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!