Labrador Retrievers for
Field and Home
home
FC AFC Small Craft Advisory |
||
|
Litter of 7 Blacks + 1 Yellow SOLD OUT - CHECK IN 2011 |
|
Scroll down for puppy pictures/updates on this litter. Sire: FC AFC Small Craft Advisory (FC AFC Teddy's Ebonstar James x FC AFC Dutchman Gold Midnite Eve MH) Rough qualified for the National Amateur Retriever Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 and the National Open Retriever Championship in 2007. At eight years old, Rough has now has a total of 105 All-Age points (87 Amateur and 26.5 Open) with a total of 2 Open and 11 Amateur wins following his wins at Tidewater Retriever Club on May 2 and Tar Heel on 4/19/2010. Rough is amateur trained and handled and at home is a spoiled and very friendly house dog who loves to climb into your lap for a rub. Rough has OFA Excellent Hips, normal Elbows and Eyes, and is CNM and EIC clear. He weighs in at about 80 lbs. While his pups are still young, several have derby and/or qualifying level field trial placements and a growing number are on the derby list. AKC#: SR00437501 Dam: Cypreesknees Ramblin Mae JH is the daughter of 2xNAFC FC Candlewood's Ramblin Man and granddaughter of NAFC FC MD's Cotton Pick'n Cropper. At 59 pounds, Mae is a compact, beautiful yellow Lab who is always eager to retrieve or play. She is quiet in the house, and wonderful with children and other pets. In the field she is focused and eager. Her line manners are excellent, her blinds solid, and she does well with both double and triple retrieves. Mae now runs at a senior level, with three passes toward her AKC senior hunter title, and needing only one more the next time we have the opportunity to enter her in a final test. Hopefully we will then move on to run at the Master Hunter level. Mae has also passed three legs of her HRC Hunting Retriever (Seasoned) title. Two of Mae's siblings have achieved "qualified all age" status in field trials and another littermate has passed 25 Master Hunter tests at the age of five and qualified in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Master National tests. One of Mae's sisters, Illini's Miss Tara***, has 11 points toward her AFC and competed in the 2009 National Amateur Retriever Championship. Mae's hips are rated OFA Excellent, her elbows are OFA Normal, her eyes are clear of genetic defects, and she is CNM and EIC clear. Based on parentage, all puppies in this litter will be both CNM and EIC Clear. AKC#: SR13346301 Pups from this litter should be capable of performing well in hunt tests and field trials. They should also make outstanding hunting dogs and companions around the house. Both parents are quiet in the house and good with children. The pups from prior litters have been doing well as pets and as hunting dogs. Hopefully in the coming year more will begin to enter competition, where I expect the will also do well. These pups should be intelligent and highly athletic. They need families that will provide them with basic training and lots of exercise. Pups are covered by a 28 month guarantee against genetic problems of hips, elbows, eyes, CNM (Centronuclear Myopathy) and EIC (Exercise Induced Collapse) as well as a general guarantee that they are in good health at the time of delivery. Pups will receive early neurological stmulation. They will have dew claws removed, be microchipped, vet examined and have initial shots, and be well socialized with children, adults, and other animals. They will be exposed to birds, water, gun fire, crates, travel in vehicles, and leashes and collars. A $300 deposit is required to reserve a pup. This is a repeat breeding. Photos of some of the pups from the prior litters are shown below followed by photos from this litter. As the pups grow, new photos will be added regularly. This litter incudes eight puppies as follows: 3 black females, 4 black males, 1 yellow male. The photos to the left are from the first litter by Rough out of Mae.
|
||
***Pups From First and Second Breedings***
Daxi at 5 mos and Cash at 6 months
Bella at 20 Weeks and Tripp at 1 Year
Daxi at 1 Year and Ace at 3 Months
Maggie and Bella at 5 months
Bella at 8 1/2 months
*** 7 Weeks ***
Three pups are now gone: BM2, who will be called Hank, BF4, who will be called Reba, and BM5, who will be known as Mason. They will be missed here, but will have lots of room to grow in their new homes. Another pup, BF6, will be leaving for her new home next weekend, and one of the pups, BF1, will be staying with me with her new name, Yardley Labs Luna Sees the Blue (I would consider selling her, but only to a home that would train her to her potential).
That leaves three boys that are still available: Tre (BM3), Whitie (YM8), and Blaze (BM7). Tre, along with Luna, is one of the real firecrackers in the litter -- quick to learn and quick to do. If I were to keep a male for myself, he would be the male I would keep. However, with a number of fertile females in the house, fertile males don't really fit for me. Speed, drive and intelligence may make Tre one of the trickier dogs to train, but will probably brings greater rewards in return. My early reactions are that he has serious competition potential. Whitie is more middle of the road. He is eager, people centric, smart, and shows good drive. However, he is a little more lay back than Tre. He should be easier to handle and should do well in a competition, hunting, or simply a pet home. Blaze is the impish charmer. He runs over to you quickly and rolls over for a tummy rub instantly. He is very birdy and quick, but hasn't exhibited the same level of problem solving skills as the more advanced pups in the litter, although this has improved as he has gotten older. Where Tre and Luna are always first to do something new, Blaze is more likely to watch and learn. He would be outstanding in a pet and/or hunting family, and would probably do well in a hunt test family, but probably not a field trial family. Though generally not very noticeable, Blaze has a thin white stripe on his chest that cannot be seen in the photo below.
*** 6 Weeks ***
The pups and I have been very active this week, and almost none of it has gone in my camera. They now move too fast, and I regularly needs eight hands to keep them in check. During the week, owners that have sent in their deposts got a chance to pick their pups. I've been fighting a cold (not successfully), so I did my best to stay out of the way. Thursday morning, YM8 (AKA "Whitie") became the first pup to swim in my koi pond. The sides of the pond are vertical with slate pavers around the edge that stick couple of inches out over the water. I set it up that way so the herons would leave the fish alone. However, it also makes the pond scary for small pups because there is no gentle entry and it is difficult to get out. I suspect that Whitie was pushed. The first I saw, he was swimming calmly across the pond. I was trying to figure out where my nets were to fish him out. He simply swam to the far side and dragged himself out. On Thursday night, the vet came to examine each pup, inject vaccinations, inject microchips, and deworm the pups. Everyone passed with flying colors. One puppy gave a very small yelp when the needle for the microchip went in (It's a very BIG needle). Other than that, no other pup even flinched. Their weights ranged from 6 1/2 to 9 pounds, with six of the pups between 7-8 pounds. I've never had a litter that was calmer standing on the table being poked, prodded, and injected. Friday and Saturday, I took the pups down to New Jersey for some time at my trainer's. I decided that if Whitie could swim that well, the others could as well. The water was warm as a bath, so I got every single pup out for at least a brief little swim. I also got several of the pups to actually retrieve some toys. They will all retrieve duck wings. However, they like to retrieve the wings under a holly bush knowing that it will take me longer to get them back.
*** 5 Weeks ***
The pups now officially qualify as big ticket, frequent travelers. On Friday and Saturday, they came with me to Blue Sprinds for the Long Island Retriever Field Trial and got to chase their mom through wading water. On Monday I took all eight to visit with kids that I help tutor on Monday nights. The it was back to Blue Springs Tuesday and Wednesday and off to Maryland to drop off my chocolate dog Sadie to be bred. Today they got their first introduction to bird wings and every pup succeeded at going down and up the steps of by back yard deck. There were about 20 kids to go with the eight pups and everyone was ecstatic. The pups ran everywhere following the kids, and were picked up, kissed, and handed from kid to kid. Only one little girl needed a quick shirt wash and she didn't even complain. The puppies are quickly approaching the time when they can begin to go to their new homes. The first day for departures will be June 8.
*** Day 30 ***
The pups spent the morning at Blue Springs Kennel in Winslow, NJ basking in the sun, running in the grass, and watching their "aunt" Misty prepare for a field trial this weekend.
*** Day 28 ***
Just a quickie to celebrate that the pups are now four weeks old -- a lineup of six out of the eight (The other two were sleeping and the camera wasn't wide enough anyway!).
*** Day 26 ***
The pups are growing like weeds and today was their first official trip outside to play in the grass and sun.
*** 3 Weeks ***
Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but it's been a busy week. Around day 17-18, all the pups opened their eyes, which made walking a lot easier. On 5/11, the pups had their first solid food. That's when the workload begins to shift irrevocably from mom to me. For now she remains involved hoping to be able to eat anything the pups leave behind. However, beginning tomorrow I will start to cut back her food and keep her separated from the pups during most of the day to help her milk begin to dry up and to complete weaning the pups. My grandkids were over today to haul the pups around and play with them indoors and out. They are just about ready to begin playing in the grass outside. The pups are now escaping from the whelping box on a regular basis. I can't really raise the sides any more until they are weaned since that will also keep Mom out. However, a few more days and their whole world will begin to change.
*** Day 19 ***
Happy Mother's Day to Mae, as well as to all the human moms. It's been a busy week. The pups are now all walking a lot (still not running), have opened their eyes, and are beginning to respond to sounds and movement. When Mom goes in the box, or people are approaching, the puppies are beginning to "swarm". The little mewing sounds have begun to morph into actual barking! In the next couple of days, I will begin to feed the pups their first non-Mommy food -- Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy formula, mixed with water into a thin gruel in the blender. I will be adding photos of each pup during the day as I have time. You can see which pup is in the picture by moving your mouse over the image.
*** Day 13 ***
It may not seem like much in the pictures, but the pups are now walking! They are still blind, so the sight isn't always pretty, but they are getting those tummies off of the floor and moving more quickly around the whelping box. Mom now spends most of the day outside the box, only going in for feeding, inspection, and clean up duties. She is also a little more willing to let them cry as she moves them to a more regular schedule for food. The pups have had several visits now from neighborhood children as well as future families coming to see their new babies. Weights now range from a little over two pounds to a little under three pounds. In another week, most of their eyes should be open and it will be time to begin introducing them to new foods.
*** Day 8 ***
The pups are now eight days old and growing rapidly. They remain in the "slug" stage of development -- blind, deaf, and crawling on their bellies -- but have doubled in size and are increasingly active. My grandchildren came over to play with the pups and all had fun. Mae wanted to be sure that she got a little loving too. I continue to take the pups through early neurological stimulation exercises and take them out to sit in my lap regularly. Mom is very attentive, but is now more willing to leave them for longer periods of time.
*** Vet Visit & Dew Claw Removal ***
Around day 2 or 3, all heck breaks loose in the whelping box. It's not enough that everyone was born healthy, happy, and hungry, but now the Vet is coming over for a visit. And what is this about "dew" claws? As already noted, we believe in removing dew claws from retrievers that are likely to be used as working dogs to avoid much more serious accidents when they are older. I have a Vet come over to the house to check out mom and each of the pups. She then removes the dew claws. These photos illustrate today's visit. The actual details of the mini surgery involved are not shown since that is a four handed job and two of the hands belong to me -- therefore, no camera.
*** Early Neurological Stimulation - Day 3 ***
Early Neurological Stimulation is a technique developed by the military based on research that indicated that puppies subjected to mild stress during the first couple of weeks of development are better able to withstand stress as adult dogs. Stress, in this context, refers to all the normal variations in environment and activity encountered by dogs being trained to a high level of performance. ENS consists of five specific forms of stimulus, each administered for several seconds on a daily basis durig the first two weeks after birth. The exercises are:
- Tactile stimulation - tickling toes with a Q-tip
- Vertical hold with head upright
- Vertical hold with head pointed down
- Supine position on back
- Thermal stimulation by lying flat on a refrigerated, wet wash cloth
The exercises are performed each morning as part of the daily routine of weighing and checking out each pup to see how it is developing. In this series, BM5 (the black male born fifth in the litter) gets to model each step in the process:
17.3 ounces - not bad for 2.5 days!
Tactile Stimulation - Why do you want to tickle my toes?
Vertical Hold - Not a lot of fun. Should I sing?
Upside Down - Don't let go!
On the Back
Thermal - That is cold and wet!
*** The Line Up - Day 3 ***
Here they are in numeric order! The first photo is a group shot of the three girls (BF1, BF4, and BF6). This is followed by individual "portraits" of each pup in birth order: BF1, BM2, BM3, BF4, BM5, BF6, BM7, and YM8. So far, only two have earned real names. BM5 is known as Blaze for reasons that are obvious in his picture. YM8 is simply "Whitey" for equally obvious reasons. The Vet will be coming over this afternoon to examine each pup and remove their dew claws. Dew claws are the vestigial 5th toes located above the paws. In working dogs, there is a risk that these can be torn off, creating a fairly major injury. By removing them when the pups are 2-3 days old, this potential risk is averted and the procedure is very minor. Removing them at an older age would require general anesthesia.
*** 8 Puppies Are Born!!! ***
First Pup (BF), One Minute old....
Click here to see close-ups of the actual birth of a puppy (graphic!)