May 27, 2021 – All of Hazel’s pups have gone to their forever homes and we’re hearing good reports. We’re thankful for all of the families that chose us to add a new family member and we know each of the pups will be dearly loved. One of the pups (Haley) was kept by us to hopefully carry on Hazel’s legacy as a mama for us after Hazel retires next year. Hillary was taken by courier to go to live in Florida and hopefully to become a mama for a great breeder there. Because of this litter, we were able to give $2,700.00 to help kids in Uganda eat and live! This was a big litter and a lot of work and we’re thankful to everyone that worked hard here every day with the pups to help them to be ready for a great life. Here are the pups on going home day. We pray the BEST for all of these wonderful families for many years to come!
And Hillary is safe in Florida!
May 19, 2021 – All of the pups completed their temperament testing today as we tested them on confidence/socialization, following /listening, submissiveness, sound/sight sensitivity, sensitivity to touch, and social dominance. We’ve also watched closely to see how each reacts to new scary experiences (like a new sudden, loud noise or an umbrella being popped open) knowing they will startle, but we watch for a quick recovery to come and investigate. We do this to make sure that we haven’t missed any steps with anyone and to make sure each have a solid temperament. Personalities will develop more as they are influenced by their new families and as they go in and out of fear stages with the comfort and encouragement of their humans during puppyhood. Socialization and positive encouragement, along with a good balance of exercise and crate time, will complete their temperament for LIFE as an amazing and secure dog!
All of the pups scored identical on submissiveness, and sensitivity was solid, with each one have almost the same scores. As far as “chill factor ” Humphrey stands out slightly more chilled than the rest, Harriette is slightly more energetic and playful, but overall, they all came very close in scoring. The main reason for our testing is to make sure we are sending each pup off socialized, confident, secure, smart, loyal and connected to humans. They all are ready to go! Each will be a great human companion, staying close and following their human’s leads. Very adaptable and ready for the world!
Weights have been posted below along with current pictures. Selection day is tomorrow! May 20, starting at 1 pm.
Mary 19, 2021 – Hazel’s pups are seven weeks old and we’re in their final week with us. They had their vet exams today and all of them had an excellent health report. They are quiet in crates now for their naps, doing well on the leash and are learning to sit for attention quite nicely. Each of them (all eleven!) are special to those of us working with them every day. I suppose this is going to be a really hard job choosing a pup out of the bunch! The main difference is variation in weights, some pups like Harmony, may only grow to 35-40 lbs. (but the vet agrees that she will catch up to some of her siblings) and other pups like Humphrey, could get 60 lbs. Here are the pictures we took of them today, along with their weights from the vet. Tomorrow we’ll do some more temperament testing and make any notes on differences we see.
May 13, 2021 – Hazel and Barkley puppies are now six weeks old. They are weaned from mama now and are very social and confident at this point. They are learning to walk on a leash, spend quiet naps in a crate and are showing excellent temperaments! Here are the pictures that we took of them today.
May 7, 2021 – Hazel’s puppies have had a busy week with baths, desensitizing to vacuums and blowdryers, crate training, and even some early leash training. They are five weeks old and doing very well. Daily, they are walked around while being cradled on their backs to continue their conditioning for submissiveness and trust in humans. Their temperaments are solid and right where we want them to be! There are some sizing differences and little Harmony is the “runt” of the litter, though I hate that term, sounds negative. 🙂 She’s also one of the smartest it seems, at least at this point. The runt of these large litters always catches up. Here are the pictures we just took of them!
April 29, 2021 – Hazel’s puppies are four weeks old now. They are doing well, and growing fast. Their various sizing is starting to reveal itself, as we can start to see who will be larger like mama (55 lbs.) or a little smaller like dad (40-45 lbs. ) As they grow over the next few weeks, we’ll post their official weights from the vet.
We’re now training them to use the litter box, and they are smart and learning where to go potty. They’re learning to respect their sleep and play areas, making our job easier! We started them on puppy mush earlier this week to help give mama a break and to start the slow weaning process. We’ve brought them out of their pen to play daily this week, but they’re still more interested in sleeping and eating.But soon, they’ll be chasing and running around. We’re enjoying them!
The Boys
The Girls
April 24, 2021 – We fell a little behind in posting their three week pictures! The pups are doing great and are now done with their bio-sensor conditioning and they are hearing now. So we have now moved on to sound conditioning to introduce them to new “scary” sounds like fireworks, traffic sounds, vacuums and more. We want to introduce them to as much as we can before their first fear stage sets in. We are building their confidence while we are conditioning their temperaments. All is going well here! They are starting to slurp up mushy kibble now, to help give mama a break. They love it! Soon we’ll be litter box training them, and by the end of the week they should be active enough to get them out of their pen for some playtime and new adventures outside the pen. For now, they still mostly sleep and eat, but we know it won’t be long before they are chasing and wrestling. Can’t wait! Here are the pictures of Hazel and Barkley’s “H” litter, taken this weekend. First the girls, and then the three boys in order.
April 15, 2021 – Hazel and Barkley’s pups are doing very well! They are two weeks old now and their eyes are just starting to open. They’ve all nearly doubled their birth weight and are starting to move around the pen just a little bit more. We have been doing their bio-sensor steps with them daily and they are getting lots of baths and massages. Mama Hazel continues to do a great job, and she rarely leaves their side. We are rotating the pups regularly all day long to make sure everyone gets fed. There are a couple of smaller pups in the bunch and it’s easy to get continually knocked off of mama by the bigger pups at this age. They all catch up with equal feeding share once we start them on puppy mush, but for now it’s always a challenge with a litter this size to make sure everyone gets equal share of mama. Well, here they are at two weeks old! Next week, at three weeks, we’ll take individual pictures and show names for each pup so everyone can see who’s who.
The Three Boys
The Girls
April 7, 2021 – Hazel and Barkley’s puppies arrived on March 31 and we have eleven (wow) healthy, thriving pups! They are one week old today. It’s actually been a quiet, uneventful week here as we watch Hazel take such good care of her babies. We are rotating the pups regularly to make sure all are getting their fair share of food (this is a must when a big litter like this arrives). We weigh the pups three times a day and they are all are gaining weight nicely. We started the pups on the bio-sensor steps a couple of days ago to begin the first phase of conditioning them neurologically and physically. It’s amazing the difference these steps make! We are also massaging them daily as mama is finally comfortable with us handling them more. Touch is our only way to connect with them at this young age and early human touch is very important. Here are some pictures we took of the pups this week. Watch for updates on this blog spot weekly to see them grow!
