Sweet puppies!

The puppies keep growing! We expect in the next couple of days to record weights that are triple what they were when we started weighing them at 4 days old. They are moving around more, and starting to find their voices, too.

The question has come up about pedigree. One thing that we are being up-front about, is that we have crossed a British Lab (the sire - Benelli) with an American Lab (the dam - Cocoa). In serious breeding circles, this would be considered a no-no, however, the American Kennel Club doesn't distinguish between the two, though they do record when a DNA test has been done to confirm breeding. Benelli's pedigree shows that this was done three generations back. The pedigree also shows when a dog is a Master Hunter (MH), Junior Hunter (JH), Field Champion (FC) or an American Field Champion (AFC). Both Benelli and Cocoa come from lines that include Master Hunters, Field Champions, and American Field Champions. Cocoa also has Junior Hunters in her lineage. These are things we were looking for when we got her, in addition to OFA (hip dysplasia) certification. We do not intend to become professional breeders, so we're not offering the OFA certification for these puppies, but the pedigree shows that the dogs in Cocoa and Benelli's lineage that do have the OFA certification have ratings of either good or excellent. All-in-all, these dogs will make great pets, and have the potential to become excellent hunters with proper training. We have high expectations that all of the new owners will do a good job of training their dogs, whether it be just as house pets, or as hunting dogs.

October 31st - Day 16

The puppies are growing so fast! We have been weighing them daily, and they each doubled their weight sometime between day 12 and day 14. Here are the weights for today:

Rastus (yellow with brown collar): 148.1 g
Shadow (black with gray collar): 116 g
M.J (yellow with purple collar): 135.1 g
Brownie (chocolate with green collar): 116.1 g
Mocha (chocolate with red collar): 114.2 g
Snuggler (chocolate with black collar): 106.9
Shorty (black with no collar): 80.8
Duke (yellow with no collar): 122.1
Lady (yellow with blue collar): 128.3

In other news, Shorty now has his name, since we're keeping him. He is Ezekiel Malcolm. Ezekiel for something from the Bible, and Malcolm after my favorite character in my favorite book. "Zeke" for short. He appears to be a very affectionate little guy. All of the dogs in this litter have great qualities. We hope the owners agree once they're trained.

Snuggler and Shadow

Mocha

Rastus

Duke

Napping!

October 30th - Day 15 - Growing like weeds!

These cute little things aren't as little as they were when they were born. And - they're reaching milestones. There eyes started opening on Saturday, though they still sleep quite a bit, and they don't automatically keep them open just because they can. And - they are learning how to walk. It's so sweet to watch! Today is the day the decision was made - WE ARE KEEPING THE SMALL BLACK ONE! He's so sweet, we can't let him go. That just leaves one that still needs a home.

October 28th - Day 13

The puppy collars have arrived! Now it will be a little easier to identify the look-a-likes. And - those of you who are waiting to collect your puppies can follow them a little easier. Here are the assignments:

Big Guy aka "Hoover" or "Rastus" (buyer hasn't confirmed, yet): yellow male/brown collar
Shadow: Black male/gray collar
Wiggler aka "M.J.": yellow male/purple collar
Brownie: chocolate male/green collar
Mocha: chocolate female/red collar
Snuggler: chocolate male/black collar
Shorty: black male/no collar
Duke: yellow male/no collar
Lady: yellow female/blue collar

Visitors!

Norm had a very busy day today while Donna was gone. So far, we have had interest in seven of the nine puppies. The chocolate female, Mocha, belongs to our great nephew, whose family owns the sire. Earlier this week, a friend who had expressed interest in getting one of the puppies last Spring came and chose the largest of the yellow males - the one we call "Big Guy". A couple of weeks ago a family from church requested the yellow female - "Lady". Last week a friend of one of our neighbors came and decided on a chocolate male.  Today, two more families who were on the list of interested potential buyers came to choose. One couple will take the large black male, "Shadow" and the smaller chocolate male, "Snuggler". The other family choose the yellow male, "Wiggler" and will call him "M.J." after the son's favorite basketball star. He is a great choice for this family, as he has energy like his mother, Cocoa, and is also affectionate. At this point, we are down to two pups left. We will see how that goes.

October 26th - Day 11

The puppies are growing so fast, it's unbelievable! Norm and I had a conversation this morning once again about NOT keeping a puppy. We'll see now that turns out.

October 25th - Day 10

It seems amazing that the puppies are already 10 days old! They are growing so fast, we can hardly believe it. And as you will see from the pictures, it's becoming more difficult to distinguish which one is which just by looking at a picture. Puppy collars have been ordered to solve that dilemma.

Yellow male - "Big Guy": 107.4 g
Black male - "Shadow": 85.1 g
Yellow male - "Wiggler" 93.9 g
Chocolate male - "Brownie" 83.2 g
Chocolate female - "Mocha" 83.1 g
Chocolate male - "Snuggler" 77.2 g
Black male - "Shorty" 60.1 g
Yellow male - "Duke" 82.2 g
Yellow female - "Lady" 90.1 g

Most of the pups have increased their weight by about 1/3. We're monitoring to make sure there is some weight gain each day, and whichever puppies have the least amount of gain from the previous day get returned to momma first for nursing and given a few minutes with less competition with the other puppies. By doing this, we avoid the risk of dehydration, which is very difficult for a puppy to recover from.