New Year's Eve Litter - Winter/Spring, 2022

Please note: Puppies from this litter will only be available to companion homes with AKC Limited Registration (unless staying with Pickwick Pugs or going to Hill Country Pugs).
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Pups' Pedigree

Beautiful Princess Buttercup had 5 pups (all girls!) on March 3, 2022.

Here are their names (registered names will be what we use for the AKC registration, but the kennel names are what we'll call them while they're with us which their new owners can change if they like. Between when we make the decision of matching each pup up with their forever families, we have several weeks where we can start training them using their new name -- or, new owners can choose later after they live with the puppy awhile -- it's easy to "pair" the names (kennel name - plus new name, and eventually drop kennel name) and they catch on very quickly.
Bell (natural color - no fingernail polish) - Pickwick's Where All Your Dreams Come True
(In Japan, for ōmisoka, buddhist temple bells ring out 108 times as in the lead up to the new year. Each chime is supposed to root out a worldly passion, such as anger, suspicion or lust. The last toll comes at midnight.)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Followed ok, brave, average (not bold, not shy),  quiet, sweet, pretty, retrieve = looked at it! but didn't sniff; lure = fabulous; toe pinch = a little upset but forgiving (evaluator talked to her); tin can shake = tail down but recovered (took a little longer to recover from umbrella startle but approached evaluator for comforting so more people oriented; reindeer - ears back but not too afraid (she then went over to attack it), not very food motivated, people oriented
Bell's new name is Luna and she now lives with the most amazing owner in Colorado who is a nurse (and her human dad is an IT guy). She will go on awesome pug-friendly hikes and enjoy trips into town for restaurants and more. What a lucky little girl she is to have found this wonderful forever home!
Text from Bell/Luna's owner the day after flying back to Colorado:  "She did so well yesterday! Peed on her pee pad twice in the airport and slept the entire plane ride, didn't make a peep! She slept peacefully in her pen all night too, I slept on the couch so I could listen for her. Adjusting well and making friends with Isis! She is just beautiful, I love her so much already!"
Picture
Bell/Luna at airport flying home and in her pen for her first night in her new home.
Crystal (purple) - Pickwick's Take a Cup of Kindness
(The Waterford crystal ball in New York City's Times Square descends down a specially designed flagpole beginning at 11:59 until midnight to signal the start of the new year. Waterford Glass House opened in 1783 in Ireland and continues to produce some of the finest crystal in the world today. The first ball to drop in 1907 was made of wood and iron but the 2022 Waterford Crystal ball was made of 1,688 intricate crystal panels that range in length from 4-3/4 inches to 5-3/4 inches and measures 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds!)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: She's a thinker, thoughtful; soft plush light coat; retrieved (went to but didn't bring back); did zoomies around evaluator; Tin/startle response = good fast recovery; umbrella = fast recovery; not as bold as Rudy but still confident enough, people oriented, pretty face, slow starter but gets right in there and joins the party
Dottie (pink) - Pickwick's Slice of Happiness
(In the Philippines, revelers dress in dots. Polka dots are all the rage on December 31, increasing the chances for a fortunate new year!)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Food motivated, bold, crazy fun, party mama, Went right to evaluator, licked her face, chonky mashmallow, only wanted to sit in lap and play, follow = great and energetic even if she saw something else interesting she still followed; retrieve = saw it but didn't go get it; lots of bone - not cowhocked but perhaps a bit short on leg, perhaps could use more neck; tin - good recovery; umbrella = closed distance between scary objects afterwards, crazy active, soft plush mink like coat
Dottie's new name is Stella and she went to a wonderful home with a couple in Florida along with her cousin Nic (from the Christmas Star litter). He'll be her "big brother" (he's one week older but they were basically littermates). 
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Gotcha day for Nic (left) and Dottie (right). Their new names are Stella and Hooch!
Her show name, "Pickwick's Slice of Happiness" is the PERFECT name for her because she's just a ball of party and fun and joy. You can see why we fell in love with her (and did we mention she has the softest coat we've ever felt on a pug?) in her graduation video. Yes, perhaps she graduated on beauty alone, but who needs skills when you're a blonde bombshell, right??! lol
Risa (rainbow - blue and pink) - Pickwick's Risalamande with Hot Cherry Sauce
(In Scandinavian countries, they do something similar to Vasilopita by serving Rice Pudding either at New Year's or Christmas. One portion will have a peeled almond in it and whoever finds it in their bowl is assured of luck in the new year and might also win a prize. In Denmark, rice pudding is called risalamande (rice pudding) and they serve it with hot cherry sauce.)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Feisty in pack yet total opposite at the temp eval; very independent and not as people oriented; wouldn't approach evaluator (kept preferring to hang with the psycho puppet) but still looked at Abigail and studied her from across the pen; thinking; more reticent than littermates in the temp evl; very very independent to point of aloof; a different kind of environmental boldness; no fear from pscyho reindeer toy (not interested); would explore with lure; tin = fine recovery. 
Conformation Evaluation Observations: compact, square, cobby, soft coat, amazing markings and expression on face, incredible head shape, good ear set, bone, nice angulation (perhaps could be more), high tail set, good front, nice movement, very nicely put together, pretty dark round eyes, tight pasterns
Lulu (orange) - Pickwick's From Morning Sun Till Dine
 (In upstate New York they sell special peppermint pigs all throughout the holiday season. Everyone gets to take a turn hitting it with a special candy-size hammer and eating a piece for good fortune in the coming year. So, why "Lulu"? Well, one of our good friends LOVES pigs and her email address even includes her famous pig's name .... lulu.)
Temperament Evaluation Observations: Playful after evaluator played; focus and willingness = drive; mouthy so you can play tug for reward; follow = good; retriever = no but followed lure; toe pinch = very forgiving, very sweet; tin startle = tail stayed up and fast recovery; umbrella = she didn't care (more noise reactive); psycho reindeer = tail went down but evaluator could 'cheerleader" her back (when lulu gets nervous, she is encouraged by people); tail did go down upon entering the pen but lulu went straight to evaluator to greet (evaluator: "5 seconds of nervousness is not a big deal")
Conformation Evaluation Observations: super soft, plush, light mink coat (the lightest and softest of all pups); nice structure; compact and square; good breather; pretty face though still lighter on pigment, lower ear set, nice round eyes, round head, tails set ok, long tail but not tight curl, nice rear angulation, could perhaps use more bone, good front (not wide)

Blog - The adventure!

We will be adding posts "backwards" with the most recent posts at the top . . . .
Temperament Evaluations April 22, 2022:
Future opera singer?
These girls REALLY loved this new toy for the day. Either they were Italian in a former life or opera singers but a couple of them really liked singing along lol!
Load the Clicker
Clicker training with puppy gruel is MESSY!
4 Week Wellness Checkup
The girls saw Dr. Borden today and he said that they are a picture of perfection. They did a fecal exam which was clear so he recommended waiting a week and a half before more Strongid. "Picture of Perfection" is high praise from this vet so we were quite thankful to hear that from our vet.
First Piano Lesson!
Today was toe-nail day and it went pretty smoothly with the CERFs. One of the pups' new experiences for today was their floor mat keyboard! Dottie actually walked over to where the sound was coming from and tilted her head. Most of them just wondered what the heck was going on. We'll reintroduce this later but we were curious how they would interact with the sound and the different texture of the mat. Here's Lulu's piano debut!
This was a busy week as they started having more outings (around the house) and visits to the den puppy pen. Today's new adventures included bubbles, a weasel rolling ball (they tackled it!) and a fancy cat toy (they tackled it!). But the BIGGEST and most exciting "first" for them today was to have a puppy slumber party (ok, just a brief afternoon meetup party) where they got to snuggle and mingle with Stella's Christmas Star Litter pups! A week apart, they really aren't that different in size and maturity, at this point at least. 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.
The gorgeous spring weather necessitated a visit outside .... each puppy had a solo visit (carried of course) to see and smell different wonders of spring.
The girls first visit to the den play pen warranted some fancy attire....girls' night out and all!
Day 13 is always such a special day when their eyes usually start to open. . .  .
Princess Buttercup is a great mama! She cleans them so well afterwards and is being a good sport about being still for the feedings. She even rolls over on her back when she knows it's time to gently clean her tummy and feet before nursing.
Day 13 . . . . .Dottie's eyes open first!
We absolutely LOVE our Puppy Warmer and Oxygen concentrator. We use it with all our litters at the beginning in between feedings to warm them up. Here's their daddy, Robert, outside for his morning potty break "checking them out" through the window. 


​Today (3/1/22) Princess Buttercup went to see Dr. Borden her vet to see how many puppies are inside. The Radiograph revealed 5 and possibly 6 (though our neonatal mentor who lives in Iowa saw possibly 7). We have a scheduled csection for tomorrow but it's very possible she might deliver before then .... time will tell! We have 2 amazing er vets in case anything happens overnight (a pup gets stuck or anything.) But as I type, Princess Buttercup is sitting at my feet looking up at me, wondering when her next bite of sirloin steak will be. Pug people know that even though mamas "supposedly stop eating" as whelping time draws near, pugs are known to love their food .... so. Again, who knows! More updates soon but, in the meantime, here are the radiographs of Buttercup's belly.
Our original plan (Southern Belle Litter) for Princess Buttercup's 2nd litter was with the Canadian multi-champion, Samich, the New Year Holiday weekend got in the way of progesterone testing and overnight Fedex shipments. So, we switched gears and will repeat our "Emerald" litter which produced the most amazing singleton, Westley (Gus) using our own Grand Champion Hill Country boy, Robert. They are so incredibly similar in type that they really do produce amazing puppies but we were hoping to be able to provide a puppy back to 2 show homes by using Samich. So, we will delay that plan for now until Buttercup's 3rd and final breeding 2022-2023 and pray she doesn't choose yet another holiday weekend as her preferred date. (That's a pug for you, right? Always has to be their own time!)

AI #1 December 31. New Year's Eve - hence the name of the litter theme!! So puppy name ideas will be based upon all things New Year's Eve!
So, puppy name ideas will be based upon all things New Year's Eve!

Since Buttercup started her cycle we have been adding important supplements daily, like Folic Acid, Fish Oil, Oxymate, and probiotics, and we will continue with this plus her regular high quality food throughout the next months. 

AI #1 - December 31, 2021
AI #2 - January 2, 2022
Pregnant girls always get so finicky with their eating at a certain stage. This morning we prepared a charcuterie plate of sorts to see if they might sniff out what they preferred. Buttercup only wanted to eat the chicken paws we dehydrated today and the chicken gizzard (though we are limiting organ meat). She definitely was not too happy when we force fed her the probiotic, folic acid, and OxyMate supplement. Hopefully we can get something besides chicken and chicken feet down her tomorrow. Lately, we've even tried some Royal Canin puppy canned food (appetite stimulation). The Princess even turned her nose up to the Green Beef Tripe. Since carbohydrates are so important for developing fetuses (and she won't eat the Honest Kitchen/rice/oatmeal we made) we tried some pasta today with a little honey. She did nibble a bit at that. Any guess as to if anyone ate the blueberries? Nope.
Buttercup has definitely shown signs of pregnancy, with morning sickness, finicky in eating, but also she is starting to show just a bit as well. Here she is taking a morning waddle walk with her sisters 2/13/22 on a beautiful sunny Sunday. 
Her Radiograph is scheduled for 3.1.22 at 10 AM so we will know more after this xray. Based upon progesterone testing and the radiograph we'll know if the scheduled C-section date of 3/2/22 is a good date. For now, we are just trying to continue to find foods that the Princess enjoys eating. Insert eye roll here. 
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