Rocky

This little guy is two weeks old and is having a
rocky time. He has been  slowly gaining weight
because I tube feed him every 2 hours 8 to 9 times
a day. I named him Rocky because I hope he will
be the "come back kid"  and turn into a robust
puppy. It is puppies like these that the breeder
struggles to save but often they don't make it. 
Could he be any cuter?

Tuckered out after delivery of 9 pups

Libra delivered 9 pretty black and white puppies, 6 girls, 3 boys,
on January 10th, 2016. Although Griffin also sired this litter, there
are no browns and no "pi's". One little guy looks like Korra who
is tending her 9 in an adjacent bedroom.  Two litters at the same
time? Color me crazy. I didn't think Korra was pregnant due to
mishandling of her blood work used to time the breeding. So, I
have an embarrassment of riches with these two beautiful litters.

Do Porties have an "off" switch?

Thankfully, the answer is"Yes!" But, the off switch generally
doesn't kick in until about age 2.  This is Isa lounging and
recalling the lovely puppies she produced last year.

The Resolutions

Here is a picture of the 9 puppies in the Resolution Litter born
on 1/1/2016. The 3 female pi-balds are easy to tell apart with
their very distinctive markings. The 3 brown puppies at the top
right, two boys and one girl, are almost identical and probably
curly The two black pups are almost identical, too, except one is
wavy and the other curly. The pretty Irish marked brown boy will
go home with Korra. He has show boy written all over him.

Korra Has Delivered

All nine puppies made it and there were some real surprises in
this colorful litter of 6 girls and 3 boys. First, I think all but one are
curly (which is recessive). Five of the nine are brown (which is
recessive) and the stud owner says that the browns that Griffin
produces stay a nice rich brown without fading (Yay!). Three are
pi-bald, one is Irish marked, and the remainder are solid colored
with small amounts of white. All seem robust. Mom accomplished
this miracle in just 4 hours.
These puppies make up the "resolution litter" since they are born
today, New Year's Day, 2016.

The Prewhelp head count

It isn't easy counting babies when there are this many. Of course, it
helps when you put numbers on the skulls. It looks like Korra has
a baseball team in there.
Prewhelp X-rays are done a few days prior to the expected delivery
as the babies' skeletons only start to calcify 10 days prior to the due
date. Now my job is to get them all out alive. Fingers crossed for
the New Year's Day delivery.

Blue Run Does Brown

We don't very often see a brown dog among the Blue
Run family but this pretty girl is a nice rich brown.
Typically, brown dogs fade to a latte brown by age
2. We'll have to see how this puppy matures and if she
keeps this nice color.

CH Scrimshaw's Griffin

This lovely boy is the father of the two expected litters due in a
few days. He is currently 12 years old and still going strong. He
has produced many healthy offspring which is one of the reasons
I chose to use him in my breeding program.

It is a sad Christmas greeting that does not feature
a Blue Run puppy with the family. Here, Jfez is
shown with Santa in Mary's Christmas card. He
is just 6 months old and he is awfully cute! Jfez,
not Santa.

Libra is pregnant, too!

I really thought I had missed the timing in both Korra's and
Libra's breedings but they are both confirmed pregnant by
sonogram. Libra had 11 girls in her first litter two years ago
It appears she again has 10 or 11 pups in the oven.
Korra's litter is probably smaller. I am looking forward to
black and black and white puppies from these girls. The
same stud, CH Scrimshaw's Griffin, sired both litters. He
produces healthy pups that aren't too big.
Local families, particularly those open to having a show/
breeding prospect, are being sought. I expect lovely puppies.

Coming on New Year's Day.....

 This is Korra, Blue Run's Willing to Water Bend. She
is being bred to CH Scrimshaw's Griffin, an all black
boy who has sired many healthy puppies over a long
breeding career. If all goes as planned, the puppies will
be going to their new homes the first week of March,
2016, with a New Year's Day delivery expected. With
such a pretty mom, these puppies should be adorable.

Research on Hemangiosarcoma

There is a new jointly funded research project on
Hemangiosarcoma. This disease kills one in four
Portuguese Water Dogs. Anyone who loves this
breed and wishes to donate to the "Shine" project
to fund this research can do so by accessing this link:
http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6155638dd8bff7ab2f4b9711b&id=46f0bb6f05&e=74df38c4af


I am donating in memory of Blue Run's Right on Red,
Blue Run's Doce Moro, and Blue Run's Feather. All
died of this disease and are sadly missed. Red died at
age 7, Darcey at age 11, and Feather at age 10. All too
young and oh so sad.

Pope greets Sunny and Bo at the White House

It doesn't get any better than this!

Safe chews for puppies and dogs

Even little Chamie, age 3 months, enjoys the pencil sized raw hide
chews that I order from www.dog.com for $12/100. If she swallows
it whole, it still is going to pass through her G.I. tract without causing
an obstruction. My owners call these chews "life savers" if their dog
has a strong need to chew things.

Fall Porty Party

This year two of my owners, Mark and Glen, hosted a Porty
Party at their Annandale home in northern Virginia. We had
mostly boys attending as many of the girls seemed to be
"indisposed" with their first heat cycles. But the boys had a
real ball running around the yard and swimming in the salt
water pool. Glen and Mark had taken 3 of the boys for parts
of the summer while the families vacationed. It is wonderful
to have such generous and helpful owners in the Blue Run family.