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.