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Week One
May 11 - 17, 2009
Generally speaking this is a very consistent litter of puppies as far as temperament goes; the Red little girl is the only exception, she definitely stands out. They were all born on May 11, 2009 during the overnight hours, all had their Tails Docked and Dew Claws removed on May 14, 2009.
Puppy #1
• Sex – Male• Time of birth – 1:33 am• Birth Weight – 14 ounces (gained 9.6 ounces in first 3 days!)• Markings – 1 white toe (expected to dissipate as he ages)• Collar color – Blue• Name – Vitesse RCE Legacy by BT (call name “Reece”)This little guy took 2 hours and 15 minutes to be born. He was one of the biggest and continues to outpace the other puppies as far as size. Since it was Tess’ very first baby, she was a little unsure of how it was all supposed to work, so she got a lot of help from me. In short order, she got the hang of it and took over completely. She is going to be a GREAT mom. Reece’s temperament is very solid. He’s not too much of anything in the extreme. He’s calm, confident, moves well, eats like a horse and is a gentleman to all of his littermates – no hogging mom! I am hopeful that he will resemble his beautiful daddy, Topper. So far I think he does favor him. He’ll make an excellent addition to my family. He’ll share my home with his mom Tess and his ‘auntie’ Zoë, and also of course his 'cousin' kitty cat, Alexander!
Puppy #2
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 2:52 am• Birth Weight – 12.6 ounces (gained 5.6 ounces in first 3 days)• Markings – none• Collar color – Pink• Name – TBD by new family (I call her pinky; not very original but it seems to fit)Roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes after Reece arrived, came this little girl. She shares a lot of the qualities I’ve mentioned of him. She’s calm, confident, moves well, eats well without being a pig and seems to have the prettiest coat color so far; although that changes a bit over time. She seems to be unflappable at this point. Nothing bothers her really. I can’t wait to see how she progresses!
Puppy #3
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 5:12 am• Birth Weight – 13.4 ounces (gained 6.6 ounces in first 3 days)• Markings – 2 white toes (expect this to remain, but not be out of standard)• Collar color – Red• Name – TBD by new family (I call her Firecracker!...she is one)Roughly another 2 hour and 20 minutes later, miss Red Firecracker arrives! She came out letting all of us know she was FINALLY here! She’s a very vocal little girl. Aggressive eater, fast mover, talks all the time and LOVES Pinky. I have to make sure this little girl makes room for her siblings at the milk bar!
Puppy #4
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 5:40 am• Birth Weight – 14 ounces (gained 6 ounces in first 3 days)• Markings – small white mark on chest• Collar color – Lime Green• Name – TBD by new familyThis little girl is a gem. She’s a lot like Pinky, even keeled, unflappable, strong eater, doesn’t take any ‘mess’ from miss Firecracker when it comes time for lunch! Calmly maintains her spot the whole time until she’s satisfied. She sleeps anywhere; sometimes all by herself in a corner, and sometimes scrunched up on her siblings. She’s a very sweet little girl. Medium sized so far, not too big and not too little.
Puppy #5
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 6:10 am• Birth Weight – 13 ounces (gained 5.6 ounces in first 3 days)• Markings – small white mark on chest• Collar color – Black• Name – TBD by new familyThe narrative about this little girl reads exactly like the one for her sister, Lime Green! They are so similar to one another it’s amazing. She’s really calm. She’s a singer when she eats! So cute!
Puppy #6
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 7:10 am• Birth Weight – 11.4 ounces (gained 4.2 ounces in first 3 days)• Markings – small white butterfly on chest• Collar Color – Blaze Orange• Name – TBD by new family (I call her Little Tess)This little thing was the last one out and boy did she make an entrance! As you can see she is smaller than her siblings, so when Tess made that last push, this one went flying across the whelping box at least a foot! I think that it’s appropriate that I left the blaze collar for the last one, as I really think this little girl will end up favoring both her mom Tess and her Grand mom, Blaze. She is fine boned, narrow of hip and chest. She’s feminine in the extreme; very calm, snuggly with Tess more so than the others, and just generally a pretty little thing. Really nice coat color on her too.
Week One Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Two
May 18 - 24, 2009
It’s week 2 and everyone is still doing well! Tess included, although she is still very tired.
Puppy #1
• Sex – Male• Time of birth – 1:33 am• Current Weight – 2 pounds 4.8 ounces!• Markings – 1 white toe (expected to dissipate as he ages)• Collar color – Blue• Name – Vitesse RCE Legacy by BT (call name “Reece”)WOW! This is one sweet laid back puppy. He continues to outpace his siblings as far as growth, gaining a consistent 9 ounces or so every 3 or 4 days. During his second week of life he learned how to stand up on all 4 legs and wobble across the whelping box. Eyes and ears still closed, but he’s looking like he’ll open up here in the next few days. I am still very happy with Reece, his disposition is consistently relaxed and confident. He still loves to snuggle with his Momma!
Puppy #2
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 2:52 am• Current Weight – 1 pound 10.2 ounces• Markings – none• Collar color – Pink• Name – TBD by new family (calling her Princess…because she is!)This little girl continues to remain strong. Confident and quiet, she also started walking on all 4 legs and wobbling around. She didn’t change much during this week. Still just as sweet as she was when she was born.
Puppy #3
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 5:12 am• Current Weight – 2 pounds .4 ounces• Markings – 2 white toes (expect this to remain, but not be out of standard)• Collar color – Red• Name – TBD by new family (changed her name to Scarlet…she’s so much like an O’Hara!)This little one has also continued to show she’s full of herself. She’s very vocal still, being the first one to actually play growl. She started grooming herself this week! None of the other babies have done that yet. She’s an explorer, she moves around the box a lot, investigating, visiting each of her siblings, napping on them occasionally. She’s still got such a strong personality. I can’t wait to watch her progress over the next weeks.
Puppy #4
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 5:40 am• Current Weight – 1 pound 13.2 ounces• Markings – small white mark on chest• Collar color – Lime Green• Name – TBD by new family (calling her Sunshine now…such a bright and cheery little girl)During week 2 little Sunshine didn’t change much. She is still just as constant as the day is long. Very even keeled. DID NOT like having her nails trimmed this week, but she’ll get used to it!
Puppy #5
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 6:10 am• Current Weight – 1 pound 8.6 ounces• Markings – small white mark on chest• Collar color – Black• Name – TBD by new family (haven’t figured out what to call her yet)This little one actually did change a bit this week. She isn’t quite like her sister Sunshine as much as she was in week 1. She’s started to branch out and investigate things a little more. She didn’t gain as much weight as I would have liked, but in watching her, she seems to get just as much as she wants and then when she’s done, she’s done. I’ll keep my eye on her just to make sure she isn’t being bullied by anyone, but the observations so far indicate there are no bullies in this litter yet!
Puppy #6
• Sex – Female• Time of birth – 7:10 am• Current Weight – 1 pound 9 ounces• Markings – small white butterfly on chest• Collar Color – Blaze Orange• Name – TBD by new family (I call her Little Tess)Every day this one gets more and more like Tess. I think I picked the right temporary name for her so far. She started giving ‘kisses’ this week. That was SO cute. Tess is a kisser too! She’s investigating more, but seems to get a little unsure if she finds she’s gone a little too far away from siblings, so she let’s us all know about it. What a set of pipes she has! Seems to calm easily though. She’s small like the her sister with the black collar too, so I’ll be keeping an eye on her too.
Week Two Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Three
May 25 - 31, 2009
Well, it’s week eight and you might have noticed that I haven’t been able to keep up with the puppy diary as I had planned. Single life with six puppies and a full time job got the better of me! This whole experience has been such a rewarding challenge. I’ve been able to place my puppies with great people and see them grow and change so much over the last two months. The narrative moving forward will be in the past tense.
Not much change during the third week. By this time everyone’s eyes had been open for a few days and they were all really starting to move around a lot. They were all still in the whelping box at this point, so containment of the chaos wasn’t too difficult.
Week Three Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Four
June 1 - 7, 2009
This was a big week for the puppies. It was my birthday week and my friends at Strawberry Hill and within the Field Trial community threw me a bash at the farm. I, of course, took the babies with me! This was their first excursion on REAL grass!! Since I live in the city, I don’t actually have a lawn in my tiny yard, so this was big stuff for them. They LOVED it! By the time we got home they were all sleeping a LOT due to the extra excitement of the week. I had family come into town as well, so lots of extra socializing during week four too.
Week Four Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Five
June 8 - 14, 2009
This was probably the biggest week for them as far as change in behavior and personality.
• Reece (fka Blue) remains the most laid back of them all, allowing his sisters to pummel him regularly with good grace. He’s still the biggest as well.
• Sophia (fka Pink) is also still very calm and even tempered. Plays very nicely with the others, looks to people a LOT when they are around. She remains the same size as Lindy (fka Red, or Scarlet). They both weighed within 1 or 2 ounces of each other throughout the whole five weeks.
• Lindy (fka Red or Scarlet) is no longer the alpha puppy. I truly thought she would remain top dog, but she seems to have become comfortable with the number three spot in the litter. She’s still very active and vocal, has gained good weight and is just generally a sweet little girl.
• Snickers (fka Yellow or Black) is the surprise puppy! This little girl is now top puppy. She quietly maneuvered herself up the litter hierarchy and now she wears her crown with pride! Sometimes she’s not very modest about it either, being vocal in her play as if to say very loudly “HEY, this is my house and you’ll do what I say!” HA! She’s middle of the road as far as her size at this point. Gaining weight steadily, eating well and developing very nicely.
• Finley (fka Green) is still at this point the ‘princess’ of the litter. (Even though we were calling the pink puppy princess, this little girl acted like one!) She’s very slight in her build without being the smallest and used her cute little expressive face to get her way with all the people she encountered. What a doll! She’s the #2 puppy in the hierarch now though. Very much like Snickers, she quietly gained position and once she got it, she has not stopped vocalizing! Snickers and Finley regularly jockey for that top spot. We’ll have to see who comes out top at the end of their stay with the litter!
• Frida (fka “Little Tess” or orange) is still the smallest, the quietest and I have to be honest, my favorite of the girls. She reminds me so much of Tess in the way she looks that my heart just melts. She’s gained a steady amount of weight and is holding her own. She doesn’t seem to care much about position in the litter unless it’s competing for my lap, in which case she will quietly show her siblings her tiny little teeth. She’s very expressive and uses her expression to get attention and generally whatever she wants from people. Watch out! This little girl is going to melt her new parents’ hearts!
Week Five Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Six
June 15 - 21, 2009
More of the same during week six for everyone. Each seeming to solidify their personalities, continue to gain weight, learning how to sleep in a crate all alone, eating from an individual bowl and spending more time outside instead of being cooped up in the one room I have their x-pen. I set up an outdoor kennel and they just LOVE it outside.
Week Six Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Seven
June 22 - 28, 2009
This was a big week for the whole litter. Five of them got their first round of puppy shots. Lindy is scheduled to get hers on Week eight with her new Veterinarian.
• Lindy went to her new home on Saturday, June 27th! By all accounts she’s fitting in very well in her new home.
• Finley took an overnight trip with her new family that same day. She also did quite well getting to bond a bit with new mom and dad. She will go to her new home permanently the last week of July.
• Frida went to her new home on Sunday, June 28th!...on her new mom’s birthday no less! I’m so excited for them and ME! She is just one block up the street from me, so Frida and Reece will get a lot of play time together from now on! She’s doing really well and just loves her new, bigger back yard.
• Reece got to break away from the rest of the litter for a little while this week. I’ve started to let him out of the x-pen more often and by himself. He got to explore the rest of the house and seems to really be comfortable with it. What a confident little guy he is! Although little is not the right term! He weighs 13 pounds! This is a full four pounds more than Lindy and Sophia!
• Sophia and Reece seem to be the best of friends now that Frida is gone. Their temperaments are so similar they seem to seek each other out more than with the other two.
• Snickers just grew and continued to maintain her top spot in the litter. She did really well at the vet with the shots and has started to seek out Tess and Zoë for play. Zoë doesn’t seem to know what in the world to do with her and Tess engages really well. Seeing this tiny little girl playing with the big dogs is just the cutest!
Week Seven Photo Gallery - click to enlarge photos
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Week Eight
June 29 - July 5, 2009
They have just entered week eight, and as of right now I have three puppies left in the house; Reece, Snickers and Finley. As they continue to mature I will work more with them individually to get them hopefully to where they actually like their own crates. I’ve been putting them to bed each night in their own crates, but they really don’t care for it much. Likely this week will not be much better, especially since they are losing another sibling to a permanent home.
Week Eight Photo Gallery - Coming Soon!
