And Then There Were Four

Wow, the puppies are growing fast now! It has been so much fun to see them placed with good families who will love and care for them. Now we only have three yellow female puppies and one black male puppy left of the twelve with which we began. What a fun journey this has been!

Bird Hunting with the Family

Jeff let the dogs run this afternoon in a field by our home. Sammy is always on the lookout for any type of bird, and this tree was full of them today. The puppies are learning fast what to do when they see a bird. Aren't instincts great?!

First Snow

The puppies had their first experience with snow today. Since they're labs, it didn't seem to phase them one bit.

I'm not sure who had more fun playing in this first snowfall of the winter, the puppies or my children!

Duck Training 101

Jeff uses a duck harvested from a previous duck hunting trip to introduce the puppies to ducks and the art of retrieving. It is a fun process to watch, as you can see for yourself in the video below.

Play Hard / Sleep Hard

Play, Eat, Sleep.

That's a puppy's life for you. Sammy's little family is so much fun to watch now. They chase the kids all over the yard and love to wrestle with twigs, leaves and each other. Jeff took this picture with the puppies up on the play system we have in the back yard.




After an hour or so of playing with my family in the yard, all the puppies settle down for a nice nap.

Aren't they adorable!

Play Time!

Sibling rivalry.... It starts.

5 Weeks Old

The puppies are 5 weeks old now and really starting to show their individual personalities. In fact, they protested a change in puppy food, necessitated by supply shortages here in Weiser, to the point that I had to go to Fruitland today to get the puppy food they like the best. (ProPac Performance Puppy. It's the one we fed Sammy while she was pregnant and nursing the puppies.)

Road Trip

The Puppies, all 11, went to preschool today with Jayden for "Show and Tell". His class was learning about animal emotions, and what better example can there be than a puppy. All the children had so much fun with the puppies, that they didn't want me to take them when it was time to go. The puppies, on the other hand, were very glad to get back home.

Sad Day

We discovered one of the puppies we had nursed back to health just a few short days ago dead this afternoon from an unknown cause. He was the smallest of the litter, but a beautiful yellow puppy. It saddened me deeply.

Cold Snap

Due to a cold snap, two of the yellow puppies became too cold and weak to nurse well. We brought them into the house to warm them and are syringe feeding them a replacement formula every two hours around the clock. The puppies and I were so tired on day two that we cuddled up together in my bed for a short nap.

Puppy Replacement Formula

8oz boiled water - cooled

8oz evaporated milk

1 egg yolk - beaten

1 Tbsp corn syrup

Mix all ingredients well. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to two days. Weigh puppy and feed about 30 milliliters of formula for every 3 oz. of weight per day in divided feedings every two hours, day and night.

Tired Momma!

Sammy with her new family of 12. Doesn't she look tired?

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!

Samantha of Fradonson's Pond

Sammy, our female black Labrador Retriever, had 12 puppies on October 19th, 2008. 7 yellow (4 female and 3 male) and 5 black (1 female and 4 male). The sire was a registered yellow Labrador Retriever named Gus. Mom and all 12 puppies are doing well.

Kropp's Gus

Dad, on the other hand, has no idea he is a Father.