The puppies received their ID bands from PupColors today. I have them individually marked by the collar of the collar. These are pretty nicely put together. They're just simply colored velcro strips that wraps around itself. This means that the band can grow as the puppy grows. Each pup will wear this collar until they go home to their new families.
Individual puppies have not yet been selected, but here are the pups IDs
Here a few mugshots of the puppies from this evening. They are about 12 days old here and we're starting to see their eyes open up. I am bringing 3 of these pups to meet their new families in Texas over Memorial Day weekend. I'd love to add more to the trip! E-mail me to place a $200.00 deposit down on one of these awesome puppies. ($500 total price)
Females
Males
We will be heading to the vet early next week for our first round of dewormer!
The puppies are now 11 days old. All week long the eyes have been on the cusp of opening up. Today, we had our first pup open her eyes to the world. I am expecting the others to have their eyes open by the completion of the weekend. The puppies have been doing a lot of sleeping and a lot of growing lately. Before long they will be bouncing around the whelping box with ease!
E-mail me for information more information about how to place a deposit on a puppy from this litter at: wareagle044@gmail.com
Deposit: $200.00 (reserves pick)
$300.00 due at time of pick up/delivery
4 males and 1 female available at the time of this post.
The pups are about 6 days old today, and they are growing almost by the hour it seems. All the pups are doing well and will be bouncing around their box in short order. I expect the pups to continue growing throughout the week. Towards the end of the 2nd week, their eyes will begin to open. Their ears will do the same.
4/9/2012 -- Pups sleep after morning meal
I ordered some ID bands from PupColors that will, hopefully, arrive soon. These bands will identify each pup with their own individual color. We can then begin monitoring the pups for personality and physical traits which can be matched to specific needs for potential owners. I want to be certain that pups make it into homes that are the perfect fit for them and their new owners. It makes for a pleasant and seamless experience for both pup and their new family.
Siege is doing a great job in her first tour of duty as a mother. You always worry about whether or not a first time mother is going to take to her pups, or if it'll be you tending to the litter. I have been about as hands free from this process as you could possibly imagine. Siege has the pups on a good routine of feeding, she keeps their area clean, and she is very good about checking on them if she thinks they may have an issue. I have been very impressed with her. Outside of making sure each puppy has a turn at the teat for eating and changing out the blankets, she has done everything.
4/9/12 - Siege poses for the camera
Deposits are being accepted. $200.00 reserves your pick of these pups ($300.00 due upon pick up/delivery)
Today, the pups took their first visit to visit Dr. Hall at East University Veterinary Hospital. The scheduled appointment was for them to have their dewclaws removed. The dewclaw is the equivalent to the human thumb. However, it does not serve a primary purpose and in field dogs can even cause harm to your dog either at work or play. The last thing you want when your dog is going full speed to pick up your game is to get its dewclaw got in brush/thickets and break it. This is a painful experience for your pup and takes him/her out of commission for a few weeks. Not to mention the process becomes a surgical operation for older dogs and can take a toll on your pocketbook. The process for the puppy is a simple process that can be done with needle nosed nippers. A few simple snips and the dewclaw is removed (not for the faint of heart). It's not a pleasant experience for the puppy, but it is a quick process that the pup forgets soon after.
Dr. Hall examined the pups and determined that all looked quite healthy. We will be heading back for the pups to get dewormed in about 2 weeks. We will then repeat that process at 4, 6, and 8 weeks. They will get their first round of shots when they are 6 weeks old.
Here are the pups loaded in the back of the truck on the way to the vet
Feeding Teams
The pups have been divided into two feeding teams. I will split the puppies up for feeding sessions so that they all pups have an opportunity to eat without fighting over a place to dine. I have placed the 5 larger puppies in a group and am calling them Team Fats. The 6 smaller pups have been teamed together to form Team Tiny Tots. Since Team Fats only has 5 pups, the runt of the litter has the distinct honor of being named The Sixth Man. When the larger members of Team Tiny Tots wraps up their meal and are replaced by Team Fats, the Sixth Man gets to stay at the dinner table. This will help him get the needed extra time on the teat that he needs to catch up to his brothers and sisters. You can tell who Team Fats is by the collars around their necks. As they grow and develop, I will introduce you to the individual members of the teams.
Team Fats sleeping while the Tiny Tots feed
Team Tiny Tots in the whelping box waiting for the start of their meal
Here is a close up of The Sixth Man
Siege Update
Siege is doing pretty well for her first time as a mother. Her appetite is slowly returning to form. She is getting pretty spoiled, however. She is so focused on taking care of her puppies that I have to force her to take care of herself. She has literally been getting spoon fed by me to get her to focus on eating. Once we get a few bites off the spoon, then she'll dive in and eat out of the bowl.
Deposits are being accepted for a puppy in this litter. Deposits are $200.00 ($500 total) -- please contact me for more information about these pups.
***Be Sure to Check out ALL of the Blog posts from here to the beginning. There is a lot of useful information and it may help answer some of your questions. Thanks for viewing!
After sitting by Siege's side for what seemed like days, Siege finally put her first pup on the ground at 6:55 PM (Apr 3). This is her first litter, so it naturally spooked her quite a bit. She jumped up and spun in circles. At one point, I even had to keep her from jumping out of her whelping box. Once that pup was on the ground, it was smooth sailing. Her natural instincts kicked in, and she required no help for the next 3 puppies. Those 3 puppies came by about 8:20 PM, in the order of male, female, male.
At that point, she spent the next hour or so tending to those pups. We got them their colostrum (first milk) and everything was going smoothly. Pup number 5 didn't show up until about 9:40 PM with numbers 6 and 7 following shortly behind it. She dropped number 8 around midnight, and I knew from the x-ray that we had at least 10. I waited cautiously for the next couple of hours. She began nursing and cleaning the other pups as if she was finished. I knew this couldn't be right and started to worry a bit. She had her pups settled and she was resting when I decided to take her outside to do her business. She squatted as if she was going to go #2, but instead out popped puppy #9 in the grass. I scooped it up and we ran back in the house and tended to it. He is going to be the runt of this litter, but he is doing very well today.
I was hesitant to call it quits after the 2 hr delay between pups 8 and 9, so I sat with her a bit longer. She was showing signs of contractions. I felt like more pups were moving into the birth canal. She also was vigorously licking herself. I again began to worry that maybe she had was developing complications due to fatigue (we were at hour 9 by this point). I 'feathered' her (put a finger in her vulva) and thought maybe I could feel a head in the birth canal. I decided to take her outside and walk her around for a bit to maybe help the process along. I then planned on putting the puppies back on her to nurse (sometimes this helps with contractions), and if she didn't produce a pup was going to head the AU Vet Clinic. I got the pups back on to nurse, and not long after Siege popped up and pushed out puppy #10 around 3:50 AM. She was pretty tired at this point, so this was the first pup that I had to help her stimulate. Not even 4 minutes later, puppy #11 joined us. I helped clean this one as well and watched over her until about 7AM before taking her to walk around outside.
Siege and pups are doing well today. I just brought Siege in from a walk around the horse pasture and even tossed her a couple of short fun bumpers --- she loved it. We will be heading to the vet, most likely tomorrow, to have dewclaws removed and an initial examination by the vet.
The first four pups getting their colostrum
Siege taking a nap while pups nurse
Siege snacked a little this morning
I have set up a UStream Channel and will broadcast the pups periodically for feeding sessions and such. You can access that here: http://ustre.am/bZE5
7 males
4 females
(i will have individual pictures up soon)
I am accepting $200.00 deposits on this litter. The deposit will reserve your pick and picks disseminated in the order deposits are received. Please contact me at wareagle044@gmail.com for more information or to place a deposit.
**Also remember to read the old blog posts for more information, videos, and pictures and continue to follow for more of the same.
At about 10:45 PM last night, I took Siege's temperature. She dropped to about 98.5 degrees. This is the mark which we have waited. Typically, you'll have puppies on the ground 12-24 hrs from that temperature. At about midnight, she started showing signs of labor. She has been experiencing contractions for most of the night. I think both of us have caught about 20 minutes worth of sleep. I've been on the floor next to her whelping box all night, and am sitting in a chair watching over her as I type this. She is doing rather well considering this is her first experience with this. You can see and feel the pups moving into the birth canal right now. It will take some time for her cervix to be dilated, but I am expecting to have a puppy on the ground sometime late this morning. I have included a picture of her temperature from last night and a video of her starting into labor. I am going to record the birth of the pups and hope to have it linked this evening.
98.5 degree temperature around 1045 PM CST
Here is Siege at the start of the labor process.
Just before I decided to post this she finally dozed off. She'll need the rest. It'll be a long day. I'm going to make an effort to squeeze in about 30 mins too.
Thanks for reading!
**Be Sure to read the older blog posts for more information about this litter.
Deposits are being accepted at this time. $200.00 reserves your pick. $300.00 is due at pickup/delivery of your pup.
It has been a relatively uneventful Day 60. We have a temperature drop to 99.3, but it's hard to say if this will lead to labor or not. I am leaning towards the fact that this is it, and the next post I make will be pictures/video of the puppies. I'll have a UStream recording of the whelping posted as soon as it is completed. The puppies are moving around quite a bit today -- most likely getting themselves in position for the birth canal. I tried capturing a video of this, but the lighting combined with Siege's dark coat made it very difficult. However, here is a picture and a video of her in the whelping box. Hopefully, the next time I make a post I will be informing you that the puppies are here! Siege is in pretty good spirits, however. She still has an appetite and other than maybe some minor discomfort that comes with having almost a dozen babies in your belly is doing well. I will take her temperature again in about an hour. I'm really excited and it'll be nice to be able to sleep again knowing these puppies are here safely.
Deposits are still being accepted, contact me at wareagle044@gmail.com
**Be sure to read the other updates for pictures, video, and more information about what I expect to be a fantastic litter of puppies.
Here she is in her whelping box. I was trying to get some of the movement in her belly but my iPad doesnt shoot high quality video -- maybe I shouldve uploaded in HD
These past couple of days always seem like the longest to me. I try and keep constant watch on Siege to make sure she is doing okay and isn't showing any signs of pending labor. For me, it makes the time go by extremely slow and the anticipation almost brutal to deal with. I thought I would take the opportunity with today's entry to introduce you to some pups from a previous litter sired by Stryker. This will be Siege's first litter, but Stryker sired a litter of pups about 3 years ago. Here are pictures of that litter to give you at least half-way of an idea of what to expect when these pups arrive in the next day or two.
Here they are:
These were puppies from a previous litter of Stryker's. I am not expecting any of the pups from this current litter to be chocolate
***REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT THE OLDER POSTS FOR MORE INFORMATION, PICTURES, VIDEO, ETC.
Deposits are being accepted for this current litter. $200.00 will reserve your pick and picks will be determined by the order that deposits are received. The final balance of $300.00 will be due upon pick-up/delivery of your new pup. Any other questions please contact me at WAREAGLE044@GMAIL.COM
It's Day 58 of Siege's pregnancy. Her temperature today was 99.7 degrees. The puppies should be here any day, but we're still waiting on that temperature to drop down to 98 degrees. Here she is prior to this post being made, and you can tell she is ready for this process to be over with:
While we continue to wait for these puppies to get here, I wanted to introduce you to Siege and Stryker in their puppy forms -- maybe it will give you an idea of what to expect your puppy to be like when you bring him to be a part of your new family.
Siege
Here is Siege at 8 weeks of age. She has been playing in the water at a local pond called Conway Acres. She has lived for retrieving since she was a pup and that's what she continues to do today. You could tell from the get-go that she had the makings of becoming a really great dog -- which she certainly has.
Here is 8 week old Siege retrieving a bumper from the water. She has no fear and the fact that the bumper is as big as she is has no relevancy. She was on a mission every time. She didn't care how small she was, she was going to get the job done!
Here is Siege in action as an 8 week old puppy.
Here she is the day that she left for her duck dog training at Runnin Rebel Retrievers in Townley, AL at about 16 weeks of age.
Stryker
Stryker has been such a good dog from the moment I brought him home. I picked him up when he was 15 weeks old, so he was a little more progressed when I got him. He was such a fun pup that loved to retrieve and was an absolutely beautiful dog. Here he is:
This is Stryker the day after I got him home. He still has that same happy look on his face regularly.
Stryker hanging out in his kennel
A born and bred retriever. He loves it.
Always has had a passion for the water
This is one of Stryker's last days as a puppy. He has just turned 1 year old -- we are having the "becoming a man" talk -- one of my favorite pictures of us.
I hope this post has helped you learn a little bit more about Siege/Stryker. I know that these puppies will bring you as much joy as mine have brought to me these past few years.
Deposits are being accepted. Picks are disseminated in the order that the deposits are received. Deposits can be made in the form of a personal check for $200.00 -- the remaining $300.00 will be due upon delivery/pick-up of your puppy. Get your deposit in today!
**Be Sure to read the older blog posts for more information about Stryker and Siege -- their pedigrees -- vet visits -- etc. Stay tuned for more live streaming videos, recorded videos, pictures, and information about this fantastic litter of puppies.
