Things Happen for a Reason

I know it has been a while since I have posted and I have had many people tell me I need to continue my blog - so here I am.

As Many of you know I was waiting for the perfect home for Mr. Green.  I loved this puppy so much and felt that he has so much to offer and would make an amazing performance dog.  I also felt that he would also be a champion and I wasn't going to let him go to just anyone.  I had reached out to a lot of folks that like to draft and was trying to see if anyone knew of someone that was looking for a puppy.  I had a couple of possible inquiries but nothing was panning out.  Then I reached out to a friend in Virginia that has let me know on numerous occasions that she would love to have one of my puppies.  She was very excited about the possibility but also had a hurt dog at home and needed to make sure that it was wise to bring in a new puppy and needed to wait to see how her other dog was doing with some time.  I told her that was fine, I was ok with holding on to him for a while so she could decide if it was the right fit.  On Friday she let me know that she felt it just wasn't the best time for her and to please think of her next time.

I was about to give him away to a friend here in town, just because I knew she would work him, I would get to see him and I could show him and help her learn to draft.  Then I was booking a cruise for some clients of mine in California that are fellow BMD owners and she asked me if I had placed all of my puppies.  Ding, Ding, Ding - OMG they would be the perfect home.  Their dog was 7, Her husband loved to draft and do Obedience and I knew them from going to Dog Shows - plus you couldn't ask for two nicer, more reputable, honest people in the universe.  Trying to contain my excitement about the fact that they were considering one of my babies that I just loved was hard, but I didn't want to have my bubble burst once again.  We talked over the weekend, I sent them pictures and we talked some more.  On Monday they left California to come and see him for themselves and left with their new puppy Tuesday afternoon.  It is a match made in heaven and they are so smitten and in love with him.  His new name is Hudson and I think they are going to change the registered name I had given him as well but still thinking about what that would be.  Hudson took the trip to California in great stride and even protected his new mom from the creepy guy that got to close to them at the rest area by barking at him to stay away.  Such a good puppy.  For those that are showing their puppies you will know his people soon, they just want to make a few phone calls before we make an official announcement.

Just goes to show that things happen for a reason and I am so happy with everyone and all of the amazing people that have come into my life over these puppies. 

Napa went to Cindy yesterday and now I just have Reno, the house seems empty but I will say that Dallas is beyond happy to have his living room back.  I still am working on cleaning up all the sawdust that is in every nook and cranny but baby steps.  Right now I am just happy to not have to climb over baby gates to get anywhere in my house.

Ladybug

I am so neglected and bad about not keeping up on the blog.  I consider myself flogged and chastised for not posting lately.

I am now down to 6 puppies.  Last night I had to take Blue boy to the airport to fly to Detroit to be picked up by Bobbi.  I hate flying puppies, but we did a night flight, Bobbi got up early to pick him up and he arrived safe and sound.  It made for a late night and this morning was an early morning to take Ladybug to the Vet's office.

Last week during the little pups health check my vet found that Ladybug has a heart murmur.  She recommended we do an echocardiogram to see the extent of it and that was scheduled for this morning.  We were able to measure the murmur and will recheck her in six month to see how it progresses and we will have her on some supplements that are good for her heart. 

I am very fortunate that I have a wonderful family here in town that wants her and they will love and cherish her and give her the life she deserves.  Of all the puppies leaving - taking blue boy to the airport last night and ladybug leaving today, she is the one that made me cry when she was gone.  Everyone that came to the house and spent any time with her fell in love with her, she just has that special way of worming her way in.  She is also a tough little cookie and I am sure she is going to be in charge of her new home in no time.

I still have 6 puppies here, Two more - Gold and Pink will go home tomorrow and Brown will be leaving I think on Tuesday.  The remaining three well it looks like they are staying.  I had originally planned on keeping a boy and a girl - Orange and Purple.  but then Green happened, he is a gorgeous boy, he has just gotten better and better and right now I cannot seem to part with him.  I am still trying to determine which boy I like better and then will see if I can find a local home that I can place the other one with and have access for showing and breeding rights.  We will see how that all transpires.

meanwhile my property has become a lake, I want it to stop raining and for the water to stop pooling in my front yard.  My dogs are going to start growing webbing in between their toes if it doesn't stop soon.

Snow!

Things have settled down mostly because we have snow, lots and lots of snow.  Yesterday I had 5 inches and it has snowed through the night and still snowing so I am not sure how much it is, but almost enough to lose a puppy in if you dropped them into it.

Saturday Erin came up to help me bath puppies, we washed Red, Hot Pink, Pink and Turquoise for Laura to come  and pick which puppy she wanted to keep.  After going over all the puppies she chose Red Girl who is now known as Lavender Hills Toast of the Town - call name Tipsy.    Tipsy and her mom flew to Arizona on Sunday and she was the hit of the airport.  Nothing fazed her and she met her new big brother and it was love at first site.

Erin spent the night since I was supposed to leave at 3am to take Blue boy to the airport for his flight to Ohio to the Stud Dog owner.  However Delta called to say they were cancelling all pet transport due to weather on Sunday.  So we bathed puppies instead, White Boy, Teal and Green and Lime boy to have them be ready for the next group of folks to come up and evaluate and pick their puppies.

Diane and Bruce and their daughter arrived Sunday afternoon to pick up White boy - now known as Lavender Hills The Bee's Knees which is a cocktail made from Lavender syrup.  His call name is Leo because they like the name.  They were super excited and happy and all went home when he was introduced to his big sister Luna.  I love hearing how these puppies are sleeping through the night and doing so well in their new homes.

My friends Kim and Debbie drove from Colorado to pick up their puppies.  Kim has Teal boy, now called Lavender Hills Top Shelf Single Malt - call name Macallan and Debbie had a very hard time deciding which puppy she want and ended up with Lime boy - his name is still to be determined.  Debbie and Kim also took Turquoise with them to her new mom that also lives in Colorado.  I will post more about that when she arrives.  Right now they are plowing through the snow storm trying to stay ahead of it with three babies, nerve wracking I am sure but they are experienced snow drivers and I have all the confidence in the world they will arrive home safe and sound.

The puppies got to play in the snow yesterday and I do mean play, oh my gosh, they had so much fun for about 30 minutes then they were cold and we had to bring them in, they are going stir crazy even though we only have 12 which is a much more manageable number, they want to be outside playing and it just needs to be managed so they don't get cold.

I still need to evaluate the Kenya babies on Thursday to determine if any are show potential or not and I know many of you are still waiting to hear from me if I will have a puppy for you and I cannot answer that.  I am trying to make the best choices based on the information I have for those puppies and their temperaments.  We are due to get another dose of snow over the next couple of days so I will continue to try and update you as I know more.

First One Leaves the Nest

Today like all other days has been busy.   Larena has come back to help out, but has not been feeling well the last couple of days, even so it is nice to have her back.  Today we needed to bath puppies and so Erin came to stay and help.  Larena entertained friends that came to play with puppies before they start going home and Erin and I washed four of the girls this morning. 

Laura flew in from Arizona and came up with another friend this afternoon and she has been waiting two years to get a show girl from me and had second pick girl.  Not sure which puppy she would like, Erin and I gave Red, Pink, Hot Pink and Turquoise girl baths this morning.  We used the Big blow dryer and got them all done just before they arrived.  Laura spent some time with the puppies and chose Red Girl and I think it is a match made in heaven.

I was supposed to be getting up in the middle of the night tomorrow to take a puppy to the airport for the stud dog owner, but due to bad weather coming in Delta has cancelled the shipment for tomorrow, I must say I am actually glad I don't have to get up in the middle of the night and drive to the airport tomorrow.  I am not sure when the weather is going to clear up enough that I can take him to the airport but in the meantime we will continue to give puppies baths and update their pictures on the left with their new names as I know what they are going to be.

Been Busy

I am sorry that I haven't posted but it has been beyond chaotic here.  17 puppies eat and poop a lot and now they need almost constant supervision.  When I stop moving at about 10 o'clock at night well let's just say it is lights out whether the puppies are ready for that or not.

Just an update on placements - I just made my decision on whom I am keeping yesterday - Orange boy and Purple Girl.  I have a show home flying in from Arizona today to determine which girl puppy she wants and I have a contingent of folks driving up right now from Colorado to come and pick their puppies.  One gal may take a boy or a girl and so one again, I don't know who is leaving the nest and cannot make decisions until that is decided and then what I have left over.  I also have to see how the little puppies have developed on Thursday and which one of them should be in show homes and then placements can be made. 

I know many of you are anxious, but this is a tremendous task trying to determine who needs to go where and I am trying my hardest to make these decisions as soon as humanly possible.

Been Busy

Sorry for the delay in posting on the blog, but with so many visitors lately that takes away from the little bit of free time that I have to post and I hope you all understand.  I have thoroughly enjoyed having all of you come that have and it was especially nice to have my good friend Kim come in from Colorado for the weekend.

Kim is also a bernese breeder and it is always nice to hear new ideas or suggestions of what I can do to be a better breeder and prepare these babies for their new forever homes.  I also so appreciate her honesty, candor & have her validation on what a nice group of puppies that I have sitting in my living room right now.

This is going to be a very busy week, I have people coming to evaluate the puppies today and tomorrow.  The younger pups will have their temperament testing and I will be evaluating the puppies myself on Thursday.  I know some folks have asked if they can come and visit, but It is really going to be a busy week filled with people still coming to socialize pups, so I need to limit the amount of visitors that are coming and some of the babies will actually start going home on Saturday and possibly Sunday.  I still have puppy packets to get ready and contracts to finalize so having time to do that is going to be really necessary, I am actually starting to panic a little bit about not having time to get everything done.

Sunday I opened up the big back yard for the puppies, oh the exploring they have done, it is great for them to run and play in a big wide open area.  I moved the tunnel into that yard and they are finding sticks and dirt and all kinds of things to chew on.  Everyone is doing great, the hardest part is when I am alone and trying to separate the big puppies from the little puppies during food time outside.  At night in the house that is easy, I just move the little puppies back to the whelping room, but during the day and in the morning especially it is a challenge.  Every day I come up with a new way to make it work so they are having problem solving lessons on a daily basis and I have to say they are a pretty smart group of puppies.  Sorry I don't have a picture yet of them in the big yard, I will try and get one today for you.

Now I need to get their puppy play area cleaned up as it is raining and they are outside.

Temperament Testing

Last Night it was very windy and Dallas is not a fan of the wind, so he decided he was going to spend the night on my bed.  I actually love it when Dallas wants to snuggle with me, normally he is quite happy sleeping outside on the front porch but wind and fireworks and he is a momma's boy.

He decided that he wanted to go out early in the morning and of course woke up the puppies in the process.  Even though it was still dark outside (normally they don't start waking me until the first rays of daylight start poking through).  So I am groggy and tired, let the girls in as that is our ritual, they go in and feed the puppies while I finish up the puppies breakfast.  Vegas has this down, run around to the kitchen gate as fast as possible before the puppies beat us to the gate.  Well epic failure this morning.... & I do mean epic.  I opened up the gate and it popped off its hinges and is hanging in my hand.  It's dark, I am tired and puppies are flowing out of the gate like a river flooding.  Vegas is trying to get in, puppies are trying to get out and I am trying to get the damn little gate back on its hinges while holding back the flood of puppies with the other hand.  Finally I stopped the flow, Vegas got in and then the puppies decided they were on the wrong side of the gate at that point and wanted in with mom, so then I am shoveling them back over the gate to the other side.  I managed to fumble the gate on it's hinges and realized that I REALLY needed a cup of coffee at that point and no I am not making this shit up, it truly is my life right now and even though it is a lot of work, I truly do love it.

We had another puppy visitor this morning and I had to head into the office for a couple of hours this afternoon, before rushing home and getting the big puppies to their temperament testing this evening.  Christopher helped me load up the puppies into the crates in the van and off I went, while he stayed home with the little ones.   Note on this - words from Christopher..  It's amazing how much easier it is to take care of 7 puppies, yes Christopher an average litter of 7 is a much more manageable amount of puppies.

The puppies were awesome in the car, they settled down immediately and I think there was only one puppy that cried a little bit but by the time I got to Mary's they were all quite content and happy.  They hung out in the car, not a peep out of them.  In past times, I remember having to have lots of helpers stay with the car so that neighbors wouldn't complain about the noise coming from my van as one puppy is pulled out and others had to stay in the van, not this time.  They were the best.

So in the temperament test we take them to a place they have never been before.  Only people that have never interacted with the pups work the test, that means taking them out of the crates, bringing them into the building - one at a time, doing the test, talking through the test and taking them back outside.  We test how they react to a new person, do they go up to them, confident and happy, tail wagging or are they cowing in the corner.  I will say there was absolutely no cowing with this group.  Mary performs the following tests.  Will they follow her.  She puts them on their back and counts to see how fast they start struggling and then how fast do they recover from this and do they come into her lap and try to lick her or are they upset with the whole situation.  Again they all forgave her very fast and she had her faced cleaned time and time again.  She holds them up under their arms to see if they struggle - NOPE, I think a couple may have actually fallen asleep during this exercise.  Will they go retrieve a piece of paper thrown to them - only two went and retrieved the paper, the rest were typical Berners in that you threw that piece of paper, go get it yourself.  She bangs a pot to see how they react - all were the same look where the noise came from and go to investigate.  Not one cowered or ran the other way....yeah!  Drag a towel to see if they will try and catch it do they have prey drive... only a couple actually chased it, they looked and tried to play with it but not actually mouth it or try and kill the toy, again pretty chillaxing group of puppies.  Last open an umbrella when they are not looking and see if they will react to it or go and investigate.  They all looked at it, went up and sniffed it and walked away like ok so its an umbrella no big deal.

Overall this was the most consistent testing I think I have ever seen on any of my litters.  Very relaxed easy going group of puppies.  There are a couple that need to be placed into homes that are going to keep them busy, but none were fearful, all were happy and confident puppies with tails wagging and happy to be petted by complete strangers... All while I sat in the corner and kept my mouth shut so they didn't know I was there....I could not have been more proud of my babies tonight, they were AWESOME!!!!!

Afterwards everyone sat on the floor with all of them and had a big puppy party.  We loaded them back in the van and they slept all the way home, again - Good Puppies!  after getting into the house we had a huge ruckus of all the puppies playing, I am sure the big puppies were telling the little ones stories and the little ones were like go away, it was so much nicer without you big oafs.