Puppies are almost 10 weeks old!

Well I don’t have any photos of Myrtle or Maple because they have gone to their forever homes!

But here are some updates on the others. First the boys….

This is Gumbo, who is still looking for a forever home. Isn’t he handsome? Gumbo has a delightful disposition, right in the middle temperament wise. He will have a nice silky coat and will weigh about 12-14 pounds full grown.

Gumbo again

Gumbo likes playing in the grass.

Our parting shot of Gumbo!
And this is Coco. Coco is also looking for his forever home. He is a chocolate parti, which is rare in the Havanese world. He will have a gorgeous coat, brown eyes and a brown nose! Coco is a very, very sweet boy. Quite laid back and calm. He wants to be someone’s little shadow and loves to have his tummy rubbed!

Here are Sabol (front), Coco (middle) , and my new show puppy, Maggie. (Yep, I love that name!)
This is Sabol. He’s the little one I bottle fed for five weeks but now is doing superbly. Sabol is a sable Parti. He will be on the smaller side for a boy. Probably 9 to 11 pounds. He loves, loves, loves to play. He’s a little higher on the energy scale but has no problem sitting on my lap for a few special pets. Sabol is also still available.

Sabol again.

And now for the pups waiting for their families to pick them up:

This is Holly. She is going to live in Virginia with Amanda, Bhal and Seamus, one of my puppies from last summer’s litter.

Love Holly’s eyes!
This is Mango. She is turning out to be a very sweet little girl. Mango will be going to live with Lynette,  Jim and their 3 year old Havanese, MiJa. They are right nearby in Sarasota, Florida.
Mango playing in the grass

And this is Maggie. From the front she looks just like Gumbo but has a little more white on her back. Maggie is going to live in New York city with Liz, Kevin and their two very excited little girls!

And Now we have names

Oh my how fun these puppies are! They sleep, play, sleep, eat, sleep, play, poo.
This is the best!

Now that I’m almost over the flu I have the time to photograph, edit and post their individual pix for you. Thank goodness for my household of family who were more than willing to help with the task!
By the way, the theme with this litter is Florida trees.

Here they are, again in birth order:

1. Myrtle (for Wax Myrtle) is a black Irish pied female.

2. Maggie (Magnolia Tree) is a black parti female with a “heart” shape on her back that is almost blended out with her longer coat.

3. Holly (Dahoon Holly) is also a black parti female.

4. Sabol (Sabol Palm…Florida’s state tree) is the sable parti boy I bottle fed for 4 weeks. He’s feeding on his own quite nicely now.

5. Coco is named after the Coconut Palm. He is our chocolate parti boy.

6. Maple (yes, there are maple trees in Florida!)  is our sable parti girl.

7. Here’s Mango (love that name!) our little black parti female.

8. And, last but not least Gumbo (for the Gumbo Limbo tree). Our black parti boy.

I have to admit, I’m pretty happy with these puppies…of course I’m happy with every litter. But these little ones are gorgeous in my unbiased opinion!

And Now We Can See!

They look like jelly bean cows! So fun now. Their eyes are just beginning to open (you can see Puppy girl #1’s eyes) and they are beginning to move around quite a bit. Later I’ll try to get a video so you can see for yourselves. For today I have individual shots, sexes and weights.
The numbers represent their birth order.
This is boy puppy #4. He is the one I’m still bottle feeding. He weighs 15.7 ounces and is a sable parti.
Puppy 4
This is Puppy girl #1. She is a black parti which means she is more black than white. She weighs 14.9 ounces

Puppy girl 1

This is Puppy girl #2. She weighs 1# 2.8 ounces! She is a black parti and I know her by the “heart’ on her back.

Puppy 2

This is Puppy girl #3. At 13.5 ounces she is the lightweight of the litter and is a black parti.
Puppy 3

This is puppy boy 5. He is a chocolate parti. Both Maxi and Dino carry the recessive gene for chocolate so, while they are both black and white, they can produce chocolate and white babies! He weighs 1 # 4.4 ounces

Puppy 5

This is puppy girl #6. She weighs 14.7 ounces. I know her by the two “specs” on her back. She is a sable parti. Sables will often fade quite a bit so both my sable pups will likely resemble our Marli when they grow up.

Puppy 6

This is puppy boy #8. He is a black part and I know him by the three dots that run across his back end. He has a sweet blaze and a smidgeon of white around his nose. He weighs 14.5 ounces.
Puppy 8

This is Puppy girl #7. She weighs 14.4 ounces and is a black parti. I love her full blaze and white muzzle.

Puppy 7

Plump Little Puppies

Maxi’s puppies are getting so plump! Still do not do much besides eat and sleep. But, their eyes should open soon. They are twelve days old and at this stage are still in the neonatal stage. They are born with a keen sense of smell so they can find their mother’s nipples. Their eyes and ears are tightly closed so they do not hear their own little squeaks, nor do they see each other! They sleep 90% of the time!

I spend several minutes a day holding and caressing each of the puppies so they get used to me. I want them to have a comforting and warm experience with their first human. I stroke their heads, caress their tiny paws and gently tickle their tummies.

Puppies at this stage do not even have control over their bowels so mom has to lick them to stimulate elimination.

Here are a couple photos I took yesterday.

                      This is the little boy I am still bottle feeding. However, today he actually gained a few grams in                      between feeding so I think he is finally figuring out the nursing routine!

Is this not the sweetest face ever?!

A puppy yawn

Yin and Yang