My two-legged bred by!

Samantha has been on a fantastic roll! With her Flute she has moved on to the second round of state finals, Honors band for district, 1st chair at the UGA Midfest this past weekend, #3 Dalmatian Junior Handler and was the Star Student for "Respect" at her school last month. Could not happen to a better person. The rose began to blossom and bloom 3 years ago and just like a rose she gets better and better! The Principal at her school had me stand explained to the kids that respect starts with the one raising the student. I could not agree more. The most important thing with respect is you have to give it to get it.

Beetle is doing great in the show ring. Her personality is simply amazing. She has been the ONLY puppy at 6 months old that I would trust in a hotel room. She loves to just be with people and hang out. If anyone ever tells me again how "hyper" Dalmatians are I will just show them the Beetle Bug! She is 100% happy to lay on her back and have her belly rubbed!

Got a wonderful picture of Sierra for Christmas of the day she won her last points for her Championship and Lillie's "New Champion" photo. Sierra's movement still amazes me. She is like driving a fine car when showing her in the ring.

Ada with Green Starr Dalmatians and I have decided to bred Pat and Lillie again in the summer/fall of 2010. I have a wonderful show home for the pick of the litter that has had Dals for a long time and looks forward to getting back in the show ring. She has been looking at the past litters and really admires them.

Announcing CHAMPION Southern Chic Echo's Lil Secret "Sierra"

Traveling home yesterday from Concord North Carolina we had the privilege of having a new CHAMPION in the van with us! CH Southern Chic Echo's Lil Secret "Sierra". This girl has been such a pleasure to have with at Enchanted Hart. I love her dearly and to watch her move is really a treat in the show ring! Right now in the show ring we have a real problem with top lines in tail sets in my opinion. This past three days of showing Sierra stuck out for correct movement, top line and tail set! She won her 11 and 12 reserve to a major on Friday and Saturday and thanks to Judge Kenneth Buxton on Sunday Winners Bitch to finish her. I'm so thankful we did not have to make it to #13! Samantha has been using her in the Juniors ring and has placed in her class with one exception. Mud is a great, tail wagging, give me the win face show dog but we have learned with some Juniors Judges that does not work. Sierra shows is a very stand/stack tail out perfect and does not tend to move her feet when placed allowing Samantha to show her handling skills vs fighting with Mud on "no I want my foot here!". He is young and will grow into "oh ok this is what we are doing"!

We are going to schedule Mud for his therapy testing, I hope, in January. He is such a layed back love a bug I just can't wait to share him with everyone that needs a Dalmatian pick up. He will still show in the Juniors ring from time to time. Samantha is enjoying the variety now and can't wait for Beetle to mature for her to show.

Michele and Tom Wrath...what great people! At every show we are at they have been ringside for Juniors and not only giving advice to Samantha but any parent with a Junior in the ring. Tom has the best advice to very little things that make the biggest difference! Thanks for doing the things you do that mean so much. Michele I can't wait to go shopping after Christmas with your suggestions!

I had to go in the ring this past weekend and TRY to get a dog not to get the major. In other words mess him up something horribly. Well he won and not with my handling skills! He was in the ring to hold the major, so I did not use bait, I let him look at the boy behind, I almost walked around the ring and started to skip. As I got in line when the others where stacking up the dogs and I was not going to, I looked down and "BAM" four feet stacked perfect looking at me tail out wagging saying look at me! Have to remember in the future just how well Pam Fisher breeds and trains her Dalmatians! I have really liked that boy from the first day I saw him and what a joy it was to be on the lead for him to get his 3rd major after he was already a Champion. Congrats Pam for doing what you do so well!

Thanks for the Reminder!

It's been way to busy! A good busy!

The blood draw last weekend in Knoxville was great. Thank you Donna and everyone that made it such a success! We got to see two of the puppies from the May litter along with owners and it's just fantastic! One puppy named "Gus" went to a home that had Dalmatian that did not get along with many humans and made it tough for them to have people in there home or go for happy walks. Well things have changed with Gus! Mike and Karen have done a great job with him! He had a hard time keeping all four on the floor and keeping his tail from wagging! Love it! He will be in the show ring in the spring.

Our Beetle was away for 5 weeks and boy did we miss her! We had a Dalmatian in the house for Samantha to show and Beetle spent some time at her Dads! I think she enjoyed her sister Kate and Dad Pat but man I am glad to have her home! Samantha finished "Danica" the Dalmatian we had here and she got to go home.

OH BY THE WAY!!!! Mama Lillie is now....CHAMPION Volunteer's Enchanted Hart!!! Love that girl! I will post the picture as soon as we get it.

No puppies planed for a while! Enjoy having them but Samantha has many goals to get accomplished for the next 12 months. 10 wins for Westminister and 5 wins (one of which she got last weekend) for Eukanuba. She is also very focused on her Flute and will be competing in District in the next 4 weeks and attending the University of Georgia by invitation also.

Beetle will enter the show ring for the first time next Sunday!

All things work out for the best

I'm so thankful for God and they way he works things out! Puppies go to better homes, what goes around comes around and we are blessed with special people in our lives! All things work out for the best if you just let it happen!

Beetle wore herself out this morning and pulled the clean whelping box pads down from the chest so that she could go to sleep.

Ada will be arriving today to spend some time and (ok here is the real reason) Cindy is coming to "visit" Mud! Since Sierra and Cindy came into season a day a part Mud will REALLY be happy to see Cindy! I didn't know a male could wine so much......*slap on the forehead* yes I do. LOL Sorry backtrack moment!

It's quite!

It's been a long time since we got to train a puppy! Beetle will be staying here for training with Samantha. We got to go to her first Confirmation/Puppy Kindergarden class this past Sunday and it was a blast. We have a little Lillie in the house! Pre-ma-donna to the hilt! Everyone got a kick out of her sitting her hind end on the balance beam like a human. Not once, not twice but three separate times! Everytime a puppy came to "check her out" she politely but very snobish like turned to face them and sat her butt to the floor! Of course the looked great on the lead and the trainer was impressed. Samantha has worked hard with her on the leash training and for 8 weeks to move around the ring without pulling is great! Stood in a stand stay for exam from both a man "judge" and female "judge". Need some work on the teeth but that will not take much to get her to settle at people looking at them.

Got the house back in order after puppy whelping.

Moving on!

The last trip to the farm for awhile...well I say that but you just never know! We figured out that it was over a year since I have been there but Samantha has enjoyed making visits often. That won't happen again for me to be gone! Sorry but it's just my slice of heaven in the mountains and I did not know HOW much I missed it until I got to spend some time again. Looking back it has been a year of very mixed emotions. Puppies have been a big part of it. Don't like having back to back litters we do know that! We love the puppies and for the most part the wonderful people we get to meet when our kids are going to there new homes but for those that just put a bump in the road just frustrate me to heck! Which brings me announce:

We have a black/white brown eyed fantastic male available!

He is our only black/white boy from this litter. We have been calling him Pat Jr. this past weekend because he is so much like his daddy. Layed back boy just wanting a lap to lay on!

Life is good!

Samantha and I got back last night from another wonderful trip to the farm! Hearing test were performed Friday morning at the University of Tennessee and no surprises great stats once again for this group! For the first time in 3 litters Lillie has produced show girls! ALL THREE will be placed in show homes and I could not be more excited! Oh yes I could! Looks like the two liver boys are also going into the confirmation ring! We have to wait for one another breeder to finish evaluating next Saturday to confirm the other evaluations. All things work out for a reason. I got to meet one of the puppy owners yesterday. She made me cry which often happens remembering the loved dogs we have lost and meshed with holding a new family member brings a rush of emotions! Originally she was to get a girl but as I knew once she met the boys she was in love. Boys always do that to the right people that have open hearts. As I tell all of my puppy people when I start talking to them. I don't know what we are going to get and to be open to color and sex. I have not had one puppy placed that it has worked out for the best! Rachel and Nash from the last litter has been the best example of that! This also includes puppy people that are so closed minded to spotting, color and sex. If I have a person that does not even care about meeting the puppies and seeing personalities vs looks and sex of the puppy it's just best to move that person on to someone else. In the long run no matter what is placed in that home they won't be happy.

We thought most of the puppies would be going home next weekend....looks like I will have a few to stay on due to vacations. Oh I just hate that :)....puppies that I get to enjoy, love, play with!

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Back to the farm Thursday and than next week Samantha and I have high hopes that we will finally get to close a chapter in our lives that has been a complete nightmare for us. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayer that what comes around will FINALLY go around!

Looking forward to the weekend

I have enjoyed this week with the puppies. They have moved to the big yard with so many things to keep them busy they just come in at bedtime and off to sleep! How did I live without a grass matt? We had a pretty bad storm a couple of nights ago and I just got up, swepted off the grass matt and got the puppies up and on it for the morning feeding. Samantha is doing such a great job with them during the day. Playing with each one of them is important part of socializing them for there new homes. I can't believe how this time has flown by. We will do the first set of shot for them tomorrow for the trip to the University of Tenneesee next weekend.

Lillie is looking great as she always does. Samantha already has her in training jumping over the agility jumps and doing obedience. She has been the best Mama and has not missed a beat. Well I take that back. Last night at 12:30 am when she looked over the side of the whelping box, the kids got sight of her and SHE didn't want to jump in and nurse them! She looked at me wagging her tail as they were crying the high pitched cry that they make at 12:30 am saying "I'm over that". Thanks Lillie! I got up at 5 am and fed them knowing that last night was the first time they went without a "snack from the milk bar". Only 10 minutes and back to sleep. Great time for a post!

Puppies all have great personalities as they did the first litter. The boys again have the greatest layed back "I'm the dude" attitude with one of them just being the marmaduke dude with nothing phasing him what so ever! Girls never stop and are the first to jump, roll, tug any new item introduced to the ex-pen condo. Just can't believe we are going they will be 6 weeks old on Monday!

Where did the babies go?

Oh no don't be alarmed! They are just SO big now! Lillie got in to nurse them last night and I just look at them and remember how little they WERE!

I was without Samantha last week and it was tough all around. This weekend I packed up the EHDALS auto with everyone and headed to the farm. Dalmatians everywhere! Like a little slice of the most wonderful cake you can imagine. Got the puppies unloaded and Oksana and I had some time to take in the puppy sights before the SHOW van arrived. It was loaded with the winners dog/best of winners, "Mud" and winners bitch, "Dolly" from the dog show!!! After Samantha and Ada got "sanitized" we parked chairs under the huge umbrella (got to get one of those) and ex-pens and waited......I knew Samantha and I could not say anything because that would give away what our thoughts were. After what seemed forever Ada finally gave the "nod"! Love that when it happens both in the ring and out. Again Lillie and Pat DID complete a repeat performance to a fantastic litter. Now the wait. Hearing test are scheduled for June 26th in the morning, they are going to be evaluated conformationally in the afternoon and than we will know were everyone is going (or staying). We are traveling to the University of Tennessee for this testing. Just hate when that happens that I have to find a reason to stay in the hills of Tennessee!

This past Sunday we went to the show with Samantha and Mud being the only ones showing. For the second day in a row "Mud" went winners dog/best of winners! Oh and the girl, she showed him up by going BEST JUNIOR HANDLER beating over 30 other Junior Handlers. I have never heard the crowed erupt like that when a Junior won before, oh yeah she had all of her moms there and than some! Thanks to Michele Wrath and Ada for giving her some great handling training after Saturday's show. Obviously it worked.

We get some time off from showing. We better because Samantha is lined up to show 9 out of 11 days at the end of July!

What a weekend!

Announcing.....CH Green Starr's A Patriot -- "Daddy Pat!"

Not only did Ada finish one champion but TWO and got a major on her girl Dolly this past weekend! Congrats Green Starr's A-Ada!!! LOL

I got to see the Bunker boy and Fiver boy! I'm very proud to have such good homes for these fantastic boys as I am all of the puppies we have placed! We are excited to have Fiver come and stay with us in a few weeks while his owners go on vacation. As is Nash, both of these boys have the best personality. Go to a dog show for the first (and second for Bunker) and just lay down at will, relax and wag tails at everyone and everything! If I have not explained before so that everyone understands why I write so much about these guys...they are full brothers to this litter of puppies.

OH THE PUPPIES...oh the puppies - what can I say...I'M IN LOVE! I think Ada gets tired of me saying "I can't wait for you to see these guys!" Well she won't have to wait long cause...we are taking them on an adventure this weekend so that Ada and Oksana can look over the litter.

We continue to socialize and actively stimulate the puppies in individual play time. They had a big day yesterday moving outside for 7 hours and having there first plate of goats milk, rice cereal and formula yum! Cleanest puppies that I have experienced. Not a one stepped in the bowl. Lillie enjoys this part because she can usually spend time cleaning put the mess but not this time! It only took them one time to figure out the chow call of "puppy, puppy, puppy" because when I did it this morning to wake them up for chow they came running! Since it is a smaller litter than I am use to they seem more in tune with human bonding. Just hate to see that since I just love to do the luv-a-bug with them!

To much fun!

Nothing else to say but we have been having way to much fun with the puppies to take time out to blog! These guys have been great fun this past week! We hold them, talk to them and nuzzle with them and they wag and talk back! Everyone can hear and that takes a lot of pressure off of a breeder!

We have a show this weekend in Asheville so think good thoughts! I hate leaving the puppies for any amount of time but I have to transport Samantha and Mud to the showsite so that she can stay at the Dalmatian farm for a week. I'm jealous but will get to meet up with everyone the next weekend for the show in Waynesville! A few breeders including the owner of the sire, Ada, will get to really see and play with the puppies for the first time. I can't wait! I enjoy getting to see more experienced hands handle the puppies so that I can see them stacked for the first time. As usual I have my eye on a couple of kids for show quality so keeping it to myself we will see if I got it right again! I get to see BUNKER (Enchanted Hart Starr on Bunker Hill) and FIVER (Enchanted Hart Five Starr) this weekend also. This is two of the three boys that are in show homes from the previous litter.

Puppies started hanging off the second layer of the whelping box so we had to finish off the box for them to be safe. Now Lillie will be building back her muscle by jumping over the box to get to the kids! They are figuring out the pecking order and I so enjoy watching everything the puppies put into getting in line! I have been taking pictures and will have time to take more, down load and get them on Sunday so check back!

The eyes have it!

I have never have puppies keep their eyes closed this long. Late yesterday after noon they started looking at me!

We have spent the whole weekend cooped up keeping Samantha company. She has run a fever of 102 and just feels cruddy.

Puppies got the first of several worming treatments and that went uneventful. My vet recommended on the last litter that we start at two weeks and continue on the 3,4 6, 8 and 10 that it becomes more of a preventive vs having to deal with....well let's not get into this. As a breeder this subject is not one of my favorite things on my list to deal with!

This morning the liver girl had an ear of one of the other puppies just a suckin away! Poor kids! Now I have a puppy with a very wet ear. Personalities are coming out more and more. Love this next couple of weeks coming up. We get to see them begin to play/interact with one another and Lillie still has mommy duties. After week 5 than the real labor begins! I will be so much easier with a back porch and Samantha home for the summer. Some of my litter have been in late September/early October and makes it difficult to introduce puppies to being outside. I'm always amazed at how well after the kids go home do with potty training. I have always wanted my puppies to be on a regular schedule prior to leaving our home that way it give everyone something to start with.

I received a picture from Fiver's family. He lives in Asheville with a wonderful family and he is the center of attention with 5 kids. Very much loved as are all of the kids we hear from. I get pictures all of the time and are proud to see that our puppies have such good homes. Copper is on the side bar pictures, full brother to "Mud".

Moving right along!

Quiet morning so I get to do a long list of "things"! Moving the blog off the website was one thing on the list. It was not user freindly to add photos and update quickly.

I looked in the box when we got home last night and Lillie had replaced the "little babies" with puppies that are huge with spots! Eyes are not open but expect them to be looking at me looking at them looking at me very soon. They are walking like drunkin sailors and starting to "voice" opinions by giving a half hearted attempt at a bark! Today is nails and worming will begin this weekend. Yeah just love that part!

Here is the past posts that were moved from the website!

May 10, 2009 - Lillie is doing fantastic! She is doing her thing and enjoying going for her walks. Everyone is so excited for this repeat litter.

One of the three show males from the last litter came and spent a week with us so that he could attend his first show. Enchanted Hart National Starr aka "Nash" did FANTASTIC! His owner, Racheal, has done a excellent job socializing him. He came here and had a grand time with Sierra and Mud. We attended a local show and Samantha said he was a dream in the ring at his first show. He moved like he had been showing for months! Thanks Racheal for letting us show him and look forward to July! The next show we will have another boy in the ring. Enchanted Hart Starr on Bunker Hill aka "Bunker". Obviously I will not be attending but look forward to hearing all about how he does.

There will be no puppies arriving today. Lillie is just beginning to show signs of slowing down. Heart rates are just now starting to drop from 240 bpm to 190 bpm which shows that they are getting ready to move into position. We have consistantly found 10 heart beats but we will see. For health concerns I do not like to do x-rays. Whelpwise is a fantastic service that we have used for every litter. There website is www.whelpwise.com it has saved breeders sometimes thousands of dollars in saving puppies that may have been lost and trips to the emergancy vets at 2 am! Temp is still 100 but the whelping box that has stayed nice and neat for 4 weeks is now a unkept pile of whelping pads that Lillie insisted on rearranging this morning. Two small contractions per hour with some irritability. We are some time off yet. As Lillie insisted on sleeping with us up until now we had to move to the guest bedroom where the bed is much lower. Now that she has moved to the whelping box back in the Master bedroom we can now move back to the big fluffy bed! REALLY looking forward to some good sleep tonight because we don't know what tomorrow might bring!

We have some great homes lined up as we have had in the past being blessed with each litter.

May 12, 2009 - Puppies are in the house!!! 6 - 3 boys/3 girls - 3 liver/3 black one of the livers is a girl and the rest everyone can put the puzzle together just from that information! We were busy all day yesterday. Thanks to the wonderful people at Whelpwise Lillie did not have to have a c-section.....we were one the way to the vet when out came Goldie. Her name comes from the small town she was born in, Goldmine Georgia. The funny thing was we pulled into a fire station parking lot to help Lillie deliver her. Since I drive a Windstar van we are thinking of her registered name as Enchanted Hart Win Starr! Samantha and I are already in love with these cuties. All have gained 1.5-2 ozs in less than 24 hours. Lillie is doing great and just loves being a Mama. Sierra cried during the night wanting to see what was going on down the hall. Funny how they know when things are going on! Trim is coming in of the livers already. From what I can see one boy will start out with a nose full!

May 14, 2009 - Well today is the day the dewclaws come off. Like this day when it is over and I don't have to worry about it anymore! They are all doing exceptionally well gaining weight does not seem to be a problem for anyone. Lillie is doing the Dalmatian chow hound thing and the normal "Lillie wag"(if your the St. Louis area it is known as the "Lucy wag"). Tward the end of the pregnancy she would walk with the "Lillie wag" just to one side and I thought she would get stuck there like a fish curled when it gets out of water. Oh for you that don't know or have not experienced the wag it is a happy wiggle with the butt and tail moving from side to side so that her tail can almost touch her nose. This is a trait that has been past down to all of her puppies that I'm aware of! Got to spend some time talking with some very happy new puppy homes last night. Everyone is so excited and I didn't get time to take the pictures to post. Got to get that done tonight along with 100 other things. Mud is off to another show to meet up with a 1/2 sibling Bunker. Enchanted Hart Starr on Bunker Hill will be competing in his first show. This boy is one of the three show picks from the previous litter. Ada placed him is a wonderful show home close to her and has worked so well with him along with his family. He was a hard one to let go and I can't wait to see him. That will have to be another time because I have to stay and happily watch puppies breathe! He had the most personality traits that reminded me of Lillie from the last litter. Got to run and start the day!

May 16, 2009 - Yeah! Got the pictures up! Was trying so hard to get them on the site last night but it just got to late. Working full time (family owned business that thank the Lord is extremely busy in this economy), having a litter of puppies, shuttling a very lovely and busy teenager to all of her events and keeping up with everything else extra time is rare! Oh and have I gave the impression that I'm complaining? We are blessed to have all of these things along with friends, a supportive family, loved ones and healthy babies! They are all 2-3 ounces from doubling in size as of last night. We give them Colostrum with E coli Antibodies and Prodiotics the first 3 days and boy does it make a difference now in the long run.

Dew claws came off in 15 minutes with no worries. I have been researching for the past year doing them ourselves and that is what we did with this litter. Traveling with the litter to a vets office can cause so many complications. The stress alone on the puppies and the Mom is just not worth it in my opinion. After 15 minutes everyone was in the whelping box nursing and happy.

It will be raining here all day so time to rearrange the house to the post whelping phase. Ada will be coming to get a puppy fix tomorrow after the shows in Gray are finished up. Samantha, Mud and Bunker (via his humans) are there with Sam and Oksana this weekend. Samantha enjoys AKC Junior Handling so much! I must thank the clubs that support these kids in offering this program for free at the shows. Will be waiting for the phone calls but in the mean time Sierra and I are going for a ride to farm supply in town!

May 17, 2009 - What a day!!! Puppies are great but the fantastic news is that Samantha is now a "Best in Show Junior Handler"!!!! She was showing "Mud" today when I got the call this afternoon, "Mom I'm holding a pink and green rosette! Mom I'm Best in Show Junior Handler!" Simply understated yet ready to come unglued! She is on her way home now and I just can't wait to see them. Sorry but your just going to have to share in the enjoyment of having such an unbelievable fantastic daughter!

Ok now the puppies. Personalities are coming out and what fun they are. Sierra went in to visit the puppies and Lillie enjoyed sharing a look but that was it. Getting ready to trim nails before Ada comes and tell me that they need to be done. :) I might on the other hand just wait so that she can tell me and help me do them! She will just hate that. Holding the puppies, loving the puppies taking in that wonderful puppy breath! Lillie is wandering more and more. When she comes out of the whelping box and roams it's funny to watch the little hormonal light come on in her head and run back in to check on the puppies. She is such a good Mama!

May 18, 2009 - We had a wonderful visit from the owner of the sire, Ada so that she could deliver Samantha back home and see the puppies. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone! I don't think she liked the puppies...she loved them. Healthy round babies that look fantastic! I got to see Lillie's contractions during her labor and thank goodness for Karen who saved these kids by encouraging me to GET THEM DELIVERED using various methods. I didn't realize at the time what was happening with Karen on the other end of the phone telling me ok one more delivered let's get this next one out now. She made me work nonstop helping Lillie with an aggressive regiment to deliver them. LOVE WHELPWISE! We didn't have to do a c-section which has it's own complication and no matter what time it is you are never "bothering" them with question. Even now I can call them regarding Lillie's diet, puppie's diet, dew claw's being removed...ANYTHING!