I took a break from blogging and it's time for me to get back into the routine. So easy to get out of a routine and seems to always take time to get back into it. After a wonderful vacation in Hawaii, a couple of weeks subbing, and Easter, spring came up fast. Belle Starr came into season mid-April and we just bred her this 2nd full week of April. This is a month later than I had expected. But, mother nature knows best... On March 19th and 20th we took Storm Trooper and Bones to the International Dog Show. Storm Trooper took best puppy in all 4 shows. He also got his International and National Puppy Titles. Along with that he got his Canine Good Citizen certificate. So proud of our Trooper. He is now in weekly training and as soon as he turns 1 will hopefully get his therapy dog certification. This has been very exciting for us. The same weekend of the International Dog Show I brought home our new little Cassiopeia. We are adding her to our breeding program. She is true English and a cutie. So there is a lot of action at Happy Labs Kennel. Breeding, Training classes, potty training, etc. All is good... On the down side, our Abie the older lab is having panic attacks. His health seems good, it just that he has anxiety in his old age. His wears a calming collar that the vets gave him and that helped a lot. This past week he got worse and we started giving him calming pills and they are helping. We love our Abie and it is hard to see him this way. Giving him lots of extra love. Storm Trooper lays beside him and he really likes that. Therapy in action among the pack. Lots of action and love at Happy Labs Kennel
20 Weeks and Waiting
The pups are now 20 weeks and range in the 30 pound to 40 lb range. This is about what Belle Starr weighed in at. So it seems as if the pups are going to be between Belle Starr's and Shadow's sizes. Bones in Frenchtown is very stocky and weighs in the 40 pound range. He is very beautiful and so Mary Ellen and I became co-owners just so we could show him. All that means is that I am able to sign him up for shows and show him. We will see how he does to see where we go with him. Her son Ashton is interested in showing dogs, so I will put him in the Junior Handler class as well so he can start showing Bones too. Storm Trooper is smaller and lankier but very mellow. He is going to be a good therapy dog, but not so sure about the show ring. His face is narrower and I'm not sure where he got that. His dad never had a narrow face. Belle Starr does, but her head is more blocky. So the Storm Trooper is a mix of his mom and dad. I have him signed up for the Internation Dog Show the end of March along with Bones to see how the two boys do. It will be a great experience for Storm Trooper to be out in public for some serious socialization. So let the fun begin. My little girl from Eugene should be coming to us the end of March as well. For sure I will be showing her the end of May. She is out of some good champion lines and hoping she does well. Most of the black girls look like Belle Starr but seem to have longer legs. I haven't seen the black boys, but from reports they are blocky and very mellow boys. Last weekend some us got together for our own puppy class training. There isn't much in St. Regis for opportunities to socialize dogs. So we decided to have our own little sessions. There were 6 puppies here last Saturday and we had a good day. Five of the puppies were from Bell Starr's litter. So of course they were very happy to see each other and that made for interesting training. Today we are meeting again and planning on meeting for a few weeks until formal training starts in Missoula. Now our next thing is WAITING for Belle Starr to begin her cycle so we can breed her for the next litter. I have some anxious people waiting to hear of puppies on the way. Unfortunately mother nature is in charge of this one. My only fear is that we have rescheduled our Hawaii trip for next week and I was hoping to have her bred before we leave. But that isn't happening at this point and if she comes in this week then we will have to leave her and Shadow at the vet while we are gone for the breeding. Something I don't want to happen. Too expensive and they are a week away from home. So I'm hoping that she now waits until our return from Hawaii. But it's Belle Starr, No one ever knows about her...Love her anyway. Things are good at Happy Labs Kennel...
Onward with the Journey...
Okay, so now that I am down to one puppy, our Storm Trooper, the house is very quiet. Maybe it's called Empty Kennel Syndrome. Now that I have time, I started looking for another female puppy to add to my breeding program. A while back we had a gentleman call and was interested in coming to the kennel to see our pups and meet Belle Starr and Shadow. He said something to me that really struck home. He said that it was nice to talk to a breeder that was cordial and friendly and didn't act as if it was a privilege to even speak to them let alone visit their kennel. Needless to say, he visited our kennel and put in a request for a puppy out of our next litter. Now as I am looking for a pup and looking at many sites, talking to a few of the big breeders, I know exactly what he means. It's like you are at their beck and call and really shouldn't bother them and how dare you want to look and buy one of their pricey labs, especially for breeding and showing. And then it's also like some and I say some, are the gods of the labradors. Some don't even put down their phone numbers and it is a task just to get them to call you. I realize that I'm not an expert at this, but I do know what I want for my kennel and that is a well rounded lab that is a good pet, companion, hunter, or therapy dog. With this past litter, I feel that I met that criteria and whelped good solid pups with good bloodlines. So, my journey has just begun.. And may I never forget to be friendly and treat fellow lab lovers with up most respect.
With Princess Laylah (now Sage) is in her new home, I am focusing on Storm Trooper. He is coming along quite well with his training and is a handsome mellow little guy. My goal for him is to be a therapy dog. If he turns out to be blocky enough I will show him as well. He is so eager to please and is so quiet, one doesn't even hardly know he is here. We make sure that we spend a lot of time with him. Slowly, he is becoming part of the pack and has the run of the house more and more. Old Drake is so good with him, just like a grandpa. Abie has his respect and is his walking partner, but keeps his prestigious air about him. Shadow needs to get a daddy of the year award for he treats his son with love and care. Belle Starr is torn between being a mom and playmate. I believe that is due because we had to wean them from her at 4 weeks so she could get well. And Robin is Robin, but keeping her cool and staying away from him. Cow Dogs... What can I say. I'm trying to train Trooper to ring a bell to let us know he wants to go outside to potty. First I must train myself to ring the bell before I take him out potty. Work in progress.
Now What?
January: Pups are gone except for the two I kept back, holidays over, and the house is nice and quiet with everyone waiting for spring. A time to think about the new year and plans for the kennel. Storm Troopers and Laylah's training is going very well. They are very smart and pick up quickly on new lessons. They go on nice walks everyday that are also training sessions. Of course they don't know that. Belle Starr is looking really good, she has grown back this beautiful coat and has muscled out with her walks. Looks as if she will be show ready this spring. Shadow is Shadow and you find him mostly upside down either on the couch or on my bed. Such a goofy one. He's waiting for shed hunting to begin and trips on the four-wheeler. Robin is Robin (our rescue cow dog) and just makes sure everyone else is doing what they need to be doing. We call her the enforcer. Abie and Drake (our geriatric ward) are doing okay. They still love their walks, but spend the rest of the time sleeping. We walk them about every other day. Abie has a shorter path that is on the road so he doesn't tire too much. I take him for I'm about in the same boat... So all and all Life is Good at Happy Labs Kennel. Laylah looks as if she is going to be a awesome hunter and we are still looking at what will be best for her. She would be great at agility, but I'm quite sure that I wouldn't be. We will start her on a hunting training session and see how she does with that. She is such a love and a smart little pup with a very athletic build. As she grows, I can see that she is too leggy for the show ring. In the meantime, we will love her and train her up to see what will be best in her future life. Storm Trooper is looking to be an excellent therapy dog and as he grows I'll know more about the show ring. For sure I will take them to the International Dog Show so they can earn their titles and possibly the puppy show in Albany. I'll continue showing Belle Starr whenever I get the opportunity and also looking at breeding her again this spring. Then I'll give her a year off. We are thinking of adding a cream female to our breeding program. That way we can have 2 litters each year and a replacement for Belle Starr for we won't breed her past the age 6. A good little mate for Storm Trooper. Decisions!! Decisions!! I'm attaching a picture of Abie and Drake that I took yesterday. It so reminded of 11 years ago when the two became friends and later on inseparable. As pups they would lay together like in this picture, only Abie was small and Drake was a lot bigger than him. Love these two boys. What will 2016 bring??
2015 an Exciting Year for Happy Labs Kennel
Another year coming to an end. They seem to be going by quickly. As I recap this past year with the kennel, it was pretty hectic and busy. First off, Belle Starr started limping and it took two months to find out what the problem was. Turned out she had a chipped bone in her knee and when the surgeon in Great Falls (great man) did a c scan and found it, he went right in and removed it. She healed up with no problems with that. Then even though she wasn't to come into season until fall, she decided to come early and give us 11 pups on October 5th. This was one busy night and day and then for another two months after that. Fred and I took turns being nurse maids for the first month 24/7 and then up several times during the night to check on them after that. We kept charts on who ate when and made sure that they had momma time. At 3 weeks we started supplementing baby cereal with puppy formula to help Belle Starr out. At 4 weeks Belle Starr was very sick and we ended up weaning them and put them on baby cereal with puppy formula and slowly added in soaked puppy food. Gradually we took out the baby cereal and fed them soaked puppy food (soaked in water) and added puppy formula. until they turned 8 weeks old. Each pup had their own little dish and we fed them 2 at a time if both of us, or if only one, they ate 1 at a time. Quite a process as we marked each one off a chart as they ate. My teaching skills and chart making abilities helped in this area. At 8 weeks the pups were using the doggie door, and mostly potting on the pee pads, and crate trained. At 6 weeks we took away the pee pads and used towels for their pee pads. They liked tearing them apart and dragging them in their bed. Not good with 11 puppies depositing tootsie rolls all the time. At this point we were busy just keeping the room clean for them along with the feedings. They rewarded us with lots of love and laughter. We took to spending time in their nursery room each day sitting with them and working on the no biting and just being companions. At 8 weeks the pups started leaving one by one to their new homes. With each puppy a few tears were shed. I can relate it to having your children grow up and go off to college. You know they will be just fine, but will miss them. Each one had their own little personality. Bones (black boy)was the little rolly polly who was very smart, liked to eat, and would be checking things out instead of playing. He was the first to ask to get out of the crate at night to go potty, the first to drink from the water bottle, and one of the first to use the doggy door. He is in Frenchtown with a wonderful family who will give him lots of love and fun times. Samone, (Purple girl) one of the little black girls was a sweet and smart girl. She was a lot like Abby (orange girl) and we had to make sure they didn't lose their colored collars or we wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. Samone is in Chatteroy and has a new friend Nahlah. Abby is in Superior keeping her family busy as she has a German Shepard buddy Jazz about the same age. Then there were the Blues Brothers numbers 8 and 9 born. These two were my only black boys and were born close together and I called them the twins for they always seemed to be beside each other. When I got the colored collars, I put the dark blue collar on one and the light blue collar on the other. Those two then became the Blues Brothers. They are really sweet boys and were also on the mellow side. Dark Blue is in Spokane with his new buddy Hank, an older lab and a loving family. I'm sure he is quite spoiled. Baby Blue as we called him or light blue is in Kellogg with his new loving family. I'm still waiting to hear what his name will be. Shadow's dad was named Bleu, so he could take after his grandpa... Then there was Buttons (Red) a light colored cream male who was just a sweetheart. He was very mellow and casual but if the other pups picked on him, he would put them in their place. Buttons is living the good life in Missoula and is being very spoiled as well. Montana (green girl) was a lot like Buttons, she's a lighter cream and a very mellow girl. She's just a sweetheart and she as well is living the good life in San Jose with trips to the condo at Lake Tahoe. She is with a wonderful family who is giving her a luxurious life. When one flies up from California and drives their puppy back home tells the whole story. Awesomeness... Then we have Jessie (know as Nessa or lavendar girl). Jessie left us once and after a week she came back to us. The situation wasn't ideal and after a couple of visits to the vet and a lot of love, she is now in her new happy forever home at Newman Lake. Jessie was the elegant first born and was a mellow lioness. I say a lioness for she always sat proud with her legs out in front of her. Just a beautiful girl who is very smart and goes with the flow. She never complained and loved being held. Many times I caught her sleeping on Fred's lap when I would get up in the night. She will always be in our heart as the first born pup. She also had a slim face with unique coloring. She is almost a caramel color and where her fur meet in the middle of her nose gives a look of a stripe down it. Then we have Ribbon Girl ( Pink Girl) who is with us and her name is Princess Laylah. She is known as Stinky Pink. Laylah was the last born and came an hour after we thought Belle Starr had finished. We teased her of upsetting the balance between black and cream, and male and female. On the second day of their life she was apart from the others and not very active. So, we put a pink ribbon around her neck and made sure she had extra mommy time and attention. She came around and surpassed others in size at 2 weeks and is now a healthy trouble maker. Her legs are long and she is a lean machine. She also is very vocal and can climb high mountains (shelves, fences, etc.) and we have our work cut out for us. But, she is a beauty and very smart. We fell in love with her and decided to hang onto her and I'm happy we did. She will take extra training but I believe she is going to be awesome. My first thought was to show her, but with her long legs and athletic ability, I feel she would do better in field trials and shed hunting. So, that is my next step in my lab life. My sweetest little black girl Millie (yellow girl) was the smallest and quietest of the black girls. She never caused any problems and melted ones heart whenever picked up. Millie is in Kalispell and hoping to become a trauma dog. She has the quality to become one of the best. Loved that Millie and I'm sure she is being loved on as I blog. Last but not least is our Storm Trooper (Brown Boy) who is a lighter cream and a very mellow boy. His also is staying with us. He and Princess Laylah have become best of buds and entertain each other. Trooper is hoping to become a therapy dog. I also find him in the night sleeping on Fred's lap. He is in training and has all the qualities to become a great companion for others. Each one of these eleven puppies touched our hearts in different ways. Five white, six black, five males, six females, and all beautiful pups. Belle Starr and Shadow did an outstanding job on giving us such a wonderful litter of pups. The Belle Starr is slowly becoming the girl she was before pregnancy. She got down to 53 pounds when she got really sick and she is now back up to 63 pounds. Her hair fell out and she is in the process of growing back a beautiful shiny black coat. We will just be happy when her tail hair comes all the way back. So as we close this 2015 year we can look back at a lot of excitement and blessings. Wonder what 2016 will bring?
