The puppies are finally here after months of waiting! As of July 12th we have 8 beautiful, healthy puppies! Laila did an extraordinary job, and is a super mom for sure! She didn't need any help and actually seemed to have more of them when we were out of the room then when we were in there. She was in labor for such a long time though, almost 12 hours! We thought she was done at number 5 since it had been over 2 hours since number 5 came out. When we checked on her around 3 hours later there were 3 more little bundles of joy!
There were 5 females and 3 males, we now have only 2 males. I have listed them in the order they came out and then also given them a Mr. or Miss as appropriate. In these pictures they all have different colored ribbons so that we can tell them all apart. I have also given them "names" that start with the first letter of the ribbon color, I give them names just so that I can refer to them without saying red or blue or puppy 1. These obviously can be changed at any time after a deposit is made.
Updates:
Week 2 Update- All the puppies eyes are open, they are experimenting with standing up on their wobbly legs and walking around. They have also found their voices and are mimicking growls, barks and sometimes even a howl or two! =) It is soo cute!
Week 3 Update - The puppies are all eating "puppy chow" on their own, in addition to nursing! They have started to teeth, they are all walking around and beginning to play. Molly is loving that they are able to get around better, and they like to play with her! Laila does not mind that Molly is always around the puppies and that she likes to help "clean-up" the puppies and their food after they have eaten. One cute thing they do is they have started to "box" with their front paws, they box each other and Molly. It is soo precious!!
Week 4 Update - The puppies are almost weaned! They are eating food and drinking water on their own, and are not allowed to nurse as much. Laila can only stand for them to nurse for a little bit, I am sure their sharp teeth hurt her! They sure hurt my feet and ankles! haha They are soo energetic and it is getting harder to run from them while I am trying to clean or cook, They like to chase feet! They love to play with balls and even started to play tug-a-war with each other. They love to explore around the house, and hate being prohibited by the baby gate! I also have collars on the puppies, I purchased them a long time ago, before they were born, this is how I chose the ribbon colors, by matching the collars and ribbons. Since they can eat without making a mess now I decided they could start wearing their collars and getting used to them. For the first few days they kept itching their necks since they weren't used to them. All of them fit great (for now) except Remi..he is sooo big he needed a bigger collar! haha
Puppy #1 Miss Coral Cora
Is going to live with the Wallis's
She is a dark brindle and has white feet and a white stomach.
Puppy #2 Mr. Black B-Rock "Trip"
(Reserved to go live with his dad!)
He is a flashy fawn, will look alot like his dad!
Puppy #3 Miss Cyan Cylee "Bella"
(Reserved to go live with the DeVries Family!)
She is a flashy fawn, will look alot like her dad!
Puppy #4 Miss Aqua Allie
She is an all white puppy, with one blue eye and is deaf*
Puppy #5 Miss Lavender Lacy
She is an all white puppy, with one blue eye and is deaf*
Puppy #6 Mr. Blue Brinks
(Has left us early to live with our Heavenly Father)**
He is a flashy dark brindle, will look alot like his mom!
Puppy #7 Miss Pink Paisley "Daisy"
(Reserved to go live with the DeVries Family!)
She is an all white puppy*
Puppy #8 Mr. Red Remi
Reserved to go live with Derrick
He is a fawn brindle with white feet and a white stomach.
*There are alot of misconceptions about white boxers. The AKC states that white boxers can be fully registered and bred, the only thing they are prohibited against is showing. The AKC states that any dog with more than 3/4 of its coat white, cannot be shown. So these dogs would not make show prospects, but still wonderful companions. While they look all white now, they may actually develop a spot or "freckles" as they grow. Two of our white boxers (Allie & Lacy) are deaf. You may be thinking how can you train a deaf dog? Well I have been doing ALOT of research and it actually is easier than one may think. I also read that while the first few months will require alot of dedication (just like training any puppy) they say that training a deaf dog with a vibrating collar and hand signals makes for a wonderfully trained dog over the long haul.
Here are some wonderful websites with information:
* www.boxerrescue.com/whiteboxer.htm
* www.americanboxerclub.org/white-deafness.html
* www.boxer-rescue-la.com/Library/stories/deaf_white_boxers.htm
* www.deafdogs.org
Please feel free to email me at Brinkerhoffboxers@yahoo.com if you would like more pictures or have any questions.
** "Brinks" Left us on July 28, at only 16 days old. After an autopsy, the vet found that he suffered from a VERY RARE defect (one in a million). Due to his organs, bladder and uretha cord not connecting properly after birth he was unable to relieve himself of urine the natural way. Since he lived so long, the vet decided that he must have been expelling some of it "somehow" but not the proper way. As you can imagine this was not healthy and could not have been prevented. I was assured that this in no way could have been prevented by me or was a result from the parents genes. It was simply a freak of nature. I was assured that his littermates and the mom were all extremely healthy and the vet seemed more than pleased at their development and health when she thoroughly checked them all out. She also said that in her 25 years of being a practicing vet, she had only seen this condition 3 times, and this is the first time she ever saw it happen in a puppy, the other 2 times it was in foals, just goes to show you how rare it is.
(Just fyi..I had a hard time deciding how to approach this situation.. after the initial shock....do I just delete his pictures and name? or do I explain the issue and hope that people understand that these kinds of things happen? I decided I could not just erase his memory and pictures and did not want to lie to anyone or sweep this under the rug. So I hope I explained everything in a censored way. I did witness the autopsy and everything, so I can explain things in further detail if wanted!)
