The pups have really started to play with each other, which will come in many different forms, but for now, they are pretty much using their mouths! After this video was taken, Sky started to chew on Tipsy’s foot! The game that Brooke and Sky are playing is referred to as Bitey Face, but it almost looks like Sky is playing her own version of the game that I think she would call it “Sky Puts Her Mouth in Brooke’s Mouth”.

We had a slight shift or change in the layout of the whelping box yesterday, so we didn’t have too many adjustments. We swapped out some of the super small toys, but left the large Caterpillar because he is a huge hit! We often find someone napping, playing, and crawling on it.

Something that is new to the puppies is my puppy call. I will use this when we are calling the puppies for food until they are in their new homes. It can easily be transfered into a recall for when they are much older and ready for obedience too!

All I do is take a super small piece (maybe the size of a pea) of raw organic ground beef and hold it in front of their nose while making the sound of my puppy call. Right now they are not putting two and two together, and likely will not for a few more days, but once they do they will start to swarm me for their very delicious treat!

Now that the puppies ears are open enough, they are starting to startle at abrupt noises. These noises could be a cabinet door closing, the shaking of a trash bag, or dropping something somewhat close by to them. That is all normal and expected around this time. Once this happens, we start something that is called Startle and Recovery. The concept of this is very simple. A few times a day, we drop something or make a loud noise in the vicinity of the puppies but not too close them. We typically start this on the other side fo the room and inch closer to them over the next week or so. A perk of them being raised in our kitchen is that they get all of the basic household noises in addition to the ones that we make specifically for them.

While working on Startle and Recovery, we are not trying to scare the puppies. In fact, if we experience any if the puppies having a true fear response that lasts longer than a few seconds, we stop until further notice. We have never experienced any true fear during this practice, but we are alway watching to make sure that we are moving forward properly. The purpose of doing this is not to make sure that the puppies are never scared of anything, that is inevitable. It is to show them the proper way to respond to fear by conditioning their emotional response. This practice is something that we will use for the rest of the time that they are with us. It is called Conditioned Emotional Response (CER).

A few new changes today for everyone. We added in a larger toy for the puppies to play with. They will chew, tug, and hurdle it. They have started to do all of those things to eachother, which was our cue to add some toys.

We also used the Dremel tool for nails for the first time. The Dremel is a great way to keep their toes short which will help keep their joints and ligaments healthy. We typically start to use the Dremel at an age a bit older, but we decided to give it a try and see how things went. Well, it went super smooth and was even easier than traditional clipping. No photos as this was a two person job, but essentially one of us held the puppies up like Simba from the Lion King one at a time and the other sanded down their sharp nails. Tipsy appreciates it during feeding times!

I had expected that we would have a few that were super fussy and it might take a good bit of time, but surprisingly we didn’t have anyone that absolutely hated the experience. And it only took about 10 minutes!

Today was also the day that we swabbed the puppies for their Embark tests. It will take 2-4 weeks for results to come back, but we have found that the test is worth it. It will tell us so many interesting things about each individual puppy form which of the pups is liver factored to who is predicted to be bigger or smaller. Of course the size depends on so many things, but the genes associated with size are helpful to make sure that our dogs meet the Dalmatian standard that is up to 24″ at the withers

We are extremely careful when swabbing a litter. We have to keep all of the puppies away from each other and mom for 60 minutes. After that, we have a process to make sure that there are no mistakes. Does it take longer? Yes, but it is correct!

Activate a DNA kit online, add a return address, swab the puppies cheek for 30-60 seconds, package the swab, wash hands, repeat.. X6!!!!!!

We have puppy teeth coming! For some reason, we always use the yellow collar puppy as a model. So, to keep up with tradition, we are going to use Goldie. Here she is today. We will redo it in a few days to see the difference. I find it very interesting that you can see their teeth emerging through their gums.

We didn’t have any huge changes today. We did add a second potty patch and slightly changed the location. We found that it is better to put the potty along the side for two reasons. The first is because it is easier for us and Tipsy to get into the box and the second is because when we transfer them to the big pen in a few weeks, the potty area will be in this corner.

Two Weeks!

We took a new set of headshots today, but had to do without using a flash. Their eyes are mostly open now (although it is a bit hard to tell from some of the photos) and they are much too sensitive and underdeveloped to have a bright flicker of light. We made do with natural lighting and the recessed lighting just fine.

We kept up with all of our normal antics around here, but are ready to set into our new routine in the coming days. We will soon be saying goodbye to ENS, ESI, and daily weights as they are approaching 16 days old. We are excited to start into the more entertaining aspect of puppy rearing as we are certainly in the Transitional period now!

As I was writing about all of the things that the puppies did today, I realized that I will be talking a good bit about changes that are happening around here. It is super important that the puppies go through changes everyday, some days it will be one large change, some days it will be a good bit of small changes, and other days it will be just a few small changes. Why do we do this you might ask? The simple answer is that we are making sure that the puppies are getting used to a changing environment from a young age.

We had some pretty big changes today for the puppies. These are considered big ones for their age, but once they are a few weeks older, they will be pretty minute. We removed the pig rails as some of the puppies were having trouble moving around underneath of them. Once that happens, that is our cue to remove them. We also added a low bumper bed and a potty patch.

The potty patch is the first area that the puppies will learn where to do their business. The concept is simple, but we as the breeders must put the work in. Puppies naturally release away from the nest in an effort to keep their area clean and their scent away from them.

We use their natural instincts to teach them to potty in one spot of what will become the puppy pen one day. If we are around when a puppy stops nursing or just wakes, we will pick them up and place them on the potty patch. We will specifically keep the rest of the pen/box clean which will encourage them to use the patch. They are not very good at it at this time, but eventually will catch on pretty well. Just for reference, each litter is different. We have had litters who use the potty consistently from 2.5-3 weeks on and some litters who started to use the patch consistently closer to 5 weeks.

The puppies didn’t do much today other than their basics of weights, ENS, and ESI. They used sesame oil for ESI, which resulted in 5 positive reactions and one neutral reaction. I have a theory that the sweeter scents are more appealing as a whole.

The puppies eyes are about half open, some a bit less and some a tad more than others. They are using their eyes (as much as they can) when Tipsy is in the box as they search for their milk source. Some are even trying to nurse when Tips is standing up! They are right on track top being little dogs!

We are also enjoying Tipsy’s nursing pillow. They move it around the box and lay on top of it whenever they have the chance.

As expected, the other two puppies have started to open their eyes and ears. We are beginning to leave the Neonatal period and start into the Transitional period. This is when the puppies start to learn how to move their bodies in productive manners, begin to play, and start to use potty patches. Of course all of that will be built up over the next week or so as they are still in the Neonatal period and flirting with the Transitional period.

The puppies have just started to release on their own. When we see that they are naturally releasing away from the nest, we will start to get them accustomed to a bed and potty patches. This could be tomorrow or a few days from now, each litter is different!

During the Neonatal period, puppies cannot release their bladders and bowels on their own. In order for their stool and urine to be released, their mom will lick them to stimulate them to expel their waste.

We will continue to play classical music most of the time. As far as lighting, we will not be using the flash on cameras for a while until their eyes are appropriately adjusted. Most photos will be taken with natural light , the light from the heat lamp, or the kitchen overhead lighting.

For today’s session of ESI, we used Peppermint. When noting their reactions, I always try by best to go in with an open mind. For some reason, I anticipated more negative or neutral reactions. Well.. I was very very wrong. All 6 of the puppies came out with a positive reaction. I am not sure if that has ever happened to us before during ESI.

This is Chessie all relaxed during ESI!

Wow, I cannot believe that we are already in double digits for our day tracker!!!

We are coming to a conclusion of our bridge talk, at least for now. Our final bridge that we will talk about is the Brooklyn Bridge, which we have shortened to Brooke for our purple girl. The Brooklyn Bridge is located in New York City and connected the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Some fun facts about this bridge: Construction started in 1869, its length is 6,016′, and John A. Roebling was the architect.

Today’s scent for ESI was basil. Interesting results today as we had no neutral feedback. We had 4 positive responses and two negative responses.

We have been listening to classical music on and off for the past week, but will instate it as our usual music channel for the next few weeks. The puppies eyes and ears are starting to open. It is important that the puppies hear classical music at first as a calming mechanism. We will slowly decrease the classical music and add in a whole bunch of other sounds as the puppies get older and are able comprehend what is going on. When the puppies are older, we will use the classical music during bedtime, after meals, and when we notice that the puppies are asleep. This is something that can be used withe their new owners throughout their lives as well!

This is the first steps in creating a Conditioned Emotional Responce, which you will often hear me talk about as a CER. The basics of it are that we are conditioning them that when they hear classical music, they have an emotional response to calm down (possibly to the point of taking a nap). There is a good bit that we will do throughout the time that they are with us that will help build their CER, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Lots of milestones today, 4/6 puppies eyes have started to open! The other two are not too far behind at all. We also saw some of the puppies toddling around, up on all fours. they are starting to develop their motor skills and becoming little dogs!

Our puppy Sky gets her name from The Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It is located in lower Tampa Bay, connecting Pinellas County to Manatee County. Some fun facts about this bridge: It has a height of 430′, it is 21,859′ in length, and its construction began in 1982.

Today we used lemon chamomile tea as our scent for ESI. There were no negative reactions, 4 positive reactions, and two neutral reactions. Sometimes it is a bit difficult to tell if one of the pups is having a positive or neutral reactions due to such faint differences. It is typically easy to catch a negative reaction.

Additionally, ENS is going well and most of the puppies have accepted that they go through a series of tasks (the five ENS positions) and then they are back to normal. Some of them have started to relax in my hands a good bit as they are laying flat on their backs. I will try to commission someone to photograph our next session!

Today’s candids:

Our Chessie is named after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel that is located in Cape Charles, VA. The purpose of the bridge was to replace ferry boats that started operating in 1964. Some fun facts include: construction starting in 1960, Total Length being 92,848′, and it having a clearance below 40′.

Today the puppies had a visitor that they haven’t seen since the day that they were born. One of their co-breeder came to visit for a few hours this evening. Each of the puppies had individual puppy cuddle time with her while she sat just outside of the box. Tipsy was very happy to show off her puppies to her while she was here.

These pups are pretty active, often moving about the whelping box and doing laps under the pig rails. I wanted to talk a bit about our pig rails and why we use them. Every breeder has a choice on if they use them or not. We personally use them as a safety precaution and peace of mind. Without them, there is always the risk of the mom laying up against the wall of the box and laying on a puppy. This prevents that from happening by allowing for a safe gap where the puppies can sleep and crawl.

We used thyme as our scent for ESI today. We had a good mix of reactions as there was one neutral, three positive, and two negative reactions. Seven, Goldie, and Sky were big fans of ESI this morning!

Happy One Week Birthday to the Iconic Bridges!

Today we I will write about the most well-known bridge in the United States of America, which is where Goldie’s name was derived from.  The Golden Gate Bridge is located in San Fransisco, CA.  A few fun facts about The Golden Gate Bridge: It is 746’ in height, construction stated in 1933, and the total length is 8,981’.

Today’s scent for ESI was oregano, that was also rehydrated from its dried form.  Today we had a response that was split right down the middle.  Three puppies had a positive reaction to the scent and three puppies we neutral toward it.

Within each litter, there are some guidelines (these guidelines do not need to be met, they are just there for reference to see what is considered normal). For example, most puppies will double their birth weight by 10 days old. Half of this litter doubled their birth weight yesterday (Day 6) and the other half doubled their birth weight today. They are growing well!

Today we will talk about the Seven Mile Bridge. If you have ever driven through the Florida Keys, you have likely been on this bridge! The name comes from the bridge being seven miles long; there are even areas where there is no land to be seen! Some additional facts: It construction started in 1978, constructed ended in 1982, and it has two popular locations (Knights Key & Little Duck Key)

Today I rehydrated some dill weed for ESI. We had many neutral reactions, one bad reaction, and Goldie licking her chops as she took in all of the smells. ESI is always interesting to me. Most of the time, we see a split between reactions. One day two puppies could both like a scent, and the next, they could have completely different views!

During these first few weeks while the puppies eyes and ears are still sealed shut, there typically isn’t much going on other than ENS, ESI, Nails every few days, and cuddling puppies.  Due to this, I thought that I would talk about where each of the puppies name cames from and some facts about that bridge.  

Today we will talk about the New River Gorge, which is where our red collar boy, River, gets his name.  We often use this bridge when we are traveling to and from dog shows!  It is part of a National Park and Preserve that is located outside of Fayetteville, West Virginia.  A few more fun facts:  It was built in 1974, sits 876’ above the ground, and is 1,700’ in length!

The scent for ESI today was Parsley.  Today I didn’t have the luxury of grabbing some fresh parsley from outside, so I made do with dried parsley.  I took a small condiment cup, added my dried herb, and then rehydrated it with warm water.  After it sat for a bit, it was ready to use.  I have found that it is easiest to drench a q-tip in the liquid, being sure to get some parsley on it too.  Today we had 3 positive reactions, 2 negative reactions, and 1 neutral reaction.

The puppies have started something called Early Scent Identification, but you will often hear me refer to it as ESI.  The reasoning behind this is to get the puppies used to different scents earlier in life.  ESI is supposed to be done on days 3-16 (just like ENS), but I chose to hold off a day being that we started ENS yesterday.  We will be doing ESI in the mornings and ENS in the evenings as they are not to be done too close together.  

The basics of it are holding a natural scent, no chemicals or any types of meat or food, in front of the puppies nose and simply taking down some notes on how each of them respond. They will either have a positive, negative, or neutral reaction to the experience. Having a negative reaction is perfectly fine, there are no wrong answers in this exercise, but they should never have a stressful experience.  

Today’s scent was some fresh rosemary that was still growing outside.  Being that this was fresh, all I had to do was squeeze the sprig between my fingers, this releases the oils and smells of the plant.  This is generally a tough thing for me to videotape, but I will try my best to get everyone’s reaction at least once over the next week.  

River, Chessie, Sky, & Brooke all had neutral reactions while Seven had a positive reaction and Goldie had a negative reaction.

Here is Brooke sniffing her rosemary!

ENS went well today.  No huge change between yesterday and today, but it does seem that everyone is much more settled into a routine and Tipsy is continuing her motherly duties.  She has always loved to lay with the puppies even when they are not nursing.  

We had our first nail trim for these guys around here.  To give an idea of just how tiny their nails are at this age, about 1mm in width and 2mm in length.  We use human nail clippers to trim their nails at this age.  The jagged edges will scratch Tipsy’s belly as they nurse, so we take a nail file and do a fast clean up around the edges.  At some point we will switch to a Dremel tool to start the desensitization process.  

108 Tiny Nails ✅

Today the puppies did what they do best

 eat… sleep… poop… repeat

Tipsy’s milk has come in and we have noticed that the puppies have significantly increased their weight gain.  They are growing like weeds!  We will weight them everyday for the first 2+ weeks and then on their weekly birthday afterwards.

Today starts something very important that we do on days 3-16.  It is called Early Neurological Stimulation which you will often hear me refer to as ENS.  We do this to improve cardio vascular performance (heart rate), stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to disease.  Everyone did as expected.  Many were a bit squirmy, but no one had a bad reaction.  The five exercises are as follows. The duration of each of the five exercises is 5-10 seconds.

1. Tactical stimulation (between toes) Holding the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle. Also pinching the toes and paws gently.Time of stimulation 5-10 seconds

2. Head held erect Using both hands, the pup is held perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that its head is directly above its tail. This is in an upwards position. Time of stimulation 5-10 seconds

3. Head pointed down Holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing towards the ground. Time of stimulation 5-10 seconds

4. Supine position Hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling. The pup while on its back is allowed to struggle. While also rubbing all parts of the pups body with your fingers. Time of stimulation 5-10 seconds

5. Thermal stimulation Use a damp towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for at least five minutes. Place the pup on the towel, feet down. Do not restrain it from moving. Time of stimulation 5-10 seconds

These are our candids from ENS today

Everyone has settles in a good bit into their new routine.  Tipsy is a very attentive mother and the puppies are big fans of eating.  They do take their fair share of naps as well.  Their weight gain is wonderful as well!

We have decided on a litter themefor this bunch and would like to introduce you to the Iconic Bridges!

Here they are in birth order:

• River is Chalet’s New River Gorge 
• Seven is Chalet’s Seven Mile 
• Goldie is Chalet’s Golden Gate 
• Cheesie is Chalet’s Chesapeake Bay 
• Sky is Chalet’s Sunshine Skyway 
• Brooke is Chalet’s Brooklyn 

Whew!! What a busy 24 hours for us and for Tipsy! Tipsy is once again a phenomenal mother and loves her puppies to the moon and back. She especially loves for them to be nice and tidy. She has excepted the other dogs into the kitchen just fine and is enjoying the extra nursing meals!

Although we are still picking a theme, we did take new born headshots. I love to see them progress throughout the weeks that they will develop and change so much!

Every single one of them also gained a good bit of weight on their first day. This was great to see because it is not abnormal for a puppy to lose some weight in their first 24 hours. Colostrum is the the mother’s first milk that is thicker. It is nutrient-dense and high in antibodies and antioxidants. Tipsy’s milk should be in in the next day or so.

Tipsy went into very early labor last night, around 10:30 PM. We kept everything very calm and nonchalant as we knew that she would progress and we were in no rush. Throughout the day today we noticed that she was advancing a good bit and that tonight was most likely the night. We had a friend over who is a co-breeder on the litter to assist with the whelp too!

Tipsy was quite ready to get the party started! She went into active labor around 8 PM the night of November 30th and had 4 puppies by midnight. The other two were born shortly after, meaning that our x-ray predicting 6 puppies was correct!

In Birth-Order:

• Black Spotted Male
• Liver Spotted Male
• Black Spotted Female
• Black Spotted Female
• Black Spotted Female
• Black Spotted Female

We are still working on a theme for this bunch!

Today Tipsy went to one of our reproductive veterinarians to have an x-ray taken so that we had a general headcount of the how many puppies we should be expecting. Of course this is not 100% accurate, but it is a lot more precise than the ultrasound around 4 weeks gestation. Our lucky answer is SIX! How many do you count?

Today we set up the whelping box. This is the first part of nesting that we as the humans do before puppies arrive. Once we are all set up, the rest is up to Tipsy! Being that she has had a litter before, she already has a good understanding of our routine. That is why we waited a bit longer than we did her last litter to set up the whelping box. Usually it is done around 6 weeks gestation for first time mothers.

Tipsy Approved!

Over the past few days, we have been feeling some faint puppy kicks and general puppy movements. Today I was finally able to capture a tiny puppy kick on camera. Tipsy is enjoying every bit of extra belly rubs since we have been trying to feel for babies!

Tipsy went to see one of our reproductive veterinary teams this morning for an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy. She has babies due at the end of November! The sire that we had chosen is a boy from one of our previous litters. His name is Quinn.

After much thought, we have decided that we are going to use our sweet boy Quinn (Chalet’s Son Of A Gun CGC TKN) this go around. Since we have had a breeding, we have an approximate date that the litter will be born. We are expecting for them to arrive at the end of November 2024! We are expecting both black spotted and liver brown spotted puppies as well as all of the puppies being LUA from this pairing!

Today we drive to one of the veterinary practices that we use for reproduction. This office is located in Cleveland Ohio. We met with one of the doctors there that performed a Transcervial Insemination (TCI) on Tipsy. Being that this was not a natural breeding, we needed to have a solid game plan for the conception of this litter. Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming litter.