a few weeks ago...

Since these little ones are starting to go off to their new homes, I thought I would post something of the whole crew!  Enjoy. 

one more..

I forgot to add this cute one yesterday.

meet olive...

Andrew and I have picked our puppy and finally decided on a name.  I admit, willingly, that I have the sweetest husband ever.  He even embroidered OLIVE on our little doggy's bag in Pink.  But let it be known that our little pup will be called "Ollie" for short!  

Here are a few pics of our little Olive yesterday.  She is full of energy but is still so lovey.  We adore her already!

I will be visiting all the little guys tomorrow again, and will be sure to get some more pics of the group before they start to go to their new homes on Sunday.  We are all a little sad, but so glad that they are going to good homes.  

Until next time,

Christina

Kari's photos...

Here are a few photos from Kari's visit last week with the puppies. A few minutes after this first photo was taken a few of them were walking around in the bowl.... what a riot they are!
Enjoy these pics! They are such little models!
-c

playdate

My friend Jenny and her daughter Candice came to visit on Friday afternoon.  We had a great time with them.  We piled them into the "puppy basket" brought them outside and sat and played with them for hours.  It is practically impossible to leave them they are so cute!

They are playing with each other tons and look at those teeth! - ferocious don't you think!



but even with all of that energy, they still love to snuggle!  And they sleep tons

Jenny was nice enough to pass these photos on to me.  Love them!

I have more Kari Herer photos to post.  I'll try to do that tonight.  

In the mean time, check out the slide show:  www.kariherer.com/pups  They are amazing of course!  

Until next time,

Christina

4 weeks old and eating solid food

Yesterday the pups turned four weeks old. Man, are they growing. We weighed them last evening and true to form, Bear(male), is by far the porker. He weighs a whopping 5.75 pounds. One of his sisters comes in second at an even 5 pounds (Yellow/Red). the others are as follows: Green -4 5/8, Red -4 7/8, Blue (male)- 4 5/8, White - 4 7/8, Pink - 4 1/2, White/Blue - 4 1/4.

Last Thursday, 06-12, I introduced them to solid food. It consisted of mixing puppy chow and water in the blender to create a gruel. I warmed it slightly and gave it to them in a small saucer. They loved it. All of them took right to it. The next day I made up a large batch and gave it to them in the large circular pan that Bonnie lent me. The sight was exactly as I had envisioned it to be. They all surrounded it and ate at will and then proceeded to wade in it. What a sight.

Today, Christina, Keri, and Nicole came over to see the pups. Keri took a million photos of them. I would guess that a few are going to show up on the Blog in the next couple of days. I have posted some from the first solid food feedings. Not nearly as nice as Keri's,but, they give you a good snapshot of the pups progress.

Addie is just about ready to break away from the duty of having to feed the pups. She acts as though it couldn't happen any too soon. She also would rather play fetch than feed pups. I would guess that not having another litter of pups is OK with her.

Three weeks old today...

These guys are getting cuter by the day. Now they are running around and playing with each other a lot. I don't think they can see really well yet as the continue to bump into things and each other. several of them have been growling at each other and have been ganging up on each other. They seem to like biting each other on the nose, which, for now isn't much of a problem. When the teeth come in I'm sure things will be different.

We have expanded the whelping box so that they have a larger area to run around. Their space is now around 36 sq. ft. They are enjoying the extra space.

James and Michaela came up to visit with them yesterday, so, we took them outside and had some fun with them. The pups love it out there.

a day in the sun...

My amazingly talented friend Kari came with me today to visit the little guys. We took them outside for the first time. At first they were a little confused by the grass, and probably the smells too - (Can they smell yet?) But they got used to it all, and even began to like it out there I think. Within 10 minutes they were all sleeping, full from a good meal with addie and happy to be in the fresh air. Bear was particularly noisy and did a lot of howling as you can see in some of the photos. Their little personalities are really starting to come out and Kari captured this perfectly. I posted a few photos here, but be sure to check out kari's blog: www.kariherer.blogspot.com . She has also posted the whole photoshoot on a slideshow: www.kariherer.com/puppies. The photos are amazing. Feel free to comment on this site or Kari's blog.

She is planning to come back in a few weeks for a follow-up shoot. Can you imagine how much bigger and cuter they will be by then?! (if it is even possible for them to get cuter!)
Thanks again Kari! You are so talented!

Christina

Friday, June 6...

It's Friday already and Christina has reprimanded me for not getting a posting entered. Times have changed. Now she dishes it out to me instead of me dishing it out to her. It doesn't seem as though it was that long ago that "she" was the kid around the house. Anyway, the pups are doing really well. They are eating all the time and are very content after mom has finished feeding. They are all walking now and in some cases climbing over the rail. The first to escape was the white collared one. I was working in my office on Monday and heard this high pitched yelping that sounded as though there was trouble in the pen. I went down and counted the pups and came up one short. I looked around the room and found her up against the whelping box trying to figure out how she got to where she was and I suppose, how to get back in with her siblings. The second to escape was bear (What a surprise!). Midge came into the room to find him cruising the area in front of the nursery room door. It is hard to believe in just 17 +/- days that these guys are as active as they are.

Their eyes began opening around the first of the week. They really can't see very well yet, and as a result of that, I catch them bumping into things as they try to move around. They are all moving about quite hastely at this point. When Addie climbs into the box with them, they waste no time running over to her for their next meal. They are ravenous feeders.

Bear continues to be the most aggressive at this point and is still the largest of the pups. The Yellow/red female is not far behind him (1/8#). They are all growing proportionate to their birth weights for the most part. I am not seeing a runt yet. There are 2 that are smaller in size but not in activity. They are all quite aggressive in their activities with each other and there do not seem to be any stand alones. The next couple of weeks will probably bring out some personality traits that haven't been exhibited yet.

We will probably start the weening process next weekend as they will be about 3 1/2 weeks old. Bonnie was over again and said that Addie's weight looks great and she appears very healthy. I had no doubt of her (Addie's) health by the way she continues to want to retrieve and play. She drops everything, including the pups, if she hears the door by the grill open. She knows that that usually means some playtime while I am grilling. She is relentless.

I'll try to update the blog a little more frequently. Enjoy the photos.

Den

a quick update...

So for those of you who have been following the blog daily - but have been disappointed in the lack of posts this past week - I thought I would give a quick update.  

I, have not been to see them in a week either, so only have second hand information to report, but will be visiting tonight with my photographer friend Kari and will have plenty to post (including pictures!) tomorrow.

Last Saturday morning (6 days ago) was the last time I saw the puppies and they had already grown so much.  The little yellow one was just starting to walk - but it was more of a wobble.  Their eyes were not open, but were not closed quite as tightly as they had been a few weeks ago.  Most of them were still doing the commando crawl to get around, and really only moved around when it was feeding time.

Now, they have opened their eyes, and are walking around quite nicely.  Even escaping out of the whelping box at times!  As I understand they do not have clear vision yet and occasionally bump into the walls and each-other, which must be a funny sight to see!  The largest change (literally) is their size.  Last I heard the biggest one, now affectionally called "bear", is over 3 pounds!  The rest of the pups seem to be catching up to him too.  The calm days of sweet little squeaking puppies may be coming to a close - sorry mom and dad!  I think that things are going to start to get a little crazier around the Denham house!

Well, that's all I know.  I will continue to encourage the rents to keep this blog up, but you may have to settle for my occasional 2nd hand posts instead!  They are busy over there (you would be too with nine dogs in the house!).

Until next time,

Christina

It's Friday evening the 30th. The pups are doing really well. A couple of them are walking short distances and appear to be very strong. No eyes open yet. that will probably happen in the next 4-5 days. The large male is 2.5# as of yesterday. He is really ahead of the others. Bonnie mentioned that this one is going to be an incredibly driven dog if he continues to exhibit these alpha dog traits. Addie continues to be a great mom. She is keeping the pups very clean and isn't bothered at all by their romping around and their continued pulling and pushing.

Tuesday, A week and a day

It is Tuesday night and I figured I better make a new entry. James and Michaela were over to see the pups last night. James has 4th round pick of the litter. Last night was the 1st time he and Michaela were able to visit the pups. I love to see the expressions of joy when people see them for the 1st time. I think James is going to be a great master for the pup that he picks. Christina and Andrew were here over the weekend and Christina has her eye on the one with the pink collar. It is a little early to pick so she may change her mind as time goes on. I am very pleased at Addie's acceptance of visitors. she doesn't seem to mind as long as there are not too many people all at once. She is looking very healthy and is eating and drinking very well. She is in great spirits and of course no surprise to many of you, she desires to play pass very much. We are keeping her activity to a min. so that she does not injure her incision. We have been weighing the pups about every other day. They are growing like crazy and are very healthy. One of the pups, a male (yellow collar), is really a bull. He is very determined to get his way at the feeding station and thinks nothing of pushing one of his siblings to the side to get to a nipple. He even crawls right over the top of the others and plunges in where he feels he can. His weight at birth was 1 1/8 #, he now weighs 2 1/8 #. The smallest at birth was 15/16 # (2 pups) and now weigh 2#(Green - Female), and 1 5/8 #(blue/white - female) respectively. As you can see, he is in the upper percentile for size and growth. We have given him several names through the week trying to reflect his personality. We started with Tank, then Gorilla, then Bear. We felt that bear was more in line with the way he looks and acts. The next major step they will take is the opening of their eyes. This should happen in about 5-7 days from now. A couple are starting to use their legs and support themselves briefly. Bear has advanced the most and is getting around quite well. Please feel free to make comments to the blog if you get a chance. I hope to get a couple of photos up soon.

Friday pics

Addie seems like she may be back to her normal self. Doesn't she look happy!
How cute are they snuggling with eachother!

I think she has inherited her mom's tongue afterall. (Addie has the worlds largest tongue)

Friday Morning

And, The Beat Goes On. These guys are hours shy of being four days old and they are getting cuter every day. Addie seems to have gotten through her ordeal of being sick yesterday morning. Dr. G suggested that we give her chicken and rice and of course Addie didn't mind that diet. She is doing really well and just loves her pups. We took the 8some and Mom over to Dr. G's yesterday afternoon and had their dew-claws removed (Addie's were done when she was a pup). Mom waited in the truck while this was done so that she wouldn't get upset by the pups crying as the claws were being removed. The process was quick and didn't appear to be terribly traumatic for the pups. I elected to have the pups dew-claws removed because in the field there is a risk of the dew-claw being injured or torn while they are running through grain fields and brush. Also, around the house, it is easy get the claw caught in carpet pile and tear. It is my intent for these pups to go to homes where they will be trained as working dogs and not be couch potatoes. The breeding of Addie and Coals has been very carefully planned and was not a case of Addie mating with just any Lab out there. Both Addie's lines and Coal's lines have highly recognized awards and qualifications for their performances and it is important to both Bonnie and me that these pups be placed in an appropriate home where they will be trained to their potential. Roy Morejon, from whom I acquired Addie, was instrumental in recommending Addie be bred with Coals. He has trained Labs for years and knows what to look for in dogs so as to produce great offspring.

It is Thursday morning and we awakened to Addie being sick. I must have given her too much rich food this morning and last night. I was probably too anxious about getting her weight up and I fed her some chicken and salmon, both high in protein. Maybe there was too much salt and richness in both of them. She was very thirsty before she got sick. She has settled down and is drinking water now. Her appetite hasn't returned, but, according to Dr. G that is normal considering the circumstances. He will check her out this afternoon when I take the pups over to have their dew claws removed. The pups continue to feed well and are all being typical newborns. Check out the new links. Coals, the sire, lives at Sierra's Kennels which is a dogs dreamland for care and boarding. Bonnie, the owner, has been a Godsend to us during this birthing and rearing process. How fortunate for us to have her involved. I think you will enjoy the website where you can read about Coals. Also there is a link to Keri Herer's Pet Photography. She takes really nice photos that any pet owner would be proud of.

A few more pics from Day 2...

Sleeping on momma's feet...