Back from ASSA!

We got home from ASSA Sunday evening - it was a long week but was great to see so many old friends and to make some new ones as well. Can Ch Laureate Cold Play traveled down with us and was very well received by all who took the time to visit him. He was handled by Becky Johnson in the Open Blue class, where he placed second - what a thrill! Player is staying with Becky for a while to attend some AKC shows.

Kim Aston (Laureate) was kind enough to take these pictures of Player in the ring and outdoors between rain showers - thank you so much Kim!

Congratulations to GrandGables for Brother's Award of Merit - he looked lovely!

Our Frat Boy babies grew up a lot while I was away - here are some candids of them while trying to leash train them... here is Bethany (Skyehaven Verona)

And here is Loni (Skyehaven Valonia)






We are still having a difficult time picking bewteen these girls! One will be made available to a discerning show home within the next week or so.

Couldn't Resist!

photo above taken with my iPhone, and below with my Panasonic Lumix!

Ellie and Brother's babies are now 7 weeks old

Ellie and Brother's babies are now 7 weeks old, and my, they have changed a lot this past week! Four little gremlins are racing around the house most of the day. They are so funny when they reach the tile floor of the kitchen - they took two days to realize that the the tile was "okay" to walk on! Hardwood is much safer, I guess! I expanded their pen in the living room to 4 feet by 6 feet, as they need more room now that they are more active, even though they are not in it a lot... (mostly when I have to mop the floors!)


It is so cold here that they have not had any outdoor time - it is -30 Celsius this morning as I write this. However, yesterday, on their 7 week birthday, I did take them outdoors in my arms so we could get new face shots of them. Thank you CM for doing the pictures while I held the babies! Here they are!


This is Skyehaven Valonnia, formerly known as sable girl #1. She was not at all happy to be out in the cold and the wind, and was curled around my arm so did not photograph as well as I had hoped. Still, you can see her sweet eye and expression...

Below is her "twin" Skyehaven Verona. These two girls are almost identical in size and type, both being 7-1/2" at 7 weeks.

The third girl, Skyehave Toscana (formerly sable merle girl) is below. She is the biggest of the four, measuring almost 8-1/4" at 7 weeks. Her soft sable merle colouring makes her very appealing, doesn't it?

And always last, the smallest puppy in the litter is the sable male Skyehaven Valedictorian. At 6 weeks we could not get a measurement on him as our wicket starts at 6-1/2" and he was below that mark! Now at 7 weeks of age he measures 7-1/8". It will be interesting to see how his growth pattern unfolds.

All the puppies have nice little bodies, with fronts well under them, and excellent rear angles without being over-angulated. Toplines are nice and level with no extra length in back or loin. We are growing out all four babies to 10 weeks of age before determining where they will end up.

6 weeks old!

Here are the babies at 6 weeks of age, beginning with the sable male, below...

Followed by the sable merle girl...






Below is sable girl #2







And sable girl #1 (looks like I am trying to strangle her, doesn't it? But, she is just the wiggliest puppy in the batch!)

Sizes at 6 weeks are a good starting point for measuring growth patterns. The puppies ranged in size from 6-1/2" (sable male) to 7-1/4" (sable merle girl) with the two sable girls measuring at 7" apiece.

Can't wait for the weather to improve so we can have a first romp OUTDOORS!

Oh Dear - I have been remiss!

Ellie's babies are now five weeks old and are well started on puppy food. Ellie is a somewhat less adoring mother now that teeth have been added to the little mouths! We took new pictures at 5 weeks but as they are not a lot different from the four week photos I have been slow to upload them. Here they are!

This is sable girl #1...



This is the sable merle girl. She is the biggest in the litter, weighing in at 3# at 5 weeks...



Here is sable girl #2...



and this is the sable male - still the smallest!



I am practising stacking them now so I can get that all important (but often useless!) first measurement at 6 weeks of age!

Four weeks old!

The babies are 4 weeks old today - how time flies! With the help of a friend or two (!!) we managed to get some new photos done. Here is sable girl #1:





Here is the sable merle girl:





Here is sable girl #2






And here is the sable male:







What cuties they are!

Oh My!

What is it about this winter? This morning the wind chill must be about -40 degrees! This is truly "bitter" cold weather! A good day to stay indoors and love the babies!

Now 3 weeks and 3 days old, the babies are growing nicely. Here they are...

This is sable girl #1. Isn't she a little doll?

Here is sable girl #2 - another cutie!

And here is the third girl - she is a sable merle...

Last but not least...the sable male...

17 days old

The babies are now 17 days old. This is a fabulous litter with the three sables ( 2 girls, 1 boy) being very consistent in size and growth pattern. The sable merle girl is still the biggest, but oh! What a face she has! You can see her pretty clear pale sable colouring in this shot. The only merling evident is a patch on the off side of her ribcage. She appears to be white factored as she has white stifles like her Papa.

The sable male is still the smallest but is not too small, according to our previous litters. He has the most exquisite look to him, and such a nice blocky head and beautiful stop and underjaw.


The two sable girls are like twins as far as weight, growth and overall development are concerned. Sable girl #1 is pictured below....

Sable girl #2 has a slightly shorter head at this point than her sister above. Beautiful neck on all these babies...

Here is the sable merle girl, showing her beautiful blocky head and underjaw - what beautiful soft colouring she has!

These babies may all be trifactored, as Ellie is a trifactored sable merle - only time will tell!

Colder yet!

It's a cool -34 Celsius this morning. Thankfully there is little wind, but when I cam in from scooping the runs, my fingers were cold despite my gloves!

Ellie's babies' eyes are all open now, and they are up on their feet somewhat (staggering around). Ellie has decided that her favourite place to be (other than in the whelping box) is to curl up in the small plastic box I use for the puppies when I am changing their bed! Too funny to see her all squished up in the little box!

Stay warm everyone!

Sunrise and Sundown...

Last week, before this latest cold snap hit (IOW, when temps were a mild -15 to -20 Celsius) we had some beautiful hoarfrost, and ice crystals in the air. Of course the camera had to come out!