They're Here!!

Yesterday Scoop delivered the Color Litter in under three hours.   We really emphasize keeping our dams fit at our Avidog seminars, and let me tell you, Scoop showed us why.   The delivery was uneventful - well if you can call seeing eight beautiful golden puppies coming into the world uneventful!   She is such a wonderful mother, and is taking great care of her pups!

Today we took the gang to see Dr. Cummins for a checkup and they all passed with flying colors.  

In birth order, let me introduce Gaylan's Color Litter:

Miss Yellow arrived at 10:14 and weighed 13 3/8 oz
Miss Purple arrived at 10:51 and weighed 14 3/4 oz
Miss Pink arrived at 11:22 and weighed 13 1/4 oz
Miss Black arrived at 11:36 and weighed 16 5/8 oz
Miss Green arrived at 11:50 and weighed 14 oz
Mr. Blue arrived at 12:22 and weighed 16 1/4 oz
Miss Red arrived at 12:28 and weighed 12 oz
Mr. Brown brought up the rear arriving at 12:53 and weighing 13 3/4 oz

We thank Helen Lackey of Quinleighblu Golden Retrievers for sharing her wonderful boy Keegan with us.   We think he and Scoop had some lovely puppies.   We are looking forward to the next 8.5 weeks that they will spend with us before they go to their new homes.  Be sure to check back often as we share with you what we do with them to bring out the very best in each puppy!

Be sure to check out the week one photos and videos that are up in Smugmug.  The link is just to the right of this post.  Enjoy!

Gaylan's Color Litter is Coming!

Scoop's due date is coming and as you can see, she is getting pretty big.  Listening with our Doppler confirmed the ultrasound count of 7-8 puppies.  Yippee!!  She is decidedly uncomfortable and isn't eating much these days.  

We are getting close enough to the pups' birth to start the Name Game.  This is when owners start brainstorming to find the right registered and call names for their pups.  Here is the note we sent to help them with this process:

"Scoop's owner, Marcy recently finalized her decision regarding the litter theme for Scoop's pending litter. It will be the Color litter. That means either the word 'color' or an actual color must be in your pup's registered name. 

"For those who have never registered a dog before, not to worry. You can call your pup anything you want. This name is the pup's 'call' name. 

"But your pup will also have a registered name that will tie it to our kennel, it's parents and it's siblings. This name is the registered name.  It will begin with 'Gaylan's' and then will follow the litter theme. Through that theme, golden lovers now and into the future will know your pup was sired by Keegan out of Scoop and is related to each of the other Color littermates. 

"Some people like to relate their pup's registered and call names. They might use the registered name Gaylan's Red Solo Cup and use the call name 'Fizz.'  Red solo cups are those red plastic cups often used to hold alcoholic beverages at ball games, etc. 

"Others want their pup's call name to be in the registered name. These folks might name their pup Gaylan's Colors of the Wind and use 'Windy' as the call name. 

"Finally, there are others who make no attempt to relate the two names. 

"All of these approaches are perfectly fine with me.  All I ask is that you come up with a registered name before you pick your pup up so I can ensure there are no conflicts since the AKC requires every dog to have a unique registered name. When you are down to one or two names, let me know and I'll reserve them for you."

If you have ideas about good registered names for our Color litter, post them in the comment section below!