I’m supposed to be packing for the annual trip to the Sandhills for the September 1st dove and grouse opener since we’re leaving tonight, but I just had to get these pictures out before I got too distracted by hunting season!
This is Zoey, she is 6 months old and is out of Sue and Sam’s last litter that was born early this year. Jimmy has been doing great work with her down in Oklahoma and is shown here perfecting her water retrieve. Rumor has it that she’s going off to waterfowl school, but she’s definitely got the basics down!
Zoey water retrieve at 6 months
Another shot of Zoey retrieving a dummy
Zoey also looks cute just laying around the house…
Zoey chilling on the kitchen tiles
Zoey’s sweet face!!
Thank you so much to Jimmy and Sandi for all of those great pictures!!
I swiped this picture off of Facebook, but I didn’t think that Deborah would mind. Whiskey is from Sue and Sam’s “A” Litter from 2010, so he is 3 years old now and lives out in Nevada. Here he is with his little Lab buddy Ruger who is holding him down and giving him a tongue bath. Too funny!!
Whiskey getting a bath from Ruger
Thanks Deborah for capturing such a hilarious moment!
Hunting Blog
For the last couple of years I’ve been posting our hunting stories on to versatilehunter.com, separate from this here kennel blog. I have to talk to Charles this weekend and see if we want to continue on that URL or if we want to consolidate our presence here on the kennel blog. I also used to be active on Twitter under @VersatileHunter, but just really hit a wall with trying to keep everything updated. Then to complicate things, I’m also going to start hunting blogging for Lion Country Supply. So I’ll probably be writing my first draft either here or on versatilehunter.com ( there is also a button to up at the top that says “Hunting Blog”), then write a final draft for LCS. Plus I’d like to start really honing my writing to where I’m submitting articles to magazines. So please bear with me as I decide where I’m steering this whole writing ship. I’ll let you know sometime next week where things are at so that you can keep up to date with my blathering.
So wish us luck up in the Sandhills, I will be wearing my GoPro, so hopefully I’ll actually hit something to show you on YouTube:)
Breeders and hard hunters/field trialers have difficult decisions to make when it comes to aging dogs. According to the AKC, females can be bred until they are 12. The USDA has nothing to say on breeding age. So, do we breed and hunt them until they fall over? Breed and hunt them until they are too old to go into the field, then put them down or place them in a pet home? Some breeders do keep their retired stock as pets, but that just isn’t practical for us as we have limited space, are constantly on the move during hunting season and our travel equipment only holds so many dogs. We’ve decided that four dogs is our current max and that that our older dogs will be retired around 8 or 9. So now where do they go? I’ve found that back in my home country in North Central Nebraska and South Central South Dakota, there are good folks looking for trained hunting dogs, even if they are on the senior side.
Sue just turned 9 after her last litter went home and the age of 8 is the cutoff in the code of ethics for the AWPGA, so it was time. I was so excited to find a great home for her just off the southern border of the South Dakota Badlands. It seemed appropriate that since her registered name with the AKC and NAVHDA is Sweetgrass Sandhill Sioux that she would find a new home in the land of the Sioux Nation, just north of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations.
Stan and his family were just thrilled to meet Sue and she really took to them right back, as she is such a friendly dog. Savannah just turned six and couldn’t stop petting to her and talking to her while we were there.
Savannah and Sue
Their son Trey is 11 years old and this is just the perfect time for him to be getting a hunting dog into his life, as it is time to harvest his first grouse and pheasant, which are in abundance right outside his front door!!
Trey and Sue on the porch overlooking the hunting grounds
We enjoyed having a nice long visit with everyone and the South Dakota hospitality. Stan and I even have some mutual family friends that we told funny stories about. I really couldn’t have asked for a greater blessing for Sue. What I thought would be a sad time, was really one of the most joyous things I’ve ever done. Equally as joyous as placing a puppy in a new home. What a great thing to be able to give a family the dog they deserve, even though her sweet personality will be missed here.
Stan, Debbie, Trey, Savannah and Sue
Since I was just so happy that Sue had found her new family, I refused money, but got something far more special in return. As both Stan and Debbie work with tribal members, they gave me a star quilt with a unique design called a broken star.
Trey and Debbie holding the broken star quilt.
And Debbie presented it to me in the traditional Lakota fashion of wrapping it around the recipient like a shawl. We were laughing because Stan was teasing us that the neighbors were going to drive by thinking that they had “gone native”.
Debbie presenting Charity with the star quilt in honor of Sue
Mitakuye Oyasin – All are my relatives – Lakota
Training Update
Sam and BB are working on getting ready for the NAVHDA Utility Test with the Midwest Tri-State NAVHDA Chapter in Sioux Falls. For our 17th wedding anniversary on June 22nd we went out on a training date instead of going out to eat or to an event. We worked on steady-in-blind. We just so happened to have 7 live farm-raised flying mallard ducks in our holding pen that had been making a complete mess of the place, so it was time to use them before we had to travel the next weekend. So I would take a duck to the shore about 20 yards down from where the training blind was set up. I also had an e-collar so that he could use the beeper function to let me know when he was ready for me to throw. Charles would then walk the dog in while carrying his shotgun, “whoa” the dog behind the blind, get into position to shoot, then beep me on the e-collar. Once he beeped me I threw the duck in the air and high and as far as I could and he shot it. At that point, the dog should still be sitting behind the blind. He would then walk back to the dog, tap it on the head and say “okay, fetch”. They then go out and retrieve the duck from the water. It was a good way to spend an afternoon.
Sam bringing in a duck
BB bringing in a duck
Pupdates
Congratulations to Susan and Tom in North Dakota and “C” Litter 2012 (Sam/Mae) pup, TracHer on earning her Natural Ability Prize III with the St. Croix (MN) NAVHDA Chapter on June 18th!
Four month old Goose from “E” Litter 2013 is already packing some serious style! After a stay at Prairie Wings Kennel in Colorado, she is already steady to shot and retrieves to hand. Way to go Stephen, Taylor and Goose!
Goose showing off her style
Goose’s sister Zoey is also enjoying some time in the field down in Oklahoma with her owner, Jimmy. He says this is a pic from his first homemade field trial:)
Zoey in the field
Thank you as always to my wonderful owners for continuing to keep me updated on how the pups are doing!
Coming Soon
We’ll be heading out to the pond for the 4th to get the dogs some more swimming, our favorite exercise this time of year, and work having them sit in the canoe.
BB goes in for her hip X-rays on the 10th as part of her final clearance for breeding in the spring. We’ll also keep practicing for the Utility Test.
Have a Happy 4th of July and make sure to be careful with your pups and fireworks! Leave them the house or if outside, far away from where fireworks are being launched.
Puppy season is quickly coming to a close and it has felt very busy! I have started up my writing position with Lion Country Supply http://lcsupply.com and it feels like I’m either working on my writing for them, talking on the phone and e-mailing with the new owners of these litters or out in the kennels and yard taking care of pups and dogs. I am terribly behind on my e-mails, so if you’ve tried to e-mail me recently and haven’t received a response, I apologize and am working to get caught up today and tomorrow. If you want to talk to me right away about next year’s breedings, please call me at (402) 682-9802. Otherwise, I am working to get caught up on e-mails as quickly as I can and promise to be in touch.
Here are the still shots that I caught of the “F” litter out at the pond last Sunday. It is hard to believe that three days later we got two inches of snow! But that is Nebraska for you!
Fern having a good time at the pond
Frieda looks just like her mom with her cheesy grin
Francis pointing the kids in the water
Flora having a seat in the flowers
I also captured a video of them running about at the pond:
All of the “E” Litter has gone home with the exception of the one that I used to call “Etta”. Her owners have named her “Reagan” and she is boarding with us (as a housepet) until Memorial Day weekend.
BB and Reagan snoozing under my desk
Just Reagan napping under my desk
We had two puppies go home since my last post: Edna went across town with Rob and his family a week ago Friday and Francis went home with James and his girlfriend to Western Wyoming yesterday.
Edna becomes Maggie and moves across town with Rob and family
Francis becomes Skilo and will chase birds in the wilds of Western Wyoming
Sam and BB are taking the NAVHDA Utility Preparatory Test in two weeks, so we are working on getting trained up for that. We know that we aren’t 100% on all of the elements, which is why we are doing UPT. We are planning on doing the UT in Sioux Falls in the fall. Sounds like we also have a “double double” (where the dog has an opportunity to test 4 times in a weekend) in the hopper for Memorial Day weekend down at Yankee Hill WMA near Lincoln to see if we can pick up a passing SH run for Sam or BB. I haven’t gotten the premiums or the details yet, but got a phone call from a member of the local AKC hunt test underground yesterday. I’ll let you know the details when I have them if you’d like to participate.
This week, Flora flied home to Texas as a carry-on on Wednesday and the two remaining sisters, Fern and Frieda will catch flights to Montana and Ohio (respectively) on Friday. I’ll be sure to update you with the homegoing pictures and pupdates next weekend. Talk at you then.
It has been a busy week of homegoings for the 8 week old “E” litter this week! I will just give you a quick run-down with the photos:
Esther went home to Cheyenne, WY with Stephen and Taylor on Saturday
Also on Saturday, Jimmy’s family came by and took Edith home to Oklahoma
Right afterward, Brian’s family took Evangeline to Eastern Missouri
Sunday, Bob and Faith took Edward to Minnesota, eh.
Elizabeth started the journey to Maryland with Ben and Marilyn on Tuesday.
We were excited to meet all of the new families and are hopeful for years of fun, adventure and love for all of them! Looking forward to getting updates about how they are doing in the future!
I have 3 puppies from the “F” litter left here with me. Two will leave soon and one will board with me until Memorial Day weekend.
Edna will move across town on Friday
Eustace will catch a plane to Ohio on Monday
Etta will be my temporary pet until she leaves for Colorado
All of the “E” litter puppies had 100% pass rate on their veterinary inspections and weigh between 10 and 14 pounds. Speaking of passing inspection, right before Ben and Marilyn arrived on Tuesday, a vehicle marked “State of Nebraska: Department of Agriculture” pulled into my driveway. It was time for my annual surprise inspection as a licensed commercial dog breeder. He checked the that the kennels are in good order, with proper equipment, housing and sanitation practices, that the dogs all look healthy, then reviewed my health records and veterinary plan. Those inspections always make me nervous and I’m always happy to pass with no required corrections needed.
Oh we mustn’t forget the “F” Litter! It has been raining every day for a week, but they are finally starting to move around outside the kennel a bit. Usually once they get to the point of crossing the threshold of the fence, it is all over from there. So by this time next week, they will be all over the place.
The “F” Litter at 6 weeks: Fern, Frieda, Francis and Flora
Fern in action
Frieda playing in the dirt
Francis stretching out
Flora peeking out of the dog house
It is supposed to be a sunny and warm weekend, so it will be the “F” litter’s turn to go on an outing away from the house. I will be sure to capture some new video of them before they start heading for their new homes soon too! Having two litters at once has been a wild ride, but there isn’t anything better than watching helpless little sausages turn into big strong dogs right before your eyes!
Spring is finally here for good this time, hoping that it comes to those of you still buried in snow soon. See you next week!
I had just sat down to write my blog post for the week, running a little behind schedule, when I popped over to my e-mail. What a surprise awaited there! I was offered and have since accepted a web writer position with Lion Country Supply http://www.lcsupply.com/. I am really just beside myself with excitement, who would have thought that having a passion for hunting dogs and having an English degree would somehow come together to have a purpose. I mean, a purpose other than entertaining you fine folks, which is a great purpose too! So I’m not going to have the focus to edit down my video for the week just yet. Plus I’m running into my time that we have to go to the vet for microchips and shots here in a few hours, so I had better get my pictures posted and say what I have to say!
The “E” litter is ready to go, the first pup leaves on Friday. They are full of energy and are running up and down the hills of the woods. They love to eat their kibble and fight with each other. They use their noses and find interesting things to drag around (and fight over).
We picked up some male chukars to train Sam and BB with, so Charles dispatched a few in training, so we brought them out to the pups. (Just as an aside: chukar roosters are loud. They are not quiet or melodic like pigeons or quail. Our bird holding pen sits right outside our bedroom window and these chukars are like rooster chickens. I know when the sun is coming up!! I can’t wait to get through this pot load so we can get back to quail.)
Edna and Edith chew on the chukar
Edward and Esther mess with the bird
Everyone had a turn with the bird in the woods, but I was shooting with the camera phone and so the pictures were cruddy at times. Then they would drag it into a brush pile or something and you couldn’t see anything. But you get the idea with this. Plus I missed Esther with my good camera, so I wanted to make sure to get her in. Here are this week’s “E” litter pics.
Edna will be the first to leave on Friday. But she will just be across town so I will see her
Eustace will fly to Ohio on the 29th
Edith (left) will go to OK and Edward to MN this weekend.
Etta is going to hang with me until Memorial Day, when she’ll go to CO.
Evangeline will go to MO on Saturday
Elizabeth will roadtrip to MD starting on Tuesday.
The “F” Litter is getting quite big, it won’t be too long before they are hitting the road themselves! I’ve finally got them broken to dry kibble, so it is nice not having to deal with the canned food. They are climbing in and out of the dog house and chasing each other around the kennel, so this weekend they should be ready to start roaming the hills here. If it stops raining long enough for them to (it has been raining here since yesterday morning, but we are in a drought, so we really can’t complain at all. At least it isn’t snow like it is out west and further north.) I have also made my picks, it is much easier with 4 puppies. The male is going to western Wyoming, Fern will stay in my breeding program and move in with friends in Montana, Freida will go out to Ohio and Flora will go to Texas. Mae’s pups also had a chance to check out a chukar.
Mae’s pups check out the chukar. Clockwise from top left: Frieda, Francis, Flora and Fern
Closeup of F litter and the bird. Freida, Francis, Flora and Fern
Freida, Fern and Francis chowing down.
Flora doing some laps around the kennel.
It is about time for me to go pick up Charles for a celebratory Thai lunch and then haul some muddy pups up the hill to go to the vet. I am truly in awe of how something that started on a whim (breeding dogs and blogging) has turned into a full blown real deal. I never once growing up thought that I would be a professional crazy dog lady, but I guess that is where I’m at and I have a feeling that this is only the beginning.
Next time I’m back here, we’ll have pictures of “E” litter puppies with their new families!
Everyone is happy and healthy these days, now if the weather would just decide what it wants to do. It was nice all last weekend, until we decided to take the “E” litter puppies down to our friend’s pond, when the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in. I managed to get some video and some still shots of our outing. It was also good for the pups because they spent an hour to an hour and a half paired up in the truck dog box. Good practice for traveling soon!
Pups paired up in the dog box
I took individual pictures of most of the “E” litter puppies out at the pond, but noticed once I got home that I missed a couple, so Elizabeth and Eustace’s pictures are taken in the back yard.
Esther taking it all in. She will live in Wyoming.
Edward watches the kids in the water. He will live in Minnesota.
Evangeline has her nose to the ground, she go home to Missouri soon.
Edna hanging with the kids’ stuff, she will stay in Sarpy Co., Nebraska.
Edith is hiding out from the wind, which is a good skill in Oklahoma.
Etta will continue her investigations in Colorado.
Eustace is heading to Ohio.
Elizabeth is ready for some beach time in Maryland and mountain fun in West Virginia.
Here is this week’s video. I finally figured out some settings on the upload to YouTube that makes it high resolution (like I see it in the original video file), I apologize for the fuzzy quality on the previous videos.
The “E” litter critters will start going home in a week and a half, I can’t believe it! They have all grown so big and healthy, I look forward to some nicer weather this weekend (it is has been a bit wet this week) to get out and enjoy some more adventures with them. If you are a future owner, please check your e-mail to verify the microchip information to be given to the vet, along with a list of items for traveling with your pup and what you need when you get home.
Of course, the “F” litter is growing too. I’ve finally gotten them on to puppy food and they are moving in and out of the dog house on their own.
The “F” litter having some chow
Caleb is head puppy socializer. Clockwise from left: Fern, Frieda, Francis and Flora.
Francis and Frieda peer out of the doghouse.
Here is their video for the week, just hanging out in the dog kennel.
Pupdates
I apologize for having a backlog of pupdates!! Here is “D” Litter (Sue/Sam 2012) Gomer, having a good time in the snow a few weeks back in Illinois:
10 month old Gomer in the snow
Here’s a recent one from Whiskey out in Nevada, from our “A” litter from Sue and Sam in 2010. Hard to believe that he is three years old. He is pictured here with his new friend Dude, the curly horse.
Three year old Whiskey and his friend Dude
Year-old TracHer up in North Dakota, from our “C” Litter from Sam and Mae has caught and killed seven squirrels this winter. My dogs are all very jealous because they would love to catch and kill a squirrel!
TracHer with squirrel #7
Trac’s brother, also from the “C’ Litter, Chester, is quite big stuff out in New York! My husband received this message on the versatiledogs forum a few weeks ago from his trainer:
Greetings from the wonderous Isle of Long. (Long Island)
We have just about put the pin in the training for a big fella, (about 75 lbs) which is one of your very own pups. We are all but finished up with the classical training, my mystical powers being used to convert the likes of a big Wooley Haired Pointing Dog named CHESTER, owned by a fella named Sal, from New Hyde Park into a well behaved gun dog. All I can say to YOU is- Nice Work…….You should be proud.
Chester is a very biddable dog, very cooperative, easy to train, hard charging, obedient….and twelve other positive adjectives. Nice Job.
All my hard (sort of) work has paid big dividends, and the big fella is now a viable hunting companion. Lord keep em so…..
By the by, he’s only 10-11 months old?
Hoss
Here’s some pictures of Chester from the retrieving clinic recently put on by the Hudson Valley NAVDHA chapter. What a massive beast!
Chester showing off his style
Chester is definitely the coolest dog in the bunch (middle).
Showing off his retrieving skills
He is very polite on the table
Thank you so much to the owners who send me these great pictures!! It really helps me to put scooping poop into perspective:) All of the hard work is worth it when you can put these pups with fabulous people and watch them grow into the dogs I dream they will become. I’ll be back next week with more!
The puppies are all doing great, but the people are a little under the weather. Hopefully we can shake this stomach bug that made its way through the house over the last four days and all get better to enjoy the nice weather that is finally going to arrive. The “E” litter moved outside about a week ago and the “F” litter will be following them soon. It will be nice to have my house not smell like a dog kennel anymore:) It is so hard to believe that we are already on the countdown to puppy homegoing at 8 weeks old. The “E” litter will be 8 weeks on April 24th and the “F” litter on May 8th. I am planning on reaching out over the course of this week to talk to everyone about transportation plans. I will finalize puppy picks around 6 weeks old, so please be patient with me. So let’s get to the fun stuff, the pictures!
“E” Litter at 4.5 weeks old
E Litter chowing down on puppy kibble in the kennel.
Coming out of the dog house door
Peeking out of the dog house door
Stepping up
On the move
Big stuff
On the sniff
Up we go
Puppy party
And a video of them eating puppy kibble:
Another video of them just hanging around the kennel:
They are still hanging out in the whelping box, but it will soon be warm enough for them to move outside. Their eyes are open and they are moving around a little, but things should start picking up here within the next week. It will be time to start them on mush once they start moving around a bit more.
“F” litter taking a nap
Since I had them out in the living room while I was messing with them to take the video, I went ahead and took some individual pictures and came up with some names. The only one that has any meaning is the boy, Francis, since he was whelped the same day that the new pope came into office.
Francis’s face (boy)
Francis’s back (boy)
Frieda’s face
Frieda’s back
Fern’s face
Fern’s back
Flora’s face
Flora’s back
I have updates from past puppies, but I’m going to hold those for one more week so that I can get to feeling better. This weekend was very busy with Caleb’s 4th birthday and Easter, so I’m planning a quiet weekend at home with the puppies next weekend and I’ll be able to take time to write and add more pictures. Until then, please keep me in your prayers for strength and perseverance in this busy time!
Please Note: All of our puppies for 2013 are spoken for at this time. I love exchanging e-mails and talking on the phone with folks looking for puppies, but I hate the sound of disappointment in their voices when they find out that none of these puppies are available. I have already taken and will continue to take reservations for our 2014 breeding season.
The “E” Litter has had a recent development spurt now that their eyes are open, going from grunting little balls of fur, nursing on their mom and scooting on their bellies to full fledged puppies, up on their feet and eating solid food. Now is the time when I finally give them nicknames. I don’t actually use their nicknames, I just call them “puppy”, but I think people like to be able to track particular individuals.
The boys:
I named both of the boys after characters in the C.S. Lewis Narnia Chronicles. First is Edward:
Edward’s face
Edward’s back
This is Eustace, the second male:
Eustace’s face
Eustace’s back
Now for the girls. I named the girls after a number of random things as they came to mind in the order of the photographs taken. The significance of the names is no more than that, no picking favorites involved. The first is Edna, because I lived on Edna Street at one time and have a friend who still lives there.
Edna’s face
Edna’s back
Esther seemed to be a common name for ladies my grandmother’s age. You can’t go wrong with a biblical name and it is also the name of a character from one of my favorite shows, Downton Abbey.
Esther’s face
Esther’s back
Another good old-fashioned name is Elizabeth, too many good Elizabeths to name!!
Elizabeth’s face
Elizabeth’s back
Back when A&E was a more artistic channel, my mother and I watched a British import series called The House of Eliot, about two sisters who were fashion designers in the 1920s. Evangeline was one of those sisters.
Evangeline’s face
Evangeline’s back
I wouldn’t consider myself an old school R&B fan, but Etta sounded like a good name, after Etta James.
Etta’s face
Etta’s back
Edith is another Biblical and Downton Abbey name that I couldn’t resist using.
Edith’s face
Edith’s back
Towards the beginning of the week, they were still in their kiddie pool with chips. Caleb always loves to spend time with the puppies, even when they are not the focus of his attention.
Caleb plays a handheld video game in the puppy pool
A couple of other random “E” litter cute kid and puppy pictures;
A bit of boy roughhousing with puppies
Caleb can’t get enough of puppies
Cordelia was my assistant in the puppy photo shoot
I also took a video of the puppies right at 3 weeks old, before I moved them out of the puppy pool:
As the week progressed, I started having puppies bail out of the swimming pool while they were playing. Usually this is the point where I move them to the outdoor “puppy palace”, but it is still too cold just yet. It looks like spring should finally arrive later on this week and they can move outside then. But for now they have the laundry room as their kennel. It gives them more room to move around than the whelping box or kiddie pool and allows them to get used to getting their footing on solid surfaces.
The E litter puppies are pool free.
I started them on solid food this week, starting with a mush that consisted of canned puppy food and puppy milk replacement mixed together.
The puppies start on mush.
Once I ran out of pre-mixed canned puppy milk replacer, I switched them to straight canned puppy food. It also looks like that they are eating the food in Sue’s dish too, so it is time to switch that over to puppy kibble.
Moved on to canned puppy food alone.
Charles did some training with Sam and BB yesterday using live quail, so we introduced the puppies to their first bird scent. Here’s my cutest still picture of the quail encounter.
E Litter’s first bird exposure at 3 1/2 weeks old
I also took a video of the encounter today:
Mae and Sam’s “F” litter turned one week old on Wednesday. They are still in the blobbish phase, where they pretty much eat and sleep. They are a bit too small for too much kid handling, but we do get out there and mess with them still.
“F” Litter puppies at one week old
Conrad in the whelping box with “F” litter
And a short video of the “F” litter pups:
I did receive a couple of Pupdates lately and I will be sure to get those posted next week. The “E” litter photobomb took up all of my photo editing time allotted for the week! Having two litters in the house is definitely keeping me on my toes, I’m just thankful that there are a couple of weeks between them and that they aren’t exactly the same age. Keep sending us happy thoughts and I’ll get back with you next weekend.
The simplest way to approach the events of the week is in chronological order, I believe, so I’ll start with the AKC Hunt Test on Saturday put on by the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Lincoln at the Branched Oak Trial Grounds near Raymond, Nebraska. Although Sam and BB have made definite progress toward the goal, it was not a day for perfection, so neither of them got a pass on Senior Hunter. But luckily we live in hunt test ground zero between Sioux Falls, Lincoln and the NE Kansas/NW Missouri area, so there will be plenty of opportunities to try again. Our “D” Litter puppy, “Dottie” from Sue and Sam’s litter last year got her first pass on the AKC Junior Hunter test, handled by her owner Rick. Her little boy, Joey, was so excited to show off the ribbon!
Joey shows off Dottie and her AKC Junior Hunter ribbon
Even though I was in short sleeves on Saturday, Sunday brought us a surprise blizzard which led to the test being called off, as well as a snow day for the kids on Monday. We hung out with Sue’s puppies as we waiting for Mae’s turn.
Cordelia and Caleb hanging out with Sue and the puppies
Sue’s puppies turned two weeks old on Wednesday, which makes them 8 weeks old on April 24th. So new owners, you can pick them up anytime between the weekend before that date to the weekend after. For those who are planning on flying them out, they can fly from their 8 week birthday onward.
I knew that Mae soon needed the whelping box, so the puppies have been moved to a large kiddie pool in my laundry room, which should hold them for another week or so. I’m hoping that by the time they can escape that it will be warm enough for them to move outside.
Sue and her pups in the kiddie pool
Closeup of the “E” Litter
Their eyes are now open and they have begun to waddle around, as you can see in the following two videos:
The Arrival of “F” Litter
I knew that Mae was soon to deliver when her temperature was low on Tuesday and she wasn’t scarfing down leftovers like she normally does.
The last shot of Mae’s puppy belly as she nibbled.
She woke me up at about 4:30 AM on Wednesday morning with loud scratching sounds, as she was arranging the chips in her nest. I let her out for a potty break, but saw no sign that things were imminent, so we went back to bed. Once we got up to get the kids around for school, I let Mae out of her room to hang out with us in the house. She proceeded to vomit three times in the kitchen and living room, so we knew the time was coming. After I got the kids to school, we walked and walked and walked, with her grunting, whining and pushing to get the pups in position. Around 11:30 AM, she lost her mucus plug. With Sue’s delivery, the first pup came within 30 minutes of that happening. Mae had heavy contractions and was pushing hard for two hours. I nearly took her into the vets office, but we just kept walking. Finally at 1:30 PM the first puppy arrived and she was breach, but Mae’s shear determination got her out of there without complication. I tried to get her to stay in the whelping box, but she was fixated on this blanket that I had in the living room (with a sheet of plastic and an old rug underneath), so that is where we had the first three puppies. I was just glad that we were able to do it on our own, as I was getting nervous that we were headed in the intervention direction.
The arrival of the first puppy
Once the breach puppy was liberating, it went incredibly fast. The second puppy arrived a half hour later. We watched the announcement of the new pope on television at the same time.
Puppy number two on the scene
I barely had time to post a picture and status on Facebook before the arrival of puppy number three, right before it was time to pick the kids up from school.
Three pups in the living room
At that point, I had numbers to my advantage. I scooped up the three puppies and took them to the whelping box so that I could go pick up the kids. By the time I arrived home, the fourth one was on the scene.
The four pups right after birth
I continued to check on Mae throughout the night, expecting the arrival of one or two more pups. I took her outside a couple of times to see if getting her moving produced anything. By the time I got up to check on her at 2:30 AM, it was apparent that four puppies was the litter size. They went to the vet at 10 AM on Thursday to get their tails docked, dew claws removed and just to have their general health assessed. Dr. Andrew Kliewer was surprised at how big and strong they were for day old pups and said it was no wonder that I thought Mae had more in her due to their size.
They are all doing quite well and will probably be huge.
The four pups at one day old
Here is a video of the “F” litter puppies at two days old.
Mae’s “F” Litter puppies will be 8 weeks old on May 8, as a note to the new owners, they will be available for pickup starting the weekend before through the weekend after. The USDA policy is that they can fly from their 8 week birthday onward.
Taking care of two litters of puppies at once is a new challenge for me, so we’ll be very busy and for simplicity’s sake, I will begin posting just once a week, either over the weekend if we aren’t hunt testing, or early in the week if we are. Send us good vibes for continued health and happiness of the pups and mamas.
Welcome Bluestem Kennels “F” Litter, The Fab Four! Girls are all the rage in our house this year: 3 girls, 1 boy. They arrived yesterday between 1:30 and 3:30 PM. To those with reservations, I am very tied up today and this evening but am going to reach out to all of you tomorrow. I will also be posting photos and videos of both litters tomorrow, so please stand by for further information!
Bluestem Kennels 