The Yuletide Litter has arrived!

All puppies survived the whelp. The puppies are huge.
All except one are boys and all are wavy. Some black,
some brown, one piebald, one Irish, one particolor,
the rest tuxedo marked.
One day old and all are already gaining nicely.

Bu nears his championship

Blue Run's Riverwood Khumbu

Bu is now 18 months old and is one win short of achieving
his championship.

Blue Run puppies coming in December 2018

 This is Lorenzo
in European cut.

























This is Diamond.
Diamond was bred to Lorenzo in October,  a line
breeding on BISS CH Watermark Toby's Blackjack who
appears 4 times in the 5 generation pedigree.
Perhaps we will have brown pups this time. Will you look
at that muzzle on Lorenzo! He has a marvelous head piece
with the nice obliquely set oval eyes correct for the breed.
Both sire and dam have lovely temperaments and are
moderate in size.  Puppies will come the day after
Christmas: The Yuletide Litter. (Placements within an
hour or two of my Maryland or Virginia homes only
as a face to face interview is required, I don't ship. As I
anticipate several show prospects in this litter, families
interested in a show puppy are preferred.
I  make home visits at one year and maintain close
contact with all my owners.)

Bu wins first weekend of shows

 

It's hard to believe how well young Khumbu

 is doing in his first weekend of shows. He won 2 out of 3 days and look at

 this gorgeous self stack in front of the judge!!

Dog Sitting

I encourage my owners to dog sit for one another, So many
vacations in the summer time......so many guests, it's hard to
know which is the "home" dog in this picture. From left to
right Mays (the hostess) with Khumbu, Willa, and Lhotze.
They look like they are having fun at Chez Ruth.

Bu begins his show career in July

Blue Run's Riverwood Khumbu (from the 14 month 0ld Mays/Ripp litter) is going to show dog camp this week with Daddy Ripp who is being "specialed" by Bill and Diane Keppen. Top Porty handlers Michelle and Michael Scott will be showing both dogs as well as Luana from the Resolution litter (Korra/Griffin). Khumbu's (aka Bu) debut will be July 5th at the Howard County shows. Diane and I are very excited about these handlers accepting these 3 dogs. We decided it was worth the higher fees and the long distances for drop off to move into the big leagues. Michael was very encouraging about Bu saying "He's a very nice puppy." If I had a tail to wag you would hear it thumping! Bu's owners (Ryan & Caty ) and Ruth & Iain  (who raised this litter) will be avidly following this boy's show career. Bu has his daddy's deep chest and impressive bark and looks like a chip off the old block. Meanwhile, Bu's sister, Kali, is growing some coat and maturing while she awaits her turn to shine in the ring, perhaps in the fall.

Porty puppies stay "puppy" for a long time

Anyone with a Porty understands this picture.
Could that be one of my socks? Is there a reason
you look so proud of yourself Moby?

How to recognize a puppy mill or "backyard breeder"

In Canada they have a program called Market Place where I
came across this video about puppy mill purchases.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2009-episodes/
how-not-to-buy-a-puppy
 In the USA, the new puppy mill sites are on the web. Very
few pet stores are left that sell cats or dogs in the USA. But
this video applies to how many animals (available on line
for sale) are actually raised. It's quite deplorable.
Increasingly, there are on line scams where you send the
money and no dog ever comes!
Hobby breeders raise their dogs in their homes. They don't
ship dogs to people sight unseen.  Blue Run dogs are placed
locally (Washington D.C. area) almost exclusively. A face to
face interview at my home is required and all family members
need to show up. If you find a breeder who will sell you a
puppy without interviewing you, you may be dealing with a
puppy mill or a "backyard breeder" who does no health testing
or follow up.
 I always tell impulse shoppers, "Buy in haste;
repent at leisure."  Waiting for a puppy from a good local
breeder is your best assurance of getting a healthy dog. Visit
the breeder and meet their dogs. See how their dogs are housed
and what kind of temperament the animals have. It is an expensive
and long term commitment. Do at least as much research as you
would do if you were buying a new car.

Lizzie is no longer available

This flashy brown and white girl is sired by my boy,
CH Blue Run's Willing to Serve (Bacchus). Lizzie is 3
months old and as you can clearly see, she is adorable.
(Lizzie found a home in Bethesda, MD, where I can keep
a close eye on her.)

Trudi and Naia

These sweet sisters spent the week before Easter together. The
owners of litter mates are encouraged to help each other when
one family has to be away. Clearly, after a week back together,
Trudi and Naia are joined at the hip. These are pups from the
Romeo/Mays litter born last December.

Blue Run Sired Brown Girls

This picture shows two of the three brown girls sired by CH
Blue Run's Willing to Serve (Bacchus).
When Diamond is bred this fall, we are unlikely to have nice
brown pups like these. They will likely be solid black. I missed
my breeding her this month despite having a stud lined up and
a back up stud. That's  how it goes sometimes. One kennel had
mycoplasma that needed to be treated and the second boy had
a previous assignation for the same day who took priority. I
was very disappointed but Diamond is young. I so much prefer
having summer puppies!

Willa is now Blue Run's Entitled to Swim

There is serious cuteness going on here. Willa is in her new
home settling in with her new family, doing well with her house
training.

Prince

Sometimes a puppy is just so cute you want to eat them up.
This little boy is that kind of puppy. He is very special and
had to be fed separately with a silver spoon. He didn't come
by the name Prince by accident. He is one of the fabulous
Title Nine litter out of Romeo and Mays.

Juliette is now Champion Blue Run's Juliette

It's so nice to have a lovely dog out showing. Juliette finished her
Championship this week after just a few weekends of showing with
new handler Heather Helmer. Juliette's "boyfriend" Kylo finished
his championship the same day. We thought we'd enter Juliette
just to help Kylo show better. And big surprise, we got the win, too.
Now begins the stud search to find the perfect match for a fall
breeding after Juliette turns two in August.