Ready for New Homes!

I apologize for my lack of updates these past few weeks.  Life around here has been crazy with the start of the school year (my husband and I are both educators). 

Pups are so big now!  They've upgraded to a larger enclosure. They've also had their first series of vaccinations, preventative worming, and are ready to go to  their new homes!  In fact, two of the little guys left this past weekend with two more scheduled for this week.

We still have three pups that are looking for homes, two ivory males, and one black male.  Adorable!!!

Week 4

Puppies continue to be socialized big time!  Whenever we have our puppies in the backyard, they attract lots of attention from kids and adults playing at the park behind our house.  We have had puppy petting parties for up to an hour due to this.  It's great for the pups to get used to both children and adults handling them.

Puppies are now eating kibble softened in water once a day.  They still nurse as well.  We also are continuing to accustom them to a lead and play radio 24/7 for them to get them used to being around voices.  Their inside home has expanded to allow them more of a separation between their potty area and their sleeping area.  Dogs' natural tendency is not to go in the area where they sleep, so this is a great start to getting them housebroken.

Bellying up to the bar.

Hi, guy!

Sponge bath.

Puppy Pictures!!!!!

My friend, Evie, came over last Friday to take some photos of the puppies. The pictures are soooo cute. Head over to her blog to take a look. http://evielarsonphotography.blogspot.com/2012/08/asias-puppies.html

Pups Outside - Week Four

Week Three

Eyes opened all the way at the beginning of this week.  Puppies are getting to be very playful and make the cutest little growls and yips.

They continue to be socialized and spend more time outside, exploring.  We play music/talk radio for them, and have started lead training  - a nylon rope tied loosely around the neck.  The other pups will play with the rope, so that the wearer gets used to some resistance but doesn't associate it with just people.  At the end of the week, they got their first small bit of milk replacer that they lapped from a bowl. 

We also clip their nails weekly so as not to cause Asia more pain while nursing.  They can get pretty aggressive!

White male #1, black male.

White male #2, yellow male #1

White male #3, Yellow male #2

Cuddles

Adorbs.

A boy and a pup - does it get much cuter?

Kisses from lady Lilly.

New home.  Pups were escaping from the baby pool!

The love is mutual.

Princess.

Wrestles.

Week Two

This week found us traveling with the puppies, yet again, this time to my parents' home a couple hours away for a mini family reunion. They were even able to take a trip to a local nursing home to visit my grandparents and other residents. The pups were loved on as they were starting to develop their own personalities. Also, eyes and ears started opening at the end of this week.  They're getting cuter all the time!

Our little black pup got an owie on his forehead this week, but got some antibiotics and he'll be just fine.

Riding in style.  Asia claimed the puppy box for herself as the pups rode in the baby pool.

Trying to escape!

Lots of love for these guys.

Sleepy time inside.

My sister-in-law's favorite: the darkest yellow one.  She discovered he likes to be held on his back with his legs outstretched.

Colorful bunch.

Hog pile.

Week One

Not something we planned to do when we bred Asia, but my husband accepted a principal job in southern Minnesota, so we loaded up the four-day-old puppies and moved! Everyone is now adjusting well.

Asia has been a good mommy, cleaning and nursing her pups.  At one week, they reside in the whelping box (baby pool) with clean towels.  Everyone loves to hold them!

Good mommy.

New home after the move.

Yum yum!

Our assorted beauties.

New Pups Nursing

Here They Come!

I could tell Asia was close to whelping, oh so close, the morning of July 27th.  She was three days past her due date, and was acting very clingy.  I thought I would have time to go for a short run (ok, 13.1 miles) before she was in labor.  My husband and kiddos often follow me around in the car and rehydrate me, but they got home a little before I finished my run.  As I came to a walk in front of our house, my husband yells at me to hurry up and tend to Asia!  I sprint as fast as my weary legs could go, and discovered that Asia had escaped from her whelping area in the basement and as my hubby shooed her back to the basement, she delivered her first pup on a bottom stair.  I got there right away so was able to tear the amniotic sac off the puppy, rub it, clear its airway and get it crying.  A yellow male!  Yay!  Asia wanted me around while she labored, so I got to play midwife while five more puppies were delivered in a period of about four hours. 

After six puppies had come into the world (all yellow: five males, one female), I thought Asia was done.  She seemed to be breathing easier and had an appetite, and the x-ray had only shown six pups anyway.  It wasn't until that evening that she started to seem restless again.  I went to check on her one more time before I went to bed at 10:30 and found another puppy, a black male.  He was a cute little runt and seemed to be a fighter!  I stayed up a few more hours, but exhausted and alone with my two kids for the weekend, I went to bed.  At 3:30 am, I awoke and went down to check on everyone when I found the last puppy, a black female, that had been stillborn.  She was a beauty, and I felt very badly about the situation, but am still thankful that we had seven very healthy little puppies.

My dad, the vet, and sister came up the next day to help us out and check out Asia and the pups.  I was thankful to have the help!

Nursing contentedly after the first six puppies were born.

Yum yum!

They reminded me of little piggies for awhile. 

Our black male arrived!  We nicknamed him Token.

One day old pup.

Eyes and ears closed.  So little!

Our daughter, the future veterinarian.  Not a fan of being pooped on, though.

One day old.

My sis with one of the white males.

Prego Pup

Asia had some days at the beginning of her pregnancy where she felt less than her best, but she made it through most of her pregnancy very well.  It wasn't until the last couple weeks that I started to feel very sorry for her.  I mean, I know what it's like to be huge and pregnant, but I've never carried eight at a time!  Well, at least she only had to be pregnant 63 days.

Pregnant, tired, and uncomfortable.

X-ray showed six pups.  There were a couple hiding!

Overdue - I know that feeling!

What a Stud!

With my dad's guidance, we searched until we came across a suitable mate for Asia.  We wanted to be sure that we found a reputable breeder and a dog with a great pedigree.  Cashman Kennel's Flatwater Amos, a 70-lb black lab, was a great match.
http://cashmankennels.com/S__Amos.html

He comes from a championship line, is a fantastic bird dog, carries the yellow gene, and is a handsome devil.  And to top it all off, he shares my birthday.  How perfect! Oh, we knew Asia would be in love!

In order to meet Cashman's requirements, we had Asia's hips OFA'd (excellent), eyes CERFed (passed with flying colors) and got a negative brucellosis test.  Asia was ready to go at the end of May, so we brought her to Cashman Kennels, and she and Amos sure hit it off!

Why Breed Her?

Breeding Asia was something that we had thought about for awhile.  The timing never seemed to be quite right with the birth of our two children, of the human variety, so it was just something we threw around here and there until we came up with a purpose.

My husband recently got his hunter's safety certificate, so although Asia had not been trained since puppyhood to hunt, he and my dad decided to bring her out in the field last fall.  My dad, a veterinarian and avid hunter for 40+ years was impressed with Asia's innate ability and affinity for hunting and retrieving.  Last year my dad's beloved black lab, Hunter, passed and he knew that he wanted another lab but it would be hard to measure up to Hunter.  He always knew Asia was a top-notch family dog, but after seeing her in the field, he was convinced of her hunting ability and encouraged us to breed her so that he could have one of her pups.

So we set off to find a good stud.

Asia with our son, then 3 months old.

Oooh, she loves a bird!

Great dog!

Who's Asia?

Hi!  I'm developing this blog to tell a little about Asia's story and the pups that she whelped on July 27th, 2012.

For my 23rd birthday, my husband created a scavenger hunt with clues that would take me to the next small present until I reached the end. The final gift was a small plush yellow labrador retriever, with a note explaining that I was going to be getting a puppy.  We already had a cat, so a puppy was the logical next step in the growing of our family (kids came a few years later!).  Asia was born on May 24th, 2006, and we picked up our adorable new white lab from Majestic Oaks breeders to join our family in July. 

I quickly bonded to my new baby, and took her everywhere.  We have so many great memories of her wild puppy days, and she has since grown to be a much-loved member of our family.  From her extreme patience with our two young children and tolerance of our temperamental cat to her love of retrieving and eager-to-please personality, we cannot imagine our family without this 70-lb bundle of joy.

My new baby!

Is she not the most adorable pup?

Reminded me of a polar bear, thus the nickname, "Asia Bear."

Fun in the snow.

That girl loves her bones.

On a walk with our daughter.

Sleepy girl