The Parents
This breeding is from Meadowfrost’s Summer’s Evening (“Eva”) by Whispering Pines Achilles (“Oliver”).
Birth Week
The 9/27 Special arrived on time 9/27 with Eva delivering her last litter of 4 yellow lab puppies in 2 hours from 12:45 PM – 2:45 PM. Eva & the puppies are doing very well. The 3 boys & 1 girl weighed in at 18.1 oz, 18.8 oz, 15.6 oz & 12.9 oz. They range in color from dark yellow to almost white. They are all adorable & full of the little squeaky sounds that endear puppies to our hearts.
Because the pups arrived about the time Pope Francis visited the US, the pups have been given temporary names based on some recent popes. The collar colors and names are Pink — Frances, Blue — John Paul, Black — Jorge and Red — Benedict. The names will almost certainly change as they approach placement.
Eva is doing just fine for this, her final litter. She is being an excellent mother once again & the puppies are being, well, excellent puppies. They nursed vigorously from the very beginning & are even able to find their way to the spigots on their own in less than 10 hours since birth. All are getting nicely rounded bellies from Eva’s nourishing milk & sleeping peacefully in their little box under the heat lamp in between feedings. All have eliminated several times over so the pipes are working as they should.
Our doors are open for families & huggers to make their trek to our home once more. Remember, the puppies need your arms, your vibrations & your scent to teach them that people are to be liked & loved. Give us a call at 717-367-3317 to set up a time to come & Hug-A-Pup. You can also send me an email at this address to set up a time to Hug-a-Pup. Since there are only 4 of them, sometimes you might have to share among your group but we can usually work out times that suit all of us. I’ll be here 24/7 for the first 2 weeks so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting me unless I’m tied up with the Eva & or the puppies.
Week 2
1 week old already!
They are gaining 1-2 oz. per day & none of them is willing to miss a meal. Several have been up on their feet, wobbling a few steps. The puppy chorus can be extremely loud at times or purring like kittens at others.
The eyes are slowly coming open and the noses and pads are now a nice black. Mom Eva is an excellent mom & seems to like watching her babies sleep.
Week 4
The puppies are doing very, very well. They are on their feet now – eyes & ears are opened. They are now eating mush & love it. Grooming each other after meals is “part” of the eating rtiual.
Plush toys have become their pillows & they bark when I play the music box for them. Using the potty area is still a learning process for bodily functions but each day they do better than the day before.
The puppies are making 20 – 25 people per week very happy. Huggers have been steady – weekends are most popular for visitors. Personalities are starting to emerge, little by little.
Week 5
Here are some photos of the pups outside. They had a great time & we enjoyed them.
The pups all walked up 2 steps to come into the house. They navigated the stepping stones successfully & were happy to see the neighbors who stopped by to visit. Passing cars didn’t bother them at all. They have now identified that a ringing doorbell chime means that someone is coming through the front door to see them. When the bell rings, they jump up, bark & look at the front door!
Week 6
So here we are in Week 6 of our young lives. We have enjoyed life in the backyard & socializing with the adult dogs. Our MidWoof says we eat like true labs & have learned to climb out of ourbox as you can see in the close ups of us with the door open. And we really recognize the sound of their dog food being poured into our feeding dish.
Week 7
We’ve been hitting the road, and have traveled quietly to Gettysburg & Cochranville & MD where we passed their eye cerfs. All were pronounced healthy by our vet & all weigh 5 lbs. +. We have all gone to church individually & made friends at mass.
Temperament tests were pretty good.
We have new names except Frances who is staying with MidWoof Roseanne & hopefully will continue the Meadowfrost line.
Our new names (provided by our adoptive families: Blue, John Paul is now Bo. Black, Jorge is now Bergey. Red, Benedict is now Judge. Now we just have to get used to the new names, but hey, we’re Labs, and that means we’re pretty smart.
And Beyond
And so we’re off to our new lives with some very loving (and seriously doting) families. Here are our “graduation photos”.
