Hal's kids are getting busy!

Turf Wars

Halor's large "L" pups will be 3 weeks old tomorrow - what an amazing group! As you can see, they are beginning to outgrow the feeding trough. Seems like there is always one looking to steal another's spot.

Loveable "L" Pupdate with NAMES!!

Our dogwood is in bloom, so what better backdrop?

Miss Red

aka "Laurie"

Miss Blue

aka "Lovey"

Miss Purple
aka "Lillith"

Mr. Neon Green

aka "Locke'

Miss Neon Pink

aka "Loralee"

Mr. Brown

aka "Louie"

Miss Light Pink
aka "Lupe"

Miss Turquoise
aka "Leah"

Mr. Orange

aka "Linus"

Some Random L shots

Seven Mr. Magoos...

Mr. Brown

Mother/daughter shot


Puppy toes


Miss Purple and Miss Neon Pink -
they're all at 2 lbs and wearing kitty collars now!

Lively "L" pups are one week old

These kids are thriving!

I just couldn't resist the big blue surrogate mother!


Litter photos are such fun and so elusive! The "L" pups had their first real photo shoot last night - they are in birth order from left to right (supposedly matching their associated pastel toys)

Counting Halor's babies before birthing

I finally got around to downloading my flip videos and this turned out better than expected. This is an x-ray of Halor's mid-section about a week before her puppies arrived. If you look closely, you can see the spines and skulls of the puppies. During the first count, you can see that my friend Mo puts a dot on eight skulls. She went back to double check and found one that she missed, so we had a good idea to expect nine puppies. We do these x-rays just to get an estimate as to how many puppies to expect at whelping time - sometimes the count is one over or one under, but it's a good idea to be prepared.

Halor delivers... on March 30 - three days late

Mom Halor

Dad OMSI III

Resting between labor sessions...

First six puppies - that big blue girl was 20+ ounces


making progress!



and the beautiful 9th baby, a boy...

Announcing, Halor and OMSI's new litter ~ 9 lovable "L" babies

Nine golden retrievers - in CCI colored yarn collar birth order:

red - girl

blue - girl

purple - girl

neon green - boy

neon pink - girl

brown - boy

light pink - girl

turquoise - girl

orange - boy

Things to do while waiting for puppies to arrive

Since Halor and OMSI's pups were due on Friday, March 27, I took the day off.....

Teach Eileen to drive the tractor

Watch Eileen doing our work (no, Dennis didn't charge her a quarter!)


Gather eggs

Hang out in the whelping pool

Mow the countryside

Pick up the fallen oak branches for the mower

Peck around in the yard

Play the acorn game all day

Enjoy a beautiful evening in northern California

Build a bonfire

Sit and watch stuff burn

Izzy checks in

Here in the Northwest Region, we don't begin receiving monthly reports until our pups have been in advanced training for about 1 1/2 months. Izzy started AT in February and the first month is usually spend doing health and temperament tests, getting the dogs settled into the kennels with roommates they can get along with, and letting the instructors get to know the dogs. The NWR does send us this letter to let us know all is well and they send along a 5x7 that was taken the morning of graduation. This is our photo with Izzy. These past 7 dog turn-in matriculation photos constitute just about the only "family portraits" we've ever done, so they are pretty valuable to me. The earlier ones have the kids in them, now, it's usually just Dennis and me with the latest pup.

News flash - pups are due next Friday (which with Hal, probably means Saturday). We're going for an x-ray on Monday morning. Can't wait to find out what's going on in there ~ she's huge!

some Marilyn photos

Marilyn is the 7th puppy born to Halor and Randy. That litter was born July 11, 2008 and are growing up rapidly. Randy's puppy raiser asked for some photos, so I scanned these and am posting them for all to see. Marilyn had the biggest "nose-hawk" of the gang - her puppy raiser tells me she has to trim it!

Terrible things happen in the mail - this one took a hit somewhere. Marilyn looks a bit serious about the new year - or not too happy about wearing her hat.

Unfotunately, this photo got mangled also and I haven't learned "Elements" yet to correct them - that's on my list, though! Pretty, pretty Princess!

Izzy at Matriculation

I just received this photo and I love how Izzy looks so I have to share. At our graduation ceremonies here in the Northwest Region, the pups that are turning in cross the stage while our puppy program manager reads off the puppy's name, the puppy raisers' names and where they are from. This was our big moment. As an update on our "I" puppies, our friend Irish has already decided to come home. Apparently, he didn't like the cuisine at the kennel and wanted to be home for St. Patrick's Day. Typical Irishman ~ we can't say that we blame him!

Carmel

Maybe to the untrained eye... Halor looks like the athlete she really is. She still doesn't want to stop chasing the ball ~ ever.

But if you take a close look, and you know Hal, you can probably tell that she's looking a little "heavy." Perhaps, a little thick around the middle? Maybe somewhat rectangular?

Well, this is Halor on a glorious day last weekend at Carmel Beach. Carmel is located on Monterey Bay and is a terrific place to go with your dog - about a mile of off leash beach with all kinds of fun and different well-socialized dogs, all on the run doing something dogs do.

The town of Carmel is great, too. Totally dog friendly. We had lunch on the patio at the Cypress Inn where they have a hose for sandy dogs, a big dog bowl, dogs are welcome at the Inn and at 5:00pm - they hose "Yappy Hour." The stores allow you to shop with your dogs, too. We had a great day!

OK, so maybe she did take a quick rest - but just for a moment. And, remember - she was 2/3 of the way through her pregnancy. Due date ~ March 27!

This is Hal's pal "Exchange." The Change is a retired CCI breeder who is now happy to be "just" Hal's friend with no fringe benefits.

Exchange fathered many exchange students - what a handsome fellow!

Pat and Colby's brunch in Boston

Colby and Pat - partners in supporting Dana-Farber

Cancer Research Center

Colby Tucker will be running in support of Pat at the Boston Marathon

This is Kealer, Piniella's son from her first litter and the reason I know Pat and Judy in Boston, MA

This is Newton, Kealer's younger brother from Piniella's 3rd litter, also puppy raised by Pat

Mary and Kealer. Mary and Pat are friends from way back.

Mako sure knows how to party! Mako is Halor's son from her third litter and is being raised by Pat (with a little help from Judy!)


Colby's dad, Al Tucker


Patty and Mako



Colby's mom, Judy, using a digital camera



Colby's race banner signed by the brunch crowd!

The rest of the story...

Pat has been a patient of Dana-Farber for the past year or so. Colby's friend's mom was a patient who lost her fight with cancer in December. Colby chose to forego baseball his senior year of college to try something completely different and run the Boston Marathon. So, Colby will be running in honor of his friend's mom and in support of Pat's battle. Pat hosted a brunch and silent auction to help Colby raise funds for Dana-Farber. So far, Colby has raised over $10K for Dana-Farber. Way to go Colby and thanks Pat and Judy for inviting me!