Phoebe

Phoebe has Babies!

6 Comments

I have been a bit remiss and I apologize but we have been very busy. Wednesday morning I took Phoebe to my vet where they would keep a watchful eye on her while I participated in an event that took me out of the house for two days. Because we thought she was so late in her pregnancy I had actually decided Thursday morning to leave her at my vet until she had her puppies. But my dear daughter had a free afternoon and decided it would be in Phoebe’s best interest to bring her back to my house where she could deliver in the comfort of familiar surroundings. I called my vet to get her take on this and she said Phoebe was showing many signs of getting ready to whelp and would likely have her pups that afternoon or by Friday morning for sure but she saw no reason why we couldn’t bring her home. So, Jenny did and about twenty minutes after I got back to my house Phoebe delivered a beautiful black parti girl! 

After that, Phoebe proceeded to give us five more girls and two boys. Eight pups, healthy and hearty!

She is a mess in this photo but look at the smile on her face. We have a wonderful rainbow of colors…two brown and white, four black and white and two of the girls are pure white! Can’t wait to see how they turn out. We have never had a solid puppy so this will be something different.

Meanwhile, we are still bottle feeding the two preemies from Maxi’s litter but they are gaining very nicely. Aren’t they darling?

And, finally, a shot of Maxi’s wonderful litter…getting so big already.

Introducing Rudolph

Leave a Comment

Puppies are eight weeks old and ready to go to their forever homes. I will feature one a day with a little photo essay so you can get an idea of their personalities. Here is Rudolph, a beautiful Black Irish Pied with a very laid back personality. He will snuggle with whoever is the closest, is curious and loves to investigate. You will also notice in a couple of these photos that Rudolph is developing a very nice topline and his bite is perfect! Like all his siblings, Rudy is trained to potty on paper and on the potty park that you see in some of these photos.

How Does THAT Happen?

Leave a Comment

Well, trust me it does because dogs are like people and they like to ‘play around.’ So when the breeder who took Phoebe in last September called me to say a disaster had fallen upon their household I was prepared for something much worse than hearing we might have a Multiple-Sired litter. Mind you, if this breeder hadn’t called and ‘fessed’ up to the situation I would likely have never known. That is the kind of breeder I look for…honest, sincere and mentoring.

Yes, I was disappointed. But, what are you going to do. She had a perfectly logical explanation and trust me it did not happen because she was careless.

Moving forward we had DNA testing done on all the puppies, on Phoebe and on both potential sires, Specs and Andrew. But, because AKC takes up to ten weeks for this process and we wanted results much sooner we went with a different company. Kathy was about 90% certain the puppies were all Specs’ given he and Phoebe had had three breedings before Andrew stepped onto the scene. That way we could register them right away with AKC.

Bad news:
Two were Specs’ pups and four were Andrew’s.

Good news:
Andrew has a fantastic pedigree, healthy parentage and a delightful disposition.

We are now in the process of having the puppies re-tested with AKC as they will not accept DNA testing from companies other than their own. Then, we submit two applications to register the two litters that are really one litter.

Ten weeks after that the puppies will have their official AKC papers. WHEW!

Time Usually Flies But….

Leave a Comment

…this is ridiculous. The puppies are already 4 1/2 weeks old! That’s what holidays full of family, friends and Havanese will do to you!  They are growing…no surprise there. And this is the stage where their little personalities begin to surface. We have Rudolph, the independent one. Then there’s Dancer, who I thought was a cry baby until I realized he was just bored…probably the brightest one in the bunch the way he explores new toys. Angel is a little on the quiet side…so far, that is. And, Chilli is a rolly-poly  love muffin!

Fun!

Anyway this begins a difficult weak as I wean the puppies from their mother. They have been eating canned puppy food and goat’s milk for about ten days now but neither they nor their mother want to give up the nursing. I had to take Phoebe to be with me last night because she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning keening for her babies. A few more days and this will pass and they can romp and play together until they drop from exhaustion.

Just a few photos to update you.