I went to Banner, MS in March for a week of field training. It is a great group of people to train with. We get a lot done and have fun doing it. Win happened to come into season so I had to pull her from the hunt test I had her entered in the following weekend. It would have been her first senior test. But we still got to come out and play at Coolwater Farms. Sadly for Abner I had to leave the boy at home.
For the good news, it looks like we should have puppies around May 8, 2024. I will take Win in for an ultrasound April 5. I had planned to run her and Abner at the Central Kentucky Retriever Club hunt test at the end of March. Now only Abner is going but he won’t mind being the only dog. I will update as things progress.
Thanks to Justine Embach of Dark Water Labradors for the great pictures you took during training.
I took a few as we were training. It is a perfect afternoon when the weather is beautiful and you can get out to work your dog.
Just five more days and these babies should be here. When Punch is done with this litter she will retire from motherhood. She can get on with her obedience and agiltiy career without any interruptions. She is such a great little performance dog with lots of drive, intelligence and personality.
I think we have everything ready to go. She has been sleeping in her whelping box that we set up last weekend. The girl is eating three meals a day and asking for more. She was such a great mom with her last litter. My husband is now working from home so I have an extra set of ears and eyes on the pups. Always exciting to have puppies but an amazing amount of work.
I still have two black girls available. They are 13 weeks old, have had their third set of shots and are now on heartworm prevention. They are great little travelers having been to Texas and back. They took everything in stride including stopping for the night due to thunderstorm and tornado warning. They are continuing with their crate, leash and basic obedience training. Please email me at wintercamp1@yahoo.com or call me at 512-743-8456 or 205-685-1130 if interested.
The girl on the left I call Bonus, she was the white collar girl and on the right was the yellow collar girl hence the name Daffodil. Both girls are active and playful.
I kept the bigger black girl with the lime collar. Her name is now Wintercamp Gaiety Black Canvas aka Winona or Win for short. She has been such a good girl. So easy to crate train. We have been working on obedience and agility, still trying to get her to follow her mom through the big, scary dark tunnel. I plan to show her in the 4-6 month puppy class at the Birmingham Kennel Club dog show in April.
Winona my pick girl
I have been thinking lately how much energy I have and time to do housework and or puppywork. I have not traveled out of town since Punch was bred except for my short trip to Texas to drop off puppies. I think all the packing during the week, unpacking on Sunday and then washing and repacking for the next weekend was more work that I had thought. Though I do love to travel and compete with my dogs, this break has been nice. It was filled with lots of puppy time. I have entered Punch in several agility trials this spring and plan to go to Deep South Agility trial over spring break.
I have gotten back to rally and obedience training with Punch. I am hoping she will be ready for the obedience ring this spring or summer. Between Christmas, puppies and a trip to Texas I haven’t had time to post. I am hoping to get pack on track with posting on a regular schedule.
The little black girl, I call Bonus, was escaping from the whelping box quite frequently. I thought maybe she had used one of her littermates as a step stool. Then she started getting back in. Then the black collar girl was escaping so I figured it was time to move them. I set up the puppy pen in the dog room ready for the big move.
What a surprise when a dear friend of mine from Atlanta showed up and helped me. We got all of the pups settled in to their new digs. I think they really enjoy having more room. When I can watch them I turn them out to play. What fun it is watching them.
The first few weeks the yellow girls turned on their personalities and really had me entertained with barking, running and playing. Then the black girls stepped up and became the stars with shining personalities. Today they were all on a roll. The little boy has been the same sweet little guy fighting off his sisters that constantly want to play. It has been fun watching all the changes. This video is the first time they got to play outside the puppy pen on Sat.
Last week was the Montgomery Alabama Dog Obedience Club agility trial. It has been many years since I have missed it. One of the last trials of the year. But I am happy to be at home with Punch and all the puppies. So what do you do when you can’t go to an agility trial. Take puppy pictures. The little boy was so sweet and sat for his photos. The black girl not so much. It is hard to get photos of a pup in motion but my husband was a pretty good puppy wrangler.
Eyes have opened. The pups are now barking and growling as they try to play with each other. They will come to the side of the whelping box when they see me or mom approach. Still not steady on their feet, they are more active. Their personalities are starting to emerge. I took the heating pad out since they seem to be warm enough. They sleep all spread out instead of all piled on top of each other trying to get warm. They are growing fast and I don’t know how long mom can keep all those little bellies full.
Eddy and Punch puppies are here, they arrived Nov. 4, 2019, right on time. Punch got me up at 2:00 a.m. on Monday. By the time everything was cleaned up and pups settled it was after 7 p.m. I was exhausted but happy. We have three black girls, three yellow girls and a lone yellow boy. All pups are vigorous with great appetites.
Punch is being a great mom keeping the puppies clean and well fed. It looks good seeing those beautiful black pups in the whelping box. I was planning on a black boy so now I will have to rethink names for a black girl. I have always liked to use gemstone or flower names for my girls. There are actually black flowers, though some are a deep purple. It is amazing what one can learn by surfing the internet for puppy names. This is something I enjoy and spend a great deal of time naming my puppies.
I think I am finished for now. And in order to get pictures up for those waiting, I wll forego any editing this early morning. Enjoy the pictures. As I have mastered WordPress Gallery I will hopefully get pictures up more quickly.
Punch was bred on Sept. 5. and 7. Could a month ever feel like eternity? Yes it can if you are waiting to hear puppy news. Excitedly I would go to http://www.murphy.se/kennel/dog-pregnancy every week to check on puppy developement. I was trying to not get my hopes up. But I am excited to have a new puppy. I don’t breed very often so when I have a litter it is very special.
I took Punch in for an ultrasound on Oct. 3 and recieved the good news she was expecting. Now less three weeks away, I can hardly wait. This will be the first time I have had any black puppies. I have always loved the yellows and never really thought I would want a black lab. Sometime betweeen meeting Punch’s grandsire Asher aka CH Kai Den’s Power Surge RN TDI and breeding Punch I came around to wanting a black puppy. To this day I think he was one of the most beautiful black labs I have ever seen.
Having puppies to me is like waiting for Christmas with the same anticipation and excitement. Next weekend we will set up the whelping box as I will be in Huntsville the following weekend for my last out of town agility trial for a couple of months. It will just be me an Ezra. I would like to get his PACH finished up so I can retire him. He will not be happy sitting at home just yet. At nine he is still wanting to go and do. So I will find him another job.
I went yesterday and picked up what I think are the last of any supplies I will need. I have made a pupppy buja (wobble) board and a repurposed puppy adventure box. I am sure I will be posting lots of pictures and videos. It is a new adventure for Punch and me.
