October 15, 2020 – All of Lilly’s pups are gone now. Our last litter of the year, so a little harder to say good-bye, for sure. They are all with great families that love them and have waited a long time for them. No doubt, they are being well cared for. We’re hearing good reports that the pups are all adjusting well! We’re thankful for each family involved in this litter, and for trusting us with their puppy adoption. Because of the families, and Lilly and Gunner, we were able to place great pups out into the world, and we were also able to help some starving kids in Uganda get the care they need through Amazima Ministries. Thank you to everyone, including our team here! Now we enjoy some rest and a little more time with our families. We pray “Happy Ever After!” for all the pups and families of this litter.
October 5, 2020 – The puppies all did great their vet appointment today! No surprises, and all are in excellent health. The vet noted the two umbilical hernias as we had already noticed and mentioned below, and he showed absolutely no concern. We have added the pup’s weights on their pictures below. Amber and Autumn will probably grow to about 20-22 lbs., and the biggest boys (Chestnut and Acorn) will be around 30 lbs., and Cider and Maple will probably grow to be in the middle of their siblings, at around 25 lbs.
Temperament testing went very well today as well. No surprises there and pups did exactly as we expected. Only a few notable things: Amber is already fetching, and that’s fun! The others run and chase the object but not interested in bringing it back. At least not yet. After all their conditioning, none of them are showing fear or timidity. Acorn and Chestnut showed only a slight difference in that they are a little less adventurous than the others in new situations. They like to check things out a little bit and sniff around before diving in. That likely will change as they develop but they may always be a tiny bit more cautious. Overall, they all scored identical in social skills, following, submissiveness, sensitivity and intelligence. They’re ready for home and they all have excellent temperaments. Energy levels appear to all be the same as well.
We will begin selection calls tomorrow at 10 am. and answer questions to help families choose. An exciting week for Lilly’s puppy families! A bit of news on that issue, we are holding back Amber for our breeding program. We knew we wanted to hold back a girl as Lilly is retiring soon, and this was a HARD choice, but Amber has been selected because of her petite size that will work great in our program.
October 3, 2020 – We’ve watched this litter develop so much over the past couple of weeks. Their temperaments are outstanding! And they are so content, so quiet and at the same time, they are confident with a great mixture of playfulness and chilled. The only time I hear from them I think is when they are hungry and they are watching us get their food together. Families may hear that cry for a bit as they adjust in their new home and crates, as sometimes it’s a little hard leaving us and their siblings.
But no doubt, these are going to be outstanding dogs. Today we had a busy day of leash training, crate training and then a photo shoot. Now they sleep, while I type. I do not know how the families are going to choose! The pups all love to snuggle and be held, they loved to be cradled on their back and are quite content with just being near their humans. Just like their mom and dad. They are fun though, and chase and play and wrestle, all puppy! With a good balance of exercise and snuggles, mixed with quiet times in their crates, they will develop well throughout puppyhood.
We know each will score almost identical in their temperament testing. All of the coats seem very similar in texture, all will be wavy fleece. There’s some slight variation in sizing, as Autumn and Amber are smallest and will probably be about 5 pounds smaller than the rest when full grown.
Here they are at almost seven weeks old! Monday is their day for the final vet exams and vaccinations/microchips and we’ll post temperament testing notes and weights as well. Then, puppy selection phone calls to families start at 10 am. on Tuesday morning, October 6. We’ll help answer questions, but we know selections might be tough. They are all WONDERFUL.
The Boys
September 27, 2020 – Lilly’s puppies are turning six weeks old. Wow, time is going fast here at our house, seriously. They are fully weaned from mama now and eating three meals of kibble a day. Their teeth are coming in and they’re gnawing on everything. Typical pups. Hopefully, you have seen the puppy videos of them on Instagram. They are so fun to watch, yet they stop all they’re doing to get time in the arms of their humans. Very sweet pups with loads of affection for everyone. They track us and watch our every move – just as we expect them to do as pups with great temperaments that are very focused on their humans. These pups will follow you around the house, stay close and just want to be near you. Just like their parents.
Today they were so quiet in their crates…. no fussing. This was a huge accomplishment and we’ll keep working on crate training, leash training and socialization as we ready them for their forever lives. Here are the pictures we took of them today. Look how their coats are filling in. They will be beautiful dogs!
The Girls
The Boys
You might find it helpful when you look at videos, these are their collar colors:
Blue is Cider, black/dark grey is Acorn, orange is Chestnut, green is Maple, pink is Autumn, and purple is Amber.
September 19, 2020 – Lilly and Gunner’s puppies are almost five weeks old now. Their coats are starting to fill in and they are becoming more confident and playful. We’ll post some video of them this week on Instagram. They are doing very well at using the litter box (no accidents in a long time) and they will start crate training this week. They are unfazed by any scary sounds we play now. Everything is becoming “no big deal” just as we expect. They started on kibble this week. A big step toward separating from mama and becoming independent. At this point, they’ve had lots and lots of baths, and they’re getting more comfortable with the blow dryer as well. Everything is going well here. Here they are!
The Boys
The Girls
September 13, 2020 – I hope all of you are safe! We had a scary week like many, being put on alert, but the fire near us is almost completely contained. We are just staying in and enjoying the pups as we remain in prayer over the fires and the safety of everyone. We are packed and have a plan for us and the pups in case things should turn where we are on alert again.
Lilly’s pups are four weeks old now! They are doing very well. We’ve started them on litter box training and they are using it regularly now. They can hear now so we are introducing them to new “scary” sounds daily while they are comforted by us or mama and it is clear they are becoming relaxed, as if sounds like traffic, thunderstorms, fireworks, trimmers, etc. are normal every day sounds that aren’t scary at all. We have this great opportunity to introduce them to lots of new things before a pup’s first fear phase has arrived. They are playing outside the pen a little bit now. They still sleep a lot, a sign of a well-fed litter where mama is doting over them always. Lilly is always nearby. Here are the pictures we took of them today.
The Girls
The Boys
September 5, 2020 – The pups are almost three weeks old and much more alert and starting to move around more. We moved them into a larger pen with climbing toys and started them on litter box training this weekend. They are doing very well and mama continues to watch over them and stay close by at all times. It won’t be long now before they are really moving about, wrestling and playing. Here they are!
The Girls
The Boys
August 27, 2020 – Lilly’s puppies still haven’t opened their eyes, but we wanted to post new pictures anyway. They’ve arrived at our house now, after being whelped and raised by our close friends for the past ten days so that we could send off our other litter. (They do several litters for us every year and do a fantastic job!) Mama Lilly is doing wonderful and is being a great mama, as expected. The pups are still doing the bio-sensor steps daily, getting lots of baths, and regularly being held and massaged. We’ll post new pictures at three weeks of age and you’ll get to see their eyes open and their coats starting to fill in! Here they are….our Autumn litter.
The Boys
The Girls
August 17, 2020 – Lilly’s pups arrived early in the morning and we now have six thriving pups that all appear healthy and strong. They are eating well and mama is doing great, as we expected! Lilly and Gunner brought us three boys and three girls and here are some pictures. More news and pictures down the road! But for now and the next couple of weeks, they will mostly eat and sleep. They will be weighed regularly and soon we’ll start massaging and working through the bio-sensor steps with them daily.
