Bluestem Kennels

I can’t believe that this is the “G” litter for Bluestem Kennels, coming into our 4th year of breeding.  And “H” and “I” should be coming in a month!

The 13 puppies of Sam and BB’s “G” Litter were born on Sunday, February 9th and it literally took the whole day.  We were up walking around at 5 AM and went to bed at 10 PM.  There are 8 girls and 5 boys.  BB has decided that her favorite time to get attention, be fed and go walking outside is between midnight and 2 AM, so I haven’t had the best nights of sleep, so I apologize to the new owners for not getting e-mails or phone calls out yet.

BB with 8 puppies in the whelping box

I thought for sure that with 13 that I would be bottle feeding, but BB has been doing awesome with nursing them well.  It really helps that we have them right in front of the wood burning stove, so that they are not having to expend energy keeping warm.  With normal-sized litters we’ve been able to keep them in the basement utility room or in the garage with space heaters and heat lamps, but this cold weather and with there being so many of them, they need to be where it is extra warm.  It is also nice that my youngest boy, Caleb, will be 5 next month and has finally learned to not mess with the puppies at this age.  The weather is supposed to warm up and they will get bigger and able to regulate their body temperature, so I won’t have to have puppies in my living room forever.

First night by the fire

I didn’t have anything set up by the fire after they were born, so I just put them on a blanket and slept next to them that night.  I did have to fish a few out of odd places in the middle of the night, but they survived it and stayed warm.  They are now set up with the small kiddie pool with a blanket in the bottom, with the x-pen around it to deter kids and other dogs.

They went to the vet Monday morning for their tail docking, dew claw removal and vet check.  Dr. Kliewer at Heartland Animal Hospital checked them all over and said that they are perfect!  I was sure that with so many of them that there would be a “dud”, but there’s not a single one.  These are the individual puppy photos that I store on here for my records and so we can track their development.  Try not to get too attached to any of them!  They are all spoken for and I will do my best to get them all grown up, but one never knows.  I also name them for tracking purposes and don’t expect the new owners to keep these names.  They never get called anything other than “puppy” by me:)  They are completely in random order and may be taken from different distances which might account for size differences.  The coat differences I note only help me to tell them apart as they grow.  Photos taken at 1 day old, right before we went to the vet for claws and tails.

Girl: Ginny

Ginny has a white blaze on her forehead and small liver spots on right side, above the tail, then most of the tail is liver.

Girl: Garnet

Garnet has a white dot on her forehead, a white dot on her neck, a tiny liver spot on the left bottom part of her back and a larger liver block on her right belly.

Girl: Gayle

Gayle has a solid liver head and her entire left side is liver.  She also has liver spots on her right neck, underarm, belly and above the tail.

Girl: Gertrude

Gertrude has a small white dot on her forehead and is spotted liver heavily all over her body.  Liver on most of her right side.

Girl: Gemma

Gemma has a white dot on her forehead and two large liver spots set on a diagonal on her back, the left one higher than the right.  Small liver spot on left belly and above tail.

Girl: Gabriella

Gabriella has a think white blaze on her forehead, has a large liver spot on her back that is shoulder to shoulder, a tiny liver spot on her lower left back, then a liver spot above her tail that extends down into the tail.

Girl: Gallixe

Gallixe has a white blaze on her face and an entirely white back with a small spot above the tail.  Her neck is 1/2 white and 1/2 liver.

Girl: Gisele

Gisele has a white blaze on her face and and entirely white neck and body except for a small spot above the tail.

Boy: Gene

Gene has a white dot on his forehead, large liver spots set diagonally with the right higher than the left.  A tiny liver spot on his right belly and a large liver spot above his tail.

Boy: Gus

Gus has a white blaze on his face with two large diagonal liver spots that do not touch at the back.  The right spot is higher than the left.  The rest of the body is white.

Boy: George

George has a liver head and white upper back.  His lower back has a large liver spot in the center, with a smaller one on the left.  Also has a small liver spot above the tail.

Boy: Gascon

Gascon has a white blaze on his face, a white upper back, a small liver spot in the center of his lower back and a liver spot right above his tail.

Boy: Gilbert

Gilbert has a tiny white spot on his forehead, his body is entirely white except for a small liver spot above the tail.

Okay, that is everybody!  Here is a shot of them today at 3 days old.

“G” litter 3 days old

I will be sure to get phone calls and e-mails out to the new owners before the end of the weekend.  As this was a large litter, I am willing to take a few more deposits for possible 2014 puppies.  Right now I have 10 other reservations and 2 more litters on the way, so there is a possibility of having more than 10 puppies yet this year.  There are no guarantees, so I just ask that anyone who wants to make a reservation at this point be flexible and open to getting a pup in Spring 2015.  Feel free to call (402) 682-9802 or e-mail bluestemkennels@cox.net to inquire.

Pupdate

I was just thinking about Gomer from Sue and Sam’s 2012 “D” litter after I saw his NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I with a Perfect Score of 112 points at the Spoon River Chapter Fall Test in the latest edition of Versatile Hunting Dog magazine.  Lo and behold, I just got some new photos of him and his family, with the announcement that he will be a big brother to a human sibling soon.  Congrats to Kyle and Jenna!

Kyle, Gomer and Jenna

Gomer and Jenna in the pool last summer

Gomer says, “Who needs a dog box, I get to ride in the front?!”

Thanks to Kyle for the update and his great work with Gomer towards the Natural Ability Prize.

Well, it is time for me to go to my son’s Valentine’s Day party at school.  I will be sure to keep you posted with the new puppies and the upcoming litters.    Oh and Happy Valentine’s Day!!