the honor of bringing one of her precious pups home with me in just one short week. It feels like it's been a year and a half just in the amount of excitement and waiting. And what a special joy it was to get a chance to meet the puppies as five weeks old with a fast road trip to Montana in early October. They are all so cute and full of zest (and sharp teeth)!

I am a strong proponent of all things sustainable and environmentally responsible, so Kaibab puppy will be living in a household that is kept as free as possible of chemicals and other toxins, I garden organically and eat foods that are local, organic and sustainably produced as much as possible. My puppy will get that kind of diet as well (homemade) in addition to seeing a licensed DVM who also practices holistic/alternative medicine and therapies. Vaccinations will be as minimal as possible as well as other toxins such as flea treatments won't be used. I firmly believe that that approach played a significant part in Siskiyou's longevity.

Kaibab puppy will get to go on lots of adventures, hiking and camping and weekend trips to the beach and mountains. We also plan on doing obedience and hopefully learn a few things from Mary-Ann's vast experience in that arena. We are so excited that the National BMD Specialty will be in Portland in the spring of 2009. If any of you come out West for the event I am happy to provide tips on what to do and where to eat in our wonderful city.

Kaibab F puppy will be joining Thistledown Y puppy who arrived here recently! She is 18 days older, her name is Thistledown's Yaina Ochoco (meaning mountain willow, and the Ochoco's are an Oregon mountain range) and with the blessing of both Mary-Ann and Carri of Thistledown ours will be a two puppy household, rather unusual. It will be lot of work, patience and learning on my part to make sure each puppy gets special attention and gets the most out of life. There will be many challenges no doubt, but I have two wonderful people to ask for advice and to learn from.

I plan on naming my puppy Kaibab's Fuzzy Peach! There is a story to that name, and it is courtesy of Mary-Ann and my partner's 18 year old daughter and a box of peaches from Oregon! Her call name will be Peaches and she will join Ochoco in stories of their adventures in a blog, taken from Mary-Ann's wonderful idea of the F litter blog. You will find stories of their adventures at http://ochocoandpeaches.blogspot.com/"

Terri is going to welcome Sula into her family -- the world's waggiest puppy! Another match has been made but the owner has not gotten the email yet -- at least I have not heard any happy screaming from Utah this morning -- so we will wait until she knows before we announce it.

In today's pictures you will see more adventures at the agility yard where we walked last night. Kinsey boldly went up the full height teeter and about gave me a heart attack! Darby is in the tunnel and also posing nicely on that storage box. Rosebud is blurred but lovely standing alone. Madison is in two pictures -- she is trotting towards the camera and also in the round bowl! How comfortable can that possibly be?! We also have the Montana Puppy Moving Company -- Galen picking up Sula and Lolo-Faith who were being stragglers on our hike -- no doubt they just wanted to eat dirt, which is a favorite puppy activity these days.

The vet is coming over this afternoon to give Lolo-Faith a thorough check-up, complete flight certificates for the puppies who are flying to new homes, and to vaccinate puppies. We do a very limited vaccination schedule with the puppies and so this is their first vaccination and it is just for parvo -- we do not do combination vaccines. Parvo is a significant and real threat to puppies and we wanted them protected before we take this show on the road -- in TWO DAYS!!! I will be sad to see the puppies leave but am so looking forward to seeing all my friends in Utah and especially my HUSBAND!

Have a simply glorious and perfect day -- that is within your power, you know!

News of Zack's Cause of Death

Today I got word that Zack died from Systemic Histiocytosis. This is not as aggressive as Malignant Histiocytosis but it is still sad news. I have thought a lot about what his cause of death will mean to me as a breeder, and so I was somewhat prepared when I got the news.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in humans and in dogs – we simply cannot get away from it. There is no line or pedigree in berners that is free of the histiocytic diseases; if we eliminated all dogs who were close relatives of dogs who died of one of the histiocytic diseases we would stop breeding Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Information is a double-edged sword. Knowing something generates a consciousness that eliminates the “ignorance is bliss” option. But knowledge is power – it gives us the opportunity to make thoughtful decisions. I sometimes wish I could live in a blissful world, but I do not – instead I live my life constantly trying to know and understand things.

There is no doubt that berners are at increased risk for cancers and especially the histiocytic ones. These cancers are thought to be polygenetic in nature, meaning that there is not a single gene responsible for the development of the diseases. I wish I could avoid all cancer in my dogs’ pedigrees but the only way I could do that is by plugging my ears and singing, “la la la, I can’t hear you.”

And so Zack has died of a common berner cancer – just a few weeks shy of eight years. He lived an average age for a berner, which is to say he died much too young. He brought many wonderful qualities to these and other puppies. I wish he had not died of Systemic Histiocytosis but he did. I will not change what I plan to do because of his cause of death. If I tried to avoid cancer in a berner I would just need a stuffed one from Costco.

What I will do is what I always do – I will watch for patterns or clusters. A single case of this disease or any cancer – even in a parent – does not scare me like a cluster of cancer does. There is no evidence suggesting Zack is in a cancer cluster, and so we will move forward with Zack kids in our breeding program, always mindful of the need to continually collect information on all of our dogs – no matter how that information complicates our bliss.

We appreciate that Lisa Ebnet values information as we do, and that she is open with information. We express our condolences to her and Sean on the loss of a magnificent dog, and we are honored to carry on his legacy in our special puppies.

Rest in Peace Sweet Boy.

Three More Days!!!

Last evening Galen and I walked the puppies up the long driveway to the agility area. The puppies had a wonderful time playing, and it was a lovely evening. They make us laugh -- they are so funny and playful. They found a fleece tug toy and that was a big hit, especially with Sula. She is the one running with the toy and she is playing tug with Kinsey; Galen calls Sula and Kinsey the "twins" because of their similar appearance. Lolo is in the pines and Dawson is the one who is a little blurry but that is such a pretty picture of him with the light on his head.

The Montana Stick Moving Company is back to business with an added "express delivery" service -- both Rosebud and Darby are demonstrating that service in the pictures. There is a pretty close-up of Sula, and a nice one of Rosebud standing like the future show dog that she is and also one of her standing with a stick. In the puppy group, it is Kinsey facing the camera.

We have another introduction! I met Karen at the National Specialty and we discovered that we are both social workers so had an instant connection. Karen is taking the scenic route to Utah so has sent us her introduction in two parts from libraries in Colorado:

"I am on vacation in Colorado without a computer but found I could not go very long without a blog fix so here I am. My name is Karen, I live in Virginia Beach, VA (in the summer the Berners live on air conditioniong vents). Kaibab's F... will be my fourth Berner. Murphy is 8 yrs 11 months, Emma died of bloat about 3 weeks after I met Mary-Ann at the National Spec.
she was 6 1/2 and I miss her every day. Annie is 4 1/2 months, offed to me by Emma's breeder after her death. I am very pressed for time being on an express computer at the Boulder Library and having used most of my time on the blog. I plan to do everything with my newer new puppy. Conformation, obed, agility, drafting and therpay dog work.

Hi Again,

Today I'm at the Gilpin Public Library which has unlimited use free internet access computers:) So. I'd like to say something about my Emma, CH Shasta's Antidote To D Blues CD, RA, TT, CGC, TDIA and mostly my girl. Emma was a great therapy dog. She came to work with me (I'm an LCSW) and when she died my patients grieved as well. We also went to an elementary school where children read to her and to another school where 2 blind students worked with her and the special ed students read to her. I didn't realize until she died and the teacher of the blind students asked me to do a grief group that we had been working with one student 1/month for 3 years. He learned to read braille with Emma. I am currently borrowing a friends Berner for work but I really miss having my own girl.

My new puppy is a fireball. From Mary-Ann's descriptions I think she and Kinsey might be a pair. I talked with a friend who has her own 2 Berners and is graciously keeping Annie while I'm away. We warned her she's already a counter surfer supreme. So, blocked from direct access to the counter Annie climbed on the couch, over the half wall that separates their family room from the kitchen and onto the kitchen table which I'm sure she would have happily jumped off if not rescued by the teenage son who was supervising doggie dinner time. This is a long answer about who I am and what I hope to do wth Kaibab's Fortune Smilz On Me(I feel incredibly fortunate to be getting one of Mary-Ann's puppies) or Kaibab's From A to Z. Haven't decided on a registered name yet. Maybe blog readers can vote. I hope she will be a Versatility dog but mostly I hope she will bring joy to many peoples lives."

Okay, I will set up a poll so we can help Karen decide on her puppy's name -- make sure to vote! And I vote that you have a fantastic day, and that fortune smiles on you and that you get all the blessings from A to Z!

An Intro and a Match

The puppies are officially eight weeks old today -- we made it! They are definitely eight times the work that they were eight weeks ago -- maybe even eight hundred times!

The whining you hear in the YouTube video is Lolo in Galen's lap -- she wanted to chase after me and the other puppy, and Galen was holding her so she wouldn't - she did not appreciate that!

We have another new puppy owner to meet -- Megan. I have included a picture of Megan with her berner, Anna, who died suddenly last May right after we had all been at the National Specialty in Rhode Island; I took that picture at that show. Here is what Megan wrote to share with all of you:

"Hi,

My name is Megan. I am thirteen years old and I live in suburban Southern California. I have known Mary-Ann for about three years. My puppy will be my family’s fourth Berner and my second. My first Berner Anna died in May.

Anna and I did a lot of things together. She slept in my bed a lot, and barked at all the boys who came by our house! Anna and I learned agility together and Anna tried to teach me drafting!

My puppy will go for lots of walks and meet all the kids in my neighborhood and all my friends from school. She will go to lots of training classes with me and I hope she will love going to dog shows and being my juniors dog. I also want to do agility, rally, drafting, obedience and tracking with her. When I am at school she will nap and play with our other dogs, Maverick and Fiona and wait for me to come home and play with her."

Megan's dog, Anna, was the aunt to our puppies and we are happy that Megan is able to take one of these puppies. Megan came to Montana and picked Rosebud and Darby as her choices, but we have decided that Rosebud is a lot of puppy for a 13 year old and so we are looking at Darby and a couple of other choices for Megan. I hope you can meet Megan -- she and her twin sister, Molly, are very special girls and we love them very much -- you will too if you have a chance to meet them!

And now we have our first match!!! Lolo has found her forever home – with The Puppy Nanny! Galen has asked if he can have Lolo as his own dog and we have agreed to this. He has long wanted a dog of his own, and he is ready to take on whatever limitations Lolo might have.

I will say that since Lolo got her St. Francis medal (thanks to Lynn) she has really started to look better and better – it is strange but it is almost like there was a miracle. Her eyes look better and she is more active. Galen is already training her and she is doing great – there is nothing wrong with her little brain. I think Galen’s plan is to have a better trained puppy than Megan so he is getting a head start!

And so Lolo has her very own person and also a new name. Galen has decided to call her Kaibab’s From the Heavenz and her call name is “Faith”.

Pictures! You can see Lolo-Faith with her medal in one. Poor Halo needs her own medal -- that is all eight nursing and then I took a picture from above so you can see those cute faces. Ledger is helping out with the dishes by cleaning the yogurt container, and Darby is getting an evil look from Halo for climbing on her. Dawson is playing with my improvised new toy, and Madison is standing on a laundry basket; Madison is also featured doing her best imitation of a corgi! The three playing puppies include Sula looking at the camera, and Kinsey is with the red ball and also in the close-up with Darby.

I hope very much that you are able to see the miracle in your day. Thanks for visiting us!

Videos!

We have a few videos up of individual puppies, and tomorrow we will put up a fun one we did of a walk today.

youtube.com/user/kaibabbmd

Final Week!

It is the final week that we will have all eight puppies with us – isn’t that hard to believe?! I think they are increasingly hard work so that I will be a little less sad when they leave. Right now they are all asleep in their pen behind me, and so is Noah, the Feline Puppy Nanny. On Saturday we were scooping puppies up to move them and Cassie grabbed Noah, shocked at his weight before realizing it was a cat and not a puppy.

The puppies are a blast. They frolic outside – that is the best word to describe them. They have so much fun together and just running around and exploring things. They leap and spin and hop and run and tumble. Everything is fun to a puppy – they could teach us all a few things about just enjoying life.

When they are inside they play ferociously with each other, chew on me and anything else, and just have serious fun being exactly what they are – puppies. This morning I was trying to take pictures and was being chewed on in various spots, the camera strap was being used to play tug by two puppies, and Ledger was jumping on my back, no doubt trying to grab my hair. They pile in my lap, making it impossible to take pictures until the thrill of my presence calms enough that they are willing to do something other than mob me.

I asked all the new owners to answer a few questions by way of an introduction to our F Litter community. Today I want to share the first introduction. Jonn first contacted me some months back and we began that delicate dance of getting acquainted. I was concerned that a footloose single guy might not have what it takes to be a committed owner of one of our puppies, but I checked his references and they were glowing. His vet’s office could not say enough about his devotion to the dog he lost last spring.

Here is what Jonn shared for his introduction:

“Small business owner in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Lots of snow in this area, 300+ inches/year from November-April. Frisco is a wonderful mountain town with a charming main street where my business is located. I live one block away from both! So lots of walks to the post office or coffee shop etc. Frisco is one friendly place and is truly small town living. I have lived here for 10 years and love it.

This is my first Bernese Mountain Dog.

Well the excitement for this puppy is hard to put into words. I had a wonderful Golden Retriever, Marley, who was laid to rest last April. He lived six years and was diagnosed with an under-developed brain stem at about one year. Although he was a "special" dog, he was perfect!! He also was a gift so I really didn't have anything to do with the process of getting him, he might of come from a puppy farm. Here is my segue...After some initial research on Berners and deciding that it was the dog I really wanted I sent Mary-Ann an email in July and here we are.

I have been blown away at Kaibabs breeding standards. Hence the satisfaction in knowing I am getting one of the best bred Bernese Mountain Dogs in the country. The dedication of Mary-Ann, Galen, Kim and all the others involved in this process is truly a testament to these standards. The blog, early socialization, feedings, naming the pups and on and on. It has been quite impressive to witness and be a part of. I decided my next dog would come from a reputable breeder, not a puppy farm, and boy did I hit the jackpot on this one!!

I feel like this will be one lucky puppy! Frisco is wonderful and very pet friendly. This area offers countless outside activities most of which your dog can join you in. Hikes, camping, fishing, a stroll to the lake or down Main Street, so he will have a very active lifestyle. Dogs are allowed in our banks, offices, patios of most restaurants and my bar! This little guy will basically be with me all the time. It is not uncommon to got to someone’s house to watch a game or have dinner and there be more dogs than people! He will have lots of friends! This will be a pet for me, but I look forward to training and teaching the dog so he is a well-behaved, friendly and outgoing Berner. I am simply a dog lover and cannot wait to have one by my side all the time.”

Thanks to Jonn for being willing to let you all know what a great home one of our puppies will have with him.

I hope you enjoy today’s pictures as much as I do. Lolo is in three – she is playing with Halo in one, playing nicely with Rosebud and then beating up on Rosebud. Darby is playing with Noah (the Feline Puppy Nanny), is flat with her ear up, and is also a close-up. There are two of Sula with toys. There are close-ups of Madison and Dawson, and Rosebud is next to my leg looking up.

Videos will be on YouTube later today -- I will post the link(s) on the Blog when they are up. I hope your week is off to a great start!

Part Two At Last!

Saturday completely got away from us. The puppy evals took two hours and when we arrived home Jennifer, Ralph and their son had just arrived. They had driven all the way from Eastern Oregon to meet us and hang out with puppies! So we did that and when they left Galen stayed with the very tired puppies while Cassie and I had dinner with some of Cassie’s family who live nearby. We arrived home late and as usual it was an early, messy morning here at Puppy Central. I drove Cassie to the airport at noon and then Galen and I worked on pictures and more video. The puppies are sacked out again, tired from their outside play time.

The puppy evaluations went very well. We drove all eight in two crates over the evaluator’s (“Susan”) house. We put them in a large puppy pen and Kinsey was soon walking on a plank 16 inches off the ground! All of the puppies had fun playing on the various toys and hanging out in the two dog houses.

We first just watched them move around freely in the pen and then began the process of looking at each individually. The first step was for Susan to look at each one on the grooming table, stacked like a show dog. I have practiced this quite a bit with the puppies and so they were good. She felt their angles and looked at how they were put together The second part to take the puppy over to the driveway and I had the puppy trot forward and back, and then across so that Susan could see the puppy’s movement. Susan noted both structure and temperament.

There were not any big surprises for me but it was very nice to have Susan confirm some of my observations. I am still collecting opinions so am not ready to share much more about the evaluations – except that I am very happy with the litter ☺

Galen is working on getting videos on YouTube so I will let you know about that tomorrow.

I just have a few pictures to share – we will get lots posted tomorrow to make up for the scarcity today! We have Cassie in two pictures, including one in which she is holding Dawson and Rosebud. We have Jennifer’s son with his favorite puppy, Ledger; we also have Jennifer’s family in a picture. I was sitting at the computer this morning and heard a funny noise so turned around to see a puppy sleeping in the water bowl. Her one nostril was partially submerged and so when she would exhale she was blowing bubbles!!! There is a picture of that – does that even look comfortable to you?! And then there is a group with Sula looking at the camera.

Thanks to Jennifer and Ralph for coming to visit us, and to Cassie for visiting and filming the puppy evals. The puppies have now met 34 new people!

I hope your weekend is going well!

Saturday: Part 1

I will post in two parts today. I have these picture from this morning -- Rosebud chewing on a nylabone, the two boys together, Darby and Sula still trying to sort out who gets the purple collar, and close-ups of Madison and Ledger. Later I will post pictures and a report from the evaluation that takes place early this afternoon.

The puppies met their 29th new person last night when Cassie arrived from Salt Lake City, and the numbers will increase quite a bit by later today after they meet Vicky, Jennifer and her family, and the litter evaluator.

Cassie brought my husband's nice video camera up from Utah so we may get a video yet! Luckily we have the Puppy Nanny to help -- he has this technology stuff all figured out and so I will put him on the task of trying to upload a video clip later.

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday and that anyone evaluating you decides you are just about perfect!

Head vs. Heart and Itchy Scratchy Collars

This morning I put collars on the puppies for the first time. You can see in one picture what all the puppies were doing -- scratching! Who knew collars were so itchy?! The puppies will not wear their collars all the time because that would be dangerous but when I am home and awake, they will practice their collars.

It is now the most challenging part of raising puppies. First of all, they are active and busy, and this makes more work. They need to have interesting toys and activities, and they play a lot. They eat more and potty more and in all ways are just MORE (including more cute and more fun).

The second reason it is hard is because it is getting close to the time when they leave. It is challenging to pour yourself into something and then have it all end so suddenly. And when that something is the creation and nurturing of lives, it is even more tender and hard to have it all end.

The third reason it is hard is because it is time to make matches, and this is what I want to address today. I have talked before about how I make matches but I want to write some more about that process.

After nearly eights weeks of not enough sleep, not enough “self-care” as Liz pointed out, and the anticipatory grief that is a natural part of this process, my emotions are often raw. At the same time, I have to keep a clear and objective head about me so I can make the hard decisions that need to be made. The emotional part of me does not always get along so well with the logical part!

Sometimes people express a preference for a puppy or for certain markings, or express that they do not want a certain puppy because of markings or some other personal preference. The logical side of me thinks this is understandable and perfectly okay. But the emotional side has a whole different reaction!

My emotional reaction to an expression of puppy preference is outrage at the rejection of one or more of my precious, perfect, wonderful babies -- remember that picking one or two means NOT picking others. The follow-up to that is to worry if I decide to place another puppy with that person about whether the puppy is really wanted, and then my emotions sail down roads that are not productive to any of us. This is the time of raising a litter when I have to keep a steady hold of my emotions, and try hard to let the logical side of me prevail. Raising a litter well is hard on the heart, as I have said before...

The litter is lovely but only a few puppies will be designated as “show” puppies. This does not mean the others are inferior but rather it means that certain puppies are viewed as more easily able to finish a championship. This is a litter of strong competition for that designation – in another litter one of the puppies we designate as “non-show” could easily have been pick of the litter.

The number of show puppies is based on the number of show homes I have selected, assuming that the quality is there in the puppies, which it is. We may have six show puppies in the litter but I will not place that many so puppies that could have been “show” puppies will go into non-show homes.

So the process for matchmaking is that I must first decide on the “show” puppies. The next step is for me to decide which of those I will keep. I will then decide which show puppy goes to which show home. Megan is taking a show girl, and she hopes it will be Rosebud but knows it is possible that she will be offered her other choice. I will then make decisions about which puppies go into the remaining homes. I have ideas already of which puppies I think will make good matches, but I cannot say for sure until the process of evaluation is completed.

The evaluation process is not likely to be done until November 1. Tomorrow we will do the formal evaluation with an experienced person here in Montana. We will videotape the puppies during that process and make DVD’s, which will be sent out to 2-3 people for review; the goal of these reviews is to gather opinions about the show puppies. I will take all the feedback and then make the decisions that need to be made based on input and my own observations over the past eight weeks.

All of the puppies are wonderful, and I appreciate how well Terri from Portland described that in her guest post to the Blog. The sorrow of having the puppies leave is eased by having them joyfully welcomed into their new families, and so I appreciate the patience and trust of the new owners who are currently waiting like kids at Christmas/birthday to find out who they are getting.

I took these pictures this morning after putting on those terrible itchy collars. Ledger is the one in blue who is scratching and Dawson is scratching at his orange Harley collar. Kinsey is peacefully falling asleep, and Darby is playing with the toy. In the picture of Lolo you can see both of her eyes, and that the left one is smaller but I actually think she is starting to look better. Don't forget to double-click on the picture to enlarge it. Rosebud is trying to train her ears to stand up -- she is in the hot pink color, which suits her personality. Two puppies are arguing about which one should get the purple collar. Finally, there is a close-up of Dawson and a picture of Puppy Central.

Your continued interest and support is appreciated -- thanks for visiting us and have a delightful day free of irritating itches!

It Figures!

I have no idea why the pictures are not displaying correctly -- I did the same things as other days and I have now deleted and uploaded twice so I guess you will just have to turn the computer sideways to get a good look at some. This is just one of those days!!!

The Price of Admission

Last night Heidi brought her husband and friend up to see the puppies. The price of admission was a stick of butter, since we ran out and it is seven miles to a store – thanks, Heidi, for the butter!

The puppies were happy to see Heidi and meet her husband, as you can see in the pictures. I also have some sleepy pictures from this morning. That is Lolo using the toy Terri made for them as a pillow. Dawson is in two pictures – one in his usual mode and the other so you can see him without his tongue out! Sue – are you sure your name is not on that puppy?!

Sula is using the fleece as a pillow and Rosebud is opening sleepy eyes to look at me. The other puppies were on my lap biting me, the camera strap, my hair and in all other ways trying to make it hard for me ☺

Answers to the Name the Puppies – Lolo, Darby, Darby, Kinsey, Ledger and Sula (look for those two dark toes on the right front foot).

Worming – the recommendations for frequent worming are for all puppies raised in all kinds of situations. Such a blanket protocol does not seem to fit puppies raised in the house from a mother who is an inside dog and well cared for. On the other hand, they are dogs and eat things we will not discuss. And so okay – I can see they might need to be wormed but not at the same level as dogs/puppies kept in other kinds of situations. Worming once at seven weeks seems fine, and if their new vet really wants to do it one more time I guess that is okay. My puppies (Lolo and ???) will not be wormed again.

Lolo did not do well after the worming – she threw up repeatedly and would not eat for about 12 hours. In hindsight, I should have not wormed her given that we do not know what is going on with her just yet. I do not plan to vaccinate Lolo until I have more information about her health.

We have a fun weekend planned. Cassie from Salt Lake arrives on Friday night and will stay with us until Sunday. She has never spent time at Puppy Central so Cassie – earplugs and protective clothing! On Saturday we are taking the puppies on a field trip to be formally evaluated. We will videotape this process so I can finally see what I need to – right now the puppies follow me all over so I cannot get a good look at how they move.

Vicky from Bozeman is driving over to see puppies and come to the evaluation. And Jennifer and her family are arriving on Saturday afternoon from Eastern Oregon. So we will increase our numbers of new visitors this weekend and get in a short car ride! Our new people count is now up to 28 so we are making progress.

I appreciate your comments and encouragement - moving, a new job, a litter of eight, no husband or friends around, and seven miles to butter is sometimes a lot, as you can probably imagine; it is nice to know you are out there! Have a wonderful day.

Puppy Central = Chaos

Puppy Central is a busy place – I do not know how anyone raises a litter without a seasoned Puppy Nanny! On Monday night I had to drive to Missoula to give a talk to a group of moms who have experienced the death of a child. We live about 25 miles from Missoula but it takes about 35 minutes so it was 10 p.m. when I made it home. This was very late for me and I still had puppy chores so it was even later when I finally got to bed.

Puppies do not understand the concept of sleeping in so Tuesday morning brought an early wake-up call from hungry puppies. I wish you could see the chaos of the morning – the puppies are seriously hungry and want to eat NOW. I tried to let four nurse while I fed the other four their solid food breakfast but I had puppies running every which way. I usually feed them individually but it can be hard keeping track of who nursed and who ate and so on – like I said, chaos. And all this is happening within five minutes of getting out of bed on about six hours of sleep, and the big dogs want their breakfast as well so they add to the morning frenzy.

If I did not also have a job it would be so much easier to have a litter but as it is, I spent Tuesday morning making puppy food, cleaning up (over and over), doing laundry (again and again), and getting ready for my 9:00 a.m. class (remember the 35-40 minute commute). And so that is why yesterday’s Blog was lacking in content – I was lucky to get pictures up!

But I made it to class with a lesson ready – on time – having had no breakfast but at least my shoes matched, my hair was brushed and the puppies were clean, fed and happy. Isn’t it amazing how ordinary things become extraordinary feats?!

As I type this I am thinking about our poor visitor this weekend. Cassie will be spending two nights with us and I think I need to tell her to bring earplugs if she plans to sleep past 5 a.m.

The puppies are wonderful!! I now make it a point to take them on a walk once a day up the long driveway. Each day we go a little farther and last night we also went into the field next to the driveway. I constantly give treats to the puppies for staying with me and for coming when I call so they just follow along like little hiking champs. They love this outdoor time and as I have said before, it is really helpful for me as well.

I have been watching the puppies carefully to try and arrange the best matches. It is like dominoes though, because I cannot make any matches until I pick my puppy, and I will not do that until next week sometime. I tend to wait until the very last minute to pick – it is hard to reject all those puppies and so I delay that as long as I can. Yes, they will go to good homes but it won’t be with me and I feel guilty about that. I love them all but I have to choose, and I know that.

I am looking for the girl with the best structure and this is most obvious at eight weeks. There is not a puppy in the litter that does not have a temperament I would be happy with. I would not want a spooky, shy puppy no matter what her structure but this litter is solid, and any of them would work well for me in terms of temperament. I want a puppy that can easily finish her championship and who will be an outstanding working dog for me – and of course I want her to be healthy and sound. I find myself in the position of having multiple puppies who I believe would be well suited for me, and so I am watching and thinking all the time about that Big Decision.

I was thinking about names and realized we could simply do "Kaibab'z...." and get the "z" in that way so that is an option.

Today's pictures are very sweet, especially the ones of Rosebud playing with Halo. Lolo does a great job on our walks but Galen thought she was tired and cold so you see her in his coat. Three puppies discovered their very first puddle -- that was fun. Dawson is standing on the hill and Darby is trotting down. Two puppies are having a showdown in the other picture.

In "G" Litter news, Cadi has about a month to go and is already getting thick around the middle -- so much for a small litter! Maybe they are just big puppies?!

I hope your day is exactly what you hope, and thanks for checking in with us.

Seven Weeks!

It is a busy morning here so I am just adding pictures and saying that all is well. Thanks for the great names suggestions and keep them coming! Can you name the puppies in the pictures?

Monday Special Edition!

Noah, the Feline Puppy Nanny, spent some time with the puppies this morning. The puppies chew and bite and crawl all over him but he just purrs -- what a cat!

Sticks, Names and Happy Birthday

Where to start?! I love today’s pictures so let me start there. I bet you thought I was kidding when I mentioned that Rosebud fancies herself a Superhero – well, take a look at that leaping puppy! Yes, that would be Super Rosebud launching herself at some unsuspecting sibling – that puppy loves to fly.

Today’s puppies were sponsored by the Montana Stick Moving Company. You can see Sula moving what amounts to a puppy log, and Rosebud and Madison are also featured with sticks. Dawson tried to steal Rosebud’s stick but she took off with it, so he discovered an old round thermometer and was proudly carrying that instead.

Rosebud is sitting in the pine needles and Lolo is the other sitting puppy. We have some sweet close-ups of Sula (looking left, small amount of pink on right side of her nose), Kinsey (also looking left but looking more down), Darby (straight into the camera), and Ledger (looking right). The standing puppy is Dawson. Don’t the puppies just get cuter?!

Okay, let’s talk about names. This litter is the F Litter and so all puppies have to be named Kaibab’s F_______________. The name the puppy is called can be anything, but the registered name has to follow that format. The AKC has a limit on how long the name can be -- it is something like 28 letters/spaces.

I like call names that are somehow cleverly connected to the registered name – Halo’s registered name is Kaibab’s Bright Angel. However, that is a suggestion and people do not have to do that – it is just fun.

I want to add an additional requirement to the registered name, and I do so in honor of Zack, the litter’s dad who died recently. I want each puppy’s registered name to include a “z” someplace – it can be in place of an “s” as in Fall Colorz or part of a word, as in Kaibab’s Fuzzy Peach.

I love to think about names and invite you to share ideas in the comments section or by sending me an email: msontag@qwest.net. Do you have any ideas for registered names based on the call names the puppies already have? Remember, all puppies are named after towns in Montana – yes, even Lolo! Be creative and let’s generate some ideas for those lucky people who are taking a puppy home!

And speaking of that, I was thinking that it is time to start meeting the new puppy owners. What would you like to know about them? Let me know and I will pass it along and ask each to provide an intro we can post over the next 10 days or so.

Finally – HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALO!!!! Yes, today is Halo’s sixth birthday so we wish her and her littermates a very happy day.

Thanks for your continued interest and support, and have a delightfully fun Monday!

Happy Sunday!

We had a better night last night and so the puppies are back in my good graces. Who could stay annoyed at such adorable faces??!!

The puppies are wonderful. This morning I bent over to pet someone and Rosebud launched herself at me like she was a Superhero and could fly. Rosebud likes to jump and does it a lot. Sula was SO happy that we had more visitors this morning! This puppy could be the friendliest puppy I have ever had -- she just really loves people. Kinsey can climb to the top of the x-pen. You may recall that she was the first to figure out how to escape from the whelping box and now she is climbing - she needs a home with a very secure yard! Earlier Galen was commenting on what a tank Dawson is -- he is like a low to the ground Mack truck! Lolo is doing very well -- I think all of your good thoughts are working. Darby -- besides Lolo -- is the least pushy puppy. While the others are jumping up to get picked up (even Lolo) Darby hangs back, patiently waiting for her turn. Ledger is just as sweet as can be.

We weighed the puppies this morning! Rosebud and Sula are now officially too heavy for the scale so likely weigh about 8.5 - 9 pounds. All of the other puppies are between 7.8 and 8 pounds except Lolo, who is now SIX POUNDS!! At birth she ws 50% of the puppy closest in weight to her; now she is 75% of that puppy's weight!

Our favorite vet tech, Shelby, came by this morning with her son, Carter. We wormed the puppies for the first time -- this is something I hate to do so I delay and only do it one time. My resistance to early and often worming has never caused an issue so I do the same thing with each litter -- basically ignore the recommended protocol and stall, and then worm late and once.

Carter is holding Bad Manners Dawson in one picture -- but you knew that, didn't you?? In the other picture he has Sula. I have close-ups of Madison (with the spoon), Rosebud (most pink on her nose), Dawson, Ledger, Sula and a sleeping Lolo.

I hope your fall weather is as lovely as ours is today. In honor of the season, one of the names I like for a puppy is Kaibab's Fall Colors with a call name of Oaklea -- but we will talk more about names tomorrow!

Thanks for checking in!

Messy Wake Up Call

I wish people who think it would be fun to raise a litter could have spent the last eight or so hours with me. At 1 a.m. I heard the puppies so I got up, since they are sleeping all night now and this seemed urgent. Two puppies had escaped from the x-pen, which was inside the whelping box. This was making the other puppies frantic and they were screaming and running around – in the poop someone had left on the potty area. Well, it was smeared nicely by this time.

Eight frantic, messy puppies at 1 a.m. – not so cute. I was really not in the mood to clean up the whelping box and fortify the x-pen barrier so I put them in the play area in the Great Room. Luckily I had it all cleaned and prepared for the morning so it was easy. They settled down better than I expected and went to sleep.

At 5 a.m. I woke up to happy, hungry puppies racing around the play area, spreading yet more poop. This is not exactly a pleasant way to start a day, let me assure you!

I let them out to nurse while I quickly cleaned the play area before they were ready to detach and start potting all over the Great Room – mind you, I had been awake for about 90 seconds by this time. They are efficient nursers so were done in no time, and I corralled them back in the play area, and set about to get their second breakfast ready. As I was doing this I stepped – barefoot – in a nice puppy puddle.

So I finally got the plates ready and was feeding them two at a time. We were almost done when suddenly the weight of the puppies in the play area who were jumping up pushed over the x-pen and I had a flood of puppies rushing at me and Ledger, who had just started eating.

Okay, I got that back under control. Glaring at them and thinking some not very kind thoughts, I reinforced the play area with both of my x-pens so that they will not be able to escape or push it over. They are all now sleeping like the angels they are not!!

Consider the amount of laundry all this entails – two loads since last evening, and two really gross loads. Fun? Cute? Sure – it is fun and cute to be smeared with puppy poop while stepping in a puddle in your bare feet. This is why puppies are so darn cute – they would not survive otherwise!

And cute they are as you can see from the pictures we took last evening when Cindy and Rebecca came to visit them – the puppies have now met 26 new people! I love the two pictures of puppies with their big sister, Asia. The puppy sitting with Asia is Darby and the one sleeping is Rosebud. Asia is herself a puppy – not yet 15 months – but she is very sweet with her little brothers and sisters. Rosebud is the puppy working for the Pinecone Moving Company today, and Dawson is asleep on Rebecca’s lap – he is also the close-up of a sleeper in red. Rosebud is the sleeping puppy in the pine needles, and Madison is the awake puppy in the pine needles. Rebecca is holding Kinsey and Darby in one picture, and Cindy has Sula, who gave Cindy such a waggy, happy welcome! Rosebud, Kinsey and Sula are together in a picture, and an unknown puppy is in the bushes.

The good thing about starting a day like mine is that it typically can only get better! I hope your day skips the rough start and is filled with good things – thanks for visiting ☺

Puppies, Puppies Everywhere!

I think I need to give Lolo to Cali for a week or so – Lolo would get expert medical care and we would have answers in no time!! I did an ear cartilage test and I think Lolo has softer ears than her littermates – they are less stiff. I will try to get a picture of Lolo’s eyes so you all can see what I mean about how small and different they are. One of her eyes wanders a bit but she can definitely see. All of the puppies are having eye exams on November 1 before we drive down to Salt Lake City so that will give us some information about Lolo.

The puppies are so much fun!!! But oh my – we are definitely in the high maintenance phase of raising puppies. They are now eating two solid food meals a day (still chicken, rice, veggies, yogurt and some organic beef) and this is quite the event. Lolo eats apart from everyone else but the rest share a big bowl of food and it is a feeding frenzy. They are not quite as clean as they were because they are wearing food these days but it is cute to watch as they clean each other off. They are going potty a lot more so this is also more work and requires increased vigilance – puppies are not fussy about where they step!

The outside time is a lot of fun. They are so curious and the smallest, ordinary thing becomes entertaining when a puppy is involved – like a pinecone or a stick. Yesterday we put up the ends of our agility dog walk to serve as a ramp in/out of the house. We had a few fall offs but most caught on quickly and were walking up and down without mishap. The outside time is great exercise and gives me information about temperament/resilience.

I left off Sula’s picture yesterday so here it is today – she looks like she is laughing. Sula continues to be a HAPPY puppy! We have a shot of Dawson facing the camera, and also one of him with his brother. Rosebud is the other puppy standing and facing the camera. Rosebud is also sitting up and batting at another puppy who is hidden in the weeds, and Lolo is once again featured sitting down. Madison is the puppy on the ramp.

The G for gol-darn-what-was-I-thinking Litter is sired by Jed (CKC/AKC CH Riverhaus Jed v't Rijkenspark, TD). Jed was imported as a puppy from The Netherlands by Trish Wright, and you can read about him and see a picture at: http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/tdwright/Jed.html.

The F Litter is a repeat of a previous litter and so there are no real surprises in the litter (except Lolo). The puppies are typey, sweet and very lovely. The girl I kept from the first litter, Asia, finished her championship at 12 months and qualified for the Eukanuba Invitational this December in California; Asia and I are working to get ready for that show, which is very seriously The Big Time.

On the other hand, I have no idea about what the G Litter will be like. My hope is that we will have a nice blending of the strengths from each parent. The pedigree will be ¾ “foreign” since Cadi’s dad was imported from Australia in utero and Jed is also an import, as I said. I failed to mention that I was hoping for a small litter (three or four would have been perfect!) but the veterinarian who did the ultrasound found one after another and then stopped saying, “at least six or seven”. Sigh. I texted (is that a word?!) that to Galen, whose response was an immediate, “NOOOOOOOO”. This will be our last litter for a while!

I hope that you have a fruitful day!

Missing: My Mind

Have you seen my mind? I apparently have lost it. In the middle of raising the F Litter, we created the G Litter -- let me explain. As you may recall, the Puppy Nanny has decided to start college in January. I have no idea why he would want to go to college when he can sit home, cuddle puppies and watch television but apparently he has his sights set higher -- someday he wants to go to medical school! What a disappointment -- why not veterinary school?! That would be so much more useful!But you know how kids are -- they have minds of their own -- and so my Puppy Nanny is resigning his position effective the end of January.

I know some people raise litters without 24/7 supervision but I am not one of those people and so I was presented with a dilemma -- breed Cadi now while I still had the Puppy Nanny or wait until Kim is here in Montana (16+ months and counting). Cadi is already three and so in a momemt of sleep deprived stupidity I adopted the Nike motto (Just Do It).

You may be wondering if you missed some posts about a trip to breed Cadi -- nope -- this will be yet another Virgin Birth. In the middle of puppy madness, Cadi was taken to have progesterone tests done over severals days and feverish arrangements were finalized and when the time was right, the ...um.... fish were flown in via overnight express from New Brunswick, Canada. Cadi and I drove to the airport to retrieve the flying fish and then Cadi took a nap at the vet and woke up pregnant -- she was surgically inseminated. Yesterday Cadi had an ultrasound and her pregnancy is confirmed -- she will be having puppies on/about November 20. I sure hope Joan can get away from her new kitten to come up and be the Puppy Midwife!

Salt Lake Puppy Fans -- you know what this means? We will be arriving in Utah for almost six weeks on/about December 12! Our Puppy Parties can resume! The Puppy Nanny will only have to help out for three weeks or so and then I will be on my holiday break and can raise the puppies in Utah -- we will hit 100 people before those puppies are in Utah for 24 hours! Just kidding -- but only sort of!

Okay -- that is the G for Got-to-be-Kidding Litter story but let's refocus on our F Litter babies. Thanks for your good thoughts for Lolo. I spoke with an Internal Medicine Veterinary Specialist today about Lolo. He does not believe an ultrasound would be useful at this time, and recommends Lolo have a thorough vet check and blood work so those things are scheduled. Lolo plays and acts quite age appropriate -- just not with the gusto of her siblings. She has small eyes, an overbite and a rounded head -- these are the characteristics that concern me. She is perfectly sweet, wags her tail, follows us around, bites our noses and eats well -- she is just different in activity level and appearance.

Galen has always had a soft spot for Lolo and he looks out for her. Last evening we were eating dinner and he heard Lolo crying so he went over to the puppy area and rescued Lolo from another puppy, and sternly told that puppy, "you go pick on somebody your own size!" It was pretty funny -- and sweet.

Lolo is in one of the pictures -- she is the sitting puppy. Galen took a picture of the eight puppies following me as we left the house for our outdoor adventure. We have to have our daily rude puppy, and today's winner is Madison. There are three pictures of Madison -- she is the puppy sticking out her tongue, sitting in the plant, and looking up with her tail up. In that picture she was playing with Galen so is all cute and alert. Dawson is the puppy going over the piece of wood, and Kinsey is carrying the pine cone. Carrying pine cones is a favorite activity of several puppies but they usually are running the other way with them, which gives me pictures of puppy bums -- not quite as cute as puppies with pine cones! Rosebud is the profile, Sula is the laughing puppy and there are two of Darby -- one is with a rock and she is standing in the other one.

I hope you have a splendid day and if you find my mind, please sent it back -- I need it!

Life: Blessings and Uncertainties

First of all, I want to congratulate Joan on her new kitten! I am certain he will fit right into your family - what will you be calling He-Who-Eats-Birds?

The puppies are doing well. Rosebud is one VERY bold puppy but all of them are confident, happy little souls. Galen and I both took pictures last night of the puppies' outdoor adventure. They started off with a picnic, as you can see by the picture of all eight nursing. And then it was off to explore -- Rosebud is looking up and sticking her tongue out at Halo, and the other tongue picture is Kinsey. Oh, there is a third tongue picture -- what rude puppies! That is Ledger in the two pictures in pine needles. Rosebud has the pine needles in her mouth, and Darby is checking out the pine cone. I am not in many pictures but there are two of me with three puppies, including one in which Madison is giving me a kiss. The profile is Ledger -- can you tell Galen took some of these pictures?!

I wanted to share with you that I have concerns about Lolo and have decided not to place her in a new home at this time. Although she has gained weight well and is doing "normal" things, she has some physical characteristics that concern me and she is not as active as the other puppies. We will be doing some testing on her soon and assessing whether there is something amiss with her. If she turns out to be okay, we will find her a wonderful home but if there are any issues or unresolved concerns, she will live with us.

It is sad to think that one of our puppies might have problems and not be able to live the life we would want for her, but we are committed to making certain that Lolo has a wonderful life that is exactly right for her. I am again I am reminded of the constant sorrow/joy that is this life.

Although perhaps not all of us can be blessed with the joy of a new life as Joan has (!), I hope your day is a wonderful and happy one none-the-less.

Simple Pleasures

Last night the puppies slept all night -- from about 9 until 5! This is the first time I have slept all night in six weeks!! When I woke up and realized it was not 2 a.m. I was worried about them but they were all fine and ready for breakfast -- perhaps all the outside time yesterday made them sleepy?!

The puppies are still sleepy this morning and after a play session they all conked out - can you see all eight in the puppy pile? The close-up is Kinsey falling asleep on her sister. I will post the six week collages as soon as Terri Zimmerman has a chance to get those done.

Last week Terri (another Terri -- not Zimmerman) visited us from Portland. With her permission, I share part of her trip report because I know you like to hear about individual puppies and it is fun to hear from someone besides me. Terri arrived with wonderful Oregon peaches, which we ate and ate -- YUM. That explains the reference in her post to peaches :)

From Terri:

"Each of them is so special, if I didn't leave my heart, then Sula stole it! She's "the" peach in my book! Dawson too, if it were a boy I wished for he'd be the one. If course I didn't dare show any thoughts for Ledger for fear of upsetting the puppy nanny, but I can see why Galen is smitten with Ledger, and what a cute face! And Kinsey, well she tugged at the heart strings too, the pictures of she and Sula all along in the blog have garnered my oohs and ahhs, something in their faces—don't know what it is—but it draws me to them. And so it was in person too, I really liked those girls—there is just something about them—unexplainable!

Speaking of cute faces, oh my gosh Madison and Darby! While Sula is a peach, a sweet singularly yummy peach, the best flavored one all season, Madison is a box of peaches that you walk up to and just go "wow look at that". What a cutie, polka dotted nose especially. And Darby is the prize winning peach at the state fair, classically beautiful and perfectly sweet. Rosebud, like Ledger, I didn't want to get attached to, but what a smarty! Already knowing just how to stack for the camera and at just five weeks!

And Lolo, precious, precious Lolo—as I was driving on my way there on Sunday over Lolo Pass I made a secret wish for her—I guess it's not secret anymore—I wished that she would grow as big as a mountain pass and be strong and healthy and happy. Then on the way home I saw a rainbow and not just a rainbow in the sky, but the end of a rainbow. Now I've never seen the end of a rainbow, but it was clearly the end, it came down in front of the mountains and was touching the ground just before passing Florence and it followed along with me as I drove until I was past Florence and then disappeared. There it was, the pot of gold, it was for Lolo. She just made me want to wish everything good for her. I'm not a woo-woo type at all, science all the way for me, but I got woo-woo feelings seeing the end of that rainbow and I just knew it was for Lolo."

Monday Special Edition!

The puppies had a grand time playing outside as you can see in these pictures. Close-ups are Ledger and Rosebud, and standing alone pictures are Rosebud and Lolo. Kinsey is the trotting puppy, and Rosebud is having fun with the pine cone. Madison is the single puppy with the plant.

The puppies are now sound asleep!

Mark Your Calendar Now!

The puppies have had a busy morning! They had three breakfasts and several sessions of play but the big adventure was walks. I took two puppies at a time outside for a morning walk around the driveway. I rewarded with tiny pieces of cheese when puppies stayed close or came to me when I called them. It was an excellent way to assess their reactions to a new place -- none had been that far up the driveway before. They all had a lot of fun and did very well, and then they all took a long nap! We are planning an afternoon session outside today as the weather is quite nice - check later for more pictures.

Today's pictures are a fun glimpse of life here at Puppy Central. We have Rosebud attempting an escape from the whelping box. Halo is nursing puppies and it is Sula sitting up in that group. After one play session we had a very cute puppy pile of seven -- one puppy was fast asleep in the crate so is not in the picture. Close-ups today are Darby, Kinsey and Ledger. Lolo is busy chewing on the spoon, and I think it is Darby chewing on my toe!

Utah puppy fans -- we are arriving in Salt Lake City on November 1, likely in late afternoon. I will have all eight puppies with me and so I thought a Puppy Party would be in order -- maybe at 7 p.m. at my Salt Lake City house? The puppies will start leaving for their new homes the next day so I hope you can make it - and anyone else who wants to come is welcome! I think that party will help us get to the 100 new people mark so please come if you can!

Sunday in Montana: Snow and Puppies

Happy Sunday! There is a very light snow falling here in Florence, Montana but the puppies are snug and warm, oblivious to the cold and snow. They have had a busy morning and so are all finally napping.

Kinsey learned to climb out of the whelping box yesterday. This means that the whelping box is no longer a secure place to put them without reinforcement. I use the x-pen (portable play pen for puppies) inside the whelping box now to make sure they stay put. It is a hassle because Halo has to be let in/out at night, and I only have one x-pen so I have to move it from whelping box to play area and back, but having puppies running around the house is also a hassle! I am going to get yet another x-pen the next time I am in Missoula to reduce the hassle factor.

So Kinsey is athletic and smart – she is also a very excited and happy puppy, as I have said before. Rosebud is quite precocious and just a little star – she has that “pay attention to me” quality about her. I have already shared how happy Sula is, but she is also very sweet and an escape artist. If there is a stray puppy in the Great Room, it is usually Sula. Darby is a mellow puppy – relaxed and sweet. Madison is vocal and also a more forward puppy (like Rosebud). Lolo hangs back and watches a lot, not shy but just content to stay out of the action. She does love to play and be held, but she is just not a big presence in any way.

The boys are fun and cute. Dawson is a clown – a sturdy little boy who does not seem bothered by much of anything. Ledger is a lovely boy – he is like Rosebud in that he has star quality about him.

None of the puppies are lacking in social skills or confidence – some are just a bigger presence than others. All play together and all interact very well with people. They are doing well with their solid food introduction, and I am going to start teaching them three basic behaviors: sit, down and stand. The intro to housetraining is going so well and they should be easy to completely housetrain when they go to their new homes.

I took all of today’s pictures this morning during one of the play sessions. I like the picture of Halo with her babies – it shows you how big they are getting and also what a sweet presence Halo has with them. I truly have not taught Dawson to stick out his tongue but there it is again! Kinsey and Darby are chewing together on a toy, and I have included an interesting shot of Rosebud playing tug with the camera strap! Darby and Sula are the close-ups, and there is Rosebud playing with a toy Terri made for them – it is a nice substitute for my leg. And there are two pictures that I took in succession of a wrestling match – I love the expressions on their little faces and notice that one has the lip of the other in one picture.

I hope you are having a restful Sunday!

Saturday Special Edition!

We just took puppies outside in groups of four and I thought you would enjoy some pictures from that.

Kinsey is standing alone in one, and there is also one of just Rosebud -- remember you can tell them apart because Rosebud has big, white feet. The two puppies running together and also standing together are Rosebud and Ledger. In the one picture Ledger looks a lot smaller but they are actually quite close in size -- it is just the angle of the picture. The three puppies running towards me are Ledger, Rosebud and Darby. The four puppies are Madison, Rosebud, Ledger and Darby. Galen thought it was much too cold for his favorite puppy so that is Ledger cuddled in Galen's coat.

Hope you enjoy these pictures and are having a grand day!

Fun with New Friends

The puppies just got done meeting five new people -- they are now up to 24! It is fun to share the puppies with other people, and especially with children. The puppies were on their best behavior and impressed our visitors with their excellent potty manners. One puppy thought it was summer and that swimming sounded good so she curled up in the frying pan that serves as a water bowl! She was one wet puppy ☺

The puppies are so friendly and social. They climb in laps and give kisses. Yes, they also bite but that is, after all, part of the puppy job description. Last night a puppy thought I needed a new piercing – in my toe – OUCH! In spite of their tendencies to imitate small piranhas, I am really happy with how well the puppies are doing with new people and new situations.

Liz asked about how the puppies stay so clean, and the type of care that Halo provides. Halo nurses the puppies and does a little bit of licking but I would not say that she cleans her puppies. She hangs out with them and does some playing with them, and would really love to eat their chicken and rice – but she apparently does not think she should clean up the puppies like she did when they were smaller.

The simple truth is that the puppies really do not get dirty. The whelping box is lined with newspaper, which is covered with a fleece and then I put towels on the top of that. When they pee, it soaks down to the bottom layer so there is not a lot of surface wetness. If they poop, it is cleaned up right away. If it happens at night they somehow (so far) manage to avoid it and I clean it when I get up in the middle of the night or morning. That said, we rarely have a pile in the whelping box at night. I change the whelping box twice each day and if we see a pee puddle in between we put a clean washcloth over it.

The play area is linoleum lined with a folded fleece in one area that serves as the outhouse. Because we are always around, we immediately clean up any accidents and/or poop piles. The puppies are getting quite good at only going in the designated potty zone and the fleece that serves as the potty zone draws the moisture down so the surface is rarely wet.

So they stay clean because their living space is so clean – and we keep it that way both because we like clean puppies but also because they are in our house and we do not want the house to smell like a kennel! When they eat more they will start to potty more and it will be more work to keep everything clean but we manage – the puppies do not get a bath until right before they head for their new homes.

The pictures are hot off the camera. We have Darby playing with her Auntie Maize – Darby and Rosebud both had fun with Maize this morning. We have fun pictures of the puppies with our visitors – I think you can really see how well the puppies did in these pictures. Sula is busy chewing on a plastic spoon while being held, and the other close-up is Kinsey. Thanks so much to Kathy, Kelsie, Sean, Bailey and Peyton for visiting us this morning!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We have no other visitors planned for the weekend so will just be hanging out here in the Pines with the dogs – feel free to stop by!

Let It Snow -- NOT

Happy Friday! I owe several of you emails – I plan to catch up this weekend so please do not think I am ignoring you.

I need to get to work so let me sum up today’s puppies: AWWWWW and OUCH!

The pictures help you understand what is happening here at Puppy Central (don't forget to double-click to enlarge the picture). Last night I took the puppies outside in pairs to go on a short walk – Madison is shown on her walk. The rest of the pictures are from this morning. The first thing you might notice is that Rosebud is standing in SNOW! Just a dusting but I guess winter is arriving. There is a picture of Halo nursing all eight, and three pictures of Halo with individual puppies – the puppies are Darby, Kinsey and Rosebud. There is a close-up of Madison who was resting on top of Halo. There are also close-ups of Darby (tilted head) and Dawson (who was resting on Halo’s back leg); Darby is also in the crate – isn’t that a cute picture?!

I appreciate your visit and hope that your day goes exactly as you want it to!

Dangerous Adventures in Photography

Have you ever seen those suits that beekeepers wear for protection? I need one! Taking pictures of these puppies is getting dangerous.

This morning the puppies woke up at 5 and then had their first breakfast of milk from Halo. I got everything ready for their second breakfast and individually fed them their yummy (!) rice and chicken concoction. I decided that feeding time was the perfect time to get them used to having their feet handled and so I fed them on the table with a towel for traction. I placed their little feet in “show” position as they ate, and this worked well.

They then went to their play area and that is where the fun started. The first problem is that they all climb in my lap, making it impossible to take pictures. When one leaves to the play, another is pulling on the camera strap while a couple of the other puppies are biting me in various tender places with teeth they clearly sharpened over night. It is hard to take pictures when the camera is being used as a tug toy, and you are jumping because someone just bit through your jeans!

I lay down to try and get some close-ups – big mistake. One puppy started on my toe while another pulled my hair and the one was still attached to the camera strap and yet another was gnawing on the camera. Sigh. And invariably a puppy runs on front of the camera at the exact moment I am trying to capture a split second of cute action, giving me a lovely tail shot.

The puppies finally started to drift off in a pile and so I lay down again to try and capture some sweet faces. I snapped a picture and at that exact moment a puppy came from nowhere to land directly in front of the flash. I smelled singed fur and quickly checked to make sure the puppy was okay – she was. More sighing.

The pictures today are all from my dangerous adventure in photography this morning. One puppy is chewing on a nylabone (while another is no doubt chewing on me). I love the shot of Dawson with his bum in the air and the toy in his mouth. Ledger is the leaping puppy – it is not a good picture but captures well the frolicking these puppies are doing now. Lolo is chewing on the crate and Sula is trying to get Ledger to play by chomping on his shoulder. Madison is the close-up with paws showing – she is one photogenic puppy. The other close-up is Rosebud, who continued to play long after the others were asleep – Lolo in my lap and the others in that cute puppy pile.

Hope you have a wonderful adventure today and preferably one that is pain-free! We will see what we can do about video.

Five Week Collage

Thanks to Terri Zimmerman for creating these collages for us!

The First Meal

This morning the puppies had their first non-dairy meal. Last night I had boiled organic chicken and rice in spring water, and blended it to the consistency of baby food. This morning each puppy had 1/4 cup of this tasty, sticky gruel. I fed them individually so that they could learn to eat without the frantic competition that is usually part of their eating experience, and will continue to do this for a while. They all did very well and enjoyed their breakfast. Sula and Kinsey shared theirs with Noah, and Darby was a slow and methodical eater.

After eating the puppies enjoyed some play time. I wish I could have captured for you one of the puppies barking and play bowing at one of the kitterns -- it was so cute! They love carrying their toys around and their play has definitely advanced to painful -- we break up quite a few puppy wrestling matches because one puppy is crying, "uncle, uncle" but the other one does not get the message to let go. Right now they are asleep in the play area in one big puppy pile.

Marianne asked about whether we would be breeding Halo again. I am not sure of the answer to this yet. She is an exceptional mother and produces lovely puppies, but she will be six this month so we are running out of time if we decide a third litter from Halo is a good idea. I also have some additional titles I want to get with Halo and so that plays into the picture as well.

I am excited to share these photos taken with the new Nikon! We have close-ups of Kinsey and Dawson. I have felt badly that Kinsey did not have more pictures recently but she makes up for it today -- she is the puppy laying sweetly with Halo in two pictures. I went to the Three Hundred Dollar Store (AKA Costco) and the puppies thought the box that I brought their organic chicken home in was quite the fun new adventure. Ledger is the one talking back to his mom, but Halo knows well that the best approach to mouthy children is to simply ignore them. I have included Darby enjoying her first meal and also Rosebud sharing hers with Noah.

I hope you tackle your day with the same enthusiam that the puppies had for their first meal! Thanks for visiting us.

Happy Five Weeks!

Can you believe that the puppies are five weeks old already?! Raising a litter is like being in some strange suspended time zone, where the days and weeks just run together. The routine of puppies seems like it always has been and always will be. It is like I have stepped into a different life, one that revolves around puppies and their needs, and it is hard to imagine that it will soon end as suddenly as it started.

The puppies now sleep until 4 or 5 a.m. When they wake up, Halo nurses them and they usually will go back to sleep for a bit. After feeding the big dogs, I put Halo and 3 - 4 puppies in the puppy play area in the Great Room; this group always includes Lolo. The rest of the group joins after a few minutes and our day has officially started.

The puppies rotate during the day between their whelping box, where they always sleep at night, and the puppy play area. The whelping box is more secure and private, but the play area is bigger and allows for more interaction so both have value right now.

The puppies are now running! This is faster than a scamper but just as cute. They are amazingly social and I continue to be impressed at the amount of tail wagging that goes on. Their potty skills are impressive -- this morning they were in the play area for over an hour and only one puddle did not make it to the designated potty area. They purposefully walk over and potty where they are suppose to most of the time -- it is very nice.

Terri from Portland spent the day with us yesterday and I am sure she will share a report when she gets home. We enjoyed the chance to get to know her better and share the sweet puppies with her -- Terri will be getting one of the girls.

It was very expensive to have Terri leave us because she took the nice camera she had sent me in answer to my 911 Nikon call. I could not be without a nice camera at this stage of puppy life and our Nikon is at the factory being repaired so what could I do? Obviously I had to scamper off to Best Buy and get my own Nikon! Now
Kim and I will have his and hers Nikons when his gets back from being repaired. Since we are currently in different states most of the time, this did not seem like a completely silly idea -- at least that is what I was telling myself as I spent a lot of money to keep all of us in pictures!

I did not get a chance to take many pictures this morning as the puppies agreed to go back to sleep at 4 a.m. and we all slept until 6:30! That is serious sleeping in at my house! But we still have some cute pictures from this morning and some taken by Terri yesterday. Madison is playing tug and also in the close-up with Asia, her full sister who is 14 months. Terri got some cute sleeping puppy pictures. Unfortunately two of the pictures rotated themselves and I have no idea how to fix that!

Thanks for checking in and have a perfectly wonderful day!

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Underdog!

This morning Lolo, tail up and stiff legged, walked menacingly over to another puppy and attacked – and Lolo got the take down and pin! As I have said, I am not sure how many points that is, but she clearly won that particular match. Lolo may be a lightweight but she is not a wimp!

The puppies are so wonderful and happy. Last night Galen remarked that Sula could motor a boat with her tail – she is always wagging. They loved the visitors (they are up to 19 people now!), and I am not seeing any puppy that seems insecure or shy. They are curious and confident puppies who love sitting in laps. I will ask Terri, visiting from Portland, to provide a Guest Report later today after she has spent the day with the puppies.

I promised we would report weights and so here we go (in ounces):

Rosebud: 108.8
Ledger: 99.85
Madison: 96
Kinsey: 94.1
Sula: 92.25 (wagging too hard to get an accurate reading!)
Darby: 93.5
Dawson 93.1
Lolo: 67.1

I am really happy that the Nursing Protection Plan worked so well with Darby – she gained 19 ounces in one week! Lolo gained 14!

Let’s look at the numbers in a different way. All of the puppies except Lolo have increased their birth weight about five times (range is 4.75 – 5.5). Lolo has increased her birth weight 10.3 times! What a little champ! Clearly the Nursing Protection Program has been a benefit to Lolo, and I am not sure she would have survived without it.

I hope you enjoy today's pictures. Kinsey is one of the close-ups. Madison is biting Noah, and Sula is in the frying pan (aka not easily tipped water bowl). Rosebud is the one practicing her excellent down, and we have puppies playing and loving visitors.

I challenge you to look for the Lolo in your day – it feels good to help the underdog ☺

Lazy Sunday in the Pines

The puppies have now met 15 people! Yesterday a neighbor drove over to meet puppies – yes, she lives two houses over but it is quite a ways so she drove. I was not expecting her so the house was a mess but the puppies were – as always – clean and happy and in a clean whelping box. Luckily, she was not here to do a home inspection!

She sat down with the puppies and was soon covered in furry bodies and wagging tails (especially Sula!). As they climbed up to give her kisses, she remarked at how social they were – I beamed with pride as if my firstborn had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!

One of our other sons, Jake, arrived last night and he also got the royal waggy treatment from the puppy welcoming committee. The puppies are resting now, getting ready to meet four more new people later, including Terri from Portland. I will be sure and post pictures of their adventures in socialization.

They are simply delightful and adorable – I wish all of you could spend just an hour with them because it is magical. Well, except the part where you get bitten but otherwise it is truly therapy for the soul.

The puppies are starting to understand about the potty zone. I bought a small crate and puppy litter, thinking I would make a litterbox. Well, they love the crate but not to pee in so I gave up and designated a fleece as the pee zone as I have done with past litters. They are walking over to pee on the fleece about 60% of the time or so, and this is up from just two days ago. This means no cute fleece beds in their new homes!

Marti asked if Darby and Lolo are still in the Nursing Protection Program – yes, they are. Those big puppies send poor Lolo flying and there she will sit, whining and alone, while everyone else eats – doesn’t that sounds SO sad?! So yes, we are rotating puppies at least four times each day, ensuring that Lolo and Darby are always in the first group.

I think I am going to start feeding them at five weeks (Tuesday) – especially the smaller puppies. They will get one meal a day for the first week, and it will be just boiled organic chicken and rice with goat milk yogurt and maybe some banana after a few days. They will continue to nurse until they leave for their new homes so this initial solid food plan will be just a very small part of their diet.

Joan asked about weights and so we will weigh everyone this evening and give you a report tomorrow. My bet is that Rosebud (aka Traitor Puppy per Galen) is still the biggest puppy.

Marti also asked about Halo. Many moms (human and dog) get sick of their babies pretty quickly and do not want to continue nursing, but Halo continues to be very sweet with her babies and will sleep with them even when nobody is nursing. She is really a great mom!

We are behind on today’s pictures so I cannot tell you yet what they will be – I guess we will all be surprised!

I hope you are having a super Sunday and thanks for checking in.

A Tough Problem to Have

I know you are unlikely to have any sympathy for my problem but I am having a hard time getting pictures done today. I have the nice camera (thanks to Terri) and certainly the subjects but when I sit down to take pictures all eight puppies climb on me - I cannot take pictures when they are on my lap! And are they ever sneaky! As I sit in the big pile of fluffy puppies one takes advantage of my distraction and chews on my toe and when I go to disengage that one, another takes a hunk out of my leg – ouch! This is dangerous work!

I wish you could have seen the puppies earlier. I was sitting here at the computer and looked over to see Lolo walking around proudly with the toy in her mouth and three sets of puppy wrestling matches going on. Kim needs to be here to referee these matches as I get confused about how many points to give for take downs and pins ☺

I could not resist and so went in (with camera) to sit with them, abandoning my computer. I was instantly mobbed and all the cute photo opportunities were in my lap. Oh well – I know there are worse problems to have! I did manage to get some pictures and I hope you enjoy them. We have close-ups of Madison, Ledger (lots of white with a toy), Dawson (lots of white, no toy), and Sula (dark, with a toy). In the picture of Madison you can really see how they are getting fluffy, and hopefully you are also seeing how the eyes are darkening up. (Don’t forget to double-click on a picture to enlarge it). We have two puppies taking a break from the wrestling match, and a picture of all eight trying to nurse – notice there is a puppy on top of Halo and the pile! Finally, there is a picture of Lolo that I meant to include yesterday.

We are having more visitors this weekend! Another one of our kids, Jake, is flying in from Utah tonight to spend a couple of days with us. And tomorrow evening Terri from Portland arrives; Terri is the one who has lent me the camera while mine is being repaired. Tomorrow afternoon we are having three local people stop by to visit so a full weekend. I am glad to have today to try and get the house somewhat in order, although I know nobody cares about the house when there are puppies involved.

Please enjoy your weekend and thanks for visiting us – in person visits are even more fun!

Truth in Being

Thank you for your comments - I enjoy reading them and am sure others do as well. Marianne asked about how the puppies enjoyed their water -- they seemed to think water is quite fun, especially walking through it! And it is not possible to suck and bite -- try it and see! So when puppies are nursing there is no teeth involved.

I wanted to follow-up a bit about matchmaking and my expectations for puppies. Some people have the mistaken impression that I only place puppies with people who plan to show them, especially in performance events like obedience, draft or agility. It is true that I prefer homes that will do these kinds of things but there are other ways for a dog to have an interesting life.

Bernese Mountain Dogs were developed to be an all-purpose farm dog in Switzerland. Working closely with a human, a berner on a Swiss farm might help move cattle, guard the property, pull a milk cart to town, and/or take a nap in the hay. Not many of us live on a Swiss farm, but the breed retains that working heritage. I think it is asking for trouble to have a big dog bred to "do something" and expect him/her to be something other than a working dog.

And so I like to honor the heritage and potential of my dogs by making sure they have interesting lives (and get a lot of exercise!). It was my childhood dream to train animals and I feel bad for those poor parakeets I tried so hard to train! I am living my dream now with these dogs and so yes, my dogs are trained and shown. That does not mean, however, that I do not recognize the other ways that a working dog can have an interesting life.

A companion to an active person or family is a wonderful life if the dog is included, trained and well exercised. Doing animal-assisted therapy work is a wonderful job for a working dog. There are many ways for a dog to have an interesting life, and what I expect of potential owners is that they have a plan for how to help an intelligent working dog live a happy life. There are dogs bred to be content doing not much of anything -- berners are not those dogs. So while I do not require that people train and show the puppies, I do expect that they understand and will meet the demands of a large, energetic working breed.

And speaking of working and interesting lives, the puppies are excelling at their jobs! A Puppy Job Description reads as follows:

"Puppies must be cute and fluffy, capable of melting the stoniest heart. The puppy must scamper playfully, sleep soundly, and be very happy and excited about everything. Must love people, other dogs, cats, and their mother. Must be capable of peeing every 30 minutes, preferably away from the designated potty area. Must love pine cones, sticks, grass, flowers, bugs, toys of all kinds, water bottles, the wind, and everything else on the planet. Those wishing to be puppies must have sharp teeth and good biting skills, and be willing to exercise those skills at all times and on all objects and people. Must have a repertoire of cute sounds, including barking, growling and whining. Must be able to sustain whining for at least 30 minutes and preferably between 2 and 3 a.m. Must be capable of eating every 12 minutes and exhibiting all signs of starvation ten minutes after eating. Must jump on people playfully, lick innocently and bite wickedly. Must grow by leaps and bounds and scampers!"

Today's pictures are a nice illustration of just how good they are at being puppies. Dawson is doing his best imitation of a pointer. Lolo and Dawson are demonstrating how to love your mom. Sula, who is the waggiest puppy on record, is sitting on my leg probably getting prepared to take a chunk out of me. Darby is taking time to smell the flowers -- okay, bite the flowers. Ledger, who Galen will not admit is his favorite but who really is his favorite, is practicing smoking -- a habit we strongly discourage! My daughter rescued three kittens and somehow we wound up with two -- not sure how that happened but there they are with Rosebud. Galen calls Rosebud the Traitor Puppy since she seemed to prefer Megan over him -- last night he was trying to sweet talk Rosebud into staying with us! Don't worry Megan -- Rosebud won't fall for a sweet talking, dark eyed young man (and neither should you!!). The outside puppy pile followed a play session, and finally we have two sleepy boys. I am sure you will agree that when it comes to being puppies, the F Litter is just outstanding.

Have a great day being exactly who and what you are, and as always -- thanks for visiting.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match!

If I had to pick one word to describe the puppies right now, it would be "scamper". I am so struck by how fast they go from barely walking to scampering. The puppies move quickly and with confidence now. They do little spins and hops, and they jump up and on each other. They are so small and compact, and it is surprising to see how agile they have become.

The puppies have become more expressive, and we are hearing more little "ruff"s when they are excited. They are a waggy little group, and it seems like they wag their tails more than previous litters at this age. Their teeth are sharp and they know how to use them! Visitors are advised to wear long pants and shoes. And their fur is growing, making them look more fluffy than sleek. It is a delightful age!

I mostly live in denial that I will have to ever part with them. Imagine being told that you must choose one of those you love to be the Special One, and all the rest of those dear to your heart will go to be with others. There is sorrow for those who will be sent away, and guilt for selecting one and not another. But I have yet to have a litter that did not involve having to say good-bye, and so today I wanted to briefly share the matchmaking process that is involved in placing puppies with new homes.

The first part is the "get to know you" stage. I think I am pretty good at assessing people simply through developing a relationship, and so I like to email and learn about people, what they value, what they want and so on. I do ask a few questions but mostly I am trying to just get a sense of who a prospective puppy parent is, and whether we will be a good match. Since I will remain involved with the puppy throughout his/her life, it really is matching people and also people/puppy.

As I learn about the people, their lives and what they hope for in a dog, I am also assessing the puppies. I am watching the emerging personalities, how the puppies respond to different things, their energy levels, their confidence or insecurities, and so on. I want to make a good match between families and puppies because that will help ensure that everyone -- and especially the puppies -- are happy. While I absolutely feel a commitment to the people who get a puppy, my larger commitment and responsibility is to the puppies and I take this very seriously.

It is helpful for me to know what the goals and expectations are for a new dog. For example, in the last litter we had a wonderful couple who wanted a companion for their active lifestyle but did not plan to do any advanced training. One puppy was a little more on the independent side, and would not need that close bond that comes from the level of training I like to do. I matched the more independent puppy with the couple who wanted a companion and it has worked out very well. Another puppy, less independent and with a bigger desire to please, went to a couple who wanted to compete in performance events; that has also been a good match.

It is hard to put into words how this is all done, but I would say it is a matter of knowing the personalities involved -- human and canine -- and also the goals for the puppy, and putting the pieces together. It is also a matter of assessing what kind of people/homes will allow me to sleep well at night, and making sure to send puppies to those kinds of homes. It doesn't mean that someone I do not select is a bad home, but rather that another breeder with different values and priorities is a better choice.

Although placing puppies is hard, I will say that placing a puppy in the right home is also a special kind of joy -- it is rare that we get to make people so happy that they beam through the phone or email! I got that from Jonn earlier this week -- it is a good feeling that helps make up for the sadness of the good-byes.

I am having fun with Terri's camera! The puppies met two more people yesterday, as you can see in the pictures. Heidi and Abby came up to visit, and Ledger made sure to thank Abby as you can see in the one picture. Pine cones and water bottles are really interesting to the puppies and make for fun toys. I thought you might like to see what they do when I show up at the whelping box and so that is the picture of the welcoming committee. Lolo and Halo are asleep together in another picture, and we have close-ups of which puppies?

Have a great day and make sure to scamper at least once -- it looks like fun!

Joy and Sorrow -- Always Together

The puppies are all fine and so is Halo, but I am sad to share that the father of the puppies died a couple of days ago. Zack was three weeks shy of eight years, and he was euthanized due to illness/disease. His exact diagnosis is still being studied. We extend our condolences to his owners, Lisa and Sean Ebnet. Our puppies are Zack's last litter and we are both saddened and honored to say that.

Breeding dogs is a heartbreak. We wanted Zack to live a long life and while his age at death is a little over breed average, it is not as long as anyone would like. There are no guarantees in life, are there? It is a reminder that joy and sorrow are ever present in all of our lives.

It is a difficult transition to talking about cute puppies, but as I said, sorrow and joy are always present and it seems wrong to ignore either. The puppies are fantastic. Terri's camera arrived and so Galen and I took them outside last night and got some lovely pictures. Thanks so much to Terri for sending that camera!! All of the puppies are becoming so playful -- and sound quite vicious when they are playing.

When I walk over to the whelping box they all come running to the side, climbing up and trying to be the first one to get picked up. Kinsey always lets out little "ruff"s -- she is quite cute! But they are all adorable -- I think the next two weeks are my favorite puppy age because they are just miniature dogs and so darn cute. They climb in laps, chew on Halo and everything else, explore and really seem to like their new toys. I am sorry to report that last night Rosebud walked over and peed on Halo's tail!!

Tomorrow I will write about puppy selection but I need to get this posted so let me just tell you about the pictures. Madison is the one wearing the toy -- we thought that was pretty cute and she was a good sport about it! Darby is the lone sitting puppy, and Kinsey is the close-up -- I love that picture. Rosebud has the ball toy, and Sula is with Halo -- notice Halo's smile.

I hope that even if your day has sorrows, that you also notice the joy. Thanks for visiting.

From Megan

Hello everyone this is Megan

I just got back from an exciting day at school, even though it would be much nicer to be in Montana still. I really did have a fun day of showing off pictures of my girl (Rosebud) to all my friends and teachers. My friends are dying to come over to my house and meet her, when she arrives.

I already miss the smell of puppy breath, and I can hardly wait to see Rosebud again in four weeks and take her home. (: