Christmas Star Litter
AI: 12.25.21 and 12.28.21
Scheduled Radiograph: 2.24.22
Scheduled C-Section: 2.26.22 (not needed! She free whelped 5 puppies on 2-24-22 between 1-7 PM). We used this appointment time for dewclaw removal instead!
Scheduled Radiograph: 2.24.22
Scheduled C-Section: 2.26.22 (not needed! She free whelped 5 puppies on 2-24-22 between 1-7 PM). We used this appointment time for dewclaw removal instead!
Pups' Pedigree
Blog
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2 girls:
Noel (Pickwick's Follow the Star) (new name Scarlett) Holly (Pickwick's Have a Cup of Cheer) (new name Rosalina) |
4 boys:
Mr. Jingles (Pickwick's Jingle Bell Rock) (new name: Lil Riccie) Buddy (Pickwick's I Just Like to Smile) - Elf (new name: Murphy) Rudy (Pickwick's You'll Go Down in History) (new name: Parker) Nic (Pickwick's Whisper What You'll Bring to Me) (new name: Hooch) |
Dam: Stella Artois (Pickwick's Watching the Stars Align)
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Sire: Porthos (CH Dixie's De Treville Porthos)
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Mr. Jingles (Pickwick's Jingle Bell Rock):
Observations from Temperament Evaluation:
people motivated (went directly to evaluator, but still a bit cautious), good eye contact, he studied everything, forward with his littermates but more cautious solo, lure/follow ok but more environmentally motivated; retrieve - no, he just wanted to crawl in evaluator's lap, Not as food motivated; more independent; sound sensitive (harder recovery from startle response tin can, tail went down but did recover)); umbrella (hard recovery); he sought out human (evaluator) to comfort after startle response instead of retreating; was trembling a tad after all the startle responses; very forgiving (toe pinch) and higher pain threshold
people motivated (went directly to evaluator, but still a bit cautious), good eye contact, he studied everything, forward with his littermates but more cautious solo, lure/follow ok but more environmentally motivated; retrieve - no, he just wanted to crawl in evaluator's lap, Not as food motivated; more independent; sound sensitive (harder recovery from startle response tin can, tail went down but did recover)); umbrella (hard recovery); he sought out human (evaluator) to comfort after startle response instead of retreating; was trembling a tad after all the startle responses; very forgiving (toe pinch) and higher pain threshold
Mr. Jingles (new name = Lil Riccie) is living in New Orleans with his musician parents. You might see him in their act one day in the future?
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Buddy (Pickwick's I Just Like to Smile):
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Perhaps good for agility? Very sound conformation, brave, bold, retrieve = he went right to the paper and then pushed it around the room!; startle response recovery above average, Upon entry: didn't approach evaluator directly (sniffed sheet first), nice rear, solid dog, light coat, not shy, lure = very good, food motivated; TIN shake (sound sensitivity) = startle and almost immediate recovery; very social, brave, observant, Follow = great, he was right with the evaluator; novel toy (psycho reindeer) = not too worried, went up and sniffed.
Buddy lives in Hickory, NC with his awesome humans. Here he is on Gotcha Day driving to his new home (plus one nostalgic photo from when he was snuggling with Gumby in the whelping box as a very young puppy):
Rudy (Pickwick's You'll Go Down in History):
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Went right to evaluator, followed great (glued to evaluator's leg), good at tug, awesome at lure, toe pinch = didn't care at all, very forgiving, high pain tolerance, umbrella - tail loosened a bit but fast recovery, super bold, game for everything
Holly (Pickwick's Have a Cup of Cheer)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Tail wagger! Great eye contact, ver social and interactive, went directly to evaluator, follow = great, good drive, perfect retrieve! lure = amazing, and even did a rollover! tin = huge startle and super fast recovery, reindeer - tail down, fast recovery, same with umbrella, agility? not as bold as rudy but still bold and very forward, fun to train,
Holly's new name is Rosalina (Pickwick's Protector of the Cosmos) and she lives with a wonderful family in Georgia. They are hoping to pursue conformation training and show her in AKC "Juniors" competitions. She truly is a smart pug as evidenced by her graduation . . . .
Noel (Pickwick's Follow the Star):
Temperament Evaluation Observations: No eye contact upon entering and greeting evaluator, thoughtful upon entry; warmed up though then quite playful; moves well, neck, length of leg, good breather, playful, retriever = great! (even shook it and brought it back to evaluator!); lure = fabulous; umbrella = good recovery from startle; likes tug; reindeer = bold; a good "all-arounder" good for lots of things; toe pinch = no response;
Nic (Pickwick's Whisper What You'll Bring to Me):
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Enormously independent; retriever = not so much! lol, umbrella, bold and nice recovery from startle, very brave puppy, not good at follow; tin/startle = totally fine; psycho reindeer toy = just stared at it "that's weird", breeder recall = tried but couldn't figure out barrier; solid with novel things; interested in people but more environmentally focused; super easy to lure, very food motivated; smart, generally bold.
Blog - The Adventure!
Note: We'll be updating these posts backwards, with the most recent ones at the top.
Puppy temperament Tests
Load the clicker!
Clicker training with puppy gruel can be MESSY!
Clicker training with puppy gruel can be MESSY!
4 Week Check-Up with the Vet!
The pups had their 4 week wellness checkup and our vet listened to their hearts and lungs ... made sure they were doing well! We have introduced gruel and we are also now supplementing with formula (licking out of syringe) but Stella is still letting them nurse. What a trooper she is, because those teeth are coming in!
Daytime Slumber Party!
On Sunday, we had an exciting "first" for them which was to have a puppy slumber party (ok, just a brief afternoon meetup party) in the xpen in the den (where they visit during the day). They got to snuggle and mingle with Buttercup's New year's Eve Litter pups! What a hoot that was having 11 wiggling puppies ... that was a first for us as we have never had multiple litters before. Now that they can lick and swallow soft gruel-like foods, we have started "loading the clicker" and even worked on luring. Since they're still getting their sea legs ;) we have a ways to go on that see-saw (a baby version I made) but their time on the fit paws and balance discs and such really help their development.
Our Training Assistant
Our senior pug Sebastian loves to 'help' train the puppies. He knows part of his job as a helper is to lick the gruel plate clean afterwards ;)
Day 18
New texture and experience for day 18. Faux fur and "swinging", plus a sponge bath and blow dry with eyes open now…and NO FEAR! because they are already used to the feeling of warm air and hairdryer with our protocols we did before their eyes opened.
Tummy Rubs!
The pups are proud of their poop!
The pups are starting to be able to eliminate on their own sometimes now. However, this can be a bit messy as they still don't walk, so they crawl around and roll around and just have a grand 'ole time in the poo. Nic was the most virtuosic poo roller of all, so he got a sponge bath and blow dry. Thanks to the protocols we did with the hair dryer prior to their eyes/ears opening, the hair dryer wasn't scary for him now that his eyes are open. (However, their ears are not open yet .... we do the 'Startle response' protocol several times each day to see when their ears will open. In the meantime, we've added the Puppy Playlist for good portions of the day (mostly classical music). Even if the pups can't hear yet, it's soothing for the mamas and awesome for nursing.
Here's Nic (Pickwick's Whisper What You'll Bring to Me) being quite proud of himself.
Here's Nic (Pickwick's Whisper What You'll Bring to Me) being quite proud of himself.
Days 13-14 Eyes Opening!!
Stimulate the GR Gene - Textures
Mischievous puppies plot a scheme
Day 12:
Pups go to church!
Nic says hi to Nic (human Nic, an awesome tenor who sings in Jeff's choir) . . .
Day 10
Weight doubled with all 6 puppies!! An important goal we shoot for with neonates is to make sure their weight doubles by day 10. This is always a wonderful sign that things are moving in the right direction.
Weight doubled with all 6 puppies!! An important goal we shoot for with neonates is to make sure their weight doubles by day 10. This is always a wonderful sign that things are moving in the right direction.
Week 1 . . . .
BLOG: The adventure . . . . . Before Pups . . . .
Typical of a pug, Stella chose the Christmas holidays for her timing ;) which meant the vet was not open for progesterone testing. So, we made an attempt at guessing and, on Christmas Day, 2021, the first AI was completed (hence the name of the litter!) We repeated a 2nd AI a couple of days later so, if successful, Stella and Porthos will be such a wonderful match.
Porthos was the sire of our "Stars Fell on Alabama" Litter fall 2020 with Miss Dior and their amazing puppies live all over the country. Stella is much more petite than Miss Dior (actually, Stella is the correct size ;) and brings to the table a beautiful, feminine face, super soft coat (which comes from her father, Bazinga, CH Hill Country's Big Bang theory. She's a half sister to "Biggie" ( MBIS/MBISS GCHP Hill Country's Puttin' On the Ritz) who is also sired by Bazinga. Porthos brings to the table one of the most gorgeous faces you have ever seen and an incredible temperament as well as bone, pigment, head, and so much more. We are hopeful with this litter! Stella is PDE N/S and Porthos is PDE N/N. Many thanks to Porthos' breeder, Verlene for allowing us to use her beautiful and adorable Porthos.
Stella definitely waddles now with just 2 weeks to go before her scheduled c-section. Here she is enjoying a morning 'waddle walk' with her sisters on a gorgeous February day 2/13/22:
Porthos was the sire of our "Stars Fell on Alabama" Litter fall 2020 with Miss Dior and their amazing puppies live all over the country. Stella is much more petite than Miss Dior (actually, Stella is the correct size ;) and brings to the table a beautiful, feminine face, super soft coat (which comes from her father, Bazinga, CH Hill Country's Big Bang theory. She's a half sister to "Biggie" ( MBIS/MBISS GCHP Hill Country's Puttin' On the Ritz) who is also sired by Bazinga. Porthos brings to the table one of the most gorgeous faces you have ever seen and an incredible temperament as well as bone, pigment, head, and so much more. We are hopeful with this litter! Stella is PDE N/S and Porthos is PDE N/N. Many thanks to Porthos' breeder, Verlene for allowing us to use her beautiful and adorable Porthos.
Stella definitely waddles now with just 2 weeks to go before her scheduled c-section. Here she is enjoying a morning 'waddle walk' with her sisters on a gorgeous February day 2/13/22:
Green tripe, along with the chicken paws we also ordered, should be a winner, though, so we will await that delivery. We also ordered some whole ground beaver, freeze dried hearts and such from MyPetCarnivore.com. The Beaver is high in fat (which will be important later in the pregnancy) and, also, they love it. They also always love hearts .... so we ordered some Chicken hearts (both raw and freeze-dried) for snacks.
Until the tripe arrives we will just have to keep shoving that Folic Acid capsule, and the OxyMate and Probiotic chew tablets down poor Stella's throat. She's too smart and finicky right now for us to try and 'hide' the supplements in her food! We are also cleaning and organizing the nursery - sterilizing the equipment, double-checking heating pads, nebulizer, oxygenator, incubator, flashlight, cool mist humidifier, and other equipment. The thermometer will be put to use a lot, so we will replace those batteries. Sooner than later, we will go ahead and let Stella start sleeping in the Nursery and have her peace and quiet away from the rest of the grumble.
We finally found something she likes! Chicken gizzards (though we can't eat too much of this because of too much calcium) and baked chicken. Ofcourse, it must be hand fed . . . .
Stella is so funny in the morning --- she loves shake and hi-5 so she always offers that instead of letting us get her out her crate lol. Usually she will alternate offering Right and Left paw ;)
Pregnant girls are usually very needy and affectionate so we make sure to give each one plenty of laptime and snuggles. Here's Stella watching tv with her dad. You can tell she's showing! We should be able to feel the pups move soon.
Stella is the MOST amazing mother. Not only did she make free whelping 6 puppies look easy, she is also fantastic at nursing, licking the puppies, keeping the whelping area clean, eating, and staying still while nursing. And did we mention that the dark beer brought the milk in beautifully? Puppies are gaining weight each day and doing well. In fact, they were up for a fashion show on their 4th day of life . . . . Coco De Chewnel is their favorite designer . . . .
Click here to go to the blog page for our Spring 2022 litters. We will be updating the Blog regularly while this page less frequently.
Puppies' visitors: Amy, Jeff, Nicki, Allen, Jana, Amelia, Karen, Deb, Rosalyn, Jeff J, Sonny, Susan, Heather, MC, Kate, Jimmy, Emily, Rita, Sally, Janet, Shelby, Rachael, Rhonda