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2005/11/9 Three and a half monthsIndia has started obedience classes, and was in puppy obedience with Memo (Zulu) and Nemo (Romeo). How exciting to see them! And Nemo came to spend the weekend with us which was loads of fun. What a fine, well-behaved boy he was until he spent two days here... now he jumps on the furniture and rips up newspaper. Well, what are grandparents for, anyway, but to spoil their grandchildren! He is just adorable and still lives up to his litter name of Romeo.
India also starts a puppy pre-agility class on Saturday. Nothing physically or mentally stressful, just fun and play around the agility equipment and a chance to spend a bit more structured time with her. Should be fun if we can survive the drive... she gets VERY carsick so we travel with plenty of towels. I am assuming she will grow out of it, and just hope it is sooner rather than later.
Am getting good reports at regular intervals from the other puppies. So pleased that everyone seems to be well and happy. 2005/10/12 Eleven and a half weeks!Wow! Quite a lot of change around here, as we are now down to one lone puppy, our darling Miss India (Astrud's Mood Indigo). It is odd that one puppy can occupy nearly as much time as 8, and though I am not sure what physical laws allow that to happen, it does seem to be the case. We are settling into a routine of sorts, however, and within a year we will all be well trained by India to heed her every wish. Bella is giving her pointers I am sure, and she does seem to be a quick study.
Here is an update on the rest of the crew:
Zulu (now Memo, which is short for Astrud's Guillermo) lives in West Seattle with a wonderful couple. Romeo (now Nemo, Astrud's Just A Romeo) is in Sammamish with a family with a daughter to love him--especially when he stops biting quite as much. Victor (now Misu, Astrud's Victorino Misu) lives in Portland and will get to go to work every day to keep busy. Bravo (now Rebel, Astrud's Lookout Rebel Yell) also lives in the Portland area and will be in the show ring when he gets older. Sierra (now Sailor, Astrud's Sea of Love) is another Portland residient. She now lives with Peter's sister and mother there, so we will visit her frequently, and see if she feels up to the show ring later on. Echo (now Jazz, Astrud's Django Jazz) has it made in Yakima with two kids to keep him busy. Foxtrot (now Toby) lives in Seattle and is looking forward to a career as a therapy dog.
I am getting such good reports of happy and (mostly!) cooperative puppies. It is such a relief to have placed them all in great homes. India and Nemo will start puppy obedience class together in a week or so, so we are looking forward to visiting with him soon. I do hope that each of my puppy owners realize that their new addition comes burdened with a mother hen who will end up bothering them for updates and pictures and visits for the rest of their lives! 2005/9/18 8 weeks todayThe pups had quite a busy and somewhat taxing weekend, but came through all in one piece. On Friday morning they were rudely awakened and loaded into two crates in the back of the van for a 4 hour drive to Portland. We made a quick detour by the Portland airport to pick up Peg (Mico's breeder) and her friend Maureen, and pressed on to Suzanne's house to descend on her with three people and 9 dogs (Bella came too of course.) Only a true friend, and a truly doggie friend, would welcome a hoard like that with open arms! Suzanne is the breeder of Bella's father Kilo.
The pups unloaded and settled in very quickly, apparently none the worse for wear, napped a bit, and then were loaded back up for the trip to Pat Hasting's shop for the structural evaluation. It was a very interesting but nerve-wracking experience... she calls it like she sees it, no vested interest, no holds barred. Overall I think we were all pleased with the results, most especially since both the girls evaluated very well. It felt like a thesis defense in grad school to me, though, and I was glad to get out of there! Pups did great, in a strange place with a strange person. They took it like troopers. Back in the car and back to Suzanne's, where we all had dinner and spent the night.
Saturday morning we loaded the whole pack up and headed north back home, with a pit stop half way. What good puppies... they all held it and went when we stopped and walked them in the grass. Good travelers already, with not too much crying and only one little car sick event in the whole 4 hours.
They thought they were home free when they hit the familiar surroundings, but no such luck. Bath time was upon them before they had a chance to settle in. Peg bathed and groomed the whole lot of them, including the final act at my request... putting wavy India (my keeper) in a lion clip at 8 weeks. She took it like the brave girl she is, but it did take one person to hold while Peg clipped her. What a beautiful head! She is about the cutest thing I have ever seen (though I may be just a tad biased.) All the pups looked wonderful. Balls of fluff with little energizer bunnies inside.
Check out the pictures with a nice stacked view of each of the babies.
Tomorrow they get a car trip to the vet for their well-puppy checkups, then Tuesday is a another long car trip to Bellingham for CERF eye exams. THEN they will be done with all this evaluation and free to be puppies!
2005/9/10 Almost 7 weeksIt has been a busy couple of weeks with these guys. Lots of outside adventures, and a few not so fun things like baths and nails, and more nails. Teeth are coming in nice and SHARP, so I am working diligently asking everyone please not to bite me or my clothes when I am in with them. Sometimes thay all seem to get going on my feet at the same time, and it does take a bit of work to get things under control. But everyone is reasonably cooperative, most of the time, anyway. Yes they are very sharp and know how to use them.
Labor Day was the puppies temperament test in a strange room (the neighbor's garage actually) with a strange person, and I was happy to see that everyone's tail was up and nice and responsive. Half of them aced the retrieve test, including Zulu who decided to make a collection of the fun crinkly balled up paper that the tester was using to look at their retrieve instinct. Very cute.
The pups have started getting alone time to explore the world. I go on a walk with individual pups (no Bella, either) to new and exciting places that they haven't seen, and meet new people and visit with the neighbor's dogs and cat. We usually go out for about 10 minutes, and they have all done really well in new circumstances all on their own. Some like to stay fairly close by, others tend to roam once they get comfortable. It is neat to watch them build their confidence and go exploring.
This Wednesday everyone will get vaccinations and microchips. September 16 we all hop in the car and head to Portland for the structural evaluation with Pat Hastings. Then September 20 is CERF exams to make sure eyes are fine, then to the vet for a going home checkup to make sure everything else is fine. Let's see, what did I miss? Oh, yes, we'll have to catch some sleep in there sometime too. 2005/8/26 Day 32 -- Let's play outsideBeautiful weather has encouraged us to venture outside, and what fun it is to explore the big wide world! We had NO idea how much space there is out there. What great Portuguese explorers we are... You can call us all Ferdinand and Fernandina Magellan. See the Day 32 photo album for pictures of our outside play. Sorry we didn't get any good shots of Zulu. He was running around so much they were all blurry... we'll try again next time. 2005/8/20 Day 27--A long overdue update!Today the pups are 27 days old, and it has been three weeks since my last update... so sorry. Tending puppies seems to suck up an enormoous amount of time: cleaning up after them, washing bedding, and just staring awestruck at how they are growing and developing their personalities. What fun! What a lot of work!
Since Day 6, the pups have had lots of new experiences, including several nail trimmings which Bella appreciated. Their little nails grow like crazy, and are VERY sharp and rather hard on Bella's skin when they are nursing. They have been clipped every several days since day 6, and are due yet again. Romeo, the little guy, was started on a puppy milk supplement to jump start his growth, and he quickly surpassed both Foxtrot and Zulu in weight. It took him a couple of tries to get the hang of the bottle (it is just a standard human baby bottle) but once he realized the benefit, he turned voracious and could down 1/2 to 3/4 oz in a couple of minutes. He is doing fine, and is off of the supplement now. Zulu was also encouraged to take the bottle, but never really did learn to nurse from it. He liked to chew and lick it, but that is about as far as he would go. He continued to gain steadily, so I wasn't too worried about him. I mix up the puppy supplement myself from evaporated milk, egg yolks, yogurt, karo syrup, pedialyte, and liquid vitamins. Seems to be quite palatable, and I will continue to use it to thin out their solid food, which we started yesterday (day 26). They see to be loving the solid food, and I will increase the amount and frequency for the next couple of weeks until they are weaned (or nearly so... they do love their mother!)
The pups opened their eyes on August 6 and 7, day 13 and 14, and their ears opened about the same time. They watch as we come up to the box and come running over to greet their humans and their mother when we come into view. Their eyesight continues to improve, and they now can see images well across the room, and are especially tuned up to Bella when she comes anywhere within sight. They started tottering around before their eyes were open, but their walking became much more efficient and less random after their eyes opened and they could define an objective, which is usually their mother, or someone's tail waving in the air like a lure!
When the puppies were younger, Bella tended to them constantly and cleaned up the box quite thoroughly. When they were about two weeks old, I put bedding in half of the whelping box and newspaper in the other half, and it didn't take long before they started making an effort to go off the bedding to the newspaper to relieve themselves. On day 25 the whole world quadrupled in size, we opened up the whelping box and gave them a big ex-pen play area attached to the box to romp around in. Zulu was the first to jump out into the big wide world, and the others quickly followed. Newspapers cover the floor for easy cleanup, and they have all learned to go outside the box to do their business. They usually sleep in the box, and go out to play with their toys, which include a tunnel, some empty water bottles which are fun to climb on, a few small balls to chase, and some stuffed toys to drag around and chew on. Life now consists of eat, sleep, and PLAY, which is a whole new dimension for them, and so entertaining to watch. In another few days we will expand their area so they have more room as they grow, and will put in more and larger toys and different surfaces for them to climb on.
See the photo albums for several new sets of pix taken at various ages. 2005/7/30 Day 6 and the pups are doing fine!It has been a busy and fairly sleepless week here as Bella's beautiful pups continue to grow. A few days ago we assigned names to them, so we really feel like we are bonding, and already we are beginning to associate personalities with the names. Even at the age of just a few days, each pup is distinctive, not just in physical appearance but in temperament, too.
Since Bella's father is Kilo, and his grandmother is Tango, we decided to name the litter in the same theme, selecting names from the military alphabet. So the litter now consists of:
Romeo: male curly, black with white chest and toes (my little boy)
Foxtrot: male curly, black with white chest, white front stockings and rear toes
Zulu: male curly, solid black.
India: female wavy, Black with white chin, chest, belly, and front stockings (the bruiser-she gains 2 ounces a day)
Victor: male wavy, solid black.
Echo: male curly, black with small white chest spot and left front foot (just like Bella's foot, so he was named Echo)
Bravo: male wavy, black with a small white chest spot and toes.
Sierra: female curly, black with white chin and chest, white front stockings, and white spot on the back of the neck.
Everyone is growing like gangbusters, or nearly everyone. Little Romeo is pretty small but gaining steadily, so we are keeping a close eye on him. But he seems healthy and happy and as long as he looks good and stays active I won't worry too much. Of course I am keeping a spreadsheet and chart of their growth (call me compulsive..) Double click on the growth chart at the bottom of this entry to see how well they are growing!
Everyone made a trip to the vet on July 27 to have dewclaws removed. Things went very well, and neither Bella nor the pups seemed to suffer too much anxiety about it.
We clipped nails and took pictures today, and have also been stimulating them just a few seconds a day with a set of simple exercises such as tickling their toes with a Q-tip, holding them upside down very briefly, and laying them on a cool damp towel for a few seconds. Brief stimulation like this even at this early age may yield puppies that are more tolerant to stress whan they are older. (For more information, check out Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development edited by Pat Hastings and Erin Ann Rouse. Visit this site for more info http://www.justamere.com/newsletter/stimulate.asp)
Bella is doing well, and finally seems to be eating after having to coax her to eat since the puppies were born. I tried to entice her with some beautiful fish filets, chicken wings, ground beef and rice, and anything else she would look at. She has awakened me at 5 AM the last two mornings (from my cot next to the whelping box) demanding food, so I think she is back on track. She is also getting a lactation supplement to make sure she gets enough calcium and calories. Yesterday she started leaving the box for a couple of minutes when the pups are sleeping, but she listens for the slightest squeak and is back there in an instant. She really is a super-mother. 2005/7/25 Eight new pups on the ground -- July 24Bella gave birth to eight beautiful puppies Sunday night July 24. She had a really easy and quick delivery, with 4 in the first hour, and the next 3 over the next two hours. We thought she was finished at number 7, since she was resting quietly and nursing the pups for almost an hour. We took her outside, cleaned her off, and cleaned out the whelping box, and had everyone back in and nursing comfortably, when low and behold, we got a bonus baby one and a half hours after the others were born! We are happy that our bonus baby was a girl, bringing totals to 6 boys and 2 girls.
Two of the boys are solid black, one is wavy and one is curly. Three of the boys have a white chest spot or shield, two are curly and one is wavy, and the last boy is curly with a white front and white stockings on the forefeet. Both of the girls are white and balck, with a white chest and white stockings on the forefeet, one is wavy and one is curly. Quite a variety of colors and coat type... they will be easy to tell apart once they get a bit older.
Birth weights were fairly evenly distributed... none too small or too big. The smallest weighed in at 8.25 ounces, the largest was 11 ounces, and most were 9.5 to 10. Everyone came around right away after being born and all started nursing immediately, and all seem to be nursing well. They are content and quiet, which means nothing is bothering them... just the way I like it! When we get past the next few days we'll be almost home free, but at this point everyone appears to be doing fine. Bella is being a great mother.
Litter names have not quite been decided yet. The kids are determined to name them after Portuguese queens and kings, but I am finding the names a bit difficult. Somehow Vimara, Lucido, Goncalo, Onega, and Mumadona don't just roll off my tongue.. I am going to impose something a little easier for my sake! 2005/7/23 Mico earns Apprentice Water Dog TitleBella sends her heartiest congratulations to Mico who earned his Apprentice Water Dog title today at the PWD Club of the Twin Cities trial in Minnesota. Peg Thomas handled, and Jill Gilbert judged. Mico is now Ch Peja Comico Cabrito CD AWD. July 20 x-ray resultsWe had an x-ray taken of Bella on Wednesday, July 20, and were able to see 7 skulls and spines pretty clearly, and maybe one more spine.
2005/6/23 June 23 ultrasoundBella went in for an ultrasound on June 23, about 28 days gestation, and the vet was able to see at least 8 puppies. 2005/6/11 Mico takes Best Of Breed twice!Just got an update from Peg Thomas, and she is excited to report that Mico took Best of Breed at the Northstar Working Group Club show on June 10 and the Lake Minnetonka KC show on June 12, both in Waconia, MN. He wasn't entered on June 11, otherwise he surely would have won that one as well! 2005/5/9 Bella and Mico BreedingABOUT BELLA Bella is Ch Stargazer's Astrud Isabella WWD U-CD BROM, a black and white Irish-marked curly Portuguese Water Dog. She is 3 1/2 years old, 19", and 40 lbs, which is right at the breed standard for females. She was bred by Christi and Sandy Overton and is out of Sabrina (Am/Cam CH Stargazer's Bewitched CD OA NAJ AWD SROM). Her sire is Kilo (Int'l/Am Ch Sunnyhill Lookout Stormwatch CD C-CD NA NAJ WWD SROM), bred by Suzanne Malick. Bella has great working drive, and a very sweet, fun-loving and stable temperament. Her first love is water work of any sort, and she has already earned Junior, Apprentice, and Working Water Dog. Our efforts at Courier may be sidetracked by maternity leave this year, but we will be ready for 2006 if we don't make it in 2005! Bella has a UKC-CD, and two legs in Novice Rally Obedience. Her AKC CD is a work in progress, and will be helped a lot when her handler learns to control her own AKC ring jitters! She is also a Certified Therapy Dog, and AKC Canine Good Citizen. We have also played with some agility and started tracking this spring, but there just isn't time to do everything at once! We will continue to work on tracking this summer as good exercise for a pregnant female. Also, since she has earned four titles in three different areas, she has been awarded the Bronze Register of Merit (BROM) from PWDCA. Bella's show ring career was short and SO sweet! She debuted in Puyallup in January and won a 4 point BOW against 13 other bitches her first day out, and took Reserve the second day. The following weekend she went to Portland where she swept three 5 point majors, including two BOW, in a field of 24 bitches. It was a breathtaking to watch her win her AKC Championship in two weekends with 19 points! I am afraid that I have used up all my dog show Karma for the next decade, though... Health-wise, I am happy to report that Bella is rated OFA Excellent for hips, and OFA Normal for elbows. Elbow dysplasia is not a big problem in PWDs, but it is reassuring to have the results, especially since I do intend to do agility with her. Her CERF is clear, and she is OptiGen B (PRA carrier), and GM-1 Normal. She will be bred to an OptiGen A (non-carrier) sire, so there will be no risk of producing PRA-affected offspring. Both of her parents are OFA Good, and her littermate and two half-siblings that have been evaluated are also Good. ABOUT MICO Bella was bred to Mico, Ch Peja Comico Cabrito CD JWD. Mico is a black wavy with a small white spot on his chest, and is 20 3/4" and 55 lbs, a nice sturdy fellow. He was bred by Peg Thomas out of Teza (Ch Muddy Waters Certeza of Peja CD WWD ROM) and Jackson (Ch Northwind's Jackson). One of the things I love most about Mico is nice level, confident temperament. He is totally confident, but extremely affectionate as well. I also have met his mother, daughter, niece, and two grandpuppies and was impressed with the uniformity of their even affectionate temperaments. I am really excited about this breeding, and expect to get some very good working dogs from it. Mico has nice working drive, has his AKC CD, Apprentice Water Dog, and Canine Good Citizen. There are advanced obedience and water titles (CDX/UD and WWD/CWD) on both sides of his pedigree. Mico finished his AKC Championship in November 2000, at the age of 18 months. Mico is OFA Good, CERF clear, OptiGen A (non-carrier) and GM-1 AP Normal (normal by inheritance). His sire and dam are both OFA Good, and out of four full siblings tested, three are Good, one is Excellent. OFA results from half-sibs are 3 Excellent, 7 Good, and 2 Fair. Mico has several black and white dogs in his lineage, so even though he is predominantly black, I expect to get a good number of black and white puppies from the litter. I also expect to get both curly and wavy, since there are curlies behind Mico as well. Mico lives near Minneapolis. |
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