Here are a few pics of the pups at the ripe old age of 5 weeks. They have developed personalities and teeth, not necessarily in that order . They are officially "evil, nose-biting, ear-biting, toe-biting, ankle-biting puppies".

They get visits almost daily from both buyers and friends who just want to hold some puppies. They absolutely love the attention and they're learning how hard they can bite these delicate people before they yelp. They are also practicing their inter-pack dominance and we're beginning to see their true personalities.

Most of all, they continue to be incredibly adventurous. We added a cat tunnel into their day pen and they spend hours running through it and chasing each other. Then they crash for a couple of hours before they get up and start again. Very smart group, this crew.

First of all, here's Mr Teal taste-testing the tunnel before deciding it was OK to run through.



And some portraits of the boys to show their consistency:

Mr Blue



Mr Lt Green



And Mr Green



This weekend we'll update all the pups with headshots and outdoor shots. I may even try to get some stacked photos (talk about testing my patience ). We like this crew a lot. Now, to find one more outstanding home for a boy.

Enjoy,

Jim

Okay, after five weeks now, are they developing the way you saw in the very beginning? I realize breeders of many pups can generally see in the early stages, the ones that will be "champions". In horses, there are ratios and statistics that will help owners predict. But somehow I think it is like going to Vegas and betting I will win.

If I look back at the pictures of the pups I have raised, I can always match the final look. But doing that in reverse- Ha

You must be so proud. Who is staying at your house?

PeggySue,
nobody can pick a puppy! Period. We all have opinions of what we see at 8 weeks of age but nobody I have ever met has shown me that they really can make that leap to "that's what the puppy will look like when it's an adult."

Plus, creating a champion involves a lot more than what the dog looks like . We have a friend who is a veterinarian and she is also a breeder. She manages to finish almost every dog she has ever shown simply by showing it until it does finish. Some deserved it more than others but not everyone can do that.

These puppies have a few qualities that I adore whether they are going to show or not. First, they have a sense of adventure. Nothing new is a problem; it's something to have fun with. You can't train that type of attitude and in a show dog, it makes all the difference in the world. It's what has always made Rowdy such an outstanding show dog.

Secondly, I love their overall physical balance and the balance of head to body. Head shape, size and the planes are all excellent. Toplines appear to be very nice but I'll know more once I can get them stacked. Fronts and rears appear to be right on but you only really see that as they get older.

I love to tell folks about all the experts that told us to send Rowdy back to his breeder when he arrived. He was too gangly, had a light eye and would never be a show dog. Rowdy is A/C/UCI Int'l Ch, V-1 Rated, BIS Loral's Der Terminator CGC, TT, HIC, TDI.

In our first litter, the top 4 picks finished their championships. In the second, the first 3 finished their championships and the top pick is a UDX, MX, MXJ working dog. In Cassidy's last litter, the top pick needs her majors to finish at 17 months. Sundance will start showing at the end of the summer and will probably finish in 5 shows or less.

We've had pretty good luck picking puppies but even better luck picking good homes that were willing to do the work of training and showing. Without that, the best dogs will never have a chance to finish.

I think these are very nice puppies that will make extraordinary companions to their owners. The owners that invest the time and money to show them should not have any problems finishing them. But that will have to be their choice.

Cheers,

Jim

Oh these little critters are SOOOOO cute! I got to play with a puppy recently, unfortunately, it was in a shelter. These little once don't know how lucky they are to be born into the care they have.

there they are...where's professor plum?
they are just too cute. are any of them staying?

liz

Liz,
we originally wanted to keep a girl but there were only 2 with 5 excellent homes available for girls so we made the difficult decision not to keep one. Sigh. We're still not sure.

One of the buyer couples flew in today from New Hampshire to see both the girls (they're taking one) and the boys (they're also taking one) and they fell in love with all of them. Right now, it looks like they'll get Ms Yellow and her diad brother, Professor Plum. But since they've agreed to show them both, that could change after the puppy evaluations. They are wonderful people who spend their summers in New Hampshire and their winters in Vero Beach, Florida. They have owned several Rotties but never a boy. Today, they met Rowdy and Sundance. They are now very comfortable getting a boy.

We always breed for ourselves so not taking a puppy is very difficult for us. But we already have 7 and with luck, nobody is leaving us soon. So, it really is better to let the puppies go somewhere they will get more attention.

We will, of course, co-own several from this litter so that we retain breeding rights should they turn out to be wonderful phenotypically. And several could.

After Cassidy finishes her CH (needs one more major), she'll be spayed and will not be bred again so we don't own a breedable girl. Maybe we'll get one from breeding Sundance's sister, Juneau but that won't be for at least a year. So, for a while at least, we'll be without puppies.

We'll be able to spend more time with our seniors and the older puppies that need our attention and training. And that's fine. I'll feel less guilty .

Jim

They are sooooo cute!!!

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of not owning a breedable girl? Or did I misunderstand?

Jim,
there is no advantage to not owning a breedable girl. We really wanted to keep one. However, with only two girls available to sell and 5 homes that wanted girls, it only made sense to sell the two girls into homes where they will be either the only dog or one of two.

That leaves us -- as breeders -- with no dogs to breed. Which makes it hard to continue our line! However, we do co-own girls that live with their primary owners and one of the stipulations in our co-own contract is that we get to keep a puppy out of their breedings -- either to sell ourselves or to keep ourselves. In the case of Sundance's sister, Juneau, her owners would actually like us to manage the breeding and whelp the litter. It's something we do pretty well.

So, that's the next best thing to having another girl in our home right now. The main advantage to co-owning is that we don't have to take the risk that the puppy we keep doesn't turn out either as a show dog or in terms of health clearances. We don't breed unless our dogs have proven themselves in the ring and have gotten their clearances. With a co-own, we have options of several of the girls which gives us the chance to match the right one to the right male.

I hope that answers your question. We constantly struggle with the fact that we're exhibitors and breeders but we're also not interested in breeding a lot and we try only to breed for ourselves and to improve our line. Plus, we're getting to an age where breeding, whelping and letting them go is really hard!

Something not everyone is aware of is that the owner of the bitch actually picks the stud dog for breeding and pays a stud service for his use in breeding. The owner of a stud dog has to have breeders who want to use his dog. Even if we were to want to breed Sundance, we would have to find a bitch whose owner wanted to breed to him.

Anyway, the pups are 6 weeks old today and it just hit us that they'll be leaving in 2 weeks. Gasp! It's too soon!

Jim

That question on breedability (a new word!) makes me ask you all some questions. I have been puzzled and annoyed that in order to show your dog needs to be able to reproduce.(AKC) Now, if I were you, and had a stud dog that I wanted people to see what he could produce, I would look for his offspring. I think we should be able to show in a altered class. (UKC only) Would that not make sense for AKC to have more people showing who want to show how wonderful their dogs developed and not want to breed them? With horses, there has always been classes for geldings. And wisely not every horse should be a stallion. Why not for dogs?

If I were looking for a stud dog, I would love to see how consistent he was and what type of bitch crossed best with him.

Just because the purpose of AKC was for breeding stock, times have changed in a hundred plus years. We are so overpopulated and with the designer breeds getting attention, I wish we would could show spayed and neutered dogs and get rewarded for the conformation they have.

Any thoughts?