And the wait goes on...

Well, the wait goes on for Della to go into heat. She was due in April, but as there are only a few days left to the month, I'm guessing that she won't. We have heard from all but 2 of the puppies' PRs now. Only Colson and Clementine are MIA. I just got a whole slew of really cute pics from the woman who has Crimson for her 2 week furlough from the military brig. I will hopefully post some as soon as I get permission. Della is doing great, she has slimmed down so you can't even tell she had puppies. I wish I could do the same!! :o)

Nothing much else to add, just enjoying Della's unconditional love and biding our time until the next litter.

Clifford!!

I have now heard from 7 of our 10 puppies. PR, Gail, wins for the first photos sent. She sent us some beautiful shots of our "polar bear" Clifford at his new home.

"What is this stuff? I don't remember white ground?!!


Am I one handsome working pup or what?!!


Clifford and his new brother, Dylan


The green on Clifford's right ear in the second shot is residual ink from his ID tattoo. All CCI pups are given their tattoo before being sent to their puppy raisers and the ink "leaks" for a few days afterward. I really can't believe how big he has gotten in only 2 weeks. Thanks again to Gail for sharing these great photos with me.

A Break in the Journey

I can't believe the quiet around here, it's almost spooky. I miss the pups and yet I don't (no more poopy messes or early AM barking!). The trip to CCI was VERY LOUD!! and I'm not sure my hearing has completely recovered yet! :-) Everyone made the trip fine, no car sickness or messes to deal with (yay!!). I have heard from 4 puppies so far. Cecil will be going up to Washington State, Cinnamon and Crimson are both in a program at the Military Brig in Mirimar, and Cyrano has successfully survived the trip out to Florida. Hopefully I'll at least find out what states the others have gone to, if not actually get in touch with their PRs. I probably won't blog much until Della goes into heat sometime this spring, but I will be checking on a regular basis in case anyone posts to my blog.

Until spring....

and now for something completely different.........

The puppy olympics!! Here are pics of our attempts to get all 10 puppies lined up in the garden cart for an obligatory "cute" group photo. As you can see, we were not in the least successful. I am now thoroughly convinced that the people who do succeed either photo shop the pictures together, or drug the puppies into a stupor. Much thanks to my whelping buddy, Marianne and her mom for helping and laughing with us through the attempt.

So here without further ado are the physical comic stylings of the Puppy Olympics!!

here at the beginning there is some hope of success

nope

next attempt

almost there....

never mind.........

Hope everyone enjoyed the show!!

We're ready for our close-up Mr. DeMille!

Here are the whole gang at just shy of 7 weeks. We will attempt group shots later, but don't hold your breathe...


Clementine

Caleb

Cyrano

Colson

Cinnamon

Chaucer

Cecil

Clifford

Crimson

and last, but not least (she is, after all, our largest puppy) Cressida

Puppy Socialization

Part of the CCI breeder process is to expose the puppies to as many unique sights and sounds as possible without taking them out of the home. To this end, after the pups are 6 weeks old, the breeder/caretakers host puppy socialization open houses. These photos are from our first open house on the 28th. We had a good turnout, with a former puppyraiser (PR), a current PR who lives near us (yay, someone for Della to have playdates with!), the head of our CCI chapter, a woman who has a facility dog, and several of our friends and relatives. Boy were the puppies tired that night!!! :-) It was cool meeting someone with a facility dog and learning how they use the dog to help with occupational therapy.

Here is Della wearing her "don't nurse on me" shirt. Yes, weaning CAN lead to fashion disasters!!

Do you have Prince Albert in a can? No, but we have Caleb in a crate!

Caleb out of the crate

One of these things is not like the other..........

Turn In

I knew the time was closing in on us, but all the same, I am in a bit of shock. CCI called this morning to arrange for the turn in date for the puppies. It's not until February 12th, but all the same....

Part of me is relieved, no more howling to come out, no more poopy newspaper to deal with. But dang, I'm going to miss them too. Most of them are just puppies, cute to look at and hold, but I have of course fallen in love with a couple too. They really are starting to have very distinct personalities. I know I will be both happy and depressed after I turn them back in to CCI. I can't even imagine how the puppy raisers deal with it. If I am this emotionally invested after 5 weeks, I can't fathom turning a pup back in after 18 months of bonding. My hat is definitely off to those with the emotional fortitude to be a PR.

I should be able to post new pics later this week. All the sunny weather has inspired me to want to do portrait headshots of everyone before they go.