The Reindeer have arrived!

Eight beautiful puppies arrived on Christmas night.
There are 4 girls and 4 boys. One puppy, the first
born, is snow white with black ears. The rest are
black with tuxedo markings and one looks like the
daddy, Deuce. Robust, weighing 12 to 16 ounces, all
are vigorous and thriving. New mom Amber is calm
and attentive. Previous moms Honey Bear and Red
are curious and peeved at being excluded from the
excitement. And I am bushed after the 7 hour whelp
even though that was very efficient on Amber's part.
She is going to be a great mom.

The Whelping Box is Ready!

Amber is due to have her puppies this weekend. A visit to the
veterinarian for prewhelp X-ray shows probably 10 babies.
Because there are so many and the horns of the uterus are super-
imposed on one another in a lateral X-ray, it's hard to be exact.
But it is a large litter for a PWD. The average litter is 7 puppies.
My husband and I just assembled the whelping box this afternoon
and are awaiting the big event. Despite the holiday, wonderful
reproduction veterinarian Dr. Robert Dove will be there for me if
we run into trouble getting all the puppies out. His staff told me,
"Oh sure, we've done C-sections on Christmas before. Just call if you
need us." I am sleeping better knowing he will be there for my girl.
She comes from a line of great whelpers and great mothers so I am
optimistic that beautiful puppies will soon be lined up and
suckling on a happy mom.

Yes, we are expecting puppies.

It looks like we will be having puppies on Christmas day this year. Amber is
5 weeks post insemination and she appears to be pregnant. Most breeders
confirm pregnancy with a sonogram at about 4 weeks. It is expensive and
inaccurate to count puppies. Generally, if you wait a week, the pregnancy is
obvious. Prior to delivery I often get an abdominal film. Occasionally it is
possible to get an accurate puppy count but the main reason for doing a
film is to see if there are only a few large puppies. In that situation, an
elective C-section might be the best course. The average litter of 6 or 7
puppies weighing about 12 ounces each generally can be whelped without
major difficulties . So, now I know how I'll be spending my holidays!

CH. Blue Run's She's a Caution CGC to meet Deuce

AM/CAN/INT'L CH Driftwood's
Bacchus Dos CGC/TDI is scheduled
to sire a litter with my girl Amber
this fall.
Deuce is the handsome guy pictured
here with daughter Roxie. He
was the PWD Specialty Stud of the
year in 2008 based on the quality of
his offspring. He has many healthy
and beautiful sons and daughters and
he tends to put his stamp on them.
As Amber is also an Irish marked girl,
the puppies will probably look a lot
like the daughter in the picture.
I anticipate we will have puppies
around Christmas time and that they
will go to their new homes in February
of 2010.

The Playing Card Litter born July 23, 2009

The puppies shown above are 9 weeks old and are going to their new homes this weekend. All except one show girl has found a home. An independent evaluation was done by professional handler Jo Ann Charnik who felt that 8 of these puppies were show quality. This is probably the most exceptional litter that I have had to date. The stud, 11 year old BISS Watermark Toby's Black Jack, obviously still has what it takes to produce beautiful offspring. My girl Red did an outstanding job, too. The puppies all have marvelous temperaments and all passed their CERF examinations as well establishing that they have healthy eyes. I hope to see these lovely puppies out competing next year.

Red Litter #2 has arrived!
Today Red delivered 10 beautiful black and white wavy puppies. There
are 7 boys and 3 girls. The sire is CH BISS Watermark Toby's Black Jack.
All the puppies appear to be healthy and vigorous. Each puppy has a white
chest and white on the front paws. Keeping track of who is who is going to
be a challenge! It is always exciting to have every puppy survive the whelp
and for things to go smoothly. Red is an excellent whelper having pushed
out 10 babies in under 4 hours.
Cheryl

CH Blue Run's She's a Caution

Amber finished her championship with a four point major win in Harrisburg,
PA this month. She received her OFA hip rating of "good" as well. She is
just over two years old, a member of the 2007 litter born on Valentine's
Day.
I hope to breed her for the first time later this year to an appropriate stud.
The handler will miss her being in the ring as Amber was a joy to show. She
would act like she owned the ring and then self stack for the judge. I'm glad
to have her back home where she belongs. Meanwhile, her sister Calypso
has just started showing and came in second on a four point major her
second weekend out. Of course, there are no points for being second but
being in the ribbons with that much competition was very encouraging.

Debut of the Red/Dickens Puppies

The Red litter puppies at 8 weeks of age are pictured above. They were born on December 9th, 2008. The nine beautiful and healthy puppies went to their new homes in February. All the puppies have lovely temperaments. Six of the nine were independently evaluated and deemed show prospects. The new owners describe their puppies as "fearless". This litter should certainly promote Dickens as an up and coming stud. Because I was so pleased with what my little Red girl produced, she will be bred a second time this year. This time she will be matched up with CH Watermark Toby's Black Jack, a wonderful old boy who will be turning 11 this year.