Mother's Love

After a long midnight meal, Ms. Pink needed a place to rest her weary head and get some sleep. Momma Juneau had the perfect pillow.



Jim

This is just lovely. I rarely have seen such an emotionally moving picture of a puppy and its mom.

What a great way to start the holiday. If that doesn't get one in great mood, a pulse must be missing. I especially love her little pink tongue. That's a great shot Jim.

Hey Jim,

This is just beautiful.

James

Thanks everyone. Sometimes, just sitting in the whelping box with mom and the kids presents amazing photo ops. Plus, it is so soothing to the soul. Puppies are amazing. They change so much every day. At this stage, we handle them a lot so they'll associate us with their earliest sensory memories. Juneau is being a great mommy and she really loves having us in with her. When the pups are nursing, she falls asleep and snores . She remembers when she was a puppy in that same whelping box with our hands helping her nurse. She wants those puppies to feel about us the same way she does. And to watch the natural bond between mom and pups is really incredible. Juneau still isn't all that interested in cleaning them but she watches me closely when I'm doing it just to make sure I do the job correctly .

Jim

Saw this one on FB and just love love LOVE it!

Thanks, Jim. We're setting new records for "cute" with this crew .

Jim

Just posted the alternative shot on FaceBook and solicited preferences. Received over 50 comments. Here's the alternative:



The only essential difference is the presence of mom's OOF head behind the baby in my original post. If you'd care to vote, I'd love to hear your opinions.

Jim

I love the version with mummy's head far more.

So sweet - beautiful image .

Just a quick update with my latest photo from the puppy pack: intrepid photographer becomes the hapless victim of a vicious toe attack from Ms. Lt. Blue!!! No teeth; no blood .



Enjoy!

Jim

Nice one!

Thanks Don. They are such fun!

Jim

Yes indeed - puppies are great.
But I couldn't be a breeder. I'm a board member of our local animal shelter, have seen a lot of mistreated pets and so, I think I always would be afraid that the new owners of my puppies would treat them badly.

Don,
I'm on the Board of Directors of the Gulfstream Guardian Angels Rottweiler Rescue organization of Miami and have been involved in Rescue for over 40 years. Personally, I don't think anybody who breeds cannot be involved in Rescue. Oh, BTW, I work just as hard -- and with the same criteria -- to place the Rotties we Rescue as I do to place the puppies we breed. Last year, we lost our Rottie Rescue girl, Marion Louise, at 13 years of age to bone cancer. She helped raise and train 4 of the 6 litters we've bred in over 16 years. During that time, we have been very fortunate to only have to rehome one the puppies we've bred. She was Molly and was initially sold as a pet to a single mom who realized she just didn't have the time for her. We were fortunate to rehome her with a very good family in Virginia and she became Annie's second most-titled offspring earning titles in Agility, Obedience and Herding. We take care of our puppies for their entire lives. We also help take care of our breed. We see both of these as part of our responsibility in owning a dog.

Jim

Hi Jim, I think, I didn't make clear what I wanted to say.
It's just because of my emotional connection I would build up to the puppies. I always would be afraid that one of them could possibly end in a dig shelter or worse - and to avoid that, I'd probably keep them all.
Of course, as a breeder I would love to keep contact to their owners but you can't force them to keep contact. They can move to another ciry or just houses or they can just tell you to leave them alone or what ever...
No, I'm no breeder material.

Don,
we have legally-binding contracts for each puppy we sell or place and it requires that we always be informed where the puppy is living and, if the owner can no longer own the dog, it comes back to us. We lose sales because our contract is so restrictive but with Rottweilers, you need to be sure that folks aren't just buying them to protect their business and/or home. On the other hand, it's also why many of our puppies go to homes that have owned our puppies in the past. In fact, two of the puppies in our current litter will be going to owners of other Rotties we've bred.

When our puppy-owners that live near us go away on vacation, the puppies come to us for their "vacation". We stay in touch constantly via email, telephone and personal visits. We have been with our owners when a few of our puppies from our first litters have had to be put down. We have delivered them and helped them draw their first breaths; and we've been with them as they drew their last. Breeding is a lifetime commitment to the lives we help place on earth. No it's not for everyone. But while this world does not need more breeders, it definitely needs more ethical breeders. I think we qualify.

Jim

Hi Jim,
that's a truly lovely approach. Under these circumstances, I think I also could be a breeder. It's really fantastic to learn that there are people doing so much for their four-legged comrades.
You made my day!

Jim,

I have read this sentence over several times and I would appreciate it if you would elaborate. I am not sure I understand why you said this statement.

"Personally, I don't think anybody who breeds cannot be involved in Rescue."

Peggy Sue,
I believe that those of us who breed have a responsibility not only to make sure the dogs we breed never end up in a Shelter but also to help place those dogs who actually do end up in a Shelter. I've been involved in Rescue for over 40 years and got involved a full 10 years before I had my first dog -- a Rescue St. Bernard. I worked at a no-kill shelter and my job was to train the street dogs that found themselves there. Every dog I personally worked with, got adopted.

When we decided to get a pure-bred dog and to show it, I was already active in Rottweiler Rescue. I saw first-hand what happens when a Rottweiler is bred by folks only looking to make money and bought by people only interested in being seen as "tough" by their neighbors. Those are the dogs that end up on the street and, unlike many other breeds, untrained, unsocialized Rottweilers are not dogs you cavalierly place into any home. My job then as now was to meet the dogs and decide whether or not we could and should try to place them. It's one of the hardest decisions I have to make in life, and I do it every month.

When we decided to breed Rottweilers, we vowed to each other that we would never do it for the money. We would only breed to improve the Breed overall and we would only breed for ourselves or our friends. Each litter we have bred has been pretty much pre-sold by the time we actually put the mom and dad together. Our puppy contract is iron-clad. We know where every dog we have ever bred is and we talk to those puppy owners at least every 3 months. And the criteria we use in vetting prospective puppy-buyers is the same process we use to find great, forever homes for our Rescues. I can only pray that none of the puppies we've ever bred find themselves in a Shelter but, if one does, I can only hope that there is somebody nearby like me who will find it a wonderful new home.

So, as breeders, I feel we have a responsibility to the breed we love to not just add more good dogs to the pool of available dogs but to ensure that the ones that are already out there get placed if they are good dogs. Lots of people who come to us looking for a puppy, really should be adopting a Rescue and I tell them so. Often, I match them up with a Rescue I've personally evaluated. Sometimes, it works the other way and folks looking for a Rescue really should be looking for a puppy. Since we know all the ethical and responsible breeders of Rottweilers on the North American Continent, we point these families to good breeders with puppies on the ground.

Our motto is very simple: If you don't Rescue; don't breed.

Hope that answers your question.

Jim

Hi PeggySue, this was a reply to my statement that I couldn't be a breeder due to all the cruelty I have witnessed as board member of the local pet shelter.

I believed what you said was what you clarified for me. I just wanted to make sure I did not read this as a double negative. Knowing that you have been involved with rescue, I thought that is what you meant. And I agree with you!

Having been involved with a shelter and purebred dogs, I am disappointed how polarized some of the people have become. Some rescue people believe that we should not breed anymore dogs since there are so many to rescue. And of course we know there are some miserable breeders that we would like to put out of business. Many breeds need some serious revamping in order to correct major health issues. Working on both sides of the fence one can clearly see both sides of the issues.

Your statement of "Personally, I don't think anybody who breeds cannot be involved in Rescue." sounded that if you breed you cannot be involved with Rescue, but I wanted you to make sure your point was made in the way that I felt you believe. Thanks

Congrats on the lovely new litter.

Don, I understand how you have come to your conclusion. Indeed the reason why I have not gone that route. I did breed for foals that I wanted, but when you have only one at a time, that is really an easy decision to who gets the baby!
Still too much heatbreak for me when things go wrong!

Peggy Sue,
if responsible pure-bred breeders do not breed, all we'll have are the puppymill and back-yard breeders contributing dogs to the available pool. I don't believe breeding and rescue are mutually exclusive, obviously. But, more importantly, I believe that careful, ethical, responsible breeders are the only ones that can improve the health -- physical and mental -- of the breeds that do exist. I've owned Golden Retrievers and frankly marveled at the temperament issues I encountered within that breed. A direct product of a popular breed that became overbred and under-managed. It's much better now but finding really good breeders back when we had our Goldens was not easy.

The same thing happened with Rottweilers in the late 1990's when the breed was the 3rd or 4th most popular in the US. Most of the good Rottie breeders were aghast that the dogs were that popular because we knew that not every home should have a Rottie. But a lot of them found that out the hard way and far too many of those dogs found their way into shelters. Today, the breed's popularity has fallen to #11 and has been as low (or high) as #16. That's great! Despite the argument that having a larger gene pool is better for the breed, in my opinion having fewer but better dogs is the only viable way to improve the breed.

And then there's the issue of what happens when a Rottweiler, for example, finds itself in Animal Control. Most ACs do only cursory evaluations of the adoptability of the animals that come in and even less of the families coming in to adopt so lots of dogs go out the door into homes just like the one they escaped from or were tossed out of and end up back in AC within the year. So we as breeders owe it to those dogs to give them the type of evaluation that will ensure they are "good dogs" and then place them in "great homes". Nobody else is better at doing that than breeders.

Again, JMHO but I feel I owe it to this breed that I love to make sure that we have more wonderful dogs living in more wonderful homes.

Jim

Cute!

Thanks Katie. Here are the latest photos of the Quintessential Quintet . First up, here's the lineup at 3 weeks old and each of them weighing in at around 3 lbs. (vs. 12 to 15 oz. at birth).



Next up is Mr. Red napping with Mr. Lion.



And keeping with a theme, Mr. Red dreaming about the rubber chicken circuit.



Ms Pink and Professor Plum doing something very unusual -- napping .



And Big Blue and Mr. Red discussing Middle Eastern politics.



Finally, Ms. Lt Blue and Plummy with their favorite whelping assistant, Melanie Leon, following full exams by Mel's mom, Dr. Jane Leon.



Puppies at 3 weeks of age are just cutting their baby teeth. Momma Juneau is not happy about that!! We're also starting the weaning process by substituting 3 meals a day with milk replacer. By the end of the week, the teeth will all be in and we'll start moving them to a weak gruel mixture of milk replacer and moist puppy food and then we'll start adding in dry food blended into an increasingly thick gruel mixture until they're ready to eat almost solid food. We use a large donut-shaped bowl for that and it's a scream to see. Yes, I'll send photos.

Enjoy. We are. Who needs sleep anyway?

Jim

Sleep? What is sleep? lol

Those are all so adorable! Makes me want a puppy lol

Lovely pics, Jim.
Thanks for sharing.

Great pics! I especially like the one of Big Blue giving Mr. Red mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Doug