Alrighty

Here are a couple shots of Bingo, the black and "tan" male from Di and Brogue. He certainly looks like his adjustment period has gone well!

Emy
is definietly in season. Can pups be far behind?
Well, actually, yes. If she acts like she did last time... however! she has been teasing Brogue mercilessly, so I don't think she's going to be a problem THIS time around. On the other hand, although Brogue is ready to go courting, Shadow is showing NO interest in her. Here we go again!

Are We There Yet?
I'm ready for Spring! This week's snow didn't amount to much... got about an inch and it's all gone today. BUT the temps are back down and I'm tired of listening to heaters hum! And the wind has really started blowing this afternoon. My poor trees! On the bright side of that issue, the more that come down... safely... on their own, the fewer I have to pay to have taken down. It's the safely part that has me worried!

Lots of Good News

First item: ALL of Di and Brogue's pups will be in their homes by this evening. Just in time to miss the next round of snow and ice, due here tomorrow and Thursday! January and February's weather about did me in. The girls at the airport were talking about how big these last two guys had gotten in the month since they started leaving me. Yesterday's puppy was 20 pounds and today's, 17.

Second: Delta is going to be back to their normal (as in non-NW Air) rules within a couple weeks. This means the pricing tiers for shipping pets and the minimum lay-over times will be gone. There will still be a minimum amount of time necessary for connections but it will vary by airport according to the actual amount of time needed to move the pup from one plane to another and not by how much money you're willing to pay.

Finally: FINALLY! Emy is in season. Can Cotton be far behind? (Don't even attempt to answer that!)

In the Home Stretch

The last pups are leaving in the next 2 days... weather and Delta permitting! I will be puppy-less... except for Ost who will be 4 months tomorrow and, of course, the 4 toy Poodle pups. Now that the Whoodles are all accounted for, I'll put my efforts into finding homes for the Poos. They're really cute... especially the chocolate boy (Peanut) who is the smallest... but they are active and NOISY. Anyone who has called me while the pups were awake can testify to that! It's amazing just how much noise even one of them can make! I'm going to try some local advertising to find them homes because they really would make wonderful companions and would benefit greatly from individual attention.

What's Next?
So far, nothing! Cotton has not been in season in almost a year... her litter was born in May and apparently she had to work so hard dealing with 11 pups at once she's decided to take her time about doing it again. Emy is due in also. As is the Goldendoodle, Keogh. They usually cycle fairly close, one behind the other, but they're already W A Y behind several of the other girls (Lotus, my Shar-Pei and Diamond) who were in last month. I'm blaming it, like everything else, on the weather!

Enough Already!

My son just called to ask if I'd stocked up on dog food or if I needed him to go get it tomorrow because... we're getting more snow! Since the weather channel just had us down for snow showers over the next 4-5 days, I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the weather... I did check to see what temps were going to be like because there are two puppies I'd like to get shipped next week... IF Atlanta can get their stuff together! But I haven't looked at the local forecasts for several days. Guess that's what I get. We're going to be under a winter weather watch (or warning, can't remember which is which) from 4 PM Sunday until 4 PM Tuesday. WHICH means I won't be able to get off this hill to the vet, groomer, etc for another week so even if Atlanta gets up and running and almost back to normal, I still won't be able to ship. In case you're wondering why I care about Atlanta... everything from here (on Delta, my only option) goes to Atlanta and changes there for points beyond. I never worry about shipping in the winter because WE don't get "weather." HA! Hope I get these last two pups out of here before I have to start worrying about SUMMER weather!

Montana

Marna sent this photo of Ms Montana, totally at home in Manhattan. She (Marna) says the pup is adjusting fairly quickly to the big city terrors... like fire engines and garbage trucks. Can you imagine how frightening that must be for a country pup. The most noise she'd heard before moving to NY was the dogs barking at the deer.

Then There were Two
Hudson finally managed to go to his new home this weekend. When Liz picked him up she said he looked bigger... considering that it's been almost 4 weeks, he IS bigger! He weighed 14 pounds at the vet yesterday... yes, still a little guy when compared to everyone else.

Moving Right Along

Now that all the Diamond/Brogue pups have found a home, even if they haven't been able to get out of here yet, I'm looking forward to the next litter. Diamond is already in season again... about 2 weeks ahead of schedule (no, I'm not breeding her...) so I have high hopes that Cotton and Emy will be following suit VERY shortly. And then there is Keogh. She usually brings up the rear as she tends to have a longer cycle. IF everything goes as I plan (and we know how that has worked out in the past...) it will be Cotton first (she's not come back in since her May litter,) then Em, then Ke AND I'm going to try breeding all 3. They should be spaced out enough to keep it interesting, but not overwhelming. I can remember when having 3 litters at once was all in a day's work!

I will let you know when the girls come in and when each gets bred (positive thinking here) AND will open each reservation list about 5 weeks after the matings.

For Keogh's miniature/medium Goldendoodle pups, the reservation list is already open. There are a lot of Goldendoodles out there and even though 3 of her pups are already spoken for, I want to have as many promised as possible before they get here. Her first, and only litter, was 6 which was considerably fewer than I was expecting since she comes from a litter of 12 or 13. I'd really be happy with just another 6. Especially if they are as sweet as the first gang!

In the meantime, I'm working on a couple new articles for the website... one on in/line breeding and one on puppy personalities (while they're still with the litter) as well as some addition info on things like pricing and the initial adjustment period after you get your pup... basically responses to questions I get fairly often.

The website will be updated periodically... whenever anything happens.

Making a Run for It!

Gonna try getting off this hill and into town this afternoon, before the next weather "event" arrives. My son made it all the way to the house yesterday with a bag of dogfood and a large pizza. Then he treated the drive and the corner with salt. The guys from up the hill got their car out of the field, so things are looking a little better.
Got to lay in a new supply of dogfood and NEWSPAPERS. Don't know which it would be worse to be without! The storm we're getting the next couple days is supposed to be less than last weekend's BUT it is being backed up by another storm on Tuesday.

Since 3 out of the 4 groundhogs predicted an early Spring, just when does that start?!

Monday

So we made it through the weekend. Power and phone stayed on although the phone lines seemed to be taking a break from time to time. Got lots and lots of "fresh powder" and the dogs absolutely love it. Today, I found both Brogue and Shadow asleep in the sun IN the snow. It was easy for me to spot Shadow, but Brogue blended in. The younger dogs, especially the bigger ones, have spent most of their outside time running and jumping. The smaller ones tend to do their business and then come back to the door. The pups, of course, have not been out in it... someone else can take them out on an individual basis and towel dry them when they come back in! We're expecting MORE tonight and tomorrow and again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I hope I'm able to get off the property by Wednesday. So far, even though about 3/4 of it is gone off the car, the driveway still looks very deep.

Another one accounted for

This is Otis who is now living if Florida and, obviously, totally entranced by his new ball. I love this picture (AND the others Louie and Julie sent.) But this one is special because it shows such intensity. It looks like Otis is practicing some type of telekinesis! "Come to the Dark Side...."

Last pup spoken for... sort of
#7 is moving to North Carolina as soon as weather permits, hopefully this week, but maybe not.
And #6 is going to Colorado, probably the following weekend.
Which leaves #3. I'm hoping to hear from his almost family ASAP so he can join them or another family pretty soon.
These kids are growing fast... you would not believe! Their colors are changing rapidly as well, especially #3. It is time to get them completely off the puppy food to slow some of the growth down or they're all going to be 40 pounders!