In March 2011 we saw Coco ("Curly") Lilah (L,front ) and Coco (R) - pretty girls!
Saying hello to Coco, at Luther Burbank Park
Summer 2011, we payed a visit to one of our pups, Toby.
Toby ("Little Guy") not so little anymore! At home on San Juan Island
Ryan, Spring 2011
Ryan, fuzzy but trim and fit
One year old! (Lilah)
Dad and his 8 month old daughter
The girls, still best friends
Lilah, at 7 months of age
she's waiting in the field before she gets to do some retrieving.
Siri and Princess deLilah, running in the field Whidbey
these 2 are the best of friends.
Lilah, flying 4 months Whidbey Island
the little one can scoot when she puts in high gear! the ears help her get airborne!
Ryan on the move, Whidbey 8/'10
The big guy is still strong as a bull, at age 11 1/2!
Lion 4 months
She's getting to be a big girl, though she's still only half the weight of her mother.
Rita and the pups, Dora and Lion. These 2 pups have become almost indistinguishable.
One of the many great kids in our neighborhood who have helped to socialize these pups. The pups and the big dogs all love Rita!
The fabulous Dora is sold, less than one day after becoming available again (6/13)
6/14: It's official, all of the available pups from this litter have been sold. It's been an incredible ride, beginning with Siri nipping the tail of her first born in a tough breech delivery, to coming extremely close to losing the little guy, who turned out to be such an outstanding pup.
We are keeping the Pink collared girl after all. It will be good for her to be "alone" here, out from under the shadow of her rough tough siblings. I think she will eventually flourish in her own way. She sure is a sweet little thing.
One story we haven't told: about 4 weeks post partum, Siri was ravenously hungry, despite 5-6 meals a day. Her weight had gone from 44 lb to 36 lb. One night she jumped up on an ottomon, then up onto the kitchen counter, walked across the counter, grabbed a box of Organic Fertilizer, brought it down to the floor and ate about a pound of it. By the morning we found her with PARALYZED BACK LEGS! The vet found no lab abnormailities, gave her IV fluids, and she gradually came out of it. it was terrifying, as we thought we were going to lose not one bu 7 dogs, as they could have been poisoned by the breast milk, and they didn't have access to her for a day and were still dependent on her.
I think this was an effect similar to what you might see with dogs treated with Potassium Bromide for seizures, where the main side effect is the bizarre back leg paralysis. That Fertilizer has Potassium Oxide in it. Poison control was not helpful. They said it was safe for pets.
6/13: Through a series of events that could only attributed to the twists and turns of life, Dora the Explorer is still available! She is so much fun, so physically capable, smart and affectionate, that we are going to have a hard time seeing her go. Hopefully she will find a home locally so we can keep tabs on her, but we shall see. She is 9 weeks old, so she could conceivably head out any moment. She outgrew her rainbow collar, and the only one we had left that fits has rhinestones on it(?!). I'm not sure this fits her adventurous trailblazing spirit, but she is a glamourous, "look at me" dog, so we'll go with it.
Later today we are going to get to the lake and see what happens. This will be a big event for the 3 girls that are still here. Tailie leaves town on Wednesday, which will also be a tough one...
Dora on the Porch, planning her next move..
Then there were 4..
Wednesday the Magenta girl (Curly, now Coco) went to her home, and Friday the blue collared male (Hercules) went to his home. Both went to (hunting) homes, that if we were puppies, we'd want to live there!
A kiss from Dad Ryan (!?!) through the fence (Lion/Pink collared female).
Lion playing fetch - she held her own today. Day 59.
this is such a nice looking girl. We'd like to keep them all actually!
Day 59, another shot of Pink Female's face ("lion").
Here's Tailie whacker
this is a big solid girl with a lot of substance. Good fetch drive, fine structure and very affectionate.
53 days, assessment time
We spent some of the weekend doing assessments, structural & temperament, fetching, exposing the pups to pheasant feathers. This is Coco, (going to a fine Seattle hunting family on Wednesday) showing off her excellent structure.
They LOVE the pheasant feathers
Blue collared male on a walk
All the pups went for a walk, on a leash for the first time. All of them met strangers in a new location, and when the strangers crouched down, the pups all ran up to them, tails wagging, jumping up and licking. They all seem to have sweet affectionate temperaments, and there isn't an Omega shrinking violet in the group.
The redbone male (Not-so -"Little guy") -
this pup is developing as fast or faster than any of them. We beleive he was the last conceived, possibly 4 days younger thank some of them. On the walk today he was confident and relaxed, greeting strangers easily. To think we almost lost this guy at day 2-3, it's hard to believe how robust he is now!
Those eyes... 7 1/2 weeks now
The pups are 7.5 weeks old now. We are closing in on our last week with them. Fortunately they are going to homes that we know will love them as they deserve. We are doing assessments this week, as we are approaching the "Puppy Puzzle" window of 53-59 days. The pups are fetching, they all have nice temperaments, and they bond easily and quickly with visitors. Tomorrow: bird wings and feathers, more structural assessments. Memorial day: ? some lake time, weather permitting.
Fetching.
this was tough to do the throwing, cheering and also photograph, and so the picture is blurry, but you get the idea. They are all fetching for the most part and they all did great. The redbone collar male is a tenaceous fetching machine - he blew us away this afternoon!
the gang 7 1/2 weeks
I think there is a 6th one in there, somewhere..
Redbone collar male, 7 1/2 weeks
Not so Little guy. He's a sweet guy, and a champ at fetch games.
The pups new play area, day 45 (6 1/2 weeks)
They have this section of the yard. It's getting too hard to let them roam the whole yard; they are all big, strong, healthy, their coats look good, and their poops look good. There's not a weak one in the bunch, which makes for lots of vigorous wrestling matches and blistering chasey-chase games. We always have to watch the ground when walking, as a brown missile can land under foot without any warning!
We are feeding them a gruel made of Esbilac step2 + euk adult cubes, pureed, with pup vitamins, plus there is still some occasional nursing going on. The caloric demands on Siri with nursing are astounding; Despite about 6 meals a day, her weight is down to 36 pounds, from a normal weight of 44 pounds! She continues to be a great mom, teaching and working with her pups, and spending one on one play time with them, tails wagging. I'm hoping to get them to a waters edge very soon, as they are 6 weeks old now. They are fetching only a little yet - it appears that there is some more myelination needed. Some of the pups future homes are shaping up a little. There is some (shrinking) availability of both male and female still...
We are feeding them a gruel made of Esbilac step2 + euk adult cubes, pureed, with pup vitamins, plus there is still some occasional nursing going on. The caloric demands on Siri with nursing are astounding; Despite about 6 meals a day, her weight is down to 36 pounds, from a normal weight of 44 pounds! She continues to be a great mom, teaching and working with her pups, and spending one on one play time with them, tails wagging. I'm hoping to get them to a waters edge very soon, as they are 6 weeks old now. They are fetching only a little yet - it appears that there is some more myelination needed. Some of the pups future homes are shaping up a little. There is some (shrinking) availability of both male and female still...
Hercules, 6 1/2 weeks
Here are a few pics of Hercules, out in the yard today. He's very sweet, with a beautiful face, and still the biggest body though that is getting less certain over time.
Curly and Lion, 6.5 weeks
We made a bigger enclosure, 48 feet circumference, and the pups had a few more visitors this weekend.
Curly
this dog is the sleeper - she's got it all - great head, body, affectionate, active, she's the female version of Hercules.
Tailie in profile
this dog has it all, almost...
Dori-dor; the rascal!
She has always been the first to try everything, though the others quickly follow and she doesn't have any special advantage, other than her fearless, adventurous spirit. Physically she resembles her mother the most, but temperamentally, not sure..
Pups at 6 weeks; in the yard
The pups got out today after the rain, and we tried out this pen. It's too small - they just want to bust out! They continue to grow, and the pecking order in the litter is changing. The "little guy" (redbone collar) does not back off from anything, and Tailie (no collar) is queen bee. Dora continues to be the trailblazer, now bounding up stairs. Curly is a big beautiful girl with a great blocky head and great balance and energy. Hercules is calm, and acts like he doesn't have anything to prove. He doesn't care much about the pecking order because he's, well, Hercules. He has an wise old classic face, like Ryan, or his great Grampa, the legendary Bodee. Her are some pics of the pups today. It is gratifying to see the interest in the website, we are getting 80 views a day now so we will try to do a better job of keeping the blog updated. Thanks to all for the great interest in our litter!
Get me out of here!
Redbone collar male (Little guy)
Curly, Dora
Still the great mom; nursing standing up, all 6 at one time
Magenta collared female (Curly)
This pup is one of the big strong girls, we have a bunch of those. She has a big blocky head and a big solid active body. We have to watch her, because she likes to explore, like her sisters. Her puppy coat is fairly loose, but her adult coat will undoubtedly be much curlier.
One pic below of her.
One pic below of her.
Rainbow collared female (Dora) day 37
This female pup is full of fun and personality, is very adventurous and athletic. We have to watch her closely because she's usually the first to do anything new, like scaling walls...
the 3 pics below are this pup.
the 3 pics below are this pup.
The Curly male, redbone collar day 37
this pic and the 2 pics below are the pup that struggled on 2 day 2, fought hard to live, and is doing great now. He is growing a little faster than the other dogs and gaining a lot of confidence; yesterday he wrestled the Blue collared male to the ground which is a big step for him. btw, they are constantly wrestling at this point, as you would expect.
4 1/2 weeks; and Happy Mother's Day Siri!
The pups are starting to exhibit personalities; They all are energetic and love attention. Today they got it - 12 visitors! It was a good day; Siri is very comfortable with all the commotion, it distracts the pups from her! They all got out in the yard today to play as it finally warmed up a little; It was a lot of fun for everyone. We wished Siri Happy Mothers day too. she's still nursing some, which is heroic duty at this point; she is getting kinder and gentler with them as time goes along. For her first litter she's just been a great mommy, no doubt about it. She is 100% of the reason the pups are so strong and healthy at this point.
Dora running in the yard
Pink collared girl (Lion) playing outside for the first time
I'm Dora. I could get used to this outside stuff!
Day 29 - blue eyes and sharp teeth..
The pups are developing their own personalities, and getting bigger and stronger. It seems like they are working on their pecking order, though they look like drunken sumo wrestlers in the process. Siri is still nursing a little, but we are weaning them toward the puppy gruel (esbilac and cubes, pureed). Can't blame her for losing enthusiasm for nursing, the pups are also growing some sharp little teeth!
Featured pup: Dora the Explora Day 23
I found this nosy little girl snooping around in the corner of the room when we went in this AM. Of course she had escaped the Whelping pen. She looks so innocent though...
4/30/'10 day 23 pups first food
The pups had their first meal of "Gruel" this morning. a pureed mix of Esbilac and cubes, they caught on very quickly, and polished off the bowl together. Much of the food found it's way first onto their heads, but all was consumed in the end!
Supermom, nursing day 19
Siri has been such a good mom. She will probably stop nursing soon, but not yet. The pups are all very well nourished and healthy, all because of her. We've done absolutely no bottle feeding.
one of the girls, day 19
This is the marcel coated girl, known as Lion in the early days; Some of the girls are a bit bigger, with looser coats (which means little at this point), but they are remarkably consistent as a group. All are around 2 lb now, with blocky heads.
Day 19; eyes open, walking, climbing a little;
Eyes are all open, for several days now; Some of us were away a few days, and the pups have all grown a lot; Siri is being a good mom, still dutifully nursing them; they all weigh around 2 lb now, some are over 37 oz. The little guy was the first to scale the wall and get out of the pen. That was a few days ago;
Day 11, hanging in there..
The pups are cruising along; Siri is a protective mother, naturally. At times she seems put off by them moving around so much; a week ago they didn't do that, and they were easier to clean. Plus, there must be an instinct at work: in the wild, if there were predators (in this case strange visitors, and we've had a few) then the mother wanted the young to sit still; When visitor/predators come to visit us, the pups start wandering around the pen, and she gets cranky. That's slowly settling down. It's been interesting to watch this hyperintelligent/alert dog go through her first litter. She's probably having some hormonal emotional swings too, poor thing. Today she came up to me and just rested her head against my neck. I reassured her that she was a good mommy, and that it's Spring, which means we'll be swimming again soon...
The litter is registered with the AKC now; this website is posted there too, in the AKC classifieds. We sold one pup this weekend to a great family, and there are a few more folks with solid interest, so we're feeling great about the early impression the pups are making. We won't be able to assess personalities and hunting potential for about 3-4 more weeks, and assessing their bodies for conformation potential happens right at day 52. Good times to come!
The litter is registered with the AKC now; this website is posted there too, in the AKC classifieds. We sold one pup this weekend to a great family, and there are a few more folks with solid interest, so we're feeling great about the early impression the pups are making. We won't be able to assess personalities and hunting potential for about 3-4 more weeks, and assessing their bodies for conformation potential happens right at day 52. Good times to come!
Day 10, a chorus line, and a puppy pile...
Featured pup: Hercules
It was hard to get a picture of Hercules, because he's on the move so much. He's the bigger boy, already about 25 oz, but he gets overshadowed by the heroics of his brother who came roaring back form death's door, but Hercules is a good looking dog; He has one of the straighter coats, which means next to nothing; He's going to be curly. He looks like he has Siri's big hocks for swimming. He looks like he's going to have a big blocky head like Ryan, and Cody. They all do actually; it's been said many times that Ryan always "throws off that big head" and it looks to be true again...
Basket full o' pups - Day 10 report
The pups are gaining weight every day; The little guy is 19 oz now, compared with 7 oz 8 days ago! Wouldn't you know it, he was the first one to walk! He's a tough one! The rest of them weigh between 22 and 24 oz; They are all physically very similar to each other. The coats you see have relatively little bearing on what they will look like as adults; the straight coated pups are developing a 'wave" across their shoulders, and will probably be curly as adults. The curly looking pups may end up with a tight curl as adults, but it's hard to say for sure; They will probably all end up curly, and some with 'Looser' curls, or a Marcelle coat, which can be more interesting to look at to some observers.
Lion, pouncing Day 7
We're at 1 week from the birth of the pups; Their health at this point looks excellent; Tailie is at 18.5 oz! Little guy is about 14 oz! He has almost doubled in size from 5 days ago, when we almost lost him. They have all had dew claws removed by now, and are on cruise control. We've had lots of visitors, with lots more to come this weekend. Siri is holding in there, and has been patient and tolerant of all of this.
Little guy, not quite 1 week old
4/12/10 day 5 Featured Pup: little guy
Little guy, pictured here sleeping, continues his quest to survive amongst his rough tough sisters. He is up to 11 oz now, making steady progress. His big sister Tailie is over a pound, at 16.5 oz, and all of the girls will weigh a pound by tomorrow; We are starting to think about future homes for the pups; Our first purchaser of a pup is from Texas, and will be flying up this week to look at them on friday. Should be a lot of fun! more soon, stay tuned..
4/11/10 day 4; Siri takes time out
Mom and pups settling in to a rhythm. Siri still a picky eater, despite the increased demands on her. The little guy is still fighting, now up to almost 10 oz, when he weighed 7.5oz and dropping on thursday. That would probably be average size for some litters at this stage. They have all gained about 30% of their body weight compared with 3 days ago! Siri is definitely taking more time outs and spending time away from the pups; They had 8 visitors today. Watching puppies is our new pastime; You have to be careful, you can catch yourself staring at the Brownian Motion for hours. If only that was a substitute for sleep...
4/10/10 - day 3; supermom!
We have arrived at day 3; the little guy who was lagging initially has fought back, and is holding his own with all those big burly sisters of his. He is constantly working to catch up, and has the heart of a lion. One of the female pups we actually call "Lion" because her body looks like a miniature adult lion, with big muscular shoulders; the real star though is Siri, who has transformed herself into a flat out excellent mother; calm, attentive, protective, super competent, just like her mother Cassie; She passed the last of the afterbirth and old blood last night, and is eating well again; The pups are gaining a little weight and pooping, so her milk seems fine. We elected not to use any ptocin or hormonal augmentation, she's doing it au natural. Last night she went on a long walk with us and did some running (to get back to her babies!).
Hot off the press: Siri's father Charger took Best in Breed at a show in Denver today, and will probably be the top ranked dog in the country when the updated rankings come out this month; way to go Grampa!
Hot off the press: Siri's father Charger took Best in Breed at a show in Denver today, and will probably be the top ranked dog in the country when the updated rankings come out this month; way to go Grampa!
4/8/10 - The puppies have arrived!
Last night (4/7/10), Siri successfully delivered all 6 pups (4 girls, 2 boys). The pups have been healthily nursing and napping all day, and Siri is demonstrating great maternal instincts. She is watchful, attentive, nurturing, and patient. The puppies are lucky to have her as a mother!
We hope this page can serve as a blog with frequent updates on the pups, so check back soon for more news, pictures, and information!
We hope this page can serve as a blog with frequent updates on the pups, so check back soon for more news, pictures, and information!