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Taking Puppies to the Vet
This week we got to try out the new dog training truck and take our litter of brittany puppies to the vet for their 6 week shots and a checkup. They did well on their first ride in a dog box and were a big hit at the vets office.
Back in September I made some great friends at the Dave Walker training seminar. Two of them are Ruth and Mike Zangara of Overton, NV. They have a small brittany kennel down there called Medicine Rockz Kennel. Their nice little female Chloe was due to have puppies right after Annie and they whelped a beautiful litter of brittany puppies on October 19th. You can see the puppy pictures here and their pedigrees. Should be some very nice puppies for hunting homes and Mike and Ruth are great to work with. If you are in the Las Vegas area looking for a good hunting dog puppy, give them a call.
I am very excited about the deposit I have on a dual quality brittany litter in Texas. The breeding is between two outstanding dual champion brittany dogs DC T’Kalis Feel The Wind and DC TC’s Match Box Racer. These puppies are due on June 22nd and should be amazing dual potential quality dogs. This is a repeat breeding by David Downing of Blue Ridge Brittanys. Puppies from last years litter are undefeated in puppy stakes and are doing well in the show ring as well. I have been waiting for this breeding to take place as I wanted to buy a brittany puppy from parents that were dual champions. For more information you can contact Dave directly by phone or email by visiting his website.
Posting this for a friend who had bigger than expected litter of puppies, 11 puppies in all. This is a picture of one of the 5 week old male german wirehaired pointer puppies pointing a wing. You can see a lot more photos and the litter pedigree at his website brucegwp.blogspot.com. Sounds like a real nice litter of hunting dogs for those that like the GWP. If you are interested you can also call Bruce Jabaay directly on his cell phone (616)443-6718. He wants to make sure he finds good hunting homes for thes fine puppies.
Another great litter of german shorthaired pointer puppies is available in Northern Utah. These are from strong german lines and are solid liver for those that really dig the solid liver puppies like me. This litter of puppies were whelped on September 13th and are currently 18 days old. Three females are currently available from this fine litter of GSP hunting dogs. If you are interested in learning more about this litter of pups you can contact Scott Jacob of Sweet River Valley kennels at (801) 330-3986.
Today we launched our new website called DogBreederSearch.com. It is largely based on the same framework and code as our very successul gun dog breeder directory. We received quite a few requests from those raising hunting dogs that also happened to raise other popular dog breeds for pets. We purchased the domain name more than a year ago and finally got around to launching the new site this week. We have already got quite a few new dog kennels added to the site through our free kennel listings. We hope to get the word out on this new site as the pet industry seems to be very strong, especially heading into the holiday season. Please take a minute and look at all the dogs and puppies for sale.
When choosing a puppy from a litter it seems there is always a real go-getter in the litter. The pup that is always first to the feed dish, first to explore the backyard, first to run up to new people and the first to chase a carded pigeon. Sometimes the most outgoing puppy is a female but more often it seems the spitfire is a male pup. The question is – will the pup stay aggresive and outgoing. Usually a bold puppy will stay that way and will continue to have a burning desire to go and do. Some people look for this quality in a new puppy with the mindset that the most aggresive dog will be the best hunter or bird finder as an adult.
Then there is the wallflower. This is the puppy that stays back and watches things develop around them. Perhaps this is a smarter puppy that learns from its litter mates mistakes. The shy or reserved puppy is often a very affectionate puppy. She is often the one that crawls onto your lap for a nap while the others are chasing balls and each others tails. Will the timid puppy be less likely to get out and point birds? Or, does this puppy just require a compatible owner to bring out the best?
While both puppies have good qualities and may turn out to be great bird hunting dogs, I tend to stay in the middle of the road. I tend to avoid the hyper-agressive puppy that is bouncing off the walls and bullying the other puppies into submission. By the same token, I also avoid the reserved or timid puppy that hangs back from the group or stays too close to Momma. To me the perfect puppy is the one who is not the most aggressive and not the most shy. The perfect puppy to me is the one that is happy and friendly but not overly so. The key is in the parentage. If the parents are the kind of dogs that you would be proud to own, then there is a great chance that the pups will be the same.
Yesterday I had my two nieces over for the day and they just love animals. We went to my neighbors house and brought home one of his 6 week old german shorthaired pointer puppies for the girls to play with. First, I had to set down some ground rules to make sure it was a positive experience for both Taylor and Morgan and the puppy. The main rule is that the kids don’t pick up the puppy. This can often end in disaster if a frightened child drops a puppy on a hard surface. Instead, I have them sit on the ground and then they are welcome to hold and pet the puppies. We were careful not to chase the puppy or be mean in any way. After 20-30 minutes of this the puppy had explored the cool grass, licked all the kids and was ready for a nap. In just the short amount of time I could see the puppies confidence grow as he learned that the kids were friendly and fun. It wasn’t long before the neighbor kids came around and the poor puppy was held and petted by 10 different children ranging in age from 1 to 9 years old. When raising a litter of pups, nothing can be more helpful than positive, safe interaction with lot’s of children. A variety of people and situations will help build a bold and confident young hunting dog.
Our friend Barbara McKell called the other night to check how our little “Annie” puppy is doing. We couldn’t be more happy with Annie’s progress and look forward to getting her into some birds this fall. Barbara has another beautiful litter of Brittany puppies available in Utah. The litter of puppies will be ready for their new hunting homes this week. If you are interested you can call Barbara directly at her home (435)384-2923 or on her cell phone (801)592-7602. She is willing to deliver pups anywhere in Northern Utah.
Our friends at Rooster Valley Pheasants had a litter of healthy hunting puppies this past week. Max loves to sit right down and watch the puppies nurse. The momma pup named “Polly” was very good natured about the intrusion. Their were 3 males and 6 females in the litter and should be some dang good hunting dogs. They are all mostly white with liver heads and will have very light ticking like their father Duke. It will be fun to watch these puppies grow and develop. If all goes well, we will have a litter of our own next year at this time.
