Puppies

Wednesday morning I went to Weight Watchers. I go each week, even though I haven’t written much about it lately. I did well, as I lost 1 and a half pounds. I gained a little this spring while Anneliese was pregnant. I guess I was being sympathetic with her weight gain.

On the way home Hubby called to tell me that all was well and he would get the mail for me. So I drove the rest of the way home and was greeted by all six pups. I opened the door to let the two little ones out into their pen, and then I picked up Baerbel and carried her out the other door to the garden. I wanted to see if my plants were doing anything. As I stood holding her I felt something on my foot and looked down and saw Baron! Now how did he get there?

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At first I thought that Hubby was home and I called out to him, but no one answered. I walked back to the house and saw that the pen gate was OPEN! I was shocked and then I looked down at Baron and I realized that he hadn’t wandered off like many puppies would, he had tracked me down to the garden, all on his own! What an amazing dog!


Baerbel, me and Baron.

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I played with them for a bit, fed them their lunch and then Makenna came by with a friend of her sister’s to see the pups.  Makenna is such a good sport and she took the pups out with me again and we ran them around the back yard.

Makenna and Baerbel.

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I made lunch for Hubby and got a few things done around the house. Then I stopped to check my email and I got a note from Ali’s new family. She is doing great, is much loved and has a new little girl to play with. Her name is Faith and she is now Ali’s best friend! This photo was taken by Teresa, who is a professional photographer in Michigan.

Faith and her baby Ali

Now don’t they look made for each other? I also learned that Ali’s new Daddy has already taken her out to learn tracking and that she is doing well with that. I am so happy for them, and this is why I breed. As hard as it is to say good-bye to my babies, knowing that they are going to loving homes, where they will be a big member of the family, makes it all worthwhile!

Bogart is also doing great with his new family, which includes a doggy brother named Basil. As you can see in this picture, taken by Bogey’s new Mom, Alexandra Daley-Clark. She is a professional photographer so please click on this link and check out her web site.

Bogart sleeping

As you can see, Bogart is leading a very good life!

So, life is good and Baron and Baerbel will be leaving very soon. I’ll miss them, but it will give us about 6 weeks until Greta’s pups come. (Oh yes, we aren’t 100% sure yet, but I really do think she has biscuits in her oven!)

Mischief and Mayhem! Ha!!!

I woke this morning and went out to the puppy room to clean them up and feed them. I figured it would be half as bad as it had been because two of the little poopers were gone.

I was wrong.

I think last night Baron and Baerbel had a talk. It went something like this.

Baron: I think I need to poop!

Baerbel: Me too.

Baron: I think I will poop again. Bet you can’t!

Baerbel: Bet I can.

Baerbel: Go ahead Baron, top this!

And Baron did! Oh my goodness, I didn’t know two puppies could poop that much in 8 hours! I laughed knowing that this had totally been a competition.

So I cleaned it all up, washed the floor and fed my little darlings. Oh yeah, you can tell I love my babies, when I think even poop is funny!

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Baerbel left and Baron right.

I picked up Greta’s x-rays today from our old Vet. These are x-rays from her last litter. I want our new Vets to see these so we can prepare for Greta’s next litter. We go on July 29th for her first pre-natal exam. Personally, I think she is pregnant and feel pretty confident.

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Baerbel and Baron are enjoying the freedom in their room and pen. We can also bring them out a bit more, as it is easier to run after 2 puppies than it is 4!

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Baron running in the yard.

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Baerbel hopping in the yard. She is so fast!

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Greta and Baerbel playing. This is a new game where Greta goes over to the pen and attempts to steal the puppy bones.

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A close up of Grandma Greta with Baerbel. And yes, Greta got the little white bone you can see near Baerbel’s paw.

Forever Homes

The last 11 weeks have zoomed by. I brought the pups in to our Vets for the last time today. They all were examined, all got Health Certificates and are ready to go. As I took their pictures and thought back, I realized how much each one of them has changed. From tiny, helpless, little babies to growing, running, jumping, wiggling puppies!

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Vets.

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Dr. K and Ali.

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Baerbel.

These are the last pictures taken of me with all of my babies.

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In the afternoon our little puppy kingdom began to change. I sat down with Anneliese and told her that it was time for two of her babies to leave and go to new homes. I could tell she was sad, but she was happy too. Happy because these little puppies would be loved and have wonderful lives, just like her Mommy had when Greta came here all the way from Germany.

Ali as a baby and today with her new Mom.
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Yes, here she is with her forever Mom, Teresa. She arrived today and adopted our little Ali. I could just tell that it was a match made in heaven. Ali is now on her way to  Michigan to meet her Dad, Brad and her forever little girl, Faith! They’ve promised me lots of pictures!

Bogey also left to go to his new forever home. His Mom, Alex and Dad, Denis came and picked him up. They’ve been a few other times to visit because they don’t live too far away from us. It was wonderful to see them. Bogey knew them and settled right into Alex’s arms. Bogey will have a doggy brother named Basil and his Mommy also promised me plenty of pictures!

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Tonight Anneliese keeps looking for Ali and Bogart. I didn’t think she would notice that much, but she has. I just take her in my arms and cuddle her and by tomorrow I think she will be all better.

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Good-bye to my sweeties. Have a wonderful life!

2 down, 2 to go.

My Babies

Sunday was supposed to be a quiet, catch up day, unfortunately I got going and before I knew it, I was really chugging along.

I wanted to type out the transfer papers for the puppies, I wanted to print out pictures of Anneliese and Isegrim for the new owners. I got all that done, as well as played with my precious babies.

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It’s a funny feeling when you reach this point in their lives. You are ready for them to leave, as having 8 dogs is too much for any sane individual, but at the same time, you look at those beautiful individual faces and you realize how much you will miss them.

From the moment of their conception, their birth and then through the first weeks of their lives, I have been with them. Even though I refer to myself as their grand-mummy, in many ways I have been their mother. After Anneliese finished nursing them, I taught them to lap milk, to eat puppy gruel, to lap water, and to use newspaper!

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Anneliese may have been the one to give birth to them, but these are my babies!!!

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I read something recently and I realized that I am not a professional breeder. I am not in it for the money, and my dogs are all my pets. I am a breeder who breeds dogs for health, and sound temperaments, and I try to fill them with love so that when they do go to their forever homes they will be able to shower their new owners with love.

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I think I am a responsible breeder and more than anything, I know I am breeding for the right reasons. I bet tomorrow when the two families arrive to pick up their babies, their hearts will be filled with love.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Summer…Are You Here?

Because I am a terrible doggy Mama, I want to start this post entry with a picture of my big white boy, Fritz. He is such a peach and probably the easiest of our dogs. Mostly because he is the oldest, at nearly 6 years old. (His birthday is July 27th) How could I have forgotten his picture yesterday?

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Fritz is a big boy compared to my dackels. He weighs 77 pounds, and is all muscle. He runs like a deer across the fields and is Hubby’s constant companion.

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He also loves his dackels and is their fierce protector. He is probably closest to Arnie. You know, boys tend to stick together.

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I find I am spending a lot of time now with the puppies. I am taking pictures, hugging them more and showing them to whoever will look at them. The days have ticked by so quickly and the first two leave me in the next day or so.

Here I am with Bogey today. We had a small cook-out and after we got done eating I put him in my lap and rubbed his belly and got showered with kisses!

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Jacqui came over and she played with the pups too. Here she is with Baron. What a sweet dog he is!

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Actually they are all very sweet. Not a bad temperament in the bunch. They are all loving, sweet and motivated. Here is Ali in one of the few moments that she was able to gather all the toys and then fall asleep amongst them!

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Meanwhile, Baerbel climbed into the bed and happily fell asleep.

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Soon they all joined her and they took a long, lazy, afternoon nap.

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I have fresh boxes of kleenex all ready for when the first pups go. My heart will break a little I just know, but I am truly happy with their forever homes.

My Dackels

Thursday saw me enjoying a ride over to see my hair stylist, Margarita for a dip in the fountain of youth. When I got back I I decided that today was a great day to take some pictures of me and the dackels. So I slathered put on some make up and the asked Hubby to take the pictures. I put them in this sideshow, but if you want to know who each pup is, just click on the sideshow and it will bring you to Flickr and the names are beside each image. After I put this together I realized that I forgot Fritz. This means I will have to do a post very soon dedicated to my White German Shepherd!

The pups are finally sleeping after having a very active afternoon, and Greta, Arnie and Anneliese are asleep in my chair with me, and I think Fritz actually has gone to bed.

The day was beautiful, warm and sunny. Perfect! Now if we could just have a few more like this then the summer won’t be a total loss!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

Puppies & Pregnancy

I woke early today as I had to go in for blood work at the local hospital. However, before I could leave I had to walk all the dogs, clean the puppy room and feed the little pups as well! It took me exactly 35 minutes to shower, dress, walk dogs, clean them up and feed them before sliding out the door and getting to my appointment.

The place was mobbed and I worried I would be there all day, but since I had a timed test, they had to take my blood by 7:30 and so I was brought in fairly quickly!

I went to Weight Watchers before heading home. Upon arriving back, I kicked out the pups into their outdoor pen and completely took their room apart, washing floors and beds and toys before allowing them to come back inside. For a good hour the house smelled wonderfully fresh and clean! lol!

My babies leave home soon, so for the next few days I am trying to stock up on cuddles and puppy breath kisses. I sure will miss them. They are all such wonderful little puppies. They are nice, and sweet and well socialized, and best of all, for their new owners they are paper trained. This will make their house breaking fairly easy.

I am happy that the pups are all going to good homes and I feel good about the owners that are adopting my babies. Now I wait until the 29th of the month to find out if Greta is in fact pregnant. Personally, I think she is!

Morning Sickness

My day began with Greta going woof-woof! I woke and groggily made my way to the bathroom and found that she followed me. Before I could do anything, Greta choked and gagged and I lifted her up and held her over the sink. She then had her first bout of what appears to be morning sickness! (or so I think)

After I brought Greta and the other big doggies outside for a walk in the back yard. I opened the door for the puppies to go outside in their pen, and then set about cleaning their room, while the coffee brewed.

Soon all the dogs were fed, the coffee made and I was sitting in my chair watching the rain fall once again, wondering when summer will come to New England!

Makenna was over helping me with the puppies. She is a natural with them and they just love her. Here she is holding Baerbel.

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Baron got thirsty and stopped for a break and some water while she was over playing with them.

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Ali watched with an adoring eye. She never seems to stay still for long. Ali is always moving! So please forgive the slight blur to the picture.

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The afternoon brought more showers and gloomy weather. I really am ready for some nice sunny and dry weather, even if it means I’ll have to hand water my garden!

Tonight the puppies have finally settled in for the night and Greta seems to be her usual self. We will see what tomorrow morning brings. (More morning sickness?)

Sunshine & Puppies

It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire on Monday. Sunshine, warm temperatures and a gentle breeze! I mean, how good is that, after all the rain and wind we have had over the last month.

I took a walk with Arnie over to look at our garden. I wondered what a month with next to no sun and a ton of rain had done to it. I was amazed to see that the garden was actually doing well. Everything looked great, with the exception of the cucumbers. They just have not done well this year. My tomatoes are growing and the little cherry tomato plant is loaded!

I worked the pups on a line again today to see how they would do with deer blood. They all did well and they really enjoy this as a game. Their new owners will need to continue to run them on tracks in the woods so that they can continue to learn to track the scent of wounded game.

They are so adorable now and so cute and I can hardly wait for their new owners to meet them. Melli asked if it was going to be difficult for me when they leave? You know, I don’t think so. I’ve raised them from day one, telling myself that these special little creatures were going to new and wonderful forever homes. I was just the teacher. The keeper of the babes until they were old enough to be loved by their new owners.

Here are Baron and Baerbel watching their silly brother Bogart who was trying to sleep on his back.

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Ali curled up with Baerbel for a little rest.

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But then Ali got up and Baerbel had the bed to herself.

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Bogart loves his ball.

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And because we haven’t had a lot of Baron pictures lately, here is another one of his sweet face!

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It has been so much fun having springtime puppies! Being able to go outside with them and play in the green grass has been truly good for them and for me. Of course if Greta is pregnant, then we will be doing Autumn Puppies!

Can we ask Mother Nature for a little Indian Summer this year?

The Day After

The day after the 4th of July found me walking around in a daze. I somehow managed to keep up with the dogs and Hubby, but I wasn’t my usual almost perky self. In fact I guess I looked pretty bad because even Hubby asked me if I was tired. Gosh I remember when I was younger and even after an all night party, I still looked pretty good and could put in a full day’s work!

I made us a nice breakfast and we watched the Men’s Final at Wimbledon. It was exciting to watch this match of two incredible players, playing in 5 sets that almost never ended.  In fact I made lunch during the match and we ate that before Roger Federer won.  I was really happy that he did. He broke all the old records for most Grand Slam Titles Won!

It was also “bathe the puppy day” in the house and I was amazed that each of the pups really liked sitting in the sink in the warm water. I was able to clean them up and see that their tattoos all came out splendidly!

Makenna came over as promised and helped me! Here we are with Baerbel!
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And Bogart

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Another one of Bogey.

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And here is one of Ali.
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They sat in the sun (yes we actually had sunshine today) and even slept outside in the sun. It was such a nice day.

Tonight I am going to get my pajamas on, watch Jeff Dunham and Bill Engvall on Comedy Central and then hit the hay! It’s a great way to end the weekend!