Find Your Puppy

Seven puppies, four boys and three girls, born on a Monday morning between 4:10 and 9:30 with Biscuit doing all of the work and Annie mostly holding a towel. Birth weights ran from 13 to 17 ounces and everybody had doubled by day nine. The kids named them after apples because the orchard down the road opened that same week. They are almost seven weeks old and spend most of the day on the lawn between the house and the barn, chasing bubbles, a toy football and each other. They finished Early Neurological Stimulation on day 16 and have worked through the Puppy Culture weeks since: a new surface or object every day, startle and recovery work with a dropped pan, manding for attention, short sessions alone in a crate with a chew, and their first car rides. Their vet check and first vaccine are this week. Colors run from Biscuit's pale cream to a true medium gold. Look at the ears for the adult shade. Temperament evaluations were on Saturday, September 19, and we have spent the days since on the phone matching puppies to families. Five are spoken for. Russet and Winnie are still open to the right homes. Go-home day is Saturday, October 3, at eight and a half weeks.

Maple was bred to Ridge in the last week of August and her ultrasound on September 22 will tell us how many we are counting on. She is eating like she already knows. Puppies are due around October 27, which puts go-home a few days before Christmas. This is our athletic pairing: Ridge's dark coat, tight frame and Excellent hips with Maple's bone, water drive and sense of humor. Expect medium to dark gold puppies with shorter, easy-care coats, a lot of retrieve and an off switch in the house. These are good dogs for active families, hikers and anyone who wants to try dock diving, hunt tests or agility. Maple carries one copy of the ichthyosis gene and Ridge is clear, so no puppy in this litter can be affected. About half will be carriers, which only matters if a dog is bred someday. A word about Christmas: we are glad to send a puppy home on December 22 to a family that is ready, and we will gently talk you out of a surprise under the tree. The list for this litter has three openings.