Gaylan's Golden Retrievers

Teeth! and More!!

2012-02-18T11:30:00.005-05:00

The pups start their fourth week with a big breakthrough, actually many of them. Yup, the pups' canine teeth made their appearance yesterday. They don't have any jaw power so no puppy scenes yet but those are coming.

I have finally gotten over the flu but Rosie Higdon still came up from VA to help for the weekend. Hopefully, spending time with the babies will be worth the work. Dreamer is showing more signs of a pending mastitis so Rosie and I are rotating hot packing every two hours. Dreamer is sure she is getting the raw end of this deal but as we tell her, it's for her own good.

The pups are interacting a lot with their environment now. Check out the videos to see them explore their world. They now have a pile of toys with them in the box and four different footings that they traverse each day. They are starting to problem solve when they get themselves in predicaments, which is often now. Their array of vocalizations is increasing daily, too. Barking, whining, howling (literal heads-back, muzzle-to-the-moon howling), grunting, purring, mewing and all out screeching. We've tried to capture many of them on the videos so turn your volume up or down as needed :-).

We have some great news from our other girls, too. Today was Ultrasound Day for Chex and Scoop. Marcy and I were holding our breath because we had bred Chex twice in the past few years and she missed both times. We weren't sure if she could ever get pregnant again but sure enough, she has six or so pups in there! Yahoo!! Good boy, Striker! I can't wait to meet these Striker x Chex babies!

Not to be outdone, Scoop is also pregnant by Goose. Looks like she has eight to nine pups in her first litter. So we are going to have an exciting March, sending Dreamer's pups home and welcoming the Heart and the Country Music litters into the world. What fun!

Hey, if anyone actually is reading this, drop a comment below. I can't tell if I'm just talking to myself or not. New photos and videos are up. Week 4 folder will be started soon!

Still Down with the Flu

2012-02-14T17:25:00.002-05:00

I'm still down with the flu but there are new photos on the webshots site. Click the link to the right for Week 3. More as soon as I'm up and about. Marcy and Lise visited today to help with the pups, which was a real treat!

Let the Puppy Games Begin!

2012-02-11T12:24:00.004-05:00

The pups hit another exciting milestone yesterday--they started to play! I love this stage where they start interacting with each other and their mom. I haven't been able to get any video of the interactions but I'll try to today. Instead I posted a favorite clip of mine from the Wine litter. It is of Corey playing with one of the pups under Una's watchful eye. This pup is about five days older than the High litter so you know what you have to look forward to.

We are redecorating the whelping box today, too. The sheets came off since the pups' eyes have adapted to the world around them. We are also adding toys so the pups have some inanimate objects to interact with. I hesitated to do it sooner because of the number of pups Dreamer has to deal with but things are going pretty well so it's time. Toys for pups of this age have to be incredibly safe since they have no concept of danger and will plow full steam ahead toward whatever it is they want, regardless what danger might be in the way. Our job is to figure out how to keep them safe while still stimulating their bodies, minds and senses.

Dreamer just went up to 6 pounds of food today. She is content and calm in the box now, happy to stay for long periods, cleaning up, nursing and sleeping with the pups. As you can see in the photos, Corey is offering to help in the whelping box.

Hopefully you got to see Mr Royal Blue demonstrating the Biosensor and scent exercises we do with the pups every day. If you didn't, you can see it here. I think he's a star!

The lights are turning on!

2012-02-08T19:24:00.004-05:00

Tonight was one of those exciting moments in the lives of each litter where I could see the pups really responding to the world around them. Though a simple act, about half of them woke up when I turned the lights on tonight. That means that their eyes are beginning to function and soon they will be toddling around the box. They still won't hear for another 5-6 days but they are growing up for sure.

Puppies this age always remind me of Mr Magoo, though I'm sure I'm dating myself with the analogy. Like the cartoon character, young puppies are nearsighted for many weeks as their eyes continue to develop. This leads to some pretty funny situations. For example, for quite a while during woods walks, they mistake trees for us. You know, big and tall, relativley speaking. So they present themselves to a tree and then get very confused when they've realized what they have done.

Their developing eyes explain why many young, talented pups are thought to be bad retrievers. What really happened was the retrieve object went out of their sight, even though it was thrown only 5 feet or so. You'll see me typically rolling retrieve toys so the pup has a better chance of following it's movement.

Things have quieted down so I'm going to do the Biosensor exercises and videotape them smelling their first chukar partridge. So, stay tuned and I'll post some additional video and photos later tonight.

Catching Up!

2012-02-07T14:33:00.002-05:00

The High pups are doing great! I've posted some new photos and video on the site so click the link that says "Week 2 Photos and Video" to check them out. There won't be a lot of photos for a few days until their eyes are fully open. We limit flash photography and bright lights during this transition period so the pups' brains and eyes can gradually become accustomed to seeing the world. That's good for the pups but doesn't make for good photographs so we typically just skip it rather than post dark and blurry shots.

So much has changed in the last few days, I'll try to catch you up. Dreamer is transitioning from the hyper-protective dam to a somewhat bored, do-I-really-have-to working mom. This is a normal progression but it always surprises me how quickly the dams begin to leave the pups for longer and longer periods. She is still keeping them spotless and well fed, as evidenced by the pups' constant weight gains.

The pups are up on all four for short spurts, before falling over and rolling across the box. They are barking, scritching and scratching like older dogs, which is so cute that it's hard to bear sometimes. They can control their body temperature much more so are comfortable at 68 degrees away from Dreamer, a big change over their first few days.

Watching puppies this age is a study in contrasts. First, I am struck by how cute they are, all rolly-polly and squished faces. Almost everything they do makes me smile. But when I look deeper, I see "survival of the fittest" played out on every level. The battle to nurse is just that, a battle. It is the essence of sibling rivalry--what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine if I can get it. The pups push, shove, pry and wrench each other off a nipple without a second thought. Each pup wants to be in the middle of the pig pile so its siblings keep it warm without it using too many calories. There is no thought given to the smaller or weaker pups. Lucky for our crew, we are here to ensure everyone gets their share but I can see how the very process makes pups stronger, builds their bodies and brains, and adds that natural stress that enables them to handle stress later in their lives.

We supplement that stress by doing Biosensor activities once each day plus introducing scent items. I'll videotape a session in the next few days but this set of exercises mildly stresses the pups to strengthen their nervous and adrenal system.

We've had fun with the scent items. Tonight is a game bird but till now, we've done other items. Thus far, moss and spruce are tied for top interest items with apple bringing up the rear as totally uninteresting. I'll try to videotape a session so you can see the pups go from an unfocused week-old puppy to a focused scenting machine in a second. It's pretty fabulous to see and hear, since they end their investigation with a telltale snort.

Thanks!

2012-02-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to thank everyone for their kind thoughts for Dreamer. She is feeling much, much better and is resting much more comfortably. The pups are growing fast and quite strong. The largest pups are 1 1/2 pounds, the smallest 1 lb 4 oz. They are spending a lot more time sleeping now so Dreamer gets a little bit of time to herself.

Today's scent was evergreen and they were intrigued. It was toenail night again so 180 toenails later, I am ready to get some shut eye.

Photos and vidoes are loading so check them later or tomorrow.

Gayle

Breeding Challenges

2012-02-02T20:45:00.003-05:00

Each day, we post darling photos and videos of our pregnant dams, the handsome sires and their beautiful pups but behind those images is the reality of breeding. You read a bit about one of those realities when Miss Rainbow died. Tonight, I'm going to tell you more, probably because I'm incredibly tired after ten days with minimal sleep.

Most litters go smoothly, with easy breedings, pregnancies and whelpings. Dreamer's has not followed that pattern and although an outlier, it is our existence at the moment. Last night, I feared that Dreamer had developed a uterine infection. To be totally gross, there was a smell in the nursery that I knew shouldn't be there. Her discharge, something that all dams experience, had changed to a color and consistency that I didn't like. So tonight, I took her in to my fabulous vet, Dr Jim Zgoda at Otterkill Animal Hospital for a check up. Ultrasound confirmed that there was fluid in the uterus that shouldn't be there but it had not become the dreaded pyometra.

However, treatment for mild infections is not easy on the dog but the alternatives are either let it progress or spay Dreamer in the next few days. So, tonight we start prostaglandin treatments. HOpefully Dreamer will come through without problem but I suspect we won't be getting much sleep tonight.

Wish us well tonight and send Dreamer positive thoughts that she won't be too uncomfortable for the next three days.

Let the Games Begin!

2012-02-02T08:55:00.004-05:00

It was a big night, last night! It was 72 hours since the pups were born and that means the beginning of our developmental program. That means, the pups went to school for the first time. Now mind you, they have learning all kinds of things with Dreamer in the whelping box. They've learned how to find mom or each other for warmth, how to root around to find a nipple and how to hang on for dear life while brothers and sisters try to pry you off, how to throw your weight around if you have it or how to be sly if you don't. Yesterday, they learned how to balance precariously on each other or their mom's foot to grab and hang on to a dangling nipple.

But now they are going to learn some additional subjects, such as Biosensor 101 and Scents 101. We started last night with Biosensor, a set of exercises developed by the military for their working dogs. These series of movements slightly stress the pups in ways they don't typically experience in the whelping box. Stress has to be managed carefully in young animals because it can be detrimental or developmental, depending upon the amount, timing and type of experiences. We don't want to throw too much at them too soon so this program goes step by step from now till they go to their new homes, then we give their new owners information on how to keep up the lessons.

I'll post some videos over the next few weeks but tonight, I'm off to do Biosensor on the pups and introduce them to "moss."

We are Growing!

2012-02-01T09:12:00.003-05:00

Andy and I were both anxious last night but everyone came through with flying colors, if a bit sleep deprived. The pups are all consistently gaining weight and everyone is over 1 pound as of this morning. For me, that's a big hurdle for golden retriever pups. I want them to be 1 pound before the end of the first week and then growing steadily after that till they go home at 12-15 (yikes!) pounds.

It's so interesting to see the changes in the pups and Dreamer over the past few days. Initially, we couldn't drag Dreamer away from the pups...literally. It was like having a mule on the end of the leash. Yesterday, she started spending a minute or two outside the box (hence yesterday's sadness) and even came downstairs when dinner was being made. She couldn't concentrate enough to eat it down there but she could leave the pups for a short, three-minute trip.

This morning, she voluntarily went for a trip outside with Una and Corey and again supervised breakfast preparation. She had to eat it upstairs with the pups but was probably away from the box for at least five minutes. However, when she came back to the nursery, she ended up in the laundry basket not the whelping box :-).

She's also just started nursing sitting up. I've found this to be an important developmental opportunity that dam's give their pups as (and so that) the babies get stronger. Many folks force their bitches to lie down to nurse for weeks and I would too if the pups weren't gaining weight. However, if they are, I think the challenge that nursing sitting presents to the pups is fabulous. Without fuss or muss, without expensive or complicated equipment, without extensive scientific studies or publications*, mama dogs help their pups gain in strength, coordination, and problem solving. When you are only 2 inches high and blind, exactly how do you get to that nipple 6 inches off the ground? I'm not going to give away the puppies' secret but they do and in doing so, they learn to be persistent, to fight for what they want, to balance, to use all those wonderful muscles God gave them, and I'm sure much more.

Photos and videos are being uploaded now so check them out.

Gayle

* For those that don't know me well, I'll share that aside from observing dogs, I base many of my dog rearing methods on science so I'm proud that I can also learn from my dogs and not be a total geek :-).

Hard Day

2012-01-31T18:42:00.006-05:00

Breeding dogs has taught me more life lessons than I care to recount but more than any others, it has taught me that death is the intimate partner of life. Despite our best efforts to ignore and avoid it, the period to every life is a passing to another world. Today that lesson was taught to us again.

Miss Rainbow left us this afternoon. It's hard to believe that beautiful little girl, whose life was so brief, is gone but she is. Her exhausted mother who has been as diligent a first-time dam as I've ever seen, had a moment of confusion and lay on her baby girl. I was downstairs greeting the next puppy watcher who was coming to babysit while I had to work. In those few moments, that life lesson was learned again.

Dreamer knew something was wrong and after doing her best to revive her daughter, calmly allowed us to work on her baby. It was as if she knew that this situation was beyond her abilities and put her trust in us. Alas, it was also beyond mine. Despite an extended period of resuscitation attempts, I could not make that beautiful heart beat again. Sometimes love and intention just isn't enough.

It's been an afternoon of tears but I know that the real lesson is in front of me, in ten lively golden souls and their loving mother. We cry, we rail against the seeming unfairness of lives cut short, and we wish there were another way but then we have to move on and turn our eyes to the day. So tonight join us in lighting a candle for Miss Rainbow because tomorrow we will again return to celebrating life and the joy these puppies will bring to ours.

What a Day!

2012-01-30T22:40:00.007-05:00

Dreamer started her second day as a mom with a spa treatment to get her cleaned up after the whelping. We normally would have done it yesterday but she is so intense about being with her pups, I figured it could wait a day. There has been a big change in the pups over the last day, as they put on weight and bulk. They are more comfortable at normal household temperatures, rather than the sauna that they needed for the first 24 hours. All of us are grateful for this maturing, but especially Dreamer who was very hot the first 36 hours.

All of us headed to Otterkill Animal Hospital this afternoon so Dr Jim Zgoda could check out the crew. Dreamer had experienced some unusual things just before the pups' birth so I wanted her to be seen before too long. Aside from a little touch of early mastitis, all is well. The pups were healthy and strong. We'll tackle the mastitis with hot packs, puppies and cabbage leaves before resorting to antibiotics.

In the meantime, we are taking pleasure in just watching the pups. It's hard to get enough of them. Although often described as "helpless," newborn puppies really are very capable but in only a few limited ways. They can seek out heat and milk with great accuracy, they can climb over hill and dale or at least brothers and sisters to get to mom, and they can let it be known loudly and clearly when they are unhappy. They also mew when they are content, one of the happiest sounds I know.

Goodnight all, I have puppies to watch! You can check out photos and videos from the day at Gaylan's Webshots page. Enjoy!

Welcome, High Litter!

2012-01-29T13:18:00.004-05:00

Dreamer's first litter, Gaylan's "High" litter, arrived last night smoothly and sweetly. Dreamer was due yesterday, January 28 and she was a good girl, delivering right on time. Her water broke around 5:25 PM and soon after 7, the pups started arriving. We ended up with seven girls and four boys, all delivered naturally by 11 PM. They are an active bunch so it took a little while to get the temperature warm enough for them and not too warm for Dreamer but as you can see by the video, they are now content and quiet. We LOVE quiet puppies because it means that they are physically comfortable. Off to tackle the laundry before it becomes a landslide, as well as clean Dreamer up after her exciting evening.

We are very proud to introduce, in order of appearance:
Mr Blue, born at 7:13 PM, weighing in at 12 1/4 oz
Miss Purple, born at 7:27 PM, weighing in at 14 1/4 oz
Miss Red, born at 7:56 PM, weighing in at 12 3/4 oz
Miss Rust, born at 8:15 PM, weighing in at 12 oz
Mr Brown, born at 8:46 PM, weighing in at 14 oz
Miss Yellow, born at 8:56 PM, weighing in at 11 1/4 oz
Miss Rainbow, born at 9:40 PM, weighing in at 11 3/4 oz
Miss Black, born at 9:59 PM, weighing in at 13 oz
Miss Pink, born at 10:16 PM, weighing in at 12 1/4 oz
Mr Green, born at 10:38 PM, weighing in at 11 1/4 oz
Mr Royal Blue, born at 11:01, weighing in at 12 1/2 oz

Reversing the Trend: Proposing The Rule of 6s

2010-04-23T15:49:00.007-05:00

Many golden retriever breeders raise their litters using Pat Hasting’s Rule of 7s, a set of guidelines that encourage breeders to stimulate puppies during their first seven weeks. For example, the Rule of 7 has breeders introducing puppies to seven different footings, objects, environments, people, feeding containers, etc. For years now, the Rule of 7s has provided breeders an easy mechanism with which to think about puppy socialization.

Following in Ms Hasting’s footsteps, we would like to propose the Rule of 6s, a set of breeding guidelines for golden retrievers. These guidelines do not focus on puppy rearing but instead on increasing the lifespan of the puppies we produce. It is commonly accepted that golden retrievers are living shorter lives, down to 10 ½ years for dogs according to the 1998-99 Golden Retriever Health Study sponsored by the Golden Retriever Club of America. We think it’s time to reverse this trend! There is no reason that goldens shouldn't live 12-13 years.

Why goldens are living shorter lives is unknown but there are three common breeding decisions that likely contribute to the problem: inbreeding, ignoring longevity as a trait, and overuse of popular sires.

1) Inbreeding. For the purposes of this blog, "in-breeding" refers to the breeding of dogs related to each other and therefore includes line-breeding. Although inbreeding has long been the norm in dog breeding, recent research indicates that inbreeding also reduces longevity, along with contributing to other health problems. As with most purebred dog breeders, golden retriever breeders often use inbreeding in order to maintain or improve sought after physical or performance traits. However, the price of these improvements is a statistically significant decrease in longevity.

2) Ignoring Longevity. Longevity is a trait similar to the many other traits that dog breeders pursue in their dogs. In fact, reputable breeding is all about seeking good traits while minimizing or avoiding bad ones. Some traits are simple to select for—they are visible in the dogs we are breeding, they are controlled by a single gene, and their distribution among puppies can be easily predicted. However, other traits, such as longevity, are more complex. In fact, longevity may be one of the most complex traits: we cannot know how long an animal will live when we breed it (unless we are using frozen semen from a deceased sire), longevity likely consists of interactions between many genes, and at this stage we know little about how longevity is inherited.

However, just because longevity is difficult to breed for does not excuse us for overlooking it. In fact, we think it is one of the most important issues that we should tackle as reputable breeders. Thus, longevity must be included in the list of traits we use to select breeding stock and combinations.

3) Overuse of Popular Sires. Dr Jerry Bell highlights the issues with the popular-sire syndrome, which occurs when a stud is used extensively for breeding, spreading his genes quickly throughout the gene pool. Dr Bell says "there are two problems caused by the popular-sire syndrome. One is that any detrimental genes which the sire carries will significantly increase in frequency - possibly establishing new breed-related genetic disorders. Second, as there are only a certain number of bitches bred each year, overuse of a popular sire excludes the use of other quality males, thus narrowing the diversity of the gene pool."

A European study found that the golden retriever has one of the biggest problems with Popular Sire Syndrome, with only 5% of golden males being used for breeding. This means that the genetic material of 95% of male goldens is lost to the breed's future. Who knows what those genes contain but it is likely that at least some of them are important to the breed's future health.

So, how do we turn this situation around in hopes of increasing the lifespan of the average golden retriever? We can start by using four simple breeding guidelines to reduce inbreeding, select for a reasonable lifespan and increase the breed’s gene pool. These breeding decisions will improve the odds that a puppy from these breedings will live past 12 years.

Breed litters:

1) With 10- and 12-generation coefficients of inbreeding (COIs) of 6.25% or less.
2) With at least one parent, typically a sire, that is at least 6 years old.
3) Whose grandparents all lived longer than 6 years.

And, for breeders:

4) At least some of the time, use sires that have been bred fewer than 6 times.

So what can you do to help if you think these proposals are a good idea? If you are a buyer, you can ask breeders if their breeding or puppies meet at least the first three, if not all, of these guidelines. You can also confirm the information yourself at www.k9data.com. There are more details below.

If you are a breeder, you can commit to following these guidelines in most if not all of your breedings.

Finally, you can help spread the word about this effort to reverse the trend by forwarding this page to other golden retriever lovers. We can take action to improve the longevity of our beloved dogs but we need to act now. Will you help?

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Buyers can determine if a breeding meets these criteria by asking the breeder to post their breedings on k9data.com. Dates of birth for the sire and dam can be found on their individual pages. COIs are found under the "View Genetic Information" link at the bottom of the page.

The Times They Are A'Changin'

2010-03-21T07:47:00.009-05:00

I was reading the AKC Gazette this morning and had a strong reaction to the Silky Terrier column. In fact, so strong a reaction that I decided to write this blog. The column's author, Vicki Bratton was writing "Questions About Breeding" and in this short piece captured many of the old-time beliefs about dog breeding that I believe have been the demise of purebred dogs. If my breed, golden retrievers, are any indication, purebred dogs face declining lifespan, increasing numbers of inherited diseases and more extreme characteristics that make some breed members difficult to maintain over a lifetime.

I do not know Ms Bratton and do not mean to single her out since she is simply identifying three key values that have been passed on by generations of breeders and national organizations like the AKC. However, I would posit that these values, established in the late 1800s and early 1900s, were as experimental as the concept of "closed registries" and "purebred dogs." They have been practiced in only a few other species and then not widely. The state of today's purebred dogs and these other species is revealing their fatal flaws.

First, she says "I believe that few dogs deserve to be bred--only the best, who possess traits that would benefit the breed, should be used for breeding." At first glance (and for me early in my breeding career), this seems to make perfect sense. Wouldn't we only want to breed the best? What could be wrong with this?

If you look at a singular breeding, this comment seems sensible but as you look at an entire population, like a dog breed, this belief causes a relenting decrease in genetic variety. This has also been called the Popular Sire Phenomenon and it is one that golden retrievers suffer from. Studies have found that goldens have the lowest number of males that are bred, only five percent. This approach consolidates a few dogs' bad genes into the breed and reduces the out-crossing opportunities for future generations.

If we had perfect genetic information and future knowledge for each dog, perhaps this wouldn't be such a dangerous practice, because we could see the deleterious genes that each dog carries, even the top winners, and where the breed would trend in the future. But at the present state of dog genetics and crystal balls, we do not have this information. As a result, as we reduce genetic variety, we consolidate the Popular Sires' bad genes, along with the good genes that we think we want and are selecting on. Typically, we do not see these problems until many generations later, at which time it may be too late if a Popular Sire has been spread throughout the gene pool. In goldens, the spread of diseases such as pigmentary uveitis and cricopharyngeal dysfunction (swallowing disorder) are likely the result of over-selection on popular sires.

And, of course, Ms Bratton's guidance assumes that breeders can define "the best." Is it defined in the conformation ring where only a dog's appearance is measured--no temperament, health, intelligence or performance assessment? Or is it in the performance field, where the breed's purpose is assessed? But again, this does not take into account any other characteristics, in particular temperament or health. It is human nature or at least American nature to compete so our historical breeding assessments have become competitions that have moved from evaluating the norm to the extreme. Good enough is not. As a result, we have breed "splits," where the dogs competing in conformation look and act completely differently than those competing in field trials. It takes an educated eye to know they are animals of the same breed. So, how does this help us select the best?

Or do we depend upon today's breeders to determine the best for the future? For me, this places far too much responsibility on people who live in a society has moved further and further from animal husbandry and breeding. No longer do dog people come from horse people/breeders, farmers or livestock producers. Today, people decide they like the way a breed looks, get involved and with little education become "breeders." The dog community they are involved in--conformation, performance or pet--describe the ideal and off they go to produce dogs that win. It's difficult for them to take a step back to get a broader or even historical perspective.

In Germany, dog breeds have breeding wardens who evaluate all breeding stock and deem which are appropriate to breed. Although an imperfect system, at least this method uses educated, experienced and responsible dog men and women to make critical breeding decisions. Alas, Americans have never tolerated this level of national control and except for a few breeds, such as the Shiloh shepherd, do not embrace such control.

In horses, regional, national and international breeding federations have established breeding standards and inspection programs to help breeders select their breeding stock. Longstanding, experienced and respected evaluators compare breeding stock against an established standard. Even in America, this process is accepted in horses though not in dogs, where breeding is left up to individual breeders regardless of their knowledge or experience.

Ms Bratton then went on to say "I believe that neutering is warranted if a dog does not have something the breed truly needs." Our society's focus on neutering dogs borders on obsession. Recent research is clearly showing that neutering is not the neutral action that we thought; it can cause numerous health issues that are more common and often as fatal as the two cancers (testicular and breast) that are limited by castration. (Additional research here.) Equally important, in my opinion, is that neutering removes that dog's genes from the gene pool and thus the future. Forever. (Unless the dog's semen has been collected and frozen. Alas no such option exists for bitches at the moment.)

Often the decision to neuter is made early in a dog's lifetime, sometimes at 8 weeks, before we know either what that dog will become OR "what the breed really needs." As I tell my buyers, just because a dog is intact does not mean he or she must be bred, it only means that he/she could be bred. It means that dog's genes could be added to the breed in the future, if only to offer diversity.

I am a student of golden retriever pedigrees so I spend hours going through old pedigrees and our wonderful online database (thank you, Amy!). Since I'm in a breed that is facing a declining lifespan and skyrocketing cancer rates, longevity is a trait that I look for. Time and time again, I find a wonderful pedigree filled with long-lived, rugged dogs that appear to be good hunting dogs. However, my excitement is short lived as I find that none of those dogs were bred and their genes have been lost to the breed forever. If this happened once or twice, I would be fine with it but in my breed, it has happened hundreds and hundreds of times as our gene pool shrinks more and more. It saddens me knowing how much we could use those genes today, even if the breeders of yesterday didn't realize it.

Finally, Ms Bratton's says "If each generation your produce is not better than the generation before, then you need to reevaluate your breeding program." Again, at first glance this seems like words to live by, doesn't it? Aren't we supposed to be making progress? We certainly can't embrace sliding backwards, can we?

Let's think further about this though. From my perspective, this belief is one of the causes of the extremes seen in my breed and there are breeds, such as bulldogs and bull terriers, that have far surpassed us in the extreme department. If your breed is in good shape and your job is to improve on it if you are to be a "good" breeder, then most likely you will pick one small but breed-defining characteristic and focus in on it. As a result, goldens today have more hair than any hunter, let alone a pet owner, wants. And you can purchase goldens in very specific and rare hues, such as British creme. Show ring Labradors have more of an otter tail than any hunting dog has ever needed.

But these are relatively benign examples. There are far more dangerous results from a single-minded obsession on a single trait. Bulldogs head size and bizarre body type has created an animal that can't breed or whelp naturally. The Shar-pei's wrinkles result in entropion and skin infections. Pekingese face serious breathing problems due to their flattened face. And the list goes on and on.

There is a touch of arrogance in this thinking as well. Who are we to say that the original golden retriever is not the ideal? Who are we to say we can improve on that animal? Well, if you compare the first goldens to today's conformation ring, you can see that someone thought they could make significant "improvement" since there is little resemblance between the breed's founders and today's champions.

Don't believe me? Here are two photos from Retrieverman, a great blog BTW. The first is CH Noranby Campfire, the first golden retriever conformation champion and the second is a typical example of today's champion golden. Same breed? An improved breed? If your response is "Yes" because the second dog is "prettier," ask yourself which dog looks like a working animal that you would like to hunt regularly in Scotland, the home of the golden?

I also wonder when it is in our breeding careers that we are prepared to produce better. Isn't it well into our careers that we know enough, have a broad enough perspective and are intellectually prepared to first define better and make breeding decisions that might get us there? So, what are we to do early in our careers? How do we develop experience before we have experience?

I would submit that the highest goal a breeder can aspire to is to reproduce and maintain a dog that represents a breed's earliest dogs, be they native dogs for regional breeds or the creators' choices for more clearly man-made breeds. The most obvious appropriate adjustment is to align dogs for the breed's work. Working breed variations based on terrain or venue may be appropriate but also may eventually result in the formation of a new breed.

There are a small number of breeders and geneticists who are going against the tide and questioning these old breeders' tales but if the AKC continues to present these fallacies as the way to success, I fear for the future of purebred dogs. Purebred dogs are at a critical point. If we do not question what we have done in the past, if we do not use the vast advancements in genetics to guide our selection decisions and if we cannot be honest about each breed's appropriate use, future generations of breeders and dog owners will place well-deserved blame on our shoulders.

Peggy Sue is Now Tessa!

2010-01-09T09:31:00.006-05:00

I am still getting calls and emails about Peggy Sue so I wanted to give you an update. Peggy Sue left earlier this week to join the family of our good friends, Marit and Lars Kulleseid. Marit and Lars already have one of our dogs, Loki, from the Baseball litter. Marit had been looking for another buddy for nearly two years but we hadn't found the right match.

Although I didn't remember it, Marit claims she told me she'd take Peggy Sue when the pups were only a few days old. She reminded me of that a few weeks ago after my vet had approved Peggy Sue's placement, positing that she would not need surgery on the bad leg. So, the whole family came over in stages to meet Peggy. Both Lars and Loki were taken with her and she was happy to meet them.

Peggy is now Tessa, Gaylan's Steel Magnolia. She lives in the next town over so I get to see her often. She has her own lake to swim in and mountains, fields and more to play in. I often train my dogs for field work on Marit and Lars's property so perhaps I'll see if Tessa wants to join in.

Marit took Tessa to the vet's yesterday. She also uses Jim Zgoda at Otterkill Animal Hospital, a great vet for anyone in the Hudson Valley who might be looking! She called me afterwards to say she felt like she was with a rock star. The entire clinic welcomed Tessa back as if she had won Best in Show at Westminster. Jim pronounced her healthy and sound, reassuring Marit that Tessa will be able to hike, swim, play and do everything that four-legged dogs do. Guess that fourth leg is just for insurance :-).

So the all of the Southerners are in their new homes and Andy and I can settle down for a long winter's nap. You will be able to see the pups with their new families on their webpage, once I get it updated. After that, you'll need to get out to agility trials, hunt tests or obedience trials from Florida to California to New York to keep up with these youngsters.

2009 was unusually busy for us since we sent four litters home during the year--the two-puppy Jimmy Buffet litter in January, the Gamebirds in June, the 4th of July litter in September and, as you know, the Southerners during the last week of the year. We've never done that much breeding before and probably won't ever again but it sure was a fun year to look back on.

Our next litter isn't due until July 2010 so I don't know how much I'll be posting on the blog. I hope you have enjoyed getting to know our puppies and how we raise them. I hope to blog a little about my thoughts on dogs and breeding but I can't promise anything so take care and all the best in 2010.

P.S. There are a few new photos and a video posted under Week 9.

Heading Home!

2009-12-30T14:57:00.004-05:00

The house is growing quiet and is already much cleaner :-). I always revel in this week: It's always nice when our lives return to normal but I love even more when the new owners share their joy and excitement over their new pup's first week home. I love the calls, the stories, the questions. I love to hear about the flights home (so far, all the pups have been good), the first night, the first night the pup sleeps through the night :-), new adventures, new training. All of it.

Early yesterday morning, Mr Blue headed to Manitoba. An hour or so later, Miss Raspberry flew off to Louisiana. An hour after that, Lauran (and Katie) came to pick up Skye before the snow arrives. Mr Rust then left this morning. Peggy Sue now has a Peggy-Sue-sized x-pen, with her own bed, potty area and toys. We're kicking into house-breaking with her, too. She's starting on her training--little things like learning to sit for her meals, wait to come out the gate, walking nicely on leash and more. Of course, there is an equal amount of playing, cuddling, visiting.

It's hard to believe that our part is done with the pups. What fun we had with them. Hopefully, we prepared them well for their lives and we will all enjoy them for the rest of their lives. Even if the time feels like it was short, my body is telling me that I've earned a rest so I'm off to do so.

I hope you've enjoyed following the Southerners. You'll be able to see them on the Gaylan's website soon. I'll post more about Peggy Sue as things develop.

Gayle

And then there were three

2009-12-29T08:09:00.002-05:00

Seven of the pups have headed off to their new homes. Yesterday, Miss Green headed to Florida, Miss Lilac to NJ and Mr Red to CT. Mr Blue already flew out this AM for Manitoba. Miss Raspberry leaves in a few hours for Louisiana. At that point, we'll be down to Mr Rust and Peggy Sue. Thank goodness because it is turning very cold. It's much easier to exercise two pups in the cold than ten!

We've been messing around with the videos. I think you'll get a chuckle out of our night videos. We were making the next Blair Witch Project :-). We've also posted more walk videos. And of course, the going-home photos are up, too.

I'm off to pack some orders and get some work done before Miss Raspberry heads out.

Gayle

Going Home

2009-12-27T12:52:00.004-05:00

The pups are heading out but we are still pretty busy here. Miss Black flew out to California yesterday and, from what we've heard, the flight was uneventful (although the car ride to the airport was a bit noisy :-}). We had lots more visitors yesterday as new owners arrived in NY and prospective owners wanted to meet some of our pups before committing to a puppy.

In between visitors, Mom and Rosie put together the Puppy Books and bags. This is a big job around here since our pups get so many gifts from Gaylan and Topmast owners and my Puppy Book has grown into a 3-inch binder. Toys, treats, supplments and more fill the bag and the binder has everything I can think of to get buyers through their pup's first year.

There are lots of videos up from our morning walk. It was 50 degrees this morning so the pups and I headed out for a short walk. During it, Skye started playing with the pups and I got it on video. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do; they are very special. We also learned about stairs so enjoy them.

Miss Pink left for Virginia while Liz MacArthur's bulldog babies came to visit. There are some short clips of our pups figuring out what the heck a bulldog is and then playing with her. Liz's dogs have fabulous temperaments so it's great for our pups to learn about other breeds.

God speed to our babies who have left! We are enjoying the diminishing work with the diminishing numbers and are happy to hear about those that have left.

Gayle

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:24:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great day! New photos and video are up! Pups start goinig home tomorrow so we'll be very busy and may not have time to post.

Gayle

Waiting is the worst, I know!

2009-12-23T10:39:00.007-05:00

It's the morning after the temperament test and I know there are nine folks out there dying to hear the results. Alas, I'm going to make you wait a little bit longer since eye exams are this afternoon. That will be the last piece of information we need to start deciding which pups go where.

However, I'll share with you some results from yesterday. First, the pups across the board did great on the temperament test. They were confident, stable babies who actually returned with retrieve objects :-O! That is unusual for Gaylan's pups. I always say that we can teach a dog to come back much easier than you can teach a dog to love to go out. We have come to call the more typical Gaylan's puppy, the one that races out, grabs the item and races away, as a triever rather than a retreiver :-). Well, this crew was fabulous--out and back, out and back. I got tired of writing that after a while :-).

I do want to publicly thank my helpers for the test. Marcy Burke was our tester, despite a sore back. As always, she was fabulous! Lise Pratt was the videographer, making sure everything was captured on video. Buyers will receive a copy of the video with their Pat McKinney was wonderful hauling puppies and equipment. Pat Swallows made sure Marcy had everything she needed at the right moment. Stephanie Schmitter, her friend, Marie, and Brass's owner, Jack Belicka were also here. I couldn't have made it through the day without everyone. Thank you!!!

My mom has just arrived so I have to cut this short. More tomorrow.

Gayle

No Puppy Walk But We Still Had Fun

2009-12-19T14:24:00.005-05:00

We were very disappointed to have to cancel the Puppy Walk but it was the best decision. You probably know about the major snowstorm that is hitting the East Coast. Many of the Puppy Walk participants were coming from NJ, which is getting snow this morning. The temperature hasn't gone above 23 degrees so it is cold! We've held Puppy Walks in colder weather but not during snowstorms.

Don't worry, the pups have had a good day regardless. I've posted lots of video and photos from today. They've played for hours, had visitors, gone for a walk and a few even went swimming. They had turkey (blech!), ostrich (yum) and elk (yum, YUM) to eat. They are being entertained by all of our sound CDs. And both Corey and Dreamer have played for hours with them.

I'm exhausted but in addition to the above (except for the meals :-P), I've had the opportunity to do laundry, clean the pen, clean the dog yard, feed and water the pigeons so they'll be okay if we can't get to them tomorrow and clean the house. People always ask how I can let the pups leave at 8-9 weeks. Heck, I need a vacation at that point :-).

The pups' scrapbooks arrived today, along with other goodies from Pat Swallows. The Southern litter owners are going to love these books. They are just beautiful. Now for me to find all the photos to put into them. Mom and Rosie are coming for Christmas so I'll have some extra hands :-).

Enjoy the videos. Oh, there are some new ones on Week 6. Turn your sound down--one gives you a good idea of how loud the pups are in the morning.

Finally, we send our congratulations to Mike and Mary Ducross and the first Canadian Triple Champion golden retriever, Push. Push is granddaddy to this litter and finished his Canadian UD this morning. Very exciting!

Gayle

So much to tell, so little time

2009-12-15T15:48:00.004-05:00

We've had an exciting time since Friday. The pups have quite the social calendar. Saturday was visitor day. After Amanda and I took 6-week stacked shots (posted to the right), the guests started arriving. From 10 AM till 8:30 PM, the house was non-stop. Stephanie and Gail came from NJ. Stephanie is taking one of the girls so this was her first time to meet them. I don't know if she and Gail planned to stay till after 1 but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Marcy and Lise rolled in around 11, following shortly by Maggie, Flaire and Scorch. Marcy is testing the litter so she can only play with Peggy but the two of them had lots of schmoozing time.

We had a few hours of playing and cuddling (and cleaning up) before Deb and Pat arrived with Zahra and Bryce. We all went out and played with birds for a while and let the pups rest. The young dogs did great on the birds so it was a good afternoon. Then back in for more puppy snuggles and dinner.

Most of the dogs didn't come in but the pups have spent time with Cruise this week. Cruise is a 5-month old from our last litter and he's been very good with the babies. Flaire also met the pups and was intrigued.

Sunday was hunting day for the big dogs so Una, Dreamer, Andy and I headed south with Maggie, Scorch and Flaire to pick up pheasants with George and Emma. (I hope you are keeping all these people and dogs straight since there is a test at the end!) We had a fabulous morning of hunting and all the dogs did well. Una and Emma are like twin working machines out in the field. I could watch the two of them work together all day.

Sunday was the first that either Scorch or Dreamer had hunted but it was a pleasure watching them figure it out. Given how little Dreamer has worked this year, I was thrilled at her quartering, marking and retrieving to hand. What a good girl! Scorch also did a very nice job, once he stopped lusting after his mother. Boys! He then really focused on finding the birds, putting them up and bringing them back. We quit after a few hours in the rain but were still smiling! It took 4 hours to drive the normally 1 1/2 hours back home and it was worth every minute. Thank you, George for another wonderful day!

Today the pups got not one but two walks. It was finally above freezing so Amanda got them out this morning and I took them out this afternoon. I actually got five of them all the way to and down the path aways which is pretty good for their first real walk. (For those who haven't been here before, that's about 250 yards from the house, across parking lots, lawn, past chickens, trucks and wood piles, which apparently are lots of fun.) Peggy Sue was up with me on the trail but I did have to carry her part of the way home.

Then we introduced the pups to dead pigeons. They were all over that bird. Miss Pink was crazed and though she was the smallest, she was able to get it away from the other pups. Mr Red, Bobbie Jean, Miss Green, Mr Blue and more were in the mix. They are now tired and sleepy puppies after an exciting afternoon.

Photos and video will be up later.

Gayle

The finished products...photos not puppies!

2009-12-11T17:30:00.004-05:00

I thought everyone would enjoy seeing the finished portraits of the pups and Skye. Yes, we really did get all (or almost all) the pups in the photo at one time. No, we didn't have to photoshop them in. Yes, we were really tired by the end. No, it didn't take all day, just a few hours. Yes, Skye and the pups were amazing!

The hunting set was particularly fun because I put Flyer's portrait in the photo (that's her on the left behind the pups). Flyer is the pups' great-great granddam so it was fun to have her with them. You can see the pups peeking out around the boots--they did that themselves. We do however, only have nine pups in that photo but we never could figure out who was missing so we went with it. By the time we realized it, the pups were too tired to pose again.

Copies of both portraits, framed and unframed, are available for purchase. You can do so before you come to get your pup or you can check them out while they are here to get your baby. The photographer is Barry Rosen (www.barryrosen.com), another golden person, and he does great work. He also has the patience of a saint, as you can imagine.

Off to feed the crew! We are going through nearly 20 pounds of food a day at the moment so there is a lot of thawing, preparing and feeding happening in this house.

Enjoy!

Gayle

Puppy Portraits

2009-12-09T15:43:00.002-05:00

I have always wanted to get formal portraits done of my pups but most of the time, I just can't get it organized. I think 5 weeks is the perfect time for photos like this because the pups look pretty mature but are relatively controllable. I say relatively because it really is chaos trying to get 10 puppies to sit still but somehow it happens. Well, it happens if you try it when they are 5 weeks. By 6 or 7 weeks, they are just too energetic and independent.

My big work project finished up yesterday afternoon so I decided to schedule a photo shoot for today. Barry Rosen, a friend and excellent photographer from my town, Amanda and I prepared ourselves. I wanted to do two themes: one hunting and one Christmas. I hoped to get Skye in but that would require the pups to be really full so they didn't spend all their time trying to nurse.

You will see the formal results of our session soon but in the meantime you can enjoy some photos and video that I took during the pauses. The people were all exhausted afterwards and, come to think of it, so were the pups.

I've also posted lots of video from this week.

Enjoy!

Gayle

FAQs

2009-12-05T21:56:00.004-05:00

I've been getting lots of questions lately so I thought I'd take a moment and answer some of them.

How much do the pups weigh now?
The pups range from Miss Green at 4# 12 oz to Miss Lilac (Bobbi), who is 5# 15 oz. Most pups are over 5# now. All are eating well and growing fast.

What are the pups eating?
Skye was having trouble keeping up with the nursing demands so I started feeding the pups this week. Since we begin feeding when the pups have teeth, we transition pups directly to Bravo, ground raw meat/bone/organs and veggies. We add a little Dr Harvey's Canine Health, which is a mix of grains, as well as a multi-vitamin supplement, probiotic and salmon oil. The pups dove in their first meal and haven't looked back. They still nurse a number of times each day, too.

So far, the pups have eaten chicken, turkey, lamb, beef and pork. They liked them all but beef is the favorite!

What have the pups learned so far?
At this point, our primary focus has been housebreaking. This is a time when pups can either grasp housebreaking or miss it completely. Early in the week, the pups were struggling to "hit the spot." I had the smaller pans in the pen for ease of entrance (the lip isn't as high on them as it is on the box) but they are slippery and require better aim and balance. We had started feeding solid food, which does increase pooping, so there were lots of missing.

When I didn't see an improvement in a few days, we made some changes. The smaller pans were replaced with the larger box so that half the pen area was now potty. A few challenging days and then yesterday, it all came together. The pups are now hitting the spot 90% of the time. Whew! That was a good thing!

What else have the pups learned?
Although housebreaking is important, it is not the only thing the pups are learning. We are teaching them to come to the come-in whistle and "here." We signal meals with one of the other of these "commands" and the pups are really tuned in to them now. They hear those sounds and start moving fast!

We also use mealtimes to introduce new places and eating utensils. The pups have eaten in three different rooms with three different kinds of dishes (metal, plastic and paper). As the pups get more mobile, we'll feed them in as many areas of the house as we can move them.

We are also doing physical and mental stimulation with sounds, scents, textures and anything else we can think of. The pen has different floorings, toys of all shapes and textures, hanging toys and mobiles and things that make sounds. All of this is changed twice a day.

As of tomorrow, we start the sound introduction. We have tapes of all kinds of sounds, including gunshots. We start playing them every day at low volume at 5 weeks. As the pups age, we play them louder and in different locations.

Of course, the pups are learning all about people and dogs. They've met people of all ages, shapes and sizes. They play regularly with their mom, Corey, Dreamer and Una. Tonight, they even got to meet a cairn terrier puppy.

We've got lots more to do with them but I'll tell you more about that in future blogs.

Are the pups going outside?
We've had one trip outside thus far but tonight its 30 degrees and snowing so it will be a week or two before they go back out. Even at 60 degrees, the pups got chilled within 20 minutes. I'm sure we'll have more nice days and, even if we don't, the pups will be able to handle the cold within a week or two. Then we'll hit the woods!

When will I know which pup goes where?
I know it's hard to wait to find out which pup goes home with who but we wait till the temperament test is over and all the health checks are completed before we figure out which pup matches well with new homes? The temperament test isn't till December 22 and the health checks are around the same time so looks like we might have some great Christmas presents for our patiently waiting owners.

Just to reassure everyone, so far the pups look terrific! They are developing normally, both physically and mentally. So far, so good!

How are Miss Lilack (Bobbi Jean) and Miss Rainbow (Peggy Sue) doing?
Bobbi Jean is the pup whose tail had to be docked at two days of age due to damage it sustained before she was born. Bobbi is a terrific pup who shows no indication that she misses her tail. She is active and curious.

Peggy Sue is our pup with only three normal legs. She has one front leg that is stunted. She took a little longer to learn to walk but she is doing very well now. She loves to carry toys in her mouth, plays with her brothers and sisters and climbs on everything.

Peggy is incredibly sweet and very pretty. We are thrilled she is doing so well and expect she will continue to develop well. She'll be a 3-legged dog but a very happy one.

Well, that's all. There are videos and photos posted under Week 5.

Gayle

The great outdoors!

2009-12-03T20:43:00.002-05:00

Sixty degrees in December and we were out the door as soon as possible this morning. The pups did great on their first outing. At 5 1/2 weeks, the pups are just barely following. From what we can tell, following triggers or starts at around 6 weeks. So, the pups followed for 4-5 feet, then stopped. Once they are 6 feet away, they can't see very well. People look like...trees, vans, woodpiles, other dogs, and more.

But despite the fits and starts, we ahd a great time outside with them today. They went down along the tennis court to the trail head before getting too cold to continue. The slept for a few hours after getting home :-). Hopefully, we'll get them out again soon.

Photos and videos are up!

Gayle

Quick Update

2009-12-02T21:53:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note. Photos and videos are up. Pups are now running around the dining room and kitchen. Hopefully, they can go out in the next few days, depending upon weather. They are eating well and really interacting now. Come visit!!!

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late!

2009-11-29T22:08:00.004-05:00

I just posted the photos and videos from the last few days. I'm sorry I haven't been on the blog but I've been very busy with work and puppies. No time for anything else these days. I've grabbed pictures and videos when I can so you can at least visit in cyberspace. I promise I'll have more time after Wednesday...I promise.

Let's see, what has happened with the pups? They are enjoing their new pen and all the fun toys and stuff to do. They are getting started on housebreaking, using the pans about 60% of the time. They come out to play in the kitchen a couple of times a day where they explore and play with the big dogs.

I started feeding them solid food today since they had stopped gaining weight and Skye was less interested in nursing than I'd like. So, they had raw ground beef and beef heart for lunch. They thought that was pretty amazing and licked the bowls clean.

Dinner was Bravo beef blend with supplements and grain. Peas didn't go over well wiht this crew but they ate around them :-). They have started gaining weight again so all is well.

What else? Well, Jack and Sue Belicka found out that Brass is prcd-PRA clear so that means the pups are clear, since we already knew Skye was. That's a nice thing for me because it means I don't have to put in microchips and draw blood next week. I know it has to be done sometimes but they are so little, that I'd much rather wait till they are older before sticking them.

Hopefully, the weather will be warm enough this week to get the pups outside. No doubt they will love that! Photos and video will be posted!

OK, time to go back to work. Enjoy the photos and videos.

Gayle

New Digs

2009-11-25T22:39:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty beat so this won't be long but there are lots of new photos and videos up on the site. The pups moved downstairs to the puppy pen yesterday. Well, it's a small version of the pen until they get their sea legs and figure out the potty area. As they grow, we'll expand the room they have and the stuff they get to do it in. Skye can get in and out during the day but spends her nights with the pups. Everyone seems quite content.

Enjoy!

Gayle

Catching Up

2009-11-23T15:46:00.006-05:00

We made it through the weekend! This was the second Canine Reproduction Workshop that I've hosted for Dr Mary Stankovicz and Debbie Leach. We had 20+ dog breeders here over the weekend, complete with stud dogs and brood bitches. It was wonderful to have Gaylan's family members, Pam Martin and Jill Brown, down from Canada, as well as Newfie, curly-coated retriever, Rhodesian ridgeback, English cocker and many golden retriever breeders with us. We learned a lot about how to be more successful breeding our dogs.

Although the weekend was about puppies, the actual Southern Pups didn't feature prominantly. Not to worry, they were by no means overlooked. Througout the day, Amanda kept tabs on Skye and the babies. Then, each evening, after a long day teaching, working and learning, a bunch of us gathered with the pups and bottles of wine. The pups got cuddled, tickled, kissed, and hugged by many, many "aunts" (not many guys come to these workshops). Everybody had their favorite so the pups each got lots of one-on-one time with someone. It was a great way to end each day.

Tomorrow is a big day for the babies because they are moving downstairs. They have become quite active and coordinated so we are going to move them into the center of the house where they will get lots of stimulation and Skye will be in the center of the action, her favorite place to be. This will begin the pups housebreaking, since we will set up a large litter area in the puppy pen. They will also get introduced to things to climb on, crawl into and sleep under. It's an exciting time for them. Amanda and I will definitely take some photos and videos tomorrow.

The ones who felt the most ignored were Corey, Una and Dreamer. Dreamer finally got to feeling better as of yesterday. I'm assuming it was a spider that bit her and it got her good. The swelling of her ear flaps finally resided last night and she ate her first regular-sized meal this morning. Dreamer and Una decided to have some fun with Amanda this afternoon by *presto-chango* turning into chocolate Labs.

BTW, for those who were wondering, Gaylan is back from Tennessee. She goes to see Dr Jim on Friday for an evaluation and then we'll decide where she is going. Marcy and Jim were wonderful to go pick her up from Karen Langer. Hopefully, she'll be cured quickly and will head off to learn how to hunt.

Dog Days

2009-11-19T22:26:00.004-05:00

There are some days that I wish that pups were the only exciting thing in my life but that isn't often the case. Not to worry, the pups are doing well. They see (sort of) and hear (even less sort of) and walk. They interact with toys, kind of, and love their mom and the other dogs. They play with each other...some and sleep...a lot.

So the pups are the high point these days. Work has been pretty rough and then last night, I walked over to get some dinner to find Dreamer looking like a Shar Pei. Her head was swollen twice its normal size, her eyes were almost swollen shut, her lips and ears were about an inch think. Darn! I had to work last night so I crammed her full of Benadryl and prednisone and then took her to the office with me in case she ran into problems. Thankfully, the night passed easily and by this morning, her head was nearly back to normal.

Unfortunately, midafternoon she took a turn for the worse, vomiting and starting to swell again. I decided to take her to Dr Jim so we wouldn't have a crisis this weekend. A little Cerenia and Benadryl and she looks like she is on the mend.

In the meantime, Marcy and Jim Burke are in Tennessee picking up Gaylan for me. We donated Gaylan as a breeder to Retrieving Independence, a new service dog organization. Unfortunately, after two snake bites, it appears that Gaylan has demodectic mange so she is on her way home. This is only our second case ever of demodex but it happens. Since I was at Dr Jim's this afternoon, I could pick up medication for her so it looks like we can get her treated in six weeks.

I was excited to learn that Promeris has been approved as a treatment for demodex it makes it much easier on dog and owner than daily Ivomec. She'll be home on Sunday and will get started on treatment and evaluation so we can make some decisions on her future.

So, the puppies are the high point these days. I am looking forward to seeing Pam Martin (Gambling Dice) and Jill Brown (Comedy Punch) who are traveling down from Canada for the reproduction seminar this weekend. Chris Marinelli (Fire Tux) is also stopping by tomorrow. A few more Gaylan's folks will also be joining us, as well as some wonderful breeders of other breeds. Should be an interesting time!

So, I've posted lots of puppy video and some photos. Enjoy!

Gayle

Thanks, Carrie

2009-11-17T21:30:00.003-05:00

I am working 24/7 for the next few days finishing a project for work and getting ready for the repro workshop this weekend so tonight you get to see Carrie Neyland's video of the pups.

Carrie came up from New Orleans on Saturday so she could meet me, Skye, her relatives and the pups. Carrie spent Saturday night with Stephanie Schmitter and her family (Thanks, Stephanie!!), including Pilot, Skye's brother. Steph and Carrie headed off to the agility trial at Dream Park to watch some runs and visit with some other Gaylan's dogs.

Carrie arrived here on Sunday, while I was working madly so she did a lovely job occupying herself with puppies and dogs. Andy and I so enjoyed meeting her.

Without further ado, here are the Southerners from today, brought to you by Carrie!

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What Changes!

2009-11-16T22:07:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in a few days and during that time, the pups have "woken up." They are now seeing pretty well and starting to hear. They are walking, playing with each other and engaging with toys. They now bark, chortle, purr and scream bloody murder when they aren't happy.

We finished the Biosensor exercises today. With their improving senses, there is no need to put additional stress on them through the exercises. They will now stress themselves just by interacting with their environment. Their last two scents were a goose wing and a duck; both were VERY interesting.

Dreamer and Corey are regulars in the whelping box. Corey is a diligent cleaner and has even settled in to "nurse" on occasion. Dreamer is eager for the pups to start playing but isn't interested in any of the hard, dirty work. Skye is watchful but very tolerant. Una is disinterested.

Skye is gleefully participating in all of the woods walks now. She's getting bored with nursery duties so we may move the pups downstairs a little earlier so Skye doesn't have to be off by herself.

Lots of new photos and videos are posted. Check out the pups playing with each other and their toys.

Gayle

The Aunties

2009-11-13T22:13:00.002-05:00

I've mentioned Dreamer and her passion for the pups in many of my posts but she isn't the only doting aunt. Her mother, Corey is the Main Mom in this house. She loves all puppies, firmly believes that cleanliness is next to Dogliness, and adopts any and all pups. However, Corey has also been a mother herself so she is more respectful of maternal concerns than Dreamer is. Well, until tonight.

Skye was off chewing on a bone when I came in to clean up, weigh and cuddle with puppies tonight. Apparently Corey thought the pups weren't clean enough so she went to town, scrubbing each puppy until they were spotless. Skye came in at one point but decided that Corey had things well in hand so went back to her bone. Eventually, she returned to her kids only to find Corey still in the box. Corey ignored her, finished cleaning the pup she was working on before casually strolling away. Skye appears a bit confused in the video but she tolerates Corey's care. Dogs are just so interesting.

Dreamer is in the box more and more but we are all watching her closely so she doesn't step on anyone in her enthusiasm. Una is interested in the pups but sees no reason why their mom can't take care of them.

I was able to get some video of the pups walking today, as well as their eyes. They are looking more and more like little golden retrievers. Enjoy!

Gayle

Up On All Fours

2009-11-12T23:18:00.002-05:00

I couldn't get any photos of the pups walking but they are indeed tottering around on all fours as of today. All eyes are open, though some more than others. They now get very excited when Skye enters the whelping box, crying and milling around. This can be a time that dams get concerned about handling their pups. The pups start getting very active and careful dams are worried about lying on them so they circle and circle, trying to find a place to lie down. So far, Skye has taken all the activity in stride and has had no problem getting in a out.

Not much else happening here outside of eating and sleeping. The pups got to smell pigeon today. Yum! Skye is now walking with the other dogs on their morning woods walks with Amanda. She is thrilled with that but definitely has to get back in shape. She actually had to lie down and rest while making her way back up the hill. Not to worry, six more weeks of woods walks and she'll have her girlish figure back again.

New photos and videos are posted.

Gayle

Nose...and Eyes!

2009-11-11T22:16:00.005-05:00

Puppy development is a good indication of the priority of dogs' senses: nose, eyes, ears. The pups have been able to smell well since the instant they were born. Their noses, dogs' primary sense, have enabled them to stay alive by helping them find their mom and figure out where the milk is.

Now the pups' eyes are begining to open. It is always such an exciting time when we get a peak at the little eyes as they gradually appear. Over the next few days, they will open fully but it will be weeks before they can see well. Their ears are also gradually opening but it will be another week or so before they can hear.

In the meantime, the pups are receiving lots of visitors. Today, Charlie and Lauran Mancuso arrived early for a visit with Skye and the babies. Skye loves it when they come, squinting her pleasure at seeing them. While Charlie and Lauran spent an hour petting Skye and loving the babies, I trimmed toe nails, weighed the pups and did their Biosensor exercises. After Charlie and Lauran headed back to Pennsylvania, Amanda, Jimmy and 8-year old little Jimmy came to pet Skye and love the pups. Then, tonight, Jack and Sue Belicka, Brass's owners came to visit for the first time. They had a great time with the pups and I got to visit with Brass (and 14-year old Red).

We also collected DNA from Brass for the prcd-PRA test (progressive rod-cone degeneration progressive retinal atrophy). We'll know in a few weeks if Brass is clear or a carrier. prcd-PRA is a newly discovered disease in golden retrievers, primarily in field lines. It causes blindness in midlife so our goal is to not produce any effected dogs. Luckily, this form of golden PRA is genetically similar to the disease found in other breeds so we were able to piggyback off of their research efforts. Doing simply DNA tests, we can determine if dogs carry two, one or none of the genes for this eye disease. Skye has already been tested and is clear so even if Brass is a carrier, none of the pups will be effected.

The pups have been enjoying their scent items recently. We used grouse wings two days ago and three of the pups actually grabbed the wings. Wow! Then yesterday, we used a chrysanthemum blossom. The pups literally buried their noses in the flower and breathed deeply. It was a hoot. This morning was a dirt day. This was clearly not as exciting as grouse or flowers, they sniffed and moved on. Oh well, we don't always pick well.

We have two-pound pups so they are eating well. Most of us are sleeping much better these days. Poor Skye still has to pull night duty but she still seems to be enjoying most of it, particulary with visitors who will tell her how wonderful she and her babies are.

Time to hit the hay! New photos and videos posted under Week 2. Enjoy!

Gayle

A Week Old

2009-11-08T22:22:00.005-05:00

Well, the Southerners are a week old and growing by leaps and bounds. Their lives are filled with sleeping and eating, with the occasional disruption from me--trimming toenails, doing Biosensor, giving them really cool things to sniff, and putting them in that cold pan. Oh, and their mom cleans them all the time. Now even their doggie aunties are in the cleaning mode, too, so these pups are spotless. Dreamer was allowed in the whelping box yesterday and she was beside herself with excitement. Thus far, she has avoided stepping on a puppy but she definitely keeps Skye on her toes.

The pups are having more and more visitors. Today it was Auntie Sue who came for a nice visit with lots of hugs and kisses. While she was here, we changed collars since they'd grown so much since last week.

New photos and a video are up. Their eyes open this week so we'll be stopping flash photography for a few days. We'll try to get some photos in the dark though.

Gayle

Bobbi Jean, Peggy Sue and Friends

2009-11-06T21:26:00.004-05:00

I know you've been waiting for more photos and updates. Not to worry, all is well with the pups and Skye. I've just been working my tail off on other things but I know that isn't a good excuse :-).

So what is new? Lilac is now Bobbi Jean. Rainbow now has two names, Peggy Sue. They and the rest of the crew are growing like proverbial weeds. Check out the photos, you'll see they have nearly doubled in size.

Skye continues to be a great mom and has even started to spend a little time away from the whelping box, especially before meal times. She is being tremendously patient with Dreamer who thinks she has died and gone to heaven now that there are more pups. She spends hours sitting outside the box watching the pups. Skye won't let her in the box but let's her within a few inches, the closest that Dreamer's ever been allowed.

All of the pups are approaching 1 1/2 pounds, a pretty good gain for the week. We like to see them double their birth weight in the first week and they are all close. We are well into daily Biosensor exercises, introducing new scents (tonight is apple, last night was aloe) and doing the pie plate race. The litter was very slow the first night on the pie plate--most had to get helped off after 1 1/2 or 2 minutes. However, they are quick learners since last night they took between 15 and 40 seconds. What a surprise!

The pups are having lots of visitors, too. Skye patiently watches while we all ooooo and ahhhh over the babies. They aren't too tolerant of being held but that will come over time. Tomorrow is the second nail cutting so we'll see if they are a bit more comfortable being constrained. You have to love 1 # 4 oz pups throwing hissy fits--you'd think they were the size of Great Danes :-).

Off to play with pups. Enjoy the new photos and videos.

Gayle

Ooops, Only Nine Tails :-(

2009-11-03T13:25:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted for a day because Skye and I have our hands full and are pretty darn tired. Though only three days old, the Southerners have already provided many learning experiences. It's a good reminder for me that despite 30 years of experience and 200+ puppies, there is still more to learn.

So, why the title of today's blog? Not to worry, we have not lost a puppy, we only lost a tail. Yes, we had to dock Miss Lilac's tail yesterday. Although it was not an easy decision to make, it was an decision that I made quickly. Here is the story. Sunday afternoon Amanda called me in my office to tell me there was something wrong with Lilac's tail. I went over and found that the very tip of her tail was hanging on by the proverbial thread (actually a tiny tendon). Hmmm, what to do? Fearing that Skye might take care of it herself, I snipped the little tendon and saved the tip to take to my vet. The part of the tail still on Lilac was not bleeding and was sealed over.

I awoke Monday morning deciding to get the pups and Skye in to the vet for a check up. I no longer do that regularly since I can check for cleft palates and other newborn problems myself and thus reduce the risk of them getting chilled or catching something at the vet clinic. However, given I was seeing so many things that I'd not experienced before, we all piled in the van yesterday afternoon to go Otterkill Animal Hospital.

Dr Jim did not like the feel of Lilac's tail so shaved it for a better look. At least 3/4 of the tail was black, clearly dead or dying. Tails are notorious for having a poor blood supply so once a tail starts to go, the only real solution is to dock it. Jim and I discussed the options--take off a little and see if the remainder could heal or dock it well below the black line and into the healthy tissue. I hated to do it but I simply would not risk her getting gangrene or having multiple surgeries. Docking at 2 days is relatively simple and could be done under a local anesthetic. So, that is what we did. The first 6 or so hours after the Lidocane wore off were tough but she is fine now. She is such a lovely little girl that I know she is going to really stand out with her special tail.

Dr Jim also looked over Peggy to determine if she is going to need surgery on her leg. He does think she has all of the bones that should be in the leg, they are just very short and the paw very poorly developed. At the moment, it appears that the leg will remain short and will not bother her at all. Most importantly, any surgical decisions can be left for the future so she doesn't have to face that now at such a young age.

All the other pups are healthy and growing well. And Peggy and Lilac are also healthy aside from their "differences." All the pups are over a pound and nursing well. Skye continues to be a fabulous dam, although she and I were both totally worn out when we got home last night. Listening to Lilac cry during her procedures took a lot out of both of us.

We have put all of these challenges behind us and have started on the pups' developmental program. Amanda learned to do Biosensor this morning so we'll be doing those exercises on the pups every day. We introduced them to their first unique scent, a pheasant wing. It was so interesting to see the pups stop squirming and get very quiet when we put the wing in front of their noses. We also trimmed toe nails so Skye doesn't have to deal with 180 little needles digging into her.

So, that's the news from Cold Spring where this week we were again reminded of the amazing activity that we do, bringing new life into the world with all of its fits, starts and imperfect perfection. It also reminded me that although we breed to produce working dogs, each puppy born into our hands is an individual whose life path may not go where we intend it but will still be right for that pup.

Gayle

Ten Tails!

2009-11-01T16:31:00.006-05:00

Skye finished whelping last night when the 10th pup, Miss Lilac arrived. We had a relatively quiet night as Skye and the pups got to know each other. Skye is a fabulous dam, attentive to her pups, obsessive about cleanliness but as calm and centered a dog as I've ever been with. I call her the Zen Dog. There were some highs and lows yesterday, as we celebrated the Southerners arrival but morned the loss off one pup. Through it all, Skye maintained her typical calmness. I love working with dogs like this!

All of the pups gained weight overnight and are nursing well. About 10 AM this morning, they started wagging their tails when they nursed. I love that point when you look at the litter and all those puppy tails are wagging. You can't help but smile :-).

So, who are the Southerners? Well, here goes:

First born was Miss Black who weighed in at 14.75 ounces and was born around 4:25 AM. Only she and Skye know since we were asleep until she was a few minutes old. She is medium gold with lovely pigment.

Then came Mr Blue at 5:28 AM. He also weighed in at 14.75 ounces, is medium gold and has good pigment.

At 5:49, Miss Raspberry was born. She was the biggest pup at 17 ounces. She is medium gold. About an hour later, at 6:44 AM, Mr Red was born, weighing 14.0 ounces. He is dark gold with a white spot on his head and white toes.

At 7:14 AM, Miss Rainbow was born, also at 14 ounces. Rainbow, also known as Peggy, has a deformed left front leg. Her shoulder to the elbow is normal but the foreleg is quite short with a partially developed paw. I've never seen this before so will have to get educated over the next few weeks but my conversation with my vet yesterday indicated that assuming she can nurse (which she can with no problem), she should be fine on three legs. As I always say, every litter teaches you something. Peggy is our lightest puppy and is quite cute.

Miss Yellow arrived soon after Peggy, weighing in at 15.0 ounces at 7:25 AM. Yellow is also a medium gold. At 9:30 AM, Miss Green arrived. She weighed 14.0 ounces and another medium golden puppy.

At this point, I was wondering if we were going to have any boys. It's really rare for us to have more girls than boys in a litter so on cue, Mr Rust was born at 2:50 PM. He's a big boy at 15.5 ounces and is one of our darker pups.

At 3:27 PM, Miss Rose, our darkest pup was born. She weighed 14.5 ounces and arrived with no fanfare. We didn't even know she had been born until we heard her cry. Finally, Miss Lilac was born at 8:02. She was 17 ounces and is another medium golden pup.

So, that's the crew--7 girls and 3 boys, ranging from light to dark gold. They are vigorous but contented pups. All are gaining well and thriving under Skye's watchful eye. I'll post some photos and a video as soon as my battery camera recharges!

Gayle

Nine and Counting!

2009-10-31T15:05:00.003-05:00

We are up to nine pups now, six girls and three boys. We lost a lovely big male pup who got stuck. Skye did everything she could to get him out, as did I, but our efforts were in vain. It is always so sad to lose a healthy pup. Thankfully, it is very rare and the other nine pups cheer us immensely. Amanda and I figure that Dana needed one of these very special pups as one of her angels.

They are here!

2009-10-31T05:55:00.003-05:00

I guess I should say, they are coming. Skye had her fist pup, a lovely little girl, at 4:25 AM before we woke up. Both Andy and I were up and moving within a minute. Since then, Skye has had three more girl and two boys, all vigorous. At first, Skye wasn't sure what was up but after that she has become a very good mom, cleaning her babies and the box. Stay tuned, more are on the way.

Nothing Yet

2009-10-30T11:41:00.002-05:00

For those of you wondering what is happening, don't worry, there isn't much happening. Skye let us sleep through the night though I was up regularly to check on her. She didn't sleep much but seemed to just be uncomfortable. No contractions, not much nesting, just hanging out. That's pretty much where we are today, too. She's doing some nesting but I think we are still hours away from pups. We'll let you know when they show up.

Gayle

Hmmm, MIght Be Tonight!

2009-10-29T17:35:00.002-05:00

I was going to post a resounding post that confidently stated the pups would be born tonight. Skye's temperature was 98.6 this morning and then 97.3 (!) at noon. She had started that inward look that often accompanies labor. And then tonight she went out and "chased" the ball, climbing up and down the hill at a slow but steady pace. In fact, she was the only one that found a ball in the house so we could head out to have some fun. And she steadfastly refused to stay with me and instead, went out to find balls. Hmmmm, she didn't look like a girl about to deliver pups. Of course, she looked like a watermelon going up and down the hill (if you haven't been here, our hill is s-t-e-e-p!) but she was going.

So, I don't know where we are at but stay tuned, pups are coming. If not tonight, soon!

Gayle

Puppy Watch Begins

2009-10-28T07:43:00.002-05:00

Skye has reached the beginning of Puppy Watch, which means the pups can come at anytime now. We aren't able to pinpoint her delivery date as closely as we often can because we only did a little timing for the breeding. However, we've been over and over the breeding calendar, which captures Skye's behavior and vaginal cytology, as well as the behavior of the dogs around her. Even other girls can indicate the progression of a dam's cycle. I still think that Friday, October 30 is the earliest we will see pups but I was relieved that her temp was still high this morning since I have a very busy day today.

So, what do I mean by temperature? Well, a dam's basal temperature will drop below 99 and will stay there for at least 12 hours just prior to the pups' arrival. So, we have been taking Skye's temperature four times a day, ideally beginning at 7 and ending around 11 or midnight. I'll confess that I haven't been able to do both the early and late measurements but Andy is home so he'll be able to help from now on. I'm really glad he got his golf vacation in before the pups arrive :-).

Some dams have temps that stay relatively high until the 24 hours prior to the birth. That isn't Skye. She has been teasing us for days. On 10/21. her temp droped down to 97.6. Then it was back up over 100. Since she came here, Skye has had at least one temperature reading each day under 99. I think she just wants to make sure I'm paying attention!

At noon yesterday, she was at 98.6 but then last night it was back up to 99.8. This morning it is the same os no pups today. Whew!

Off to start the day! Keep thinking positive thoughts for Skye-girl!

Gayle

We're Getting Ready!

2009-10-25T20:01:00.005-05:00

Skye's due date is rapidly approaching so I'm starting the blog for the "Southern" litter. We've chosen that theme to honor Dana Morris, Skye's first owner who died from ovarian cancer three years ago, and Lauran Mancuso, Skye's present owner. Dana was from Lexington, KY and was a true Steel Magnolia. Lauran is from Louisiana and is a true Southern. So the pups' registered names will either have the words South or Southern in them or will have to do with the American South.

Skye is looking pretty darn big at the moment and is waddling wherever she goes. She has an excellent appetite so far and is a happy a dog as we've seen. We've started spending time in the whelping box but I'll confess, Dreamer thinks it is more fun than Skye. Skye can't really figure why we are hanging out in this silly white box. Not to worry, she'll figure it out.

I wanted to get an idea of how many pups we have, either confirming or adding to the ultrasound results of 10 pups. Skye was also smelling kind of ripe after enjoying some good rolls in God knows what so I shaved her, scrubbed her down, bathed the rest of her and dried her. After dinner, she settled down for a nap and I poured a glass of wine. Using a Sweet Beats doppler (thanks, Charlie), I started the slow process of finding heartbeats on the pups. It took an hour but I found quite a few--we are somewhere between 11 and 13 pups, if my investigation was correct. It's always fun to see how well I did once the pups are here. Skye thought I was pretty crazy, marking big X's on her belly for each heartbeat. The X's make it much easier to check on the pups over the next few days. All the pups sound good, with heartbeats between 196 and 209 beats per second. Think "bdrdrdrdrdrdrdr."

Her temp is all over the place, ranging from 98.6 to 101 degrees over the past few days. However, the general trend is down so we know the process is starting. For those who didn't follow our last blog, we are looking for two temperatures below 99 degrees out of the four we take each day. That will indicate the pups should be born within the next 24 hours. I've estimated her due date as Oct 30 but we aren't sure. Only time will tell.

Well, it's time for all of us to hit the hay! Stay tuned, Southerners coming!

Gayle

Happy Endings

2009-10-13T17:39:00.003-05:00

In 30 years of breeding, I've only had a handful of placements that didn't work out. My goal is always to match the right pup to the right owner so both can thrive. We put a huge amount of work into those matches, from the pups' development and socialization program to our obnoxiously long application to talking at length to prospective owners to our extensive testing and evaluation program. But despite all of that effort, sometimes things just don't work out as planned.

Such was the case with Miss Yellow from the 4th of July litter. Soon after she left, phone calls from her new owners were indicating that things weren't going as they should. So, after two and a half weeks, we called it quits and I went to work figuring out how to get her home, a trip of 2000 miles. Unfortunately, by that time, she was too big to fit back in the Sherpa and fly in the cabin. I even had two friends in Florida who were willing to fly her back to NY with them. There was just no way she would fit :-(.

Thankfully, Amanda was willing and able to make the trip. Miss Yellow was her favorite pup in the litter so she was only too glad to bring her home. Four days driving and Miss Yellow arrived back home. She was thrilled to be here, all of the dogs greeted her warmly and both Andy and I were relieved to have her safe with us.

I kept her for five days to reevaluate her before I decided what kind of home she would fit well in. After those few days, my initial opinion of her was reconfirmed and off she went to a competition home with my good friend, Maggie Lukiewicz. Maggie and I met when she got a dog from me in 1997. We've showed and trained together over the years and even co-founded Canine Health Events, Inc.

Maggie lost her 16-year old golden, McDuff on the same day that I found out Miss Yellow was coming back home. Although I thought Maggie would have a great time with the pup, I wanted to be sensitive to her recent loss so didn't mention my idea to her. However, when Maggie called suggesting that she foster Miss Yellow, I leaped at the chance. After spending a week with Miss Yellow, I knew it was a great match.

So, Miss Yellow is now Flaire, Gaylan's Rockets Red Glare. She went to Maggie on Saturday and on Sunday they ran in the Southern Berkshire Golden Retriever Club Club Field Trial. Despite her delayed start, 3-month old Flaire took 2nd place out of four 3-6 month old puppies, behind the oldest pup in the competition, a 5-month old. She retrieved chukar, pheasant and even a duck although she thought Connecticut water was much colder than Florida's.

Since the weekend, Maggie's other dog, Scorch has fallen in love with the little girl and she has settled in easily at Maggie's. They have already started training in agility and obedience, in addition to field. We all have high hopes for this little dynamo.

Sometimes, things are just meant to be.

Going Home

2009-09-11T20:28:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. In the midst of all of the chores required to send our pups home, my laptop stopped working in the house. It just wasn't possible to have enough time in the office to post to the blog and get everything done for the pups and their new owners. We had pups to bathe, photos to print, scrap books to complete, notebooks to make and bags to pack. It all got done except the blog so you all suffered.

But here I sit tonight with Risk, Una, Corey, Dreamer and Miss Black, soon to be known as Lexi. Everyone else has flown the coop. Skye has been bred and is back with her co-owners, Charlie and Lauran Mancusos. Eight of the nine pups have flown or driven to their new homes. It has been wonderful getting to know the new owners we hadn't met before and sharing the joy of a new puppy with those we've known for a while.

The pups each have a web page on our website. You can find the links to them at www.gaylans.com/4thofjuly.html. Here are short introductions.

Mr Green is now "Cruise," Gaylan's Born on the 4th of July. He stayed close at hand with Blanche and Carol who fell in love with him at the Puppy Walk. Blanche and Carol have two Gaylan's girls but were missing having a boy around. They already do it all with their dogs--tracking, agility, field--so Cruise will fit right in. I suspect he may also teach them about conformation in the future, too.

Mr Blue flew to Georgia with Paula, Chester and their son, Chaz. Paula had contacted me a while ago after they lost their last golden. I wasn't sure we'd have the right match in this litter but Mr Blue sure looks like it. He is now Huggy Bear, formally known as Gaylan's All American Huggy Bear.

Miss Black is still with us but Sarah flies in tomorrow morning from Houston, TX to pick her up. She will become Gaylan's American Revolution and will be known as Lexington or Lexi. Lexi will join Sarah and Esteban's Gang of Six agility fiends to tackle the highly competitive Texas agility circuit. We think she is up to it!

Miss Raspberry was the first to fly the coop when she headed to North Carlina with Gene, Cindy and Jeannie McIntosh. She remains Razz to her friends and Gaylan's July 4th Razzmatazz elsewhere. Razz will be Gene's hunting Buddy and they hope to tackle agility, too.

Mr Purple also headed to North Carolina. He moved in with Terrie and David Leafstedt and their golden Silas. He is now Gibbs, Gaylan's S.P.arkler of Gold and will be doing obedience and hunt tests with Terrie.

Mr Red stayed close at hand, moving to NJ with Kathy Santo. Kathy does obedience and agility and hopes to add hunt tests to her activities. Mr Red is now Indy, Gaylan's Mississippi Gambler. I get to see him next week and can't wait!

Sweet Miss Sienna also didn't go far, heading to Long Island with Christy and Todd Luse and their daughters Makayla and Maya, as well as assorted family and Guide dogs. Sienna is now River, Gaylan's Fireworks Over the Hudson. River is going to do rally, agility, obedience and hunt tests with Christy and Makayla.

Mr Brown was also one of the early departures when he flew to Iowa to live with Brent and Tamara Danielson. We had a great visit with Brent and got to show him all of Gus's special skills, like swimming, digging in the mud, excavating the lawn and more. Gus is now Gaylan's Give me Liberty and he will be doing lots of hunting with Brent.

And, last but by no means least, Miss Yellow headed to Miami, FL yesterday with Hilda Wood. Hilda is a fire-fighter and already has some FEMA Search and Rescue dogs that she also shows in hunt tests, agility and obedience. Miss Yellow, now Karma, Gaylan's Flashing Fire & Thunder, is hoping to join the SAR team.

This isn't quite the last post for the 4th of July litter. That will come after Lexi leaves for TX and Risk goes home to Virginia with Rosie. Then life will get back to normal for a short period before we start again with Skye's litter.

In the meantime, I'm posting videos of Risk playing with her pups and lots of going home shots. Enjoy!

The Puppy Walk

2009-08-31T20:16:00.003-05:00

Boy did we have fun but we also R-A-N! I think this was the fastest puppy walk ever. This litter ran to the front of the crowd and took off. What game puppy walkers we had, dashing through the woods, over rock walls, across streams to keep tabs on their puppies. The pups had a great time. We sweated! They swam at the end. We hoofed up a very steep hill. But it was worth every second watching those babies have such a wonderful time.

As we paused at the stream, three pups broke away to head back down the path. Thankfully, they came when called and we headed back up the long hill to a photo, the air conditioning and lunch. After that it was hours of playing with the pups, throwing the ball for the big dogs in the pool and on the hill, and just enjoying the company of other dog lovers.

It was a wonderful day! Of course, the pups think there should be a party every day at this point :-). As Andy says, they are ready to go home :-).

Off to put notebooks together for the Thursday pick up!

Gayle

So Much To Tell

2009-08-28T09:26:00.007-05:00

I have wanted to post many times this week but to be frank, I was too tired every night to do anything but roll into bed. What has happened since I last wrote? In a word, lots!

Eye Exams. Tuesday the pups, Amanda and I went to the see Dr Chuck Stuhr in Wilton, CT. This experience gave the pups a longer ride in the van (an hour each way), the chance to hang out in the x-pen near a very busy road so they got to hear traffic sounds, having eye drops put into their eyes to dilate them, playing in the exam room and then having an eye exam. If you've never seen a dog eye exam, it is an unusual experience for them, even the adults. The room is dark, the vet has lights on his headgear and he shines different lights into the dogs eyes. The pups had to hold very still while they were examined and they all did very well. And best of all, they all received a passing CERF (Canine Eye Registry Foundation) exam!

Many people ask us why we take the trouble to take our pups to eye and heart doctors, rather than just our general practitioner. We do it for a number of reasons, most importantly to ensure that we know as much as we can about the health of the pups we sell. Goldens face a number of genetic problems, some of which can be found in puppyhood. Eye problems such as retinal folds, retinal dysplasia, dystichia, entropion and the primary heart problem that goldens face, SAS, can be seen at this age. These early exams are not foolproof since problems can also develop as the pup matures but they are the best we can do with such young animals. There are also a number of congential problems that can happen during fetal development that we like to track. We don't see many of them but they are worth noting.

Temperament and Bird Tests. Wednesday was temperament test day. Naturally, since it is the Summer of '09, it was over 90 degrees. We tested in the upstairs of the guest house, somewhere the pups had never been before AND a place we could air condition. Hot pups just can't show us who they are so the latter was critical.

Marcy Burke did the temperament test. She has been our primary tester for some time now and has terrific timing and rapport with the pups. The pups hadn't met Marcy before and they hadn't been in the guest house so they were meeting a stranger in a strange place by themselves for the first time in their short lives. I am always fascinated to see how pups can change when you take them away from their littermates. Courage definitely comes with numbers in the case of pups. This is one of the reasons that we continue to rely heavily on temperament testing; over the years we have seen significant but persistent changes in some pups when they are on their own. They are confident and bold in the puppy pen and/or with their littermates but become very different by themselves. Since we are looking to produce pups that can stand on their own two feet and be confident workers as individuals, we find this testing extremely important.

We also use a somewhat different temperament test. Rather than the shorter Puppy Aptitude Test, we have adapted Sheila Booth's Positive Puppy Preview. The PPP is a long test, averaging 30 minutes per puppy. This gives us an idea of each pup's stamina and whether or not they accumulate stress over time. We test three drives: food, retrieve and play/tug. We also assess energy level as well as a number of characteristics: environmental/people focus, forgiveness, dominance/submission, pain tolerance, sound and sight sensitivity, courage and persistence, and more. We stress the puppies in a number of ways to see how they handle stress and if playing helps them release it. And, of course, we have fun watching their antics as they leap, pounce, gambol and cuddle their way through the test.

This litter all did well but showed some interesting similarities across all puppies. None of the pups accumulated stress during the test. They were actually more relaxed at the end of the test than they were when they walked in the room. That is rare in our experience. They also all had great noses so their scent work should be very good. And, no surprise, they all turned on to the pheasant wing, easily bounding over obstacles to get to it.

After the temperament test, we brought the pigeons out for some bird testing. We use live shackled pigeons, gradually unshackling them as the pups gain confidence. (I want to emphasize that the pigeons are not harmed during this testing. They are alive and well, if a little pissed off, in our coop.) All of the pups showed good birdiness, snatching and carrying the shackled bird. Most were equally enthusiastic about the unshackled pigeons but a few were bold enough to chase but not carry the flapping prize. However, all showed strong birdiness that will easily develop into good field work with training.

Thursday. That brings us to Thursday and what a day it was. I woke up early intending to pack for the trip to the Structural exam in CT but it was such a beautiful morning, that I had to take the pups for a walk. Four of the adults, the pups and I headed out into the woods with Lise Pratt, who had helped with the temperament test. There is a video posted showing the start to our walk. There is definitely no video showing the end though.

All went well until we were about 10 minutes out. Lise and I realized that we were missing three pups and the adults had all come back so the pups weren't out with them. Crud! We head down to the swimming hole, since the pups will often follow the dogs there and then stay to play on the bank. We get there...no pups. I decide to call back to Andy, who tells us the pups had come home a few minutes prior. Good puppies!

As we are standing there, both Lise and I see Una aways off, clearly hunting something. Suddenly she bolts toward us, shaking her head. We thought she had stirred up a bee's nest until she got close enough for us to smell her. Skunk! Yuck! The pups took one sniff of her and gave her wide berth.

We head home because I realize I have to bathe Una before we leave for CT. We keep the big dogs close so the pups would stay with us. We are about 5 minutes from the house and we let the big dogs run, since they usually head straight home to the pool at this point in the walk. However, when we get to the house, we are short another three pups and their ever-hunting mother, Risk. Argh! Risk dashes in a few minutes later with no pups in tow.

Ten years we've walked pups in these woods and we've never lost one...until this day. I put Una in an ex-pen outside so she couldn't stink up the house, called Corey and headed back into the woods. I suspected that Risk had headed up the ridge and the pups couldn't keep up so I hung a right and started climbing, swearing at Risk under my breath. Corey and I walked the top of the first ridge line, me calling and her sniffing for pups. Of course, I am also thinking of the darn bear that was around last week. I decided that if I was going to meet a bear, this was the morning to do it because I was pumped enough to take him on. Thankfully, I didn't have to test my cockiness.

Ten minutes of walking and there they were, scrambling up the ridge to my calls. Raz, Purple and Red--very happy to see Corey and I. I slid down the ridge to them and then the rest of the way to the path. From there, they knew their way home. As I trailed them in, I decided that Risk was fired from puppy walking!

A quick de-skunking made Una tolerable so we loaded up the pups and Risk and headed for Dr Debbie Gross Saunders' facility in Colchester, CT. She was to evaluate the pups' structure for performance. This was their longest van ride yet--2 1/2 hours each way but they did wonderfully. In addition to being evaluated, the pups met "Pig," the Saunders' pot-belly pig, the burros, ponies and cow. They hung out in Deb's treatment room next to dogs in the underwater treadmill and the kennel. They met kids, grown ups and more. It was truly an adventure! Photos and videos are posted.

During the week, we also took some 7 1/2 week stacked and head shots. Those are or will be up shortly.

Whew, I know that was long but I think you are up to speed on what we've been doing. Final placement decisions will be made today and tomorrow then the serious work of getting the pups ready to go home must be done.

All of that means that I have to get back to work!

Gayle

Going-Home Preparations

2009-08-24T20:51:00.004-05:00

Although the pups have another ten days or two weeks with us, we are starting all the steps to sending them home. Today, they got their first vaccine and their health certificates. They were terrific at Dr Jim's--confident and playful until we picked them up. Then they sat very calmly while Dr Jim weighed them, checked them out and gave them their vaccine. Not a cry out of any of them.

We decided to vaccinate them today based on Risk's antibody levels to distemper and parvo. We checked her levels two weeks before the pups were born and those results told us what antibodies the pups got from her milk in the first few days after birth. From there, we calculated approximately when their maternal protection against each disease would run out. Since her distemper titer was toward the low end, we needed to vaccinate the pups now to be sure they are safe when we walk them in the woods. However, her parvovirus titer was pretty high so it will be a few more weeks before their body can respond to that vaccine.

The pups traveled to and from the vet's very well. This was their second long car ride but there will be many more in the next week or so. It's a 35-minute ride to my vet's which is a stretch for such little guys. They cried a bit at the beginning and the very end, but otherwise, they slept and played with each other. The crying at the end was my fault because I forgot to potty them before crating them to come home. They had been sleeping while Dr Jim, Lauran Mancuso and I chatted so I should have realized they'd need to visit the litter box before I put them in the car. They let me know of my error about 10 minutes from home but they all held it. I was practicing the story I was going to tell a cop in case I got stopped for going a little over the speed limit. Thankfully, I didn't need it.

Tomorrow we are off to the veterinary ophthalmologist for their eye exams. We can't see all of the eye problems that goldens face this early in their lives but we can see enough to make that trip worthwhile. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes smoothly.

We added a big dog to the pack today. Skye, Gaylan's Winning Colors MH WCX joined us in preparation for her breeding to Brass, Brassfire's Seattle on a Lark MH WCX later this week. The girls all recognized each other immediately so Skye just fell right into step. I know Charlie and Lauran Mancuso miss her but it sure is wonderful to have her here with us, if only briefly. She'll go back home after the breeding until just prior to her whelping, which we think will be right around Halloween. Now there is a litter theme for you.

I'll post photos tomorrow.

Gayle

The Storm

2009-08-22T16:28:00.007-05:00

The pups and I had an interesting socialization opportunity yesterday. Our county got hit by a very serious thunder storm in the late afternoon. The pups had weathered regular storms without missing a beat but this was a big one and it passed right over our house, complete with thunder, lightening, torrential rain and very strong winds. The EZ-Up that provides shade and shelter in the puppy yard got picked up and tossed about 30 feet onto our patio. Trash cans and lids were thrown about and leaves were dumped into our swimming pool but thankfully we had no serious damage.

The pups were a little unsure when I came running over from the office. The noise was loud and the lightening bright. The electricity in the air was so bad that the hairs on my necks and arms were standing up. The pups were debating whether to hide but our adult dogs are calm in storms so the pups were reluctantly taking their cues from them.

We focus pretty heavily on ensuring our pups and dogs are not afraid of thunder but we usually do that by playing tapes and CDs. Alas, this was no CD. So, I started playing games with the pups. I let them loose in the porch, dumped the bag of toys on the ground and threw kibble whenever the thunder or wind shook the house. Treats rained from the sky at every scary moment and soon the pups were scrambling around to get the treats even when the noise was at its loudest. We played tug, fetch and "climb all over Gayle" (a traditional favorite). The pups played keep away and WWF wrestling with each other. They ended up trashing the screen porch but having a great time in the process and forgetting about the storm. To be honest, I'm pretty afraid of lightening so it did me good, too.

The only repercussion from the storm that I can see is that the pups are using the litter boxes more than before. I suspect it is because they are somewhat reluctant to go outside to pee and poop. Any that were outside when the EZ-Up took off may take a little bit of time to get over that event. We'll spend lots of time out there over the next few days, when it isn't raining that is. The EZ-Up goes back in the yard tomorrow and we'll have a party with our sister-in-law, niece and anyone else that comes to visit.

One last story before I go. As I'm sure you have noticed, we teach our pups to climb for many reasons. They learn they have a rear end when they have to go up or down things, thus developing the nerves that fire their back legs. They learn they can fall off of things so they should be careful around edges. They learn to problem solve, how to get up and how to get back down. And, its very entertaining to hear the stories from their new owners when they find their pup climbing on every surface in sight--picnic tables, agility tables, etc.

Yesterday after the storm, the pups were having a great time playing on the small goose decoy in the inside pen. They were balancing on it, lying on it, chewing on its beak. As I was watching, I saw Miss Yellow starting to ponder something. She climbed on the goose, stood on her hind legs and reached for the chair that holds the x-pen in place. Sure enough, she hauled herself onto the chair and started exploring the window and sill. She contemplated trying to get over the x-pen but decided that wasn't going to work. She had a grand time before hopping down. I enjoyed watching her but decided to move the goose out of the pen for a while :-). You can see a photo above of her on her perch and more in the Week 7 listings.

Still hot and sweaty in NY,

Gayle

Sometimes It's Just Not Fun

2009-08-21T09:03:00.006-05:00

In most of my recent posts, I've told you about the fun we have been having with the puppies. However, it's not all fun and games and puppy kisses. There is a massive amount of work that goes into raising pups the way we do. It's work we love but it is still work.

For the last week, we've been doing that work in record heat and humidity. Personally, I am not a summer fan and I hate the three Hs--hazy, hot and humid. Andy wants to move south and to me that means Philly not Atlanta. At some point last night, I was tired of sweat running into my eyes, matted hair and everything being slimy and damp.

This morning was the worst--Amanda called in sick, I couldn't walk the dogs/pups until after 9 due to another appointment, and it was 80 degrees with 89% humidity when we started out. We all trooped into the woods but the pups were struggling from the start. The big dogs had a good run since they know where the stream is and can swim anytime they want to cool off. The little ones and I were not so lucky.

I had planned to head up the mountain today to introduce them to a new path. However, a bear went through our neighborhood night before last so I decided that adenture could wait until I had another person with a cell phone. We don't often have bears but the thought of four adult goldens, nine puppies, me and a bear is more than I can process early in the morning.

So, we did a relativly easy walk but we were all panting and tired after 30 minutes. Once back, the pups passed out on the cool slate floor in front of the fan, the big dogs went in the air conditioning and I got to clean the pens. Two guesses who has the better life around here.

Thankfully, the pups have become well housetrained in the past week. They poop outside or in the pans 99.9% of the time and pee there about 90% of the time. They do love to play in their water bowls though :-).

There are some new photos and videos up under the 7th week. Most of them are swimming shots due to the heat but I've also got some shots of the pups playing in the puppy yard and even doing the slide. Down at the water, you will hear them whining in the videos--the process of being left on the bank is stressful for them. I try to monitor their stress; I don't want it to be too much (I've made that mistake in the past) but I want to teach them to feel stess and handle it. Every puppy swam that day except Mr Brown. However, he swam the next day. They each develop at their own pace.

The slide is a favorite developmental activity for our pups. The process of doing the slide is complicated for a puppy--they have to find the up ramp, cross the crate and part of the wire grate, then climb up on the slide and, with courage, go down it. We make a big deal out of them going down so soon they want to do it over and over. They try climbing back up the slide but they can't do that. They try climbing onto the grate but they can't do that either. It takes some teaching over Week 7 and 8 but soon they have put the whole sequence together. Most love it--Dreamer will still do it today if you ask her and she can barely fit her butt on the slide anymore.

Well, it appears I talked myself out of whining. Have a good day! I'm off to take another shower!

Gayle

Summer Fun

2009-08-17T17:19:00.009-05:00

I decided that it is just too darn hot to do anything serious today. Now, I know you are thinking "What serious things could puppies possibly do?" Well, we have lots on our list this week. Things like bird introductions and evaluations but the birds are too hot and so are the rest of us. The pups hunkered down on the cool slate floor after their walk and breakfast. They woke up briefly for lunch but with temps still in the low 90s, they went back to their siesta until 5 PM.

At 5, I decided it was time for fun for everyone so we all headed back down to the creek. I like puppies to see adult dogs swimming a lot since I think it affects how they see the world so I figured even if they didn't swim, the pups would cool off and watch the other dogs swim. In addition, they could have some summer fun--playing in the shady grass, wading or swimming in Clove Brook, mucking around in the mud, chewing on sticks and, the best fun in the world, digging.

Well, they did all of this and more. There are photos and videos posted. WARNING! You won't see clean, fluffy pups in the pictures. Instead, you'll see wet, muddy, grassy, happy puppies. I'll try to remember to take a picture later tonight because they will be dry *and clean* by 8 PM. They have my favorite kind of coats--truly wash and wear!

Once we were all cooled off but before the mosquitoes ate us alive, I decided we needed to do edge and stair training. I believe that given the opportunity, puppies at this age can learn to discern the danger of edges and can make reasonably good decisions regarding getting off of things. That is one of the reasons that we have the crate jungle gym in the puppy pen. On it, they learn they can fall off of things, in addition to assessing differences in height and see-through footings. This must be innate in dogs if we get them off of flat surfaces and give them the chance to learn.

Today it was time to take the lesson out of the pen to our rock walls and stairs. I'm sure these multi-level patios were built for other reasons but they are also great for teaching pups about these concepts. It is particularly important here because our woods have many extremely high cliffs, stream banks and walls that can be a danger to naive puppies. You can see the pups tackling the stairs and walls in the videos. Like all pups, they learned that going up is much easier than going down so you'll see the pups going down are like salmon swimming against the tide of their littermates.

I think that's about it for today. Signing off from hot and humid Cold Spring.

Gayle

Whew, it is H-O-T!

2009-08-16T14:40:00.003-05:00

It took summer a long time to get here this year but it has arrived with a vengeance. We are having another 90+ degree day and the pups are hot! Looks like the next few days will be the same so we are settling into a South American routine. Get up early. Do all we can till it gets hot. Snooze until evening. Then rock and roll till quite late.

This morning, we walked the pups down to the stream, Clove Brook. It was their first introduction to swimming water. They all waded and three boys--Green, Blue and Red--went for a real swim. We then walked through the marsh and the pups got to play in the mud. That is such a favorite for all of our litters that we always do it, even if it means clean up afterwards. When we got back, we decided to snap their 6-week photos even though they were wet and dirty. Most importantly, they were tired so we could stack them easily :-). Stacked photos and swimming videos are up under 7 Weeks.

The pups have had quite a few visitors this week. Most fun was our neighbor Laura and her friends Ann and Raven. Laura is sponsoring Raven for a few weeks through the Fresh Air Fund. When Raven walked in the door, she was afraid of big dogs. When she walked out, she had played with all the pups, teaching Mr Green to "swim" in the pups' pool and giving Miss Sienna belly rubs. It was a pleasure to meet such a lovely young lady and introduce her to our dogs.

The pups had to say goodbye to my mom this morning. She has been a huge help with the pups since before the Reunion. I had a very demanding work week this past week and she carried on through that, giving me lots of comfort that the pups were being cared for when I was off working.

Lots of photos and videos are posted. Enjoy!

Did you miss me?

2009-08-14T20:12:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in 9 or 10 days. I'm sorry if you have missed me and the pups. The Gaylan's Field Reunion was amazing, awesome. I missed the pups but it was a wonderful experience watching 37 goldens, from 5 months to 8 years, working in the field. But, I digress. Back to the pups.

My mother and Amanda held down the fort while I was away at the Reunion and this week while I had to work pretty heavy hours. They did a great job keeping the pups' schedule going. We moved the pups to the big puppy pen with the outdoor yard before I left. Mom and Amanda started taking them out into the various parts of our property while we are away--they went to the patio and into the agility field.

Despite the heat, we took the pups on their first woods walk today. They did a wonderful job, following their mom and Corey for a 20-minute walk through the woods. They all followed well and boldly. They started solving their first problems with logs and rocks. They had a great time smelling the new smells, carrying leaves and getting aquainted with the woods. Risk wasn't too thrilled to meander through the woods but she'll survive--she'd had two other runs in the woods earlier today so she isn't suffering.

Most of the pups are now 8 pounds so they are growing like weeds. They are good eaters, scarfing down chicken, turkey, lamb and beef. We'll start on the exotic protein sources next week.

Oh, the pups also went on their first car ride last week when they had to go to my vet's for microchipping and blood draws for the PRA DNA test. Poor babies cried during the procedures but did a great job on the trips and hanging out at Dr Jim's. No one was car sick and aside from singing along with the music :-), they were a pleasure to travel with.

Come visit if you are able. They are at a terrific age although I'd recommend you wear slip on shoes without shoe laces :-). New photos and videos are posted. Thanks!

Surprise and Farewell!

2009-08-04T20:04:00.004-05:00

I woke up this morning thinking that all I had to do today was to organize everything for my mom to stay with the pups and Risk, pack the car, and wrap up work for the week. I am leaving tomorrow morning for the Gaylan's Field Seminar and Reunion in MD and will be gone for 5 days. It's not often that I leave puppies at this age but it was a matter of scheduling. I had to book the property for reunion before Risk came in season so I guessed when the pups would be born. My big fear was that the pups would be 7-9 weeks old during the reunion; at that age I simply cannot leave a litter. From 4 1/2 to 5 weeks, they are still pretty easy to handle so when Risk came in season and I calculated the whelping date, I asked my mom if she'd be willing to hold the fort down while I went away. Brave soul that she is, she said "Yes!"

Over the past few days, we've gone over the schedule and all was under control...until this morning. Risk finished her breakfast, climbed into the puppy pen and regurgitated for the pups. They dove in and enthusiastically cleaned up her breakfast in minutes. So much for all of my plans which did NOT include Mom feeding the pups solid food.

We decide when to introduce solid food based on three criteria: the dam's condition, the pups' growth ,and whether their dam is regurgitating for them. Two of these criteria pushed me to feed the pups earlier than normal. Typically we wait until the pups are 5 1/2 weeks old but Risk is struggling to maintain her weight, even on 6 pounds of food per day. The pups' weights are fine but I'm a great believer that dams know a lot, both about how their pups are thriving but also how their own body is doing. This morning, Risk made the feeding decision for me by giving the pups her breakfast.

We fed the pups Bravo ground chicken blend tonight and they dove in, eating 1.5 pounds of food in a few minutes. Tomorrow they will take on 4.5 pounds, 10 percent of the litter's combined weight. I'll bet they finish it all! Risk will continue to nurse the pups until she decides she is done; if she is like her dam and granddam, she will nurse the pups until they go home, which we think is very healthy for the pups.

I won't be blogging for the next five days but Mom has said she'll give it a try so stay tuned for her observations and insights on the pups. Photos and video will be going up, too. In fact, there are some posted from today. Enjoy and I'll see you when I get back.

Holy Cow!

2009-08-03T09:50:00.004-05:00

I've been remarking to visitors how good the 4th of July litter has been--quiet and sweet. Hah! They were just faking me out. They turned into little hellions this morning. Howling, hanging onto the x-pen begging to get out, screaming when their mom walked by. Whew! I was exhausted by 8 AM!

Naturally, they did this the first morning my mother was here. Mom is here to take care of the pups while the other dogs and I are at the Gaylan's Reunion and Field Seminar in MD this weekend. Before she arrived, I'd told her not to worry, the pups were easy. I should never have said that!

There is good news. The pups are terrific at using the litter box, probably hitting it 90% of the time when they are in the puppy pen. They aren't so good when they are out loose but that will come. They are taking all of the new experiences we offer in stride. Although we've done things like vacuum around them since they were born but as their senses become more developed, these experiences are new again and again. They are inquisitive about everything and bravely find their way in and out of every spot in the dining room and kitchen. (Check out the photo of Miss Sienna in the toy/dog bed stack. She got herself in and back out again.)

Send energetic thoughts are way as we start into the active phase of these pups' time with us. I think we are going to need it!

More photos and video are uploaded. Let us know which is your favorite--"Like this."

Squirrels, Stacking and 'Sploring!

2009-08-02T09:59:00.007-05:00

Over the years, our dams have regularly hunted for their pups. Both Abbi and Lily caught rabbits for their babies. In the Gamebird litter photo archives is a wonderful photo that Lise got of Bizzy standing at the door with a dead squirrel in her mouth. She was determined to get that squirrel in to her pups. We had a repeat of that very same experience yesterday. I was working on the pool when Risk ran by at the head of a golden parade. In her mouth was a squirrel and hot on her heels were Una, Dreamer and Corey.

Unlike Lise, I didn't think to get a photo as I got control over the gang and avoided Risk who was trying to give me that squirrel. Yuck! When we got to the house she was became quite determined to take it in to the pups. Normally very obedient, she initially would not give me the squirrel. Nothing like standing there for what seemed like five minutes holding onto a dead squirrel waiting for your dog to release it. (Not to worry, I put my work gloves on before attempting this.) Risk finally regained her senses and gave me her prize. I love owning hunting dogs but there are days that they try me.

Amanda and I stacked the pups on the table for the first time this morning. It's always interesting to see how pups handle this event. Some litters hit the deck of the table and won't stand for a few sessions. Not this crew! I put them down and they stood immediately. They really liked the vanilla yogurt we used to guide them into a stand. Some did it well, just like little show dogs, some not so well but all had a great first session. Enjoy their photos under the 5-week photo page.

All of the pups are running now and we've had our first puppy tiffs so they are growing up. The tiffs are typical sibling squabbles where they struggle for the best sleeping areas and favorite toys. However, this is the beginning of learning how to inhibit their bite. I can promise you, they are now armed and dangerous with those puppy teeth. Whew! We'll go through three weeks of progressively stronger bites until at 8 weeks, they finally learn to control their mouths. If you come to visit in the meantime, wear long pants and sleeves :-).

When we first turned the pups loose in the dining room a week ago, they would toddle only eight or so feet from the pen. Now they have taken over the dining room and kitchen and, if we didn't close doors, they'd be all over the first floor. Tomorrow they get to explore the screen porch, their future home, for the first time. There are a few new videos of their romps under 5-week videos.

So Much to Tell

2009-08-01T13:37:00.006-05:00

It has been a busy day for the pups so I have lots to tell you. The most exciting thing is that the pups are now recognizing and responding to people. For the first time, when I came down this morning, they came running over to me. I've been greeting them from the back of the pen so they have to get into the litter box to get to me. That has only been moderately successful even as recently as last night. But today they can see, hear and locate people and, equally exciting, they want to! Eight of the nine of them ran over to me and pottied in the litter this morning. Big YAY! (The last pup just couldn't hold it so ran over after her business :-). )

Today was also their first trip outside. It was a sunny, warm day with low humidity so I knew they would be comfortable. The grass was still wet from yesterday's rain but they would only get a little damp so I decided to get them out. My new puppy assistant, Amanda helped me haul the litter outside to the yard onto the grass. They played for about 7 or 8 minutes before crashing all over the yard. When puppies need to sleep, they sleep no matter where they are. We got lots of photos and some video so check out Week 5.

My puppy development plan also requires changing the footing in the box today to introduce the pups to another novel experience. I didn't exactly use a novel item but it sure was fun watching them explore this new part of their environment. Those photo and video are also in Week 5.

I also added some final pictures and video to the Week 4 folder. You can get an idea of how big the pups have become. Go back to the Week 1 video and photo folders to remind yourself how very small the pups were when we started this adventure only one month ago.

Boy, Are They Cute!

2009-07-31T06:45:00.007-05:00

Well, the Cute Factor in this house is going by the hour. Not that Andy and the adult dogs aren't cute but the 4th of July Gang are cuter than most of us can stand. This is such a wonderful period in our time with our pups. They are becoming little individuals who spend their waking moments playing or exploring but they haven't yet developed the sharp teeth, loud voices, blazing speed and intense curiosity that make slightly older pups the challenges they are. Now, we get to enjoy every moment with them!

The pups are having regular human visitors each day, a key part of our socialization program. So far, they have met over 35 different people and that number will go up rapidly as the pups become more active. Corey and Dreamer have also become an important part of their socialization. Corey is a favorite aunt because she lets the pups climb all over her, pulling on her tail and ears. Dreamer is like the favorite older cousin because she loves to play with them. She is also learning to help me find the pups when they crawl under the furniture. There is a cute sequence of photos of her telling my Mr Red was under a cabinet. On the other hand, Una ignores the pups because they can't throw a tennis ball. Some grandmother she is!

The puppies are enjoying the x-pen and are doing a great job learning to use the litter area. Yeah! We had them out playing in the dining room yesterday and two of the boys actually made their way back into the pen to potty in the litter. They got yesterday's Gold Stars because the rest of the litter just climbed on the Big Dog's bed and peed there :-{. Two steps forward, one step back.

I have to tell one funny story before I leave you. One of our pups' favorite items is a cat bed cube. It's a hollow, cloth-covered, foam cube that has a hole in one side so they can go in and take a nap. I put it in the pen yesterday because they are now coordinated enough to get in and out. I loved watching them all come over to check it out. They played and napped in it throughout the day.

At 2 AM, I woke to howling and yapping. I lay in bed for a while, thinking Risk would go down and feed the pups. However, the noise went on and on. At 2:15 AM, I decided to go find out what the problem was. I found Risk in the pen nursing the pups. Yet, there was still a howling puppy. Then I realized that the cat bed had rolled over onto its door so there was a puppy stuck inside. I roll it back over and out pops Mr Red, quite upset about the delay in his feeding schedule. He threw a short hissy fit as he roared into the midst of his littermates looking for a free nipple. Once he accomplished this, all was calm for the rest of the night.

More photos and videos are posted. Enjoy! And come visit!

New Digs

2009-07-28T08:58:00.006-05:00

We moved the pups into the x-pen on Sunday. They were a little stressed initially but after Risk got into the pen with them, they decided the new digs were A-OK. As you can see from this photo, the x-pen is actually two connected pens with a huge potty area, small sleeping area and benches so Risk has free acess to the pups.

They are having fun with more space and toys in the x-pen but particularly love being turned loose in the dining room while I clean the pen. Of course, before I clean all they want OUT but once I put them out, inevitably one or two want back IN. This crew is pretty determined so I usually have "help" while I'm cleaning. I don't worry too much because we clean with vinegar and hydrogen pyroxide; there is nothing to hurt them and the vinegar makes them sneeze so they head back to their buddies shortly.

At the moment, the litter's nickname is "the little pissers." I'll let you guess why but suffice it to say that I knew we were moving them early. I have found that the need to stay clean does not start to develop until 3 1/2 weeks at the earliest. At that point, the pups begin moving away from their sleeping/play areas to find a good potty spot. Before then, well they just go when they need to. Hence their new nickname.

The pups are growing well though their weight gains slowed with the move. More space means more calories burned. However, a few have hit 4 pounds and everyone is over 3 by a bit.

I've posted some new video of their new home and playing in the dining room, as well as photos of them playing. When they first wake up, it is a melee. They mill in a mass, grabbing each other by the ears, muzzle, tail or anything else they can get a hold of. They make me laugh!

First Over the Wall

2009-07-26T08:52:00.010-05:00

Bet you are thinking, "What the heck does Gayle mean by that blog title?" Well, in 1989, Andy and I were stationed in Germany while the Berlin wall was falling. Realizing that we were living in the middle of history in the making, we headed for Berlin to see its amazing transformation. Night and day, the city rang with the sound of hammers and picks dismantling the wall. My memories are of the constant din, lights by the wall at 3 AM, impromtu parties and a city filled with energy. One of the sights that I remember is of the Brandenburg Gate festooned with a large banner claiming "Saatchi and Saatchi, First Over the Wall." This global advertising firm got a lot of free publicity from that banner but what did that sign really mean in terms of quality and future performance? In my opinion, nothing. They just happened to have a quick printer at the right place at the right time.

I often remember that sign as I talk to people about puppies. Most folks want to know which puppy was first to do things. Who was first out of the whelping box? Who was first to figure out the dog door? Who climbed the jungle gym first? I know some breeders give creedance to "firsts" but I'm not one of them. Similarly, I do not give creedance to "lasts." Being first for puppies is more often the result of being at the right place at the right time than of any individual characteristic or ability. Being last may simply be that pup is putting more energy into growing than into acting.

I actually take this a step further and do not commit to the virtues or weaknesses of an individual puppy until they are 7 1/2 to 8 weeks old. Many buyers think I'm being coy or playing my cards close to my vest but that is not the case. I firmly believe that puppies have to have the opportunity to develop at their own pace in their own way. Some do it more quickly than others but that doesn't mean they don't all get to the same place. I've had pups that appeared dynamite, bold and active at 5 weeks and by 8 weeks were timid and quiet. More often, I see pups that appear almost dull at an early age who turn out to be fabulous, eye-catching 8-week olds. I can clearly remember truly annoying, whiney pups that I couldn't wait to send to their new homes that became amazing working dogs, that will remain some of my favorite dogs of all time.

I write this to caution you against selecting favorites early on. If I say that a pup or two did something "first," take it as information but not a commitment. I also warn you that if I don't have an equal number of photos or videos of the pups, it means nothing. I simply take photos when I can and post them as soon as possible for you to enjoy. There is little editing, no plan and no ulterior motives.

All of that is a lead in to where the 4th of July crew is now. At the moment, they are still in the whelping box but in a few hours they are moving downstairs into the exercise pen. At 3 weeks, they are ready to see the world and are making every effort to do so. Mr Red and Miss Yellow have already gone exploring. Mr Purple and Mr Blue are almost "over the wall" and the rest of the pups are not far behind. So, we are transitioning them a few days earlier than most of my recent litters but they clearly need more stimulation than we can give them in the whelping box.

The x-pen goes in our dining room so they move into the middle of the family action. Risk is very much ready for this--she is bored and lonely by herself in the box and is completely comfortable with the other dogs around her babies. The x-pen will have a large potty area which will begin the pups housebreaking, a sleeping area and lots of things to explore and play with. All of the dogs will be able to get in and spend time with the babies, if they wish. I'll take pictures of the new set up tonight or tomorrow but in the meantime, have posted the last few videos and photos of the pups in the whelping box.

Musings on Puppyhood

2009-07-24T07:21:00.008-05:00

I was having my first cup of coffee this morning while watching the pups nurse and play. I found myself enjoying them and their antics on two levels. The first is the most common and can be summed up in one word--CUTE! Most human beings respond to young animals like puppies with warm hearts and almost parental love. We just dissolve into smiling puddles and, in doing so, we color everything they do with sweetness and innocence.

However, I think my second view is more realistic. Each time I raise a litter, I see Mother Nature in all of her perfection. Cute as they are, these pups are fighting for their lives with a take-no-prisoners mentality. They fight for the best nipple, the best sleeping place. They do not care about their brothers and sisters except as competitors or as warm bodies. As they begin to play, they do so with a self-centered singlemindedness. They don't care that their sibling is sound asleep, they want to PLAY NOW! Puppy sweetness has an edge.

Mother Nature also creates a perfect dance of dam and puppies that is beautiful to watch as it develops and evolves. At their best, dams present perfectly timed challenges to their puppies to help them make the next developmental leap. For the first few days, dams are devoted mothers, hardly leaving their babies for more than a minute or two. At this time, they are everything to their pups--food, warmth, cleanliness. The challenges the pups face during these early days come not from their mother but from each other and the environment. Being too cold, too hot or too far from their mom can be fatal. Yet in their struggles to nurse, they violently shove and push their siblings, trying to win the battle for food and warmth.

Within a few days, the dam is leaving her pups for short periods so they learn to "pig pile," or monitor their body temperature by piling together or moving further apart. Her absences force them to move their bodies and use their senses.

Many visitors and novice breeders are shocked at the roughness with which dams clean their babies. Normally gentle mothers flip their pups over on their backs, often holding them down with a paw while they scrub their bellies and genitals with their tongues. Voila! The introduction of stress into the lives of these young creatures. In 30 years, I've never seen a puppy injured in this process but I've seen visitors gasp in shock and near-anger at the dam's actions.

Dams also change their nursing positions as their pups develop. Some change can be attributed to increasing puppy size; at some point, the pups no longer fit while the dam is lying down. But most dams start sitting even with small litters. When their mom is sitting, pups develop coordination and strength. They have to see the nipple above them, get their mouth to the right place and then maintain their position while nursing. No easy task when you are only 14 days old but at least you can lean against your dam's legs or belly.

That brings us to where the 4th of July gang are in their development. Apparently, it is time to stand while nursing. Risk started this yesterday and it was amazing to see the pups struggle to accomplish this very difficult task. None of them can reach the nipples except by standing on their tiptoes and dangling from the nipple. However, the process of trying is fine tuning their coordination; they have to locate that nipple while balancing on their hind legs and then they have to be strong enough to stay on. The pups are developing strength, coordination and balance. It is a very difficult, if not impossible, task but they are very motivated to solve this problem. Risk changes her nursing positions throughout the day--sometimes lying, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing. Everyone gets fed but they work extremely hard doing so.

Life for dogs is about problem solving and their puppyhood is the foundation for developing this skill. We often want to intervene and make life easy for them but that is a topic for another blog. In the meantime, the next time you are enthralled by a litter of puppies or kittens, look a littler more closer to see the dance of life and growth taking place before you.

I'll be offline for a few days so enjoy today's photos and video. More by Monday.

They Can Hear!

2009-07-22T22:14:00.004-05:00

I wasn't going to post tonight but I came into the room this afternoon, saying "Hello Pups" and all of the puppies woke up. I tried again tonight after teaching and, sure enough, they all roused. So, their ears are open, their eyes are working and they can walk. This is what we've been waiting for but boy, are we in trouble now.

Mr Brown is in great shape, gaining weight and though not totally healed, getting close. Raz continues to gain, even she is still the small fry. Everyone else is over 3 pounds.

I posted more photos and a brief video. All the pups are crashed or crashing because I'd just given them their Albon, treatment for diarrhea. It tastes horrible and so it's a tough time for them. I mix it with some yogurt but it doesn't cover the bitterness. I wish I didn't have to do it but, like cod liver oil for kids in the '30s, it's for their own good. However, they do sleep afterwards.

Off to bed!

I Couldn't Resist

2009-07-22T08:58:00.004-05:00

I posted this earlier but it doesn't appear to have made it up so here I go again. My aplogies if it is a duplicate.

Wednesdays are very busy here so I wasn't going to post this morning but I couldn't resist. As Risk gets increasingly bored with hanging out in the whelping box, she politely asks me to stay with her while she feeds the pups first thing. I'm fine with that request because I can have my coffee, check my email and watch the Today show while the pups nurse. Today, I also wanted to make sure the Little Guys (Raz, Brown, Black) got more to eat than the Big Three (Blue, Green, Purple). So, the Big Guys went to the other side of the box so they had to find their way back to Mom while the little ones got themselves situated and filled up.

One by one the pups drank their fill and headed off to the corners of the whelping box to get some sleep. Well, everyone except for Miss Yellow. Apparently, breakfast inspires this little one so she was ready to play. I grabbed the camera and got some video and still shots of her at play. She rolled the ball, grabbed the toys and did everything she could think of to get her littermates to play, to no avail.

These clips give you an idea of how much the pups have developed--they are walking on all fours, they can poke and grab things with their mouths and they can wag their tails. They still can't hear well but that is coming. Last night there was someone singing on the TV and suddenly about half the pups started howling in their sleep. Sorry I couldn't get a video of that but the camera battery was being recharged. I hate it when that happens!

So, enjoy little Miss Yellow's play time. Dreamer was hanging over the box, wanted desperately to join in on the fun but restraining herself (maybe she is growing up). The rest of the gang was sleeping sweetly.

Good Day

2009-07-21T20:59:00.006-05:00

Things are back under control so today was a good day. Mr Brown got a good report from Dr Jim. The wound is healing well and Mr B has started gaining weight again. He and Miss Raspberry are neck and neck but not far behind the rest of the gang, who are all at 3 pounds. They are plump and solid pups. When they are awake, they are quite active. Both Risk and I are quite grateful that they aren't awake that much :-).

Everyone's digestive tracts have calmed down so clean up requirements have slowed. Risk remains vigalent but can relax sometimes now. She is looking for more to do so we spent some time retrieving this evening. That made everyone happy.

Biosensor wrapped up yesterday. As the pups eyes and ears open, there is no need to add stress to their lives. A world full of sights and sounds is enough. We still have a few more days of scents to introduce but that will end soon, too. Guess I'd better get that duck back out tomorrow night.

New photos and videos are up. Enjoy!

Let the Games Begin!

2009-07-20T13:05:00.008-05:00

The pups are truly awake now, they have started playing a lot. It's great to watch them as they stagger around trying to grab each other, miss, fall over and try again. Their eyes are seeing better and better and sounds are getting some response so the ears are opening. They can smell their mom arrive at the top of the stairs so the noses are really working well.

I am having fun with a puppy playmat that Melissa Fairweather turned me on to. You can see it in one of the videos. They are a little young for it but they had a great time sniffing all the pieces. The big duck is a favorite for grabbing, climbing and snuggling.

Stools seem to be tightening up, thank goodness. Everyone but Mr Brown gained weight last night. Since he is busy healing, I know he'll be fine. The abscess is clearing up nicely. All in all, today is a much better day :-).

Enjoy the new videos and a few photos. The room is almost fully light so we'll be back to taking photos soon.

The Runs Ain't No Fun

2009-07-19T16:29:00.004-05:00

Friday morning I was thinkng that this litter sure was going smoothly. Hah! I should never have even let that thought enter my head. First, there was Mr Brown's abscess Friday and Saturday. Then, today the pups woke up with diarrhea. Sorry to have a poop conversation on here but it is a fact of life with pups. Now we are ending the day with hot puppies and hot puppies are unhappy pups. All of the adult dogs and I are ensconced with the pups in the whelping room with the air conditioning on high and all cracks and crevices blocked. The pups have frozen 2-liter bottles in their pen with them so they can lean against them to cool off. The temperature in the room is finally coming down below 80 and the pups are quieting down.

On the positive side, all eyes are open and they are beginning to see us approach--Andy, their mom, the other dogs and me. They have really started playing with each other. I'd noticed a few pups doing this two days ago but it was very brief. I got some video of most of the gang up and about--making little grabs at each other and even some of the toys in the pen.

I've uploaded more videos and photos. The photos from today are pretty dark because I don't want to use flash. We are introducing light into the room so within a few days, we'll have lots of photos.

A Mr Brown Update. Mr Brown is having a good day. He doesn't like the banana-flavored antibiotic but I can get most of it down him. I'm giving him a yogurt-DynaPro-Phytomucil mixture I make to compensate for the loss of good bacteria in his gut. That he likes a lot :-). His neck, though daunting to look at, is clean and open so we are hoping to see healing start later this week.

Off to do more cleaning. There is nothing like pups with diarrhea to keep you tied to home for clean-up duty. Thankfully, they are active, nursing well and gaining wait so I don't think this is anything to worry about.

Rough Day

2009-07-18T17:31:00.002-05:00

I always say that every litter teaches me something. Sometimes it's those hard life lessons, like not all babies can or should survive. Sometimes it's just opportunities for personal growth, like learning patience or not to judge too soon. Sometimes it's actually fun things. Well, at the moment, we are learning that life can be fragile and can change quickly.

Don't worry, we still have 9 pups and Risk but Mr Brown is a sick boy at the moment. We aren't sure what happened yesterday but I'm suspecting that he got bitten by a spider. At 4 PM, a number of us were playing with the pups and he was fine. At 8:30 PM, I checked on him and almost passed out. His neck was so hugely swollen that he couldn't lower his chin. He looked like he had a truly terrible case of the mumps. A quick call to my vet to get guidance for the evening and we were set, although for a rather sleepless and restless night. Mr Brown acted fine, nursing and crawling, but he clearly had something serious going on.

Risk went to work on him, obsessing over his neck. It became clear after a while that this was an abscess of some sort with small bruise mark on the side of his neck. By midnight, Risk had ruptured the abscess and the swelling had diminished immensely. However, this left a pretty significant hole in Mr Brown's neck. We all made it through the night and headed for my vet's this morning where his poor neck was shaved, squeezed, flushed, packed and so on. It was rough on all of us but it had to be done.

He's back home now with his littermates and acting like nothing is wrong. He's nursing well and certainly active in the box. The hole in his neck is pretty startling to look at but is clean and does not look at all infected. We have four days of treatments to give him and then we'll go back to see Dr Jim on Tuesday.

I did get a video up of the litter as of this morning. I'll get some photos up tomorrow. In the meantime, think positive thoughts for this little guy.

Things to Come?

2009-07-16T09:53:00.005-05:00

Hmmm, I'm wondering if last night was a preview of things to come. The pups were noisy, noisy, NOISY last night. I kept going in to check on them and all was well, they just had a lot to say. Even Risk looked fed up with them at 4:30 AM. Andy got up this morning telling me we were moving them downstairs this weekend. I know he was kidding since we don't do that till they are 3 to 3.5 weeks old, but I am also a little tempted. They aren't big, but they sure can make a lot of noise when they want to.

Aside from being vocal, the pups are growing well; each is putting on 2-3 ounces per day. They are sleek and solid. Even Miss Raspberry is now 1#11 ounces. They are on their third set of collars and no longer can fit under Risk to nurse so she is sitting up more and more. She was tired today so she ended up lying on the pig rail so as not to crush any pups. I've seen a lot of dams in my day but I've never seen one so aware of her pups. She really is something.

Yesterday's Scent of the Day was duck and I'll confess, these little hunting dawgs were decidedly unimpressed. Only one pup buried its nose in the duck. The rest sniffed briefly and turned away, refusing to go back to it. This is a very different response from the pheasant and grouse, which they just breathed in. Pigeon didn't interest them but it wasn't really avoidance, just boredom. So, we'll do duck a few more times to see if we can pique their interest.

The pups are enjoying the toys in the pen. I find them draped over or curled under them each time I go in. Here is a photo of them piled on the newest toy. They crack me up when I put them back in the pen after cleaning--the vinegar makes them sneeze but the new sheepskin is so fascinating to them that they look like a Fabreeze commercial with their noses buried in the new bedding.

New Photos and video are up in the Week 2 folders.

New Photos and Video

2009-07-15T09:45:00.003-05:00

Wednesdays are quite busy around here so I decided to get some photos and videos uploaded early. We've been adding stuffed toys to the whelping box to stimulate the pups sense of touch and to give them some challenges moving around. They have decided they love the big duck. We find them draped over the top of it, snuggled around it and generally having a great time wiit it. Even Risk is appreciating having a pillow in the box :-).

Enjoy!

The Eyes Have It!

2009-07-14T13:44:00.003-05:00

We are beginning to see the pups' eyes so we won't be taking many photos for the next few days since we don't want to flash to bother their eyes. I will get some video up tomorrow. I've reorganized the photos and videos for those of you whose computers can't handle video. You can see the links on the right side of this page.

The pups are growing well; all but three have reached 2 pounds and the others, except for little Miss Raspberry, are not far behind. However, she may be small but she is no pushover.

One Week Old!

2009-07-12T09:23:00.005-05:00

OK, I've been trying for two days to get this post on line. I'm pretty frustrated with Google at the moment but am posting it without the video. I'll get the video up somewhere else. Argh!

The 4th of July crew is now one week old. They have all doubled their birthweights and are up on all fours, though pretty rocky. We haven't seen any evidence of their eyes opening but expect to see that over the next few days. The eyes open gradually from the inside corner out. It's exciting when you see that first glint of the puppy within! Once open, pups' eyes continue to develop over the next two months. They are pretty far-sighted at first, looking much like Mr Magoo. Risk continues to be a fabulous mother. She now switches between nursing lying down and sitting up, depending upon how many pups are nursing at one time. She is keeping the pups spotless and is very relaxed with them. She does love having visitors though :-). Terri and Dave Leafsteadt flew up from NC to meet the pups, Risk and the rest of us. It was a fun, if short visit. I've uploaded more photos to the photo page, as well as some videos. Here is a video of Mr Purple's Biosensor experience last evening. Remember, we do Biosensor on the pups to strengthen their adrenal system and thus there ability to handle stress as adults. We also introduce novel scents to them at this age to strengthen their scenting ability at an early age.

Everything is A-OK!

2009-07-09T20:26:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted on the blog. Everything is going well with Risk and the pups, it's just been very busy around here. The pups are growing quickly--most are closing in on 1 1/2 pounds with Miss Raspberry bringing up the rear at just over a pound. They are sleek, solid, round little things. Risk continues to be an amazing mom, very aware of where her pups are and what they need.

We have been doing Biosensor exercises for three days now and have also introduced new scents to them. They had grouse wings the first day and pheasant the second. I've never seen pups do this before but three of them actually grabbed the wings with their mouths. We'll have to see what that means in the future. (I will add that the hardest thing about doing the wings with the pups is keeping their darn mother from grabbing the wings.)

For such an active litter, they are very quiet during the Biosensor exercises. No one fights it and most just relax. Hard to believe since I am holding them upside down :-). They range widely in their reaction to the cold pie plate. The fastest pup was out of the pie plate in 4 seconds and the slowest took 2 1/2 minutes. I promise to get this on video soon.

I've added new video and photos to the Week 1 album. Enjoy!

Some of Us are Tired!

2009-07-07T17:54:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's only Day 4 and some of us, namely Andy and I, are very tired. The pups, primarily Miss Yellow, were very noisy last night and Risk was antsy today so it's been 36 hours of little sleep around here. Despite our yawns, the pups are doing well, gaining weight and really moving around. Risk is taking great care of them although she is starting to spend more time away from the whelping box. She has joined the other dogs in their daily retrieving and swimming sessions for the last two days and really enjoyed herself.

Risk is also getting a little more comfortable with Dreamer careening into the whelping room. Una and Corey are so polite and respectful while one-year old Dreamer enters the room like Kramer on Seinfeld. "Here I am!" She is intrigued by the pups but isn't allowed too close (by either Risk or me).

Today we start Biosensor exercises on the pups and give them their first pedicure. We add two additional exercises to the traditional Biosensor program: we introduce a novel scent each day and we time them getting off of a cool pie plate. Today's novel scent object is quail wings. I'll videotape the exercises either today or tomorrow and post them for you soon.

Day 3--All is Well

2009-07-06T10:34:00.007-05:00

Another quiet night here. Risk is proving to be one of the best dams we've ever had. I only had to teach her once about being careful getting in and out of the whelping box and she has it down. She is attentive to the pups although last night she did want to come down and join the family after dinner. I think she was getting bored and lonely so we all moved into the whelping room to watch a movie. Risk was much happier and Andy looked like he was having a good time, too.

All the pups have gained a little weight since birth but we should start seeing bigger gains now. All the umbilical cords have dried up and fallen off. Tails are starting to wag while nursing. Barks burst out of them occasionally but most of the time they are peaceful and quiet. I did see something I'd never seen before yesterday--Miss Sienna was scratching her ear with her hind leg. Although that is common for older dogs to do, I had never seen a two-day old puppy do such a thing. They are not very coordinated at this age so it was impressive. I'll try to catch it on tape if it happens again.

Corey, Una and Dreamer asked to come visit this morning. I've attached a photo of Corey at the door, asking permission. Of course, one-year old Dreamer didn't know what was in the room so just barged in. Once she got in, she realized that she was on thin ice. She stared with amazement then backed out of the room. Risk is watching them carefully but I suspect they will be helping out with the pups soon.

Here is a video of Risk and the pups from this morning.

Quiet Night

2009-07-05T09:02:00.005-05:00

Risk and the Patriots had a quiet first night together. Risk is a mother much like her grandmother, Flyer--calm, patient, attentive without being obsessive. She is learning to be careful of the pups when she moves around the box and lies down. She is cleaning them well and has lots of milk. Here is a shot of Mr Green nursing on his back, all four feet in the air. He's a pretty relaxed boy.

Risk is getting lots of sleep which enabled me to get a little sleep last night. The pups squeak, mew and even bark but they were generally quite happy last night. The weather certainly helped--the humidity is gone and the temperature was around 68. They cuddled up next to their mom and were as happy as could be.

Rosie is still here helping out, which is a real gift since I'm usually tied to the whelping room for days. I think Risk loves having both of us here--it hasn't been often in her life that this has happened.

Before I head back to the pups to get everyone weighed, etc., here are a few more photos: on the left, the entire happy family and on the right, a head shot of Miss Yellow.

The Firecrackers are here!

2009-07-04T13:14:00.007-05:00

Risk decided to celebrate the 4th of July in a big way. She presented us with nine pups, 5 boys and 4 girls. After a restless night, Risk told me around 6:15 AM that she was ready. At 7:35 AM, Mr Green arrived weighing 14 oz. His brother, Mr Light Blue (14.75 oz) joined him at 8:55 AM. The numbers were balanced with Mistresses Black (14.3 oz) and Raspberry (10.75 oz) arrived together at 9:05 and 9:10 AM. The boys kept coming when Masters Purple (14.25 oz) and Red (14.75 oz) joined the party at 9:41 and 9:47 AM.

Risk took a break for a while before delivering Miss Sienna (13 oz) at 11:20, Mr Brown (15.3 oz) at 11:26 and Miss Yellow (14.75 oz) at 11:38 AM. After her initial shock at delivering Mr Green, Risk has charged into motherhood. All the pups are vigorous and strong. Risk is keeping every clean and warm.

The best part of the whelping was that Rosie Higdon, Risk's co-owner, was able to get here in time to see the last three pups born. Risk smiled a huge grin when Rosie walked in. It was great to see.

Mr Green arrives

Risk taking a break

Stay Tuned

2009-07-03T17:22:00.003-05:00

Risk's temperature has stayed down most of today so I expect we will see pups over the next 24 hours. I'm hoping for a good night's sleep and then a daylight litter but we will see how it goes. Risk did have a good day, with a little retrieving this morning and then a swim in the pool this afternoon. However, at the moment, she is looking pretty uncomfortable. Think positive thougths and I'll let you know how things are going as soon as I can.

Not Today

2009-07-02T12:59:00.005-05:00

Risk continues to progress toward whelping though not quickly. Yesterday, she had a few temps below 99 but then last night and today, her temp went back up. You can see the up-and-down progression she is making on the chart to the right. The 99 mark is indicated by the solid horizontal line. We want to see her temp at least twice below this line. Thus far, she is just teasing us but this is all very normal.

Risk did eat breakfast, though not enthusiastically, but she had no interest in lunch. She is looking pretty full of pups so there can't be much room for food in there. She is still enjoying her walks however and isn't showing any signs of nesting.

I have to remember to pull out Una's files, Risk's dam. If I recall correctly, Una did this same thing and it wasn't until her temp dropped nearly to 98 that things started happening.

So, for now, we wait (and rub her belly for her). I'll try to get a photo of Risk for tomorrow.

99.0 and Counting

2009-07-01T10:12:00.002-05:00

Well, Risk's temperature dropped to 99.0 this morning. It bounced around quite a bit yesterday but she was out field training with us and it was hot and humid, so I wasn't surprised. We may have pups sooner than expected...or we may not. The girls are so unpredictable.

The whelping box is set up and I've got the aero-bed all ready to move into the whelping room. Risk, Andy and I spent some time hanging out in the box last night and she seemed fine with it. Actually, there wasn't much room because Corey, Una and Dreamer wanted to show that they could lie down in the box, too. It's just not big enough for the whole family but everyone having so much fun make Risk very comfortable in it. We'll do that nightly until the pups come just so she doesn't mind being in there. No doubt, she will still insist upon having her pups elsewhere--under a bush, in the closet, on my bed--but once I explain she simply cannot do that, I'm sure she'll be fine with the whelping box.

Risk is still going for walks with the dogs, swimming in the pool and making a valiant effort to catch the squirrels that are eating all the pigeons' food. She has slowed down and doesn't have her usual speed off the mark but she is her normal self. She is pretty big though nowhere near as large as her granddam, Flyer was when she had the West Point litter, all 15 of them!

Getting Ready

2009-06-29T08:49:00.003-05:00

I usually blog once pups are born but I've decided to start the blog early for this litter. Risk is due toward the end of next weekend so preparations are under way. I'm monitoring her temperature four times a day. As she gets closer to whelping (giving birth), her temperature will drop well below normal and stay there for at least 12 hours. A dog's normal temperature is between 100 and 102 F but as the progesterone level drops to trigger whelping, the bitch's temp drops below 99 and stays there for at least two measurements. Yesterday, Risk's temperature was normal but this morning it was 99.6 F. I expect to see fluctuations over the next five days or so as the pups prepare to be born.

Risk also didn't finish her breakfast yesterday, another sign that things are progressing. I've been feeding her quite a bit each meal but now the pups are squishing her stomach so she can't eat as much. We start three meals a day today so she doesn't have to get as much down.

I used the doppler yesterday to check for heartbeats. Risk was so patient as I squeezed ultrasound gel all over her belly. I found 10 heartbeats but am never very confident that I haven't counted one pup twice. Regardless, I got 11 colors of yarn ready today just in case :-).

I'll be setting up the whelping box this afternoon and getting all the gear ready. Showtime is coming!

The Game Bird Litter is here!

2009-02-19T09:32:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted on my blog in a while but I wanted to let you know that the Game Bird litter was born on 2/17/09. They are sired by Goose, Can Ch Gaylan's Born to Fly SH MX MXJ WCX CCA ADHF and are out of Bizzy, Ambertrail's I Am A Wild Party Can WCX. You can see them on their own blog page at gamebirdlitter.blogspot.com.

The Big Move

2008-05-06T20:18:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't been on much lately. I've been sick for quite some time so taking care of the pups and dogs was all I could handle; the blog had to wait. I did have the energy to move the pups to the indoor puppy pen though. They moved downstairs on Sunday evening and hit the ground running. They have more space, which they love, and a potty area, which they are ignoring, and all kinds of new toys. From the instant they were put in the pen, they have been exploring. New smells, sounds and sights entice their curiosity. Corey has free access in and out so they have their mom when they need her. I am still bringing them upstairs at night since it's warmer up here but they are clearly preferring the puppy pen.

Mr Black is gaining on Miss Raspberry--she weighs 4# 3 ounces and he weights 3# 15 ounces. They are both great nursers and Corey is being a sweetheart despite newly arrived baby teeth. The pups are also wagging their tails, pouncing on foreign objects and climbing on people. They are clearly feeling very comfortable in their world.

I've taken a bunch of photos and videos and will try to get them uploaded tomorrow. You'll be amazed at how much they have grown.

Off to bed,

Gayle

The Comedy Crew is Coming!

2008-04-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

While we are having fun with the Dream Team, Dart is getting ready to present us with the Comedy litter. She was bred on Saturday to Joker (hence the litter theme), a wonderful 13-year old Canadian Amateur Field Champion and American-Canadian Master Hunter. The litter is due on June 25. This will be Dart's first litter so we are all very excited.

Three Weeks Old!

2008-04-30T12:13:00.009-05:00

The Dream pups are three weeks old and as you can see, growing by leaps and bounds. Miss Raspberry is now over 3 pounds and Mr Black is just about there. (You can see from the photo above that he doesn't have trouble relaxing :-).) The pups can hear and see relatively well and are up on all four though still pretty wobbly. They sleep 70% of the time and eat 25% of the time so playtime is limited. However, they are starting to interact with toys and each other. People are still big blobs that they can't quite focus on but they are respoding to voices and hands. We'll start their litter box training later this week, once they are more stable on their feet. Corey is keeping up with clean up at the moment so there isn't a rush. They'll move downstairs when they are ready to handle the sights and sounds of family life. They've already met the other dogs, especially Una who has snuck in the box a few times. Una is in a false pregnancy so is pining for puppies. When Corey goes outside, Una will sneak in to nose the puppies. She isn't up for nursing though she certainly has milk. Here is a short video of Miss Raspberry playing with Corey while Mr Black graps some lunch.

They're Growing!

2008-04-23T09:47:00.006-05:00

The Dream Team seems to have turned the corner and have gone from struggling to thriving. It's so wonderful to watch them now. All of our efforts have resulted in fat, happy pups. What a relief!

Miss Raspberry hit 2 pounds this morning, a big milestone. Mr Black is gaining ground and is now at 1 pound 10 ounces. Both pups nurse until they are full rather than running out of energy before they run out of room. Corey, as always is a doting mom, who has enough but not too much milk. Life is finally back to normal!

Both pups have their eyes open now but are pretty myopic. We call this the Mr Magoo stage--they can see but only a little. We are still keeping the room dark to allow their eyes to gradually adapt to the light. Neither can hear yet but that should happen over the next few days.

Corey is still adding "pups" to the whelping box. Yesterday was the day to add toys according to our schedule so Corey is taking this task very seriously. We have the Green "Labrador" (the toy she chose right after Miss Yellow and Miss Red went home), a Christmas reindeer, a gray bear, a birthday cake (she literally chose that the day they were born), a yellow hedgehog, a green bone and now a pheasant (of course). Guess Corey wanted a litter of nine, just like the Wind litter. The pups aren't interacting with the toys yet but will do so over the next few days. I'll try to capture some of their initial play antics on video, if I can.

Speaking of video, I'm posting their first video on the Blog site as soon as I figure out how :-). OK, I can't get the video on the side so here it is:

That's all for now!

Goodbye Misses Red and Yellow

2008-04-20T06:51:00.003-05:00

We said goodbye to our two borrowed pups yesterday. Miss Yellow and Miss Red were reunited with their mom, Schooner, and their littermates after a long trip to Long Island. Neither the pups nor their dam missed a beat and the pups immediately settled down for a meal after we arrived at Sue Carpenter's. It was hard to send these pups home, they were wonderful to have here.

Corey has really missed her two "big uns." She has looked everywhere for them and now walks around the house carrying a big toy and whining softly. I tried explaining where they are to her but she doesn't seem convinced that all is well. She's now bringing toys into the whelping box. The big, green rubber toy appears to be her standin for her two short-coated pups. She even turned down food rather than put down the toy! That is a First for Corey.

Corey's two pups are doing better every day. Hopefully, they are over the hump and will continue to thrive. Miss Raspberry doubled her birthweight yesterday and is now over 1 1/2 pounds. Mr Black is the smaller of the two but is now 1 lb 3 ounces. By comparisons to other litters, these two are quite small but they are strong and vigorous so we are optimistic.

Corey continues to be a wonderful mother. She is getting a little bored hanging out in the whelping box since we still have it in the upstairs bedroom. Normally, we would have moved it into the dining room by now, putting the dam into the middle of family life. However, we have been concerned about the pups' fragile state so have decided to keep them in a quiet place a bit longer. Good for the pups but bad for Corey's social needs :-).

The pups' eyes should open this week and they'll be able to hear by next weekend so they'll be ready to take on the world by then. In the meantime, I'll keep Corey working each day to keep her brain stimulated.

We've been entertained this week by Una, who is going through a false pregnancy. She has almost as much milk as Corey! She kept trying to steal the Labrador puppies and eyed the two goldens with envy. Initially Corey was concerned but she finally realized what was going on. Una even got in the whelping box yet this morning and is cleaning and snuffling the pups when I bring them out of the box. These pups sure are getting lots of mothering!

The Dream Team is Growing!

2008-04-17T12:47:00.007-05:00

The Dream Team pups are 8 days old and are doing well. Although not as large as our past litters, they are consistently gaining weight each day. Both pups are vigorous and nursing well. Misss Raspberry has almost doubled her weight and Mr Black is verging on one pound. They use their Labrador "littermates" as pillows and warming pads. The Labs are very sweet about this and tolerate the snuggling well as you can see.

Corey is doing great and is starting to get bored. She feeds the pups regularly but no longer spends all day every day in the whelping box. Since I'm returning the Labs to their breeder on Saturday, we'll move Miss Raspberry and Mr Black downstairs this weekend.

The Dream Litter

2008-04-16T08:05:00.005-05:00

The Dream litter was born the day after I installed a new computer so I've been between machines, software and files. I finally have enough things on the same computer to get photos posted of our new pups.

Although small in every sense, the Dream litter has been a big challenge from the start. I am not one to typically use a lot of technology to accomplish breedings, believing that the dogs and Mother Nature know best. But, in this case, I really, really wanted to keep Corey's genes alive. She is a fabulous dog with an amazing pedigree. That fact that she doesn't have a lot of pups on the ground is not due to her lack of capabilities. So, I made an exception and used every technological advance that I knew of in order to get her pregnant. And it worked!

Corey whelped three puppies the night of April 8. First born was Miss Raspberry, then Miss Yellow and finally Mr Black. All were small but appeared strong and started nursing within a reasonable time. I thought there might be one more pup since the ultrasound had shown that but there was not.

The pups had a quiet first night and we were off to the vet's in the AM for a check up and to ensure there were no more pups. The pups' first day went smoothly although I noticed they were only nursing on the front nipples. Corey was quite full of milk and the pups were too small to handle the larger teats.

Unfortunately, that night things went downhill. Miss Yellow crashed at 1:30 AM. We revived and stabilized her but it happened again at 6:30 AM. We put her on glucose/electrolytes and thought we could save her but she crashed for the third time at 12:30 PM and there was no bringing her back. She died in my hands and despite Corey's best efforts, she could not be revived. We were heartbroken to lose this little girl but were glad she knew as much love, skill and knowledge as we could give her in the 36 hours she was with us.

While we were struggling to save Miss Yellow, we realized that Corey was verging on mastitis since neither Miss Raspberry nor Mr Black were strong enough to nurse on the larger teats. To solve this problem we borrowed two beautiful yellow Lab puppies to help manage the milk supply. They are the big kids in the photos :-).

More later...

New Homes

2007-02-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

It's been hopping around here since last Thursday when Debbie Claussen and Lisa Newton arrived from California to see the pups, select their girl and take her back to CA. We had so much fun for the three days they were here.

I have to give Lisa and Debbie credit. It was FREEZING while they were here but they were up every morning doing woods walks with me, the pups and the girls. One day it was 4 degrees and I think they had on all of the clothes that they had packed, but they were out there trooping around.

Debbie and Lisa took home Miss Yellow last Saturday. I haven't gotten the final word on her name but I think she is going to be called Taitt (after Champagne Taittinger www.taittinger.com). Taitt will be doing conformation, obedience, tracking and field. Neither Lisa nor Debbie has gotten hooked on agility yet but I suspect it is only a matter of time. Taitt took the 6-hour flight to CA in stride and has eased into Lisa's house without problem. She wasn't eating for a few days but is sleeping through the night and having fun with Lisa's three other dogs, all of whom are O'Reilly descendants.

On Monday, Sue Weider and I packed up the pups for their eye clearances. Everyone passed with flying colors and the majority were very good. Mr Green got a stern talking to from the ophthalmologist and then he was a good boy :-).

On Thursday, Sue was back with her friend Sandy to pick up Mr Red. I think he is going to be called Wyeth but I don't know what his registered name is going to be. Sue? Mike? Have you all decided on his name yet? Sue and Mike's pup is going to be doing agility, field and hopefully conformation.

Friday, it was time for Miss Pink to head home with Carol Stepczuk and Blanche Wisniewski. She is going to be known as Chase and her registered name is Gaylan's Free Run Chardonnay. Here is a description of "Free Run Chardonnay:"

Free run is exactly what it sounds like: the juices that naturally flow off the freshly harvested grapes before they go into the destemmer/crusher. They are the pure essence of grape core, with no skin contact, and no influence of seed. The resulting wine is pale like straw, as clear and fresh as a spring day, and brilliantly executed.

Doesn't that sound great! Fresh as a spring day! Brilliantly executed! Hope she can live up to this. Chase is doing great in her new home and Auntie Kite is learning to play gently with her. Blanche and Carol plan to do tracking, agility, field and maybe other stuff with her.

Saturday, Maggie Lukiewicz came to pick up Mr Green and Gina and Clark Koertner flew in from Chicago. Mr Green is now Scorch, officially Gaylan's Rimfire. Rimfire is an Australian winery (www.rimfirewinery.com.au/). They describe themselves as the "Real Deal" so hopefully Scorch will be the "Real Deal" golden retriever. I spoke to Maggie this morning. Scorch is settling in well, doing his woods walks, learning that stealing McDuff's cookies is not a good idea and generally being a good pup. Maggie and Scorch will be doing field, agility, obedience and conformation.

And finally, Mr Blue departed this morning for frigid Chicago with Gina and Clark. Andy and I so enjoyed having a few days to get to know this young couple. They are so excited about their new pup. He is going to be known officially as Gaylan's First Harvest (he was the first born in the litter) and I think his call name is going to be Schafer. He will be Clark and Gina's companion and Clark's hunting companion. Hopefully, they'll do some hunt tests, too.

So, the Wino's have been launched and the house is quiet again. I'll reclaim the dining room later today and get everything readied for Corey and Tango's litters. In the meantime, we all need some rest and time to train the girls. Thanks to all of you who visited, brought gifts, joined me for vet visits, tested and helped out with the pups. I've come to believe that it takes a village to raise a litter and you guys are the best village around! Congratulations to all the new owners and hugs to those babies.

For those of you who have followed these puppies through my blog, thanks for reading. It's been a fun way to share the pups with you. I've heard from many people--old friends, new friends and friends I haven't met yet--who have enjoyed the blog. Thanks for your feedback. I'll be taking a break for a while but may offer some thoughts about other things until the next litter comes along.

In the meantime, you can follow the Wine litter and meet the rest of our dogs on our website at www.gaylans.com.

The Puppy Walk

2007-01-21T19:01:00.000-05:00

How crazy are we? It was freezing yesterday--16 degrees with a gusting wind. Yet, we all bundled up and headed out into the woods with five pups and the dogs. What a great time we had and thankfully, only Corey went swimming! The pups did great and so did the puppy walkers. I was pleased to hear everyone being very quiet rather than constantly calling the pups. We only had one problem when Mr Green broke away from the group and headed for home. But Maggie rounded him up soon enough.

Before we headed out to walk the pups, we had an informal memorial for our friend, Dana Morris. It was so nice to talk about her, tell stories and toast her. I love dogs more than I can describe but it is the people that they have brought into my life that make me rich beyond words. Dana was one of those special people. She would have loved yesterday--good food, good friends, good wine and a day filled with puppies and dogs.

After the Walk, we had a wonderful lunch (boy can this group cook!) and spent the afternoon playing with puppies, talking, trying to put Rosie's puzzle together and watching field videos. It was a very nice way to spend a winter afternoon.

Of course, there is a downside to days like this. Today, I had to wake up to five lively puppies who were looking for another party. "Hey, where are all our friends? Don't we get to do this every day?"

Photos of the Puppy Walk and some stacked shots we took yesterday are up at www.simplesite.com/gaylans/. Enjoy!

The New News

2007-01-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

Can it really have been a week since I've written? Are you dying for news? It's been a bit busy around here, as you might imagine. How can I catch you up on a week in the lives of the Wine-os?

Let's see, they were introduced to pigeons last week--the boys loved them, the girls wanted a facial instead. They've had tons of visitors--they hit 75 individual visitors this week. They are quite comfortable with all kinds of people. They are up to 30-minute woods walks and they saw their first snow. They loved the snow and are at home in the woods. They are so very good as staying close that I feel like the Pied Piper cruising through the woods with five pups underfoot.

They are 95% on using the litter box. Truly an amazing feat for any litter and well appreciated since it is winter :-). They had their first car ride today and never made a peep the entire time. It was like they'd been traveling in crates in cars for years. I had considered taking headphones along but didn't need them!

They got their first vaccinations and were wonderful throughout the examination. Well, except for the fact that they untied Dr Jim's shoelaces but it was his fault for not wearing slip-on shoes on Puppy Day.

They were introduced to the agility field and did the real tunnel like it was nothing, started up the teeter totter but I poo-pooed that idea, and had a great time going through the tire. They got to play with pigeons again. This time the boys settled down for lunch and the girls thought they were very interesting.

The pups range in size from 11.6 (Red) to 12.6 (Yellow) pounds. That is really big for pups but we are doing our best to slow them down. They are being introduced to all kinds of meats. Today was rabbit (yum!) and yesterday was buffalo (double yum!). They are doing stairs and can go up 5 or more and come down 2 at this point.

I'm going to post some photos of this week, taken by Sue Wieder during her visit. I think I've got some of the pigeon introduction, too. Check theirphoto website shortly.

Tomorrow is the Puppy Walk so I'll do my best to get photos up by early next week.

Ledges and Edges

2007-01-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well, some may pound pavement but around here, we pound paths. The pups, dogs and I have been doing 30-minute woods walks this week. The pups are doing a great job following now. It's so fascinating watching this skill "turn on" in pups around 5 1/2 weeks. Before that, they have no concept of following. After that, they are totally focused on it.

I'm staying off the paths quite a bit so we are off-roading it over hill and dale. The pups are climbing over logs, climbing up rocks, playing in piles of leaves and finding all kinds of interesting smells. Since it was warm today, I took them through the edge of the swamp. They all got their feet wet and muddy. None of them seemed to even notice, they were so intent on keeping up with me and their mom.

The pups also got introduced to edges this week. We call it edge training--it means that we teach the pups that they can fall off of things. They learn this concept in our safe play area but it quickly transfers to the wider world. You may have noticed in the photos that we have two crates in their play area connected by ramps. The pups climb up the ramps, over the crates, traverse the walkway between the crates and so on. Around all of this are thick pads that break their falls should they not be paying attention. Inevitably, they fall off the crates or the ramps. Once, maybe twice. After that, they pay more attention to where they are.

I got to see their learning in action today when we came upon a rock ledge on our walk. All of the pups went up to the edge, backed away and found a safe way down. It wasn't a steep slope nor was it far so the pups weren't in danger but I was glad they had the good sense to solve the problem.

The pups are over 9 pounds now, except Mr Red who is 8 1/2. They are eating like horses and still nursing some. They are pretty good at stacking on the table, although that will probably end soon. Banging on the Buja board is one of their favorite games and today two of them were retrieving the tunnel. Can you tell they are lots of fun?

Catching Up

2007-01-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've been away a while. The pups are doing well even if Andy and I have had our challenges. The pups are mostly over 8 pounds and are eating regular food three meals a day. They are also still nursing and Una is being very patient. They get Bravo meat blends with some Dr Harvey's grains mixed in, as well as supplements. Most are eating well although Mr Green is holding out for mom's milk!

We are all going on daily woods walks since the weather is so good. The pups are getting better at following although the going during these early weeks can be a bit slow. But we've gone out for 30 minute walks and had a great time. The pups are clamoring over rocks and logs, carrying leaves and sticks, following them mom and relatives, confusing trees for me (but I don't take offense) and having a wonderful time exploring the world. I don't know how long we can do this but I figure we'll just keep going while the weather holds.

I've also set up the outside play area for them. Today was their first day to explore it. It's got a climbing area, a tunnel, a Buja board, a tire, a ramp and lots of toys. The pups figured out all of it in short order. They went in and out of the dog door, climbed on everything, explored the tunnel, jumped the tire, climbed up the ramp, bounded over the Buja board and ran around with the toys. There will be photos up on their Simple site page shortly.

There is also a connected indoor area that goes into our screened porch. The pups access the outdoor area through the dog door. Inside there is a raised bed, crate, potty area and more toys. (These guys are not lacking for toys!) An hour playing inside and out and they've been much easier to live with tonight :-).

We've started stacking the pups on the table and have introduced them to the gunfire CD. We'll do birds later this week, too. Whew, I'm tired just writing all this.

Exciting Changes

2007-01-02T21:19:00.000-05:00

So much has happened the last few days. The pups are now eating solid food. They have had breakfast and dinner for the past two days. Each gets a heaping tablespoon of Beef Complete (or whatever their mom has eaten that day). Four of the five are scarfing it down in seconds. Mr Red is a pensive eater, contemplating each mouthful while his littermates and Corey drool impatiently. But all are eating normally and getting the hang of this new adventure. Una will be happy to have the help in the food department although she is enjoying eating 6 pounds of food a day :-).

The pups are also going outside every day or so, depending upon the weather. Today we did our first real walk, during which they had to follow Una down the walkway, across the drive and onto the lawn. They did a great job with only a few detours into the junipers (OUCH!). We spent 20 minutes hanging around outside even though the temperature was in the 40s. Two of the pups followed Una down the hill for a bit but the others just played in the level area. Corey enjoyed hanging out with them. Marilyn and Paul Ingovoldstad visited so the pups got even more hugs. Photos and videos are up at www.simplesite.com/gaylans.

The puppy pen has grown and toys are being rotated in and out each day. Today a beach ball blew into the yard so we plunked it down in the pen. The pups had a great job pushing it around the pen. They've got pointy toys, bouncy toys, soft toys, rolly toys and noisy toys. They are becoming more vocal and trying to convince those on the outside to let them out. We're sure you'll see "Free the Walmer Five" signs on the road soon!

I want to recognize the passing of our dear friend, Dana Morris. Andy and I will be away for the end of this week to pay our respects and to see her family.

The Great Outdoors

2006-12-30T12:52:00.000-05:00

rgmbillsfan
The pups celebrated their one-month birthday by venturing outdoors for the first time. The pup I was carrying out started sniffing as soon as we walked out the door. Once I put her down, her nose was glued to the grass as if to say "Wow! What is all this." The outdoors is very exciting for young pups and this crew enjoyed every minute of it. They checked out all the smells, ran around with the big dogs and had a quick picnic lunch when Una stood still for a minute. A few were headed for the rock wall but there were enough people around to make sure they didn't bail off. When they are a little older, we will teach them about edges but they aren't ready for that yet. They stayed outside about 15 minutes before they started getting cold. Not long but quite exciting for five babies.

It's remarkable how fast pups develop at this point. Five days ago they were tottering around on wobbly legs. Now they are running and climbing. They are trying to jump but usually only the front end makes it over whatever it is they are jumping :-). They play with each other, with their toys and with the big dogs.

Their social circle is growing. They've met boy and girl dogs, old and youngish dogs and people of all sizes and shapes. I believe they are up to 70 people, ranging in age from 4 to 74, and six dogs in addition to their mom. They've only met golden retrievers so their view of the world is a bit distorted but that's not all bad.

Just yesterday, Pat and Randy McKinney, Sandy Washburn and Gail Kraeuter spent the afternoon with the pups and Rosie Higdon rolled in last night to stay for the weekend. So, the pups met lots of new people. Pat, Randy, Sandy and Gail surprised me with their visit and a beautiful photo collage honoring Corey for her Outstanding Dam achievement. Karen Hocker made the collage and it truly is gorgeous! You can see more photos from Pat, Randy, Sandy and Gail's visit at pets.webshots.com/album/556693420GDHDzf.

We've swapped nearly all of the big toys in the puppy pen for little, puppy-sized toys. This crew is really into carrying so they are holding, tugging, "killing" and carrying their toys all over the place. We've added a metal scent article, a tracking glove and a dumbbell to the mix so they should soon be comfortable carrying metal, wood and leather, in addition to the usual toy textures.

Tomorrw they'll get their first marrow bones as we prepare them to start eating real food. Their teeth are sharp but their jaws are still pretty weak. And pups this age tend to suck not chew. We want them chewing before we give them food so we'll let them gnaw on marrow bones for a few days before letting them have their first meal. Bet they get lots of attention from the big dogs who will be trying to get those marrow bones out of the puppy pen!

Big Kids

2006-12-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

The pups have now been in the puppy pen for over a day and you'd think they'd been born there. They are having a wonderful time playing with the toys, trying to convince the big dogs to play with them, climbing under and over various objects and, of course, sleeping. They are awake longer and longer but that still means they sleep 22 of 24 hours a day. They are getting the hang of the litter boxes--the girls are using it 80% of the time and the boys about 30%. Oh well, they'll all get it sooner or later.

The pups are having daily visitors. Today it was Phoebe (Bette's 'mom'), as well as Dune from the Wind litter and his housemate, Sam. Both boys have been very interested in the pups but both Una and Corey have made it clear that they can look but not touch. The pups are enjoying all the attention from humans and canines.

They will get their first bones tomorrow. I fed Una in the pen yesterday and two of the pups dove into her bowl so they are getting ready to eat. But first, they need to increase their jaw strength. So, we'll start with itty-bitty marrow bones and work our way up to real food. We hope to make it one more week before giving them their first meal but we'll see how Una is doing. She is staying in decent condition, a little thin but not gaunt. She has tons of energy even though she is nursing a lot.

We found a wine crate so we'll get some photos of the kids this weekend when Rosie is here. We've gotten some Christmas photos but have more to take now that they are "big kids."

Gaylan's Golden Retrievers

Teeth! and More!!

Still Down with the Flu

Let the Puppy Games Begin!

The lights are turning on!

Catching Up!

Thanks!

Breeding Challenges

Let the Games Begin!

We are Growing!

Hard Day

What a Day!

Welcome, *High* Litter!

Reversing the Trend: Proposing The Rule of 6s

The Times They Are A'Changin'

Peggy Sue is Now Tessa!

Heading Home!

And then there were three

Going Home

Merry Christmas!

Waiting is the worst, I know!

No Puppy Walk But We Still Had Fun

More Videos and Photos are Up

So much to tell, so little time

The finished products...photos not puppies!

Puppy Portraits

FAQs

The great outdoors!

Quick Update

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late!

New Digs

Catching Up

Dog Days

Thanks, Carrie

What Changes!

The Aunties

Up On All Fours

Nose...and Eyes!

A Week Old

Bobbi Jean, Peggy Sue and Friends

Ooops, Only Nine Tails :-(

Ten Tails!

Nine and Counting!

They are here!

Nothing Yet

Hmmm, MIght Be Tonight!

Puppy Watch Begins

We're Getting Ready!

Happy Endings

Going Home

The Puppy Walk

So Much To Tell

Going-Home Preparations

The Storm

Sometimes It's Just Not Fun

Summer Fun

Whew, it is H-O-T!

Did you miss me?

Surprise and Farewell!

Holy Cow!

Squirrels, Stacking and 'Sploring!

So Much to Tell

Boy, Are They Cute!

New Digs

First Over the Wall

Musings on Puppyhood

They Can Hear!

I Couldn't Resist

Good Day

Let the Games Begin!

The Runs Ain't No Fun

Rough Day

Things to Come?

New Photos and Video

The Eyes Have It!

One Week Old!

Everything is A-OK!

Some of Us are Tired!

Day 3--All is Well

Quiet Night

Welcome, High Litter!