Saturday, July 28th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 66)

It's been a whirlwind day for us today... last night around 10 pm we headed to Des Moines so we could be there to check Ulrick in for his 6:10 am flight to Salt Lake City at 4:00 am.  We traveled while we were still awake and could arrive safely.  Once we found the Delta Cargo drop off location we found a hotel near by and camped out in their parking lot. We had our alarms set for 3:45 am, but I think I barely got about 1/2 hour's sleep since I am always apprehensive about missing a flight. We were right on time at 4 am and everything went smoothly with check-in.  Now we had to wait until his flight was in the air so we could confirm he was on it before we could leave the area.  Luckily we found a 24-hour Denny's so we went and had breakfast while we waited.  The call came in from Delta at 6:15 am that he was indeed on the flight and we could head home.  During the 2 hour drive I was tracking Ulrick's flight.  It looked like he was going to arrive in Salt Lake City just about the time we would arrive back home and such was the case. We heard from Ulrick's family (his new name is Copper) that he did arrive safely in Salt Lake City, so now I can take a deep breath and breathe a sigh of relief.  We are finally puppyless and all pups are safely in the arms of their new families.

It's about 9 am and my head is swimming from lack of sleep.  We're headed to bed now after our long night and probably won't see the light of day again until about 4 pm, LOL.  

Thursday, July 26th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 64)

Poor Ulrick, he's the last puppy here at Hickory Hollow, but not for long. He's scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. This afternoon he got to take a trip up to our vet for his health certificate and he was a great traveler.  He zonked out in the kennel and was quiet for pretty much the entire 35 minute drive up there.

POOR BABY, he's so lonely without his sisters... It's a beautiful day here so the windows are all open, so when I'm working I can hear him howling out in the cottage.  John and I try to go out there to snuggle him several times per day and he just clings to us and doesn't want us to put him down.  He does get to come in the house for a little while each evening to get him acclimated to house life and continued potty training.

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 63)

Ulianne, THIRD TIME's A CHARM!  We took Uli to the airport again this morning for an earlier flight, we had to have her there at 4:30 am so she could fly on the 6:45 am flight landing in Charlotte at 10:05 am when it's cooler. We're optimistic that she will make it there today, third time's a charm, right?  

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now in CHARLOTTE!  YAY!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2018 (Week 8, Day 62)

Ulianne, TAKE TWO.  We took Uli to the airport again this morning for her 1:50 PM flight to Charlotte, luckily the weather is holding right on the brink of the cutoff so we were able to check her in.  I know the Howards on the other end are eager to get her today. We're crossing our fingers...

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now back at Hickory Hollow, AGAIN... she was unable to fly today at last minute because the PILOT said it was too hot in Charlotte.  Apparently it was 85 degrees at the airport (acceptable cut off is 85), but the heat index was 95, so the pilot said NO WAY. They have to taxi on the tarmac for 45 mins before they get to the gate and he said that's too long at that temp to be in cargo. We have a new game plan for tomorrow though, so we are hopeful she will make it there.

Monday, July 23rd, 2018 (Week 8, Day 61)

Ulianne is our next pup to take flight! Today she's headed to Charlotte NC on a non-stop flight to be loved and cherished by the Howard family.  Her new name is Cukla, and she will have a 2-year old setter brother named Bailey to play with. We think they will become fast friends. Her new family has done all kinds of preparations to make her homecoming special. She's got tons of toys and a comfy orthopedic bed just waiting with her name on it. She's also got a little girl (granddaughter) also waiting with loving arms to love and snuggle her.  She is going to be one spoiled puppy!

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now back at Hickory Hollow... she was unable to fly today at last minute due to issues with airflow in the aircraft's cargo hold.  We are going to try again tomorrow.

Thursday, July 19th, 2018 (Week 8, Day 57)

Unity is ONE LUCKY GIRL! She was sold like a hot cake last evening to the Stewart family in Urbandale Iowa and now will get to leave before three of her siblings.  Her new family has three kids that will be super surprised when they get home from camp today to find a new puppy girl to snuggle with.  Her new name will be Hickory's Hazelbean Stewart and she will also have the opportunity to hunt pheasant and quail with her new family.  

Later in the day Ulaylee was able to hop a flight to Seattle on American Airlines to meet her new family, the Bishops.  After a couple flight delays and a cancellation during her layover in Chicago, luckily she was able to fly on the last plane out of Chicago and arrived in Seattle after midnight. She had a LONG day, but her new family greeted her at the airport with tons of love an affection and all decked out in their Llewellin Setter Loot!  Of course she hit the ground running like it was no big deal. Her new name is Isla and she will have a great life, hunting pheasant, quail, grouse, woodcock, huns and chukar with her new family.

Tuesday, July 17th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 55)

Unity is ONE LUCKY GIRL! She was sold like a hot cake last evening to the Stewart family in Urbandale Iowa and now will get to leave before three of her siblings.  Her new family has three kids that will be super surprised when they get home from camp today to find a new puppy girl to snuggle with.  Her new name will be Hickory's Hazelbean Stewart and she will also have the opportunity to hunt pheasant and quail with her new family.  

Sunday, July 15th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 53)

Today it's Urielle's turn to head out! Her new name will be Harper and she will be going to Onalaska WI to live with the Brewer family. She will have a 6 yr old Golden Retriever named Luke as a fur sibling and a 12 year old girl named Sarah to play with. She will also have the opportunity to hunt with her family. We are so excited for her to embark on her new life.

Saturday, July 14th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 52)

Next up is Urbana, this sweet little darling left today with our good friends and former clients Jon and Liz Grandon, headed for Moorhead Minnesota. Her new name will be "Hickory's Sota Fancy", just Fancy for short, LOL!  She will have Piper (Emma, Litter E) and Wilson (Hunter, Litter H) as older Llew siblings along with a French Brittany named Chloe as her new doggie family along with a young little boy named Wyatt who already loves his Fancy girl! She will have the opportunity to hunt one day with a few other Llew pups, Gordon (Litter G) along with Deacon (Lancelot, Litter L) and Duke (Pierce, Litter P) who are all very close friends or family. We look forward to more HHLS pup group hunting photos! (wink, Jon..)  I'm sad to see this pup go because she was my fave, but also really excited for her to be going to such a great home!  

Friday, July 13th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 51)

Uno is the second pup to embark on her new life, she is going to live in Davenport Iowa with the Ringdahl family! Her new name is "Iggy Piggy Azalea". She will have a 2-yr old setter sister and also a young little boy named Mason as her constant companions. They came for our Puppy Playdate Saturday a couple weeks ago, and according to Mason this was a reaally LONG couple weeks and kept asking mom why the time was going so S-L-O-W... We are so excited for Uno / Azalea, she's got an AWESOME new family and will be spoiled rotten!

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 49)

Week 7 Developmental Milestone: Pups go home!

Now is the time the pups are able to embark on a new life and head out to their new homes. The pups in this litter are scattered literally from coast to coast, North Carolina to Washington state.  They are SO ready to leave as they are tired and completely bored with their playpen and are ready for so much more.  They are eating the dry kibble really well and are now fully weaned. They've had their 6 week distemper/parvo vaccination and have been checked over really well, no umbilical hernias, improper bite alignment or ear infections, so this litter is really great and ready to go!

Puppy portraits for week seven will be taken with their new families for the pups that are leaving this week, the other pups are flying as soon as the hot weather breaks.

Upton is the first pup to fly the coop today, he's going to live in Moberly Missouri with the Smith family (mom, dad and three kids), his new name will either be Hank or Cooper but the final decision had not been made yet at the time the pup left HHLS.  We look forward to the updates soon!

Sunday, July 8th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 46)

Week 6 Puppy Portraits are now posted along with Week 5 miscellaneous litter photos. I'm sure you've noticed that I have posted a lower number of miscellaneous photos this week... This is because the pups are moving so fast now that they all turn out blurry. They hardly sit still for a split second which makes it really hard to capture anything of value.

These pups continue to be some of the sweetest pups we've ever had. I just love Usher, he's such a little Teddy Bear, he loves to be held and his coat is so thick and plush just makes you want to tote him around everywhere with you.  Upton is another favorite, he's a quick little dude, but also very affectionate and gives tons of puppy kisses, I just love his perky attitude. Urbana is always a crowd favorite when folks come to visit, she's such a little dolly, loves to be cuddled and doesn't complain about much.  She is usually one of the few pups that I can still get a good candid of because she's not ALWAYS on the move like some of the others. And as for Urielle, I know I have called her our little resident "piglette" throughout my blog posts on this litter, but she is really a sweetheart and also a stunning beauty of a pup. I see hints of her great-grandmother "Duchess" in her soft sweet face, and if her personality also turns out to be similar, her new parents will be truly blessed. Another beauty is Ulaylee, her big doe eyes just melt my heart when I look at her sweet face.  She is also quite a lover and readily gives big kisses, ...and Ulrick... such a cool dude, so laid back and non-chalant about everything. He kinda just goes with the flow and is happy whereever he is and didn't even flinch an inch when he got microchipped. I'm so impressed with his personality, he's going to be such a great companion. Our little busy-bodies, Uno, Ulianne and Unity are quite the threesome, usually hanging out together and into everything together, they are great sissies to each other.  I just can't say enough good things about the personalities of these pups, you all who are getting one are a lucky bunch of puppy parents!

Friday, July 6th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 44)

Well folks, we are in the final stretch of this journey.  The pups are 6 weeks old already and will be leaving Hickory Hollow very soon to embark on a whole new life!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts, this final stretch is a busy time for me trying to get all the puppy paperwork done between invoicing and putting together puppy information packets for everyone as well as taking care of the pups!

Pups are now completely on dry kibble and are still getting the supplemental enzymes and probiotics powder added to the top. I think this is working pretty well, as I am now seeing normal, formed poops! Yay for that!  Hopefully it will stay that way until time for pups to go home.  I might suggest getting some of these products to add to your pup's food at home for a while if they revert back to loose stool.

Pups also had their first Distemper/Parvo vaccination today.

Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 42)

Week 6 Developmental Milestone: Eye color changes from blue to brown

This week, the puppies eyes will start to transition from their current baby blues to their final adult color; gold (chestnuts) or brown (tri-colors). It's too bad they have to lose those beautiful baby blues so soon... The transition takes about a week or so and the color mix during the transition is neat to see.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 6 weeks old:

Pups were microchipped today for those folks who requested that service.

Puppy portraits for week six will be taken on Friday and posted above and on Facebook sometime this weekend. But in the meantime, enjoy these special edition July 4th photos. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY everyone!

Monday, July 2nd, 2018 (Week 5, Day 40)

The pups are doing great and gaining 3 to 5 ounces per 24-hour period now, so I think the probiotics and enzymes are finally kicking in and doing some good.  I am seeing some formed stools lately and am thankful for that, I'll be happy to be rid of puppy pies!

The kennel bed was removed from the playpen today in order to give the growing pups more room to play. Most are sleeping in the shavings anyway and they are soiling the bedding very quickly now which requires almost a full cleanout twice per day. Needless to say we will be going through a ton of fresh pine shavings over the next week or two.

During playtime today, a couple of the pups sneaked out the doggy door to visit momma in the outdoor puppy run. I was busy cleaning the playpen, so I didn't see Uno and Urbana go through, but when I counted and two were missing, I saw them playing outdoors through the window. It didn't take long for the others to follow, so I captured some of the adventure on video entitled "Doggy Door". You can see the hesitation while they are trying to figure it out, so momma Benelli comes around and offers encouragement.

Week 4 miscellaneous litter photos are now posted.

Sunday, July 1st, 2018 (Week 5, Day 39)

Finally got all the Week 5 Puppy Portraits posted, WHEW! I've been working on that literally all weekend. My sister came out around 10 am on Saturday and took 2,057 photos. Since then I've been scanning through them all and finally picked a few good ones to share. I hope you enjoy them!  Next up will be Week 4 miscellaneous photos and a few belated videos... Check out the Video Clips section of this page to see the new stuff!

Saturday, June 30th, 2018 (Week 5, Day 38)

Five week puppy portraits will be posted sometime this weekend.  I appogize for the delay as these are usually taken on Friday, but we have a treat in store for you.  My photographer sister is coming out today to take professional-type portraits of the pups in the yard. Usually she takes well over 2000 photos, so it will take some time to weed through them all, select the best ones and get them cropped, resized and posted. Stay tuned, it will be worth the wait!

UPDATE:  The pups received their first meal with the new enzymes and probiotics powder, so I'm anxious to see if that makes a difference in their stools.  I also think that maybe the Native 4 is too rich for them, so I've switched their food to NutriSource Small & Medium Breed Puppy which is also a 5-star food. It will probably take a few days before I notice a difference, but hope it will happen soon. Pups are still getting some canned food mixed with dry kibble, at this point about 1/2 and 1/2, but will be transitioning to dry fairly rapidly at this point.

Their meals are split into portions per puppy within the community dinner bowl, however I watch them very closely to ensure they get their full portion without a sibling sneaking in and stealing more than their fair share. Once they have completed their meal they are removed from the dinner bowl. It only takes a minute or two for each pup to snarf down their meal. This has been a great method for portion control to prevent over eating by a few little "hoglettes".  Yes, they have now graduated from "piglettes" to "hoglettes" (and for those of you just joining the party, I know how to spell piglet, LOL!!)

Friday, June 29th, 2018 (Week 5, Day 37)

Puppy selection is now complete! Congratulations to all the families who now have chosen their pup. Now the next couple weeks will be the hardest in anticipation for the little one to come home, but I assure you it will go faster than you think.  Well at least for me it will, I have a TON to do in preparation for take home day.

We do have one pup available due to a last minute cancellation a few days ago.  Ulrick, tri-chestnut male is seeking his forever home.  Anyone interested should fill out a puppy application and we will go from there.

Thursday, June 28th, 2018 (Week 5, Day 36)

Puppy selection continues... Over half the pups have been selected by families with reservations (see Reservation List), I will continue to post status updates as the picks roll in.

The pups are having a rough time with the weaning process lately, they love the food and can't seem to get enough of it, but their little bodies are just not ready to process canned food because it's devoid of natural enzymes due to the cooking process, and therefore it goes straight through them. This morning I started feeding each of the pups individually and am going to start adding a powder packed with natural enzymes and probiotics to help repair and regulate their guts. The pups will now be fed smaller meals 3-4 times per day based on their age/body weight as momma Benelli's milkbar is already drying up. There are few pups that are currently eating WAY TOO MUCH from the community bowls which is overwhelming their intestinal tract, so this is my attempt to regulate portion control with the end goal being to get their guts in gear and reduce the amount of poop which will hopefully have a more firm consistency.

Wednesday, June 27th, 2018 (Week 5, Day 35)

Week 5 Developmental Milestone: Puppy Selection / Noise Desensitization / Puppy Socialization

This is one of the most anticipated weeks for many because Puppy Selection finally happens. All the folks on our reservation list can now choose the pup they want to make a part of their family and take home in a couple weeks.

Now that the pups are old enough to have visitors, they will have lots of opportunities for socialization with our big dogs, adults and children. I will also continue to concentrate on acclimating them to noises of all varieties including rapping on pans, opening and closing of doors, blenders, christian pop music on the radio, and whatever else we can think of to condition them for life after Hickory Hollow.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 5 weeks old:

Puppy portraits for week five will be taken on Saturday and posted above and on Facebook sometime this weekend. Stay tuned!
 

Tuesday, June 26th, 2018 (Week 4, Day 34)

I've been working on creating puppy personality profiles, and I am using a new method that actually gives me a unit of measure in order to rate the pups on 10 different levels (see chart on right -- click to enlarge) as well as my own observations. Luckily my phone is also really good at voice dictation so I can speak my thoughts aloud and have them translated to text instead of having to hand write everything.  

This type of testing really shows how even tempered this litter is, all the pups are very nice and well-rounded individuals at this point, although it might be more accurate if the pups were a bit older, but also understand the need for people to have some information on personality for Puppy Selection. Results of the profiling exercises are now posted in the Puppy Profiles section.  

Monday, June 25th, 2018 (Week 4, Day 33)

In preparation for puppy selection in a few days I will be posting personality profiles shortly. At this age the pups are very similar in development and personality so it can be difficult trying to single out traits that one pup has over another, but I will do my best.

Also, I have added a status row to the puppy stats above. Even though the pups are all sold at this time, the status indicates the pup is "Available" until that one is selected by a current reservation.  We have reserved "Usher" as our breeder pick and his status is noted as such. He will be living with the Blessing family in northern Missouri and we will have him health tested in a couple years hoping that he will make the cut as a future HHLS stud dog!

If you currently have a reservation on this litter, please start thinking about your top two or three choices for pups and send me your list via e-mail. Hopefully everyone will get one of their top choices when selection time comes.  On selection day (Wednesday evening, June 27th), I will contact everyone in the order of the reservation list asking for their choice. At that time if you don't have your top pick in mind, we can discuss personality and answer any question you may have to ensure a perfect fit with your family. We're looking forward to seeing with whom all the pups will be going!

Sunday, June 24th, 2018 (Week 4, Day 32)

The pups are already getting familiar with the sounds of food prep, so I pulled out the ear plugs that I keep in the Puppy Cottage just for this occasion and used them while prepping because there are a couple pups that scream at the top of their lungs the entire time I'm fixing their meal. With the fact that the pups have gotten so messy the past couple meals, I decided it was time to get out the second flying saucer pan to spread the pups out a little.  I figured maybe with less competition for a place around the dinner bowl, the less they will crawl all over each other resulting in cleaner puppies after dinner is over.  That did the trick, no sponge baths were needed today, WHEW!

Have you ever witnessed how smart some dogs of this breed are? Well, while I was cleaning the playpen during the time puppies are wolfing down their dinner, I uncovered a half-eaten rawhide chewy that Benelli had sneaked out of the house to the cottage and carefully hidden under the wood shavings. It is relatively the same color so it was hard to see, but I shuffle the shavings around pretty good looking for puppy waste and found it.  I had been wondering why Benelli was acting so strangely right before I started cleaning, she was pacing and whining and jumping in and out of the playpen while pups were eating, so I knew it had nothing to do with them.  Once I found her stash, I understood her behavior.  Normally I don't let the dogs have rawhide chewies unsupervised because when they get down to the end they try to swallow too large of a piece and I worry they will choke on it.  She knew if I found it I'd take it away! Silly girl! Sometimes they are too smart for their own good.

This evening I removed the platform underneath the auto-waterer because there was just too much poop smeared all over it all the time and didn't want such unsanitary conditions near where the pups are drinking. I've never had a litter before that thought that this was the perfect place to go doo-doo.  The platform has been replaced with garden bricks so that the pups can use them as stepping stones to reach the water bowl and so far it seems to be working perfectly. I usually don't remove the platform until the pups are a little older, but they seem to be doing the job.

Saturday, June 23rd, 2018 (Week 4, Day 31)

Today we had beautiful weather for our Puppy Playdate and Picnic event. This weekend was perfect timing for the pups between 4 and 5 weeks of age for folks to come see them. A few families visited to play and snuggle with puppies and get to know them in preparation for puppy selection next Wednesday.  We joined three play yard fences into one GIANT play yard to safely contain the puppies and set it up under a large hickory shade tree.  

The puppies played hard for about an hour and while they were winding down we grilled some hotdogs. When the pups finally crashed for a nap, we all enjoyed a picnic of hotdogs, chips, cookies and lemonade in the shade.  There was a light cool breeze and it was so relaxing. Right about the time we were done with our picnic, the pups woke up for a second round of playtime.  It was really fun having everyone here, seeing family and old friends and meeting new ones. You just can't beat a day filled with good company and conversation, amazing weather, a picnic and PUPPIES!

See video clip "Puppy Playdate and Picnic"

This evening the pups had their second dose of dewormer. I know I've spoken of this in the past, but the pyrantel pamoate suspension (active ingredient in the dewormer liquid) has changed in recent years and the formula that the pups actually loved and wanted more of when their dose was all gone has been changed to an unpalatable suspension that separates quickly so you have to keep shaking it to mix it, but also makes the pups gag, foam at the mouth and shake their heads violently causing their dose to fly all over me and the walls. Plus they tend to aspirate some of it in their desperation to spit it out and then get raspy which worries me as we don't want that medicine in their lungs. When they react this way they are not getting their full dose either, so since I have gotten really good at tube feeding this litter, I decided to administer their dewormer dosage via tube directly into the stomach. It's maddening that this is necessary, but this method of delivery has eliminated the trauma of an oral dosage and made the deworming much easier for me and the pups.

The pups are really getting into their new food, they LOVE it and literally are "into" the food dish, they had canned food smeared all over them from head to toe. The "flying saucer" design of their food bowl is supposed to help keep pups around the outside edges of the bowl and discourage walking into it to get food from the middle, but it didn't keep them from walking all around the edges and all over each other. It was organized chaos at it's best! I had to take a washcloth to each of their faces and feet to clean them up. They jammed their faces into the food with so much gusto that I was wiping food out of their nostrils, little piglets!  

While I was washing Usher's face and ears, I noticed orange ticking on his ears! When the hair is wet it's easy to see the skin color and low and behold he has LOTS of orange ticking that is still unnoticeable when he's dry. We've been waiting to see that ticking to determine color, but today I have updated his stats to show his official color as orange belton!

Friday, June 22nd, 2018 (Week 4, Day 30)

Got a LOT done for you guys today! We took Week 4 Puppy Portraits, then I got them edited and posted online and also got all the Week 3 miscellaneous photos cropped and edited and posted too. WHEW! That's a ton of photos for one day.  

It looks like the weather is going to stay nice for tomorrow so we are still planning a puppy playdate in the yard for those who want to join. We are starting around 11 am and will join together three play yard fences into one GIANT play yard so everyone can sit in the grass with the pups.  If you prefer, please bring a blanket or lawn chairs along so you won't have to sit in the grass the entire time.  Since this timeframe is over the lunch hour, we thought we'd grill hotdogs and have chips to share along with a big pitcher of lemonade available.  Hope to see you here!

Thursday, June 21st, 2018 (Week 4, Day 29)

This morning while I was preparing the litter's morning cereal meal, Uno escaped the playpen by climbing right over the half door! I had to add the 3/4 extension to make the escape even harder, but it won't be long before the pups will be peeking over it at that height.  So far I've given two cereal meals (goat's milk and baby rice cereal) and this morning's breakfast will be the last, tonight they will move on to goat's milk and canned puppy food which will be mixed to an even thicker consistency.  I want the pups to get used to having to chew and swallow rather than just swallow.

Potty training will also begin now.  After the pups are done with a meal, they mill around the floor and within minutes start to potty. At that point they will be airlifted back into the playpen to finish their duty and it won't take long for them to catch on that this is the preferred location. Within a week or so they will go back into the pine shavings to potty every time.

Usually at 4 weeks I discontinue daily weigh-ins and transition to weighing them once per week, however based on past history I will continue the daily weigh-ins for a while to ensure everyone is growing as expected.

Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 (Week 4, Day 28)

Week 4 Development Milestone: Rough Play / Weaning Begins

Play behavior started early in the pup's third week, but this week it will turn rough and rowdy with pouncing, pinning, biting, head shaking, chewing and growling. By the end of this week I will lovingly refer to them as "my little monsters", because they will bite and chew anything they can get their mouths on, including their siblings, show laces, toes, ankles, fingers and long hair. A play session on the floor with the pups can be painful at times and sensitive areas of the body need to be protected!

The pups will also begin the weaning process, and will be fed supplemental "meals" gradually increasing in density in preparation for eating dry kibble. Momma Benelli has already started her own process, she's been seen eating her own meal, then after a bit regurgitating it for the little ones, which is completely natural. I'll start with goat's milk mixed with Gerber baby rice cereal for the first couple meals so they can get used to lapping up a thick porridge, then move to goat's milk with canned puppy food, then graduate to canned puppy food mixed with soggy kibble, and later mixed with dry kibble, then slowly remove the wet food until they are on solid dry. This progression will happen through the next couple weeks until they are given only dry kibble starting at week six.

As their little personalities emerge this week, I will be posting puppy personality profiles in preparation for Puppy Selection starting next Wednesday!

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 4 weeks old:

Puppy portraits for week four will be taken and posted above and on Facebook on Friday along with miscellaneous litter photos from week three. Stay tuned!
 

Tuesday, June 19th, 2018 (Week 3, Day 27)

The pups did so well last night drinking water for the first time that I decided it was time to start the weaning process and offer them a goat's milk and baby rice cereal meal for breakfast, another "first" for these pups. I apologize for the instability in the video clip, I was trying to film while making sure all the pups around me got a fair chance at the meal and move them to the bowl if necessary.

See video "Cereal for Breakfast"

FYI, for those of you picking your puppies during Week 5, I am scheduling puppy visits for this weekend at 4 weeks in case you want to come and see them and be able to narrow your top picks in person. Let me know if you want to plan a visit for Sat/Sun June 23rd/24th. If the weather is nice, we will plan to have all the puppies out in the front yard in a giant playpen, otherwise we will all get cozy on the floor in the Puppy Cottage :0)~

Monday, June 18th, 2018 (Week 3, Day 26)

Pups are still gaining weight fairly well, but I am now back to bottle feeding goat's milk to almost everyone each morning just to give them a nice boost.

The pups are getting old enough now and it is within the normal timeframe that I usually move them to the puppy cottage, so tonight I added the platform under the automatic waterer so the pups could start drinking. Momma Benelli took a few drinks and the pups started to mimick her and take a lap. I missed getting the teaching moment on video, but I did go grab my camera and captured a few moments of another "first" in the pups lives. It's fun to watch their reaction to tasting water for the first time.

See video "What's this, Water?"

Saturday, June 16th, 2018 (Week 3, Day 24)

This evening we were sitting around enjoying some puppy playtime in the cottage where we allowed the pups to run around the floor. They explored a bit, but then found their way to our laps for naptime, they are so snuggly right now.  I received my first puppy kisses from Usher.  What a little darling! None of the other pups have been seen doing this behavior yet, but Usher was sure dishing out the love! So precious! As they get older, playtime will increase, but for now the pups only play for about 10 minutes before they are tuckered out.

Pups were dewormed for the first time today.  I skipped the Week 2 milestone because of all the weight gain problems the pups were having and during the time when I was supplementing with goat's milk and milk replacer formula. I didn't want to add another reason for upset tummies, but I will add the skipped week back in at week 5 which is a week that is normally not treated.
 

Thursday, June 14th, 2018 (Week 3, Day 22)

With the fact that the pups are now on wood shavings, Benelli has changed her nursing style a little bit. She actually lets them nurse starting from a sitting position and then eventually lays down, basically because they mob her and knock her over.  They are getting so big that the bunch of them combined are now bigger than she is when they are all piled on the milkbar.

I am still having to bottle feed a few of the pups to ensure they maintain and gain weight on a daily basis. Luckily the pups that I've had to supplement with puppy milk replacer are happy to nurse from the human baby bottle, so no more tube feeding... at least for now anyway. YAY!

Wednesday, June 13th, 2018 (Week 3, Day 21)

Week 3 Development Milestone: Play Behavior

This is my absolute favorite time with the pups! Their eyes and ears are now open and they are waddling around regularly and actually keeping their balance and are becoming playful and inquisitive about their surroundings. This week the pups will start noticing and playing with each other, bowing, yipping, pouncing and chewing on each other. Their individual personalities begin to emerge and they will begin to do some of their natural doggy behavior for the first time.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 3 weeks old:

Puppy portraits for week three will be taken and posted above and on Facebook on Friday. Stay tuned!
 

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 20)

We decided that the pups were too rapidly outgrowing the capabilities of their whelping box making it relatively impossible to keep the carpet flooring clean. Benelli keeps tugging on it and disconnecting the velcro in the corners so now it gets bunched up a lot.  The pups are now running free in the 9x5 puppy playpen.

I have to admit I was a little nervous at first, I don't normally put pups on wood shavings this young, but I figure it it's okay for guinea pigs, it should be okay for 2.5 week old pups, LOL. Plus the pups will stay much cleaner now because the shavings will trap the poop and keep it off the pups.  Gotta love clean puppies!

See video "Investigating the Playpen" taken not long after the pups were first released into the puppy playpen.

Monday, June 11th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 19)

Pups are still doing great and gaining weight. Whew, I am so thankful for that!

Today's weigh-in stats:

On the development progress side of things, pups are now cutting teeth.  You can see them below the gumline and they are starting to break through. I feel bad for momma Benelli going forward because these precious little pups will virtually turn into little piranhas! YIKES!

Sunday, June 10th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 18)

I'm happy to report that all pups gained weight over the past 24 hours, with Upton finally adding over 2 ounces, YAY!! I kept a closer eye on our resident "piglette" Urielle, and removed her from the competition for a morning meal and an evening meal with her overall weight gain being back to "normal" at around 1.5 ounces. This allowed the other pups to have a more fair shot at their share of those meals.

Today's weigh-in stats:

If you had been watching the LIVE Puppy Cam and noticed an extended period last evening where the pups were missing from the box, that's because we had severe storms go through around 9:00 PM CT which included a couple tornado warnings so we were all hunkered down in our lower level family room riding the storm out. Below are photos of how we quickly transported our nine pups with us to the basement during the storm. Luckily everyone (including our older puppies, Skylar, Shayla, Sawyer, Shelby and Savanna) was oblivious to the storm and were not frightened by all the wind, the loud wall-shaking thunder or the sound of hail pelting the siding. I'm pretty sure we are raising some bomb-proof puppies!

This evening we moved the puppies out to the Puppy Cottage because Benelli is getting me up 2 to 3 times every night to go outside. Now maybe I can finally get some much needed sleep. You will notice a different view from the LIVE Puppy Cam now, we got a new HD Camera for this litter. It has a wide-angle lens and now we are able to see the entire puppy playpen from end to end instead of only half of it.  We are excited that the puppies will now be onscreen all the time as they cannot hide offscreen anymore. Right now they are still too young to be on pine shavings so they are still in the whelping box for now, but they are growing so fast and there are so many of them that they will soon outgrow the whelping box and we will have no choice but to let them run free in the playpen.

See video "Nursing Mania", taken this evening and posted to YouTube.

Saturday, June 9th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 17)

It has become my ongoing daily challenge to keep weight on these pups.  On any given day it could be a different pup or pups than the day before that will need to be closely monitored. Today is Uno and Urbana's turn. I'm excited that little Upton finally hit the 2 pound mark, bless his little heart, and Urielle is rapidly becoming known as the biggest "piglette" of all time (vs piglet, because it sounds more classy, and she's going to be one classy lady!) at a whopping 3 lbs, 14.0 oz today, she is almost double Upton's weight.  She is easily the size of a 3 week old pup, not merely only a 2 week old pup. John calls her a fat little toad, personally I prefer "piglette".

Today's weigh-in stats:

Now that the pups' eyes are open, I will be leaving the lights off in the nursery more often until they are a little older. I didn't even use flash photography when taking their Week 2 Portraits because I'm always so worried about bright lights in their newly opened eyes.

The FDSB litter registration certificate arrived from The American Field yesterday, so it's here in record time and all the pups are now eligible to be registered separately as purebred Llewellins in the FDSB!

I just posted a two-part video clip series above entitled "Beyond Borders" where the pups were able to explore the nursery outside the whelping box this morning and have a little lunch while I was cleaning it. ENJOY! :0)~

UPDATE:  I added a third video from this evening entitled "Busy Like Bees" so you can see how stirred up the pups get when momma Benelli enters the box. These days Benelli is not laying with her pups round the clock like when they were younger, she only visits them for potty cleanup and meal time.

Friday, June 8th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 16)

Things are looking up! With the additional meals and higher calorie food topped with cottage cheese we've been feeding Benelli, I think her milk output is starting to catch up with the needs of her pups and we're hoping the trend will continue. Today we only had one pup that didn't gain any weight and she is getting supplemental feedings of the Esbilac puppy formula. Everyone's hydration is staying within normal limits, so there hasn't been a need for sub-q fluids lately, but I'm still monitoring the pups regularly. Again, great news on that front!

Today's weigh-in stats:

Here's today's eye opening development:

UPDATE: 10:40 PM - As promised, Week 2 portraits have now been posted above. ENJOY! :0)~
 

Thursday, June 7th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 15)

Yesterday's appointment for Ulrick with the veterinary orthopedic surgeon couldn't have gone any better!! The vet who hadn't seen the pup before asked what he should be looking for.  I explained about his back right leg, so he felt every joint and put the leg through every normal range of movement and said everything appeared normal, no defect could be found whatsoever.  Then I showed him a photograph of Ulrick right after birth and he couldn't believe it.  He was astounded at his progress and would've never guessed it would've turned around so completely. Then he gave me a pat on the back and told me I did an amazing job with Ulrick's physical therapy as well as recognizing what to do and when to do it. He suspected that because I started his treatment so soon after birth while the pup's skeleton was still mostly cartilage and not fully calcified, it was able to be corrected at the perfect time which allowed it to heal so fully. The vet said he should not suffer any repercussions from the birth defect and should have a perfectly normal gait.  We are VERY pleased at this news!

Upton and Usher are now back to thriving on their own with very little intervention on my part over the last couple days. They've regained their strength and are nursing on their own. I am still doing periodic weigh-ins throughout the day and only supplementing with Esbliac if/when necessary and have not had to administer any sub-q fluids because they are maintaining their hydration. THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

As for Ulianne, and now Ulaylee and Ulrick, I will be monitoring those pups as their morning's weigh-in stats are not as good as hoped. Since Urielle and most recently Unity continue to hog all the milk and get more than their fair share on a daily basis, I think this will be an on-going issue for this litter possibly until pups are weaned and I can feed them myself, so I'm staying right on top of this issue and providing supplemental feedings to the pups that need it whenever necessary. This morning those three pups received a private nursing session on momma with teats full of milk and away from the other pups so they had no competition. That should provide an excellent boost for them of genuine momma's milk instead of formula.

Today's weigh-in stats:

Here's today's eye opening development:

Week 1 miscellaneous photos have been posted above and I will get Week 2 portraits taken and posted probably sometime tomorrow. Hopefully the pups' eyes will all be open by then.

UPDATE: 4:45 PM - All three pups Ulaylee, Ulrick and Ulianne have shown good weight gain at last weigh-in around 4:35 today. YAY!

UPDATE: 9:45 PM - Another good weigh-in for the pups in question. Let's hope it continues to go well overnight.

Wednesday, June 6th, 2018 (Week 2, Day 14)

Week 2 Development Milestone: Cutting Teeth / Ears will open

Now that the puppies eyes are open, they will begin to see clearer and clearer each day. Supposedly they can only see shadows for the first few days, but pretty soon they will begin to notice me as I come into the nursery and will wander to the edge of the box for some love and attention.

Just as significant as the eyes opening, the ear canals will deepen this week until they will become completely open and allow the pups to hear crisp noises and not just muffled sounds. Later this week, the pups will be noticeably affected by all the new sounds around them, so we must be very careful for the first few days to introduce them to noises gently and not harshly.

They will also begin to cut teeth, first the canines will poke through followed by the incisors a few days later. As of today, I can already see the teeth forming beneath the gums, so it won't be long before they start poking through.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 2 weeks old:

Puppy portraits for week two will be taken and posted above and on Facebook within the next couple days. Stay tuned!
 

Tuesday, June 5th, 2018 (Week 1, Day 13)

I'm happy to report that all the pups I've been giving extra care to are doing much better, getting stronger, are nursing on their own again and most gained a good amount of weight except for Upton. The stepped-up treatment plan is working and I will continue to maintain the schedule until I feel the pups are thriving completely on their own again. I'm checking them regularly, every 3-4 hours, recording weights and any extra feedings or sub-q fluids administered.  I've also significantly increased Benelli's meals so she can make enough milk to maintain her pups. She's getting 4-6 cups per day with a little goat's milk and cottage cheese on the top.  She LOVES it!

Today's weigh-in stats:

As I mentioned yesterday, Ulrick has been doing extremely well with his physical therapy and his defect is barely noticeable, if at all these days. He now has full range of movement in his right foot and the tendons are now holding it in the correct orientation. He previously had problems with flexion, because the foot was always extended, but with daily physical therapy the paw can be flexed into the normal position without tension and pain. He has a follow-up appointment with a veterinary specialist orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to assess his progress, so I'll report more on that later.

Eyes are opening very rapidly at this point and I'm hoping all the pups' eyes will be completely open by the time Week 2 portraits are taken on Thursday or Friday. They are also starting to get their bellies up off the floor and take a few steps instead of scooting around on their tummies. It's always fun to see them take their first steps.

Here's today's eye opening development:

Monday, June 4th, 2018 (Week 1, Day 12)

I'm still focusing on Usher and Ulianne as they refuse to bottle feed and they have not gained any weight over the last few days. Even though they are both nursing on mommma, they just aren't getting their share of the milk due to a couple other little pups that are stronger and are hogging it all. Therefore, I am increasing the frequency of the supplemental feeding schedule for both those pups today and have switched them from goat's milk to Esbilac puppy formula to ensure they are getting the proper nutrients. Goat's milk is great for a sporadic bottle fed boost, but not for maintenance. They are still slightly dehydrated too so I will continue to administer fluids sub-q when necessary. Ulaylee and Upton are the third and fourth pups to fall short today. This morning they had not gained significant weight since yesterday, but both still have substantial energy and readily took the goat's milk bottle fed meal which is very encouraging. I will continue to monitor those two more closely as well.

Today's weigh-in stats:

Switching to a more positive note, Ulrick's physical therapy is going extremely well, his mobility is in the right leg is normal and his foot position and flexibility are almost what I'd call "normal".  If you didn't know he had a prior issue I don't think it would be noticeable. Daily physical therapy will continue until deemed no longer necesary, which will probably be the point the pups are walking and his gate appears normal.

Now, on to the current eye opening developments. The pups' eyes are starting to open with a few progressing pretty quickly and others not yet started. The eye creases begin to part starting at the inside corners by the tear ducts, working across the lid to the outside. In my past experience in evaluating a litter, it seems like the smallest pups eyes start to open first, with the largest pups opening later.  Not sure why this is, but I have seen this trend across many prior litters and I'm sure it will continue to be true with this litter.

Here's today's eye opening development:

Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 (Week 1, Day 11)

I got up several times during the night last night to tend to little Usher, continuing his tube feedings and sub-q fluids and I think he has actually improved a little.  I feel he's gotten back some of his strength and was excited to see that he's now nursing on his own again. He is not out of the woods yet however, as he still has not gained any measureable weight at this morning's weigh-in so I will continue with his supportive regimen and also weigh him a few times throughout the day.  

So after dealing with Usher all day yesterday, I now have the same type of issue with Ulianne today, she actually lost some weight since yesterday's weigh-in, so she got a goat's milk bottle feeding first thing and accepted it readily. She is also a little deydrated, so we are not waiting around this time, she got some sub-q ringers + glucose this morning to help with that and hopefully keep her strength up so she does not go down the same path as Usher.  So now I'm closely monitoring two pups.   

Second bottle feeding for Ulianne later in the day was refused, so she got a tube feeding too... Please pray for me as I continue to administer aid to these two little pups and for our little babies as they fight to thrive.

On a happier note, I noticed that a couple pup's eyes are starting to open (Uno and Upton), so that's a fun new development.  I will keep a close "eye" on that too and report as time permits.

Today's weigh-in stats:

Saturday, June 2nd, 2018 (Week 1, Day 10)

Just about the time I mention there's not much to report on the pups because things are going well, I've jinxed myself and things take a hard turn. Today has been a very stressful day at Hickory Hollow...  

It all started this morning with the daily weigh in. As I've mentioned before, if a pup gains less than 1 ounce at this age in a 24-hour period, I supplement with a bottle feeding of fresh goat's milk. Today I noticed that Usher had not gained any weight from yesterday's weigh-in, so I immediately offered him a bottle feeding. He is not a pup that has ever needed to be bottle fed in the past, so this was his first experience with the artificial nipple and he was not having it. Some pups take to it right away, especially if they are hungry and taste the milk, it's like a lighbulb goes on and they start to suck as hard as they can. Others take a longer time to coerce to suckle and then there are those that never take to it at all and fight to get it out of their mouth. Unfortunately, the latter was Usher, he was having no part of the rubber nipple. So then I tried a private nursing session on momma, but she just didn't have enough milk because the other pups had just drained her dry at breakfast. I removed Benelli from the nursery for about an hour so she could rest and gave her time to make more milk and then I tried Usher again. Still not enough milk in an hour so we waited longer... The longer we waited for Benelli's milk the weaker Usher got and wouldn't even try to suckle and I could tell by his skin that he was pretty dehydrated. I was getting really concerned at his lethargy and was also worried about fading puppy syndrome, but I wasn't going to give up on him and was determined to do what I could to save him. I happened to have a bag of IV electolytes just for this type of situation, so I ran some fluids into him sub-q (subcutaneously). After a couple hours and still no improvement, I called my vet and he said to bring him right in. The vet gave him some glucose drops orally and injected some lactated ringers with glucose sub-q (the IV electolytes I gave earlier didn't contain any glucose). He said he didn't think it was fading puppy syndrome, just that he was severely dehydrated and for him to turn around might take a while. He sent me home with a bag of lactated ringers with glucose, some oral glucose drops and some antibiotic drops just in case something internal was going on.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening snuggling little baby Usher on my chest so I could keep a close eye on him, giving him the antibiotic drops as prescribed, giving glucose drops orally every few hours and periodically running more fluids under his skin. Even at room temp the bag of fluids is cool, I need to ensure the pup stays warm by laying a heating pad over his back until the skin warms up where the fluids have been administered. I keep thinking at some point his treatment will begin to help and he'll start to turn around and I'll see some improvement, but unfortunately that has not been the case, so I dug deep in my cabinet of breeder tools and found my feeding tubes. By golly this little guy is going to get a goat's milk meal today one way or another.

Tube feeding actually went well and I am satisfied that he has finally been fed, but despite all my efforts as the day progresses I feel my beautiful little belton boy is slipping away. He keeps getting weaker and weaker and there is nothing more I can do... At this point I'm worried he won't even make it through the night, it seems like nothing I did earlier in the day has made any difference to improve his condition. I'm still not giving up and plan to get up several times throughout the night to continue his support regimen. I'm doing everything that's humanly possible to help him, now it's up to the Lord.

Today's weigh-in stats:

Friday, June 1st, 2018 (Week 1, Day 9)

HAPPY JUNE EVERYONE! I cannot believe summer is finally here after the cold and wet spring we had. Iowa weather is so flaky, we didn't really have a nice spring, it was cold and then got hot with not really much nice weather in between.

Anyway... at this age there's just not a whole lot to report on the pups, they are nursing and getting bigger each day with average weight gain of around 2 ounces. I have had to supplement a couple pups with a goat's milk bottle fed meal in the past couple days, and that gives them a tremendous boost and a nice weight gain for the next morning's weigh-in.  We are excited that the pups' eyes will be opening in a few days, so stay tuned for that development. I plan to take Week 1 Puppy Portraits today and post them online here and on Facebook later this afternoon. In the meantime, you can take a look at Birth Week miscellaneous photos and hopefully you all have had a chance to see the "little wigglers" on our LIVE Puppy Cam.

Today's weigh-in stats:

Ulrick seems to be progressing well with his daily physical therapy and he's using his back right leg very well these days, so thank you all for your support and continued prayers.
 

Wednesday, May 30th, 2018 (Week 1, Day 7)

Week 1 Developmental Milestone: Eyes will open

During this week, the pups will reach an exciting milestone. We are anticipating the opening of their eyes. It should start happening around day 10 of this week and will take a few days to fully open. When the pups are born, their ears and eyes are closed to keep out the amniotic fluid and any bacteria encountered in the birthcanal. The eyelids are fused together but there is a crease that defines the upper from the lower lid. As their eyes start to open the crease starts to deepen and separate starting at the corner of the eye by the tear ducts and working it's way across the eye until they are completely separated. The opening process can take a couple days from the first peek of the glistening eyeball beneath to being able to entirely see those beautiful baby blues. Once their eyes are open, the precious little babes take on a whole new personality.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 1 week old:

Puppy portraits for one week will be taken and posted above and on Facebook within the next couple days. Stay tuned!
 

Monday, May 28th, 2018 (Birth Week, Day 5)

During each daily weigh-in I am now doing the Super Dog exercises which I started a couple days ago. This gives me a great opportunity to look over each puppy in detail while I am holding them in different positions for the recommended 5 seconds. I will continue to do these excercises through day 16.

Most pups are gaining weight normally as expected now (around 1.5 to 2 ounces per day), however if any pup falls short of gaining at least one ounce I will supplement by bottle feeding goat's milk. Today Ulaylee only gained 0.9 ounces since last morning's weigh-in, so she will get an extra bottle meal.  We have a little piglet in the group (Urielle) and she appears to be hogging more than her fair share of the milk, gaining almost 3 ounces since yesterday's weigh-in! For comparison, Urielle weighed only 0.1 ounce more than Uno at birth and now she is 4.2 ounces larger in only 5 days! 

I caught a funny moment on video today, Urielle got turned around at feeding time and ended up on the wrong side of momma, she was captured on film showing her extreme displeasure at missing a meal, although it kind of serves her right since she hogs all the milk every other meal.  See the video entitled "One Lost Puppy".
 

Saturday, May 26th, 2018 (Birth Week, Day 3)

Well, yesterday's goat's milk bottle feedings seemed to work beautifully. All the pups have gained a good amount of weight today and I'm really happy with their progress.

Today's weigh-in stats:

I want to apologize for those watching the LIVE Puppy Cam after dark, the infrared (Night Vision) setting was not set correctly so night time viewing was not too great the past couple nights. This is a new camera, so I did some debugging this morning and have tweaked a few settings and things are working now. You should have a bright black and white feed when the room is pitch black, and a color feed during the daytime when ambient light is present.

Started doing Super Dog exercises. Click the link to read more about it.

Dewclaws were removed today.
 

Friday, May 25th, 2018 (Birth Week, Day 2)

At this morning's weigh-in I noticed a few pups that aren't getting enough milk and are either losing weight or not gaining as much weight as expected. My suspect is that their BIG sister Urielle is hogging all the milk, she's such a chunky little piglet! Therefore, we started a few of them on goat's milk supplement to ensure proper nutrition and weight gain.  I use a human baby bottle, a Vent Aire with a Stage 1 nipple so the milk flows as slow as possible.  It didn't take long to get the pups accustomed to the rubber nipple and suckling with gusto.  I have to be really careful about how long I let them drink because I think they would literally drink until their tummies pop.

Today's weigh-in stats: (prior to goat's milk supplement)

We took Ulrick to the vet today due to a bum leg.  His back right foot doesn't appear to be quite normal, the paw is flexed backward instead of the normal forward position and I didn't know whether it was a birth defect or if he was injured by momma somehow shortly after birh. Regardless, we wanted him to have medical attention and ensure he develops normally. Our vet said she suspects that his leg was improperly positioned in the sac during development in the womb and thus has less tendon and muscle rigidity than normal. He has normal range of movement in the leg so that's good news. She also indicated that it could definitely correct itself as the pup grows. I will do daily physical therapy exercises for him to try and strengthen the leg and get the paw back into the normal orientation. She said he will also get plenty of self physical therapy just navigating around and fighting for a nipple.  I was glad to hear that it was not injury related and his chances of being "normal" are good. We will take him in to a specialist in a few weeks when the pups are walking if he is not showing signs of progress. At this point we have high hopes. Please keep Ulrick in your prayers for healing, strength and normalcy. Thank you!
 

Thursday, May 24th, 2018 (Birth Week, Day 1)

As usual, the day after whelping day is really busy around here. First, I need to get all the whelping and weight charts updated, do the pup's daily weigh-in and give them a good once-over, then figure out their official "U" names, create all their body marking maps, take puppy portraits, edit and post to this page, get the LIVE Puppy Cam online, and post to the pUpdates web log. WHEW! This stuff usually takes me all day, especially with a large litter such as this.

Today's puppy weigh-in stats:

NOTE: A few pups didn't gain as much weight as hoped, but that is sometimes to be expected on the first night with a larger litter. This is why we take daily weight measurements to ensure that every pup is staying on the healthy track and not going downhill.

Next up is puppy portraits, I hope to have those posted later today, but in the meantime, the LIVE Puppy Cam is now online for your viewing pleasure.

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

8:00 am: This morning Benelli's temp was down even more, so we are keeping a close eye on her.  She spent a lot of time nesting last night and was panting this morning so those are both good signs that labor will begin soon!  

10:00 am: PUPPIES ARE COMING!!! Check out our Facebook page for minute-by-minute updates and photos!

We think she is done but will keep an eye on her for the remainder of the evening looking for signs of any more contractions.  What a perfectly timed litter, mid-day and no overnight hours. Thanks Benelli, you made this one easy on momma!
 

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

As many of you already know, I take Benelli's baseline temp the last week of pregnancy to monitor for signs of when whelping will begin. When body temp drops below the redline of 98.4, usually that means we are officially on 24-hour puppy watch. This evening her temp started the downward plunge.  
 

Monday, May 21st, 2018

Today was an exciting day, we took Benelli to the vet for her pregnancy x-ray and we're excited at the outcome. But before we spoil the surprise, take a look at the x-ray and see if you can count the pups yourself (click on the thumbnail to enlarge for better view). I'll post the answer in a few days...  

UPDATE: The x-ray showed NINE PUPS!! WOWZA! We're excited!

Monday, May 14th, 2018

Benelli is getting very large now and her teats are starting to fill with milk, so we are hoping that's a good indicator of a large litter. She's currently being fed two meals per day; breakfast and dinner, both mixed with a generous spoonful of cottage cheese which she LOVES! We are about 11 days until Benelli's predicted whelping date so things will be ramping up here very soon.

We have an x-ray planned for next Monday May 21st so we can get a head count on puppies! I will post photos as soon as we get them. Next Monday I will also start taking Benelli's temperature twice daily to keep an eye on when whelping might start. Logging and charting baseline temps during her final week of gestation is a helpful tool so that her body temperature fluctuations are easily seen. A dropped temp indicates whelping will begin within 24 hours or so, so that's when we will go on official Puppy Watch!  Fun stuff is right around the corner, so stay tuned!  
 

Friday, May 4th, 2018

We are about 99.9% certain that Benelli is preggers, she's been acting pregnant (clingy, sick to stomach, not eating well) and her belly is actually starting to swell.  Therefore, I am still "guesstimating" a whelp date of May 25th give or take a day or two. We have scheduled a pregnancy x-ray during week 8 (around May 18th) to get a puppy head count. Stay tuned for x-ray photos!   
 

Wednesday, March 28th, 2018

Benelli is now back home at Hickory Hollow safe and sound.  We made the trip to Houdini Llewellins today to pick her up and boy was she glad to see us.  After this long of time I figured she thought we had abandoned her. She was full of kisses and wiggles and wanted to lay her head on our shoulders from the backseat all the way home!  Now we wait for that long 30 days to confirm pregnancy, so stay tuned...  
 

Tuesday, March 27th, 2018

Today was the first day that Rev was no longer interested in Benelli, so we think she is finally past her fertile period and she'll be coming home soon.  We are very excited that we had good covereage from the very start of her cycle through to the end and from that I think we should have a nice well-rounded litter of pups, meaning a good ratio of males to females and hopefully a larger litter, if we're lucky. We've had many inquiries and a lot of interest in puppies from this litter and can't wait to see how it all turns out.  
 

Monday, March 26th, 2018

This afternoon proved to be another successful day with over a 30 minute tie (#5) between Benelli and Rev at day 16. In looking back at records from prior breedings, she has gone as late as day 18 for breeding, so we are assessing the situation and will keep her with Rev for as long as it takes to have full coverage.   
 

Sunday, March 25th, 2018

This morning proved to be another successful day with over a 30 minute tie (#4) between Benelli and Rev at day 15. Randy indicated she's still good and "ready", so we may try for a couple more days before we pick her up to ensure full coverage of her fertile period. Early and late breedings within her fertile period should produce a nice well-rounded litter.  We are very optimistic at this point.
 

Saturday, March 24th, 2018

We had a couple misbreedings over the past couple days, but that can also be a good thing to allow Rev to recoup, however we are back on track with a third successful breeding (tie #3) today at day 14 with 20 minute lock up.
 

Wednesday, March 21st, 2018

I'm happy to report that we had another successful breeding (tie #2) this afternoon between Benelli and Rev. All is going well so far...
 

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

I'm giddy with excitement to report that we had our first successful breeding this afternoon between Benelli and Rev, YAY! Perfect timing too at day 10 of her cycle, just like a textbook.
 

Friday, March 16th, 2018

Today we made the trek up to southern Minnesota to Houdini Llewellins to drop off Benelli with Randy for her date with Rev. I told Randy she's a little early yet, but would need some time for Rev to pour on the charm and win her over before anything would happen. Hopefully we will have a confirmed breeding in a few days and will keep everyone posted with any news.
 

Saturday, March 10th, 2018

Since time was drawing near for Benelli to start her heat cycle I've been checking on her regularly.  Today I noticed that she's right on schedule and just starting her heat cycle as predicted for my mid-March "guesstimate". I have been in contact with Randy at Houdini Llewellins and we are planning to move forward with the breeding between Benelli and Rev within the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned here and on our Facebook page for more news as it develops.

Saturday, July 28th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 66)

It's been a whirlwind day for us today... last night around 10 pm we headed to Des Moines so we could be there to check Ulrick in for his 6:10 am flight to Salt Lake City at 4:00 am.  We traveled while we were still awake and could arrive safely.  Once we found the Delta Cargo drop off location we found a hotel near by and camped out in their parking lot. We had our alarms set for 3:45 am, but I think I barely got about 1/2 hour's sleep since I am always apprehensive about missing a flight. We were right on time at 4 am and everything went smoothly with check-in.  Now we had to wait until his flight was in the air so we could confirm he was on it before we could leave the area.  Luckily we found a 24-hour Denny's so we went and had breakfast while we waited.  The call came in from Delta at 6:15 am that he was indeed on the flight and we could head home.  During the 2 hour drive I was tracking Ulrick's flight.  It looked like he was going to arrive in Salt Lake City just about the time we would arrive back home and such was the case. We heard from Ulrick's family (his new name is Copper) that he did arrive safely in Salt Lake City, so now I can take a deep breath and breathe a sigh of relief.  We are finally puppyless and all pups are safely in the arms of their new families.

It's about 9 am and my head is swimming from lack of sleep.  We're headed to bed now after our long night and probably won't see the light of day again until about 4 pm, LOL.  

Thursday, July 26th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 64)

Poor Ulrick, he's the last puppy here at Hickory Hollow, but not for long. He's scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. This afternoon he got to take a trip up to our vet for his health certificate and he was a great traveler.  He zonked out in the kennel and was quiet for pretty much the entire 35 minute drive up there.

POOR BABY, he's so lonely without his sisters... It's a beautiful day here so the windows are all open, so when I'm working I can hear him howling out in the cottage.  John and I try to go out there to snuggle him several times per day and he just clings to us and doesn't want us to put him down.  He does get to come in the house for a little while each evening to get him acclimated to house life and continued potty training.

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018 (Week 9, Day 63)

Ulianne, THIRD TIME's A CHARM!  We took Uli to the airport again this morning for an earlier flight, we had to have her there at 4:30 am so she could fly on the 6:45 am flight landing in Charlotte at 10:05 am when it's cooler. We're optimistic that she will make it there today, third time's a charm, right?  

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now in CHARLOTTE!  YAY!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2018 (Week 8, Day 62)

Ulianne, TAKE TWO.  We took Uli to the airport again this morning for her 1:50 PM flight to Charlotte, luckily the weather is holding right on the brink of the cutoff so we were able to check her in.  I know the Howards on the other end are eager to get her today. We're crossing our fingers...

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now back at Hickory Hollow, AGAIN... she was unable to fly today at last minute because the PILOT said it was too hot in Charlotte.  Apparently it was 85 degrees at the airport (acceptable cut off is 85), but the heat index was 95, so the pilot said NO WAY. They have to taxi on the tarmac for 45 mins before they get to the gate and he said that's too long at that temp to be in cargo. We have a new game plan for tomorrow though, so we are hopeful she will make it there.

Monday, July 23rd, 2018 (Week 8, Day 61)

Ulianne is our next pup to take flight! Today she's headed to Charlotte NC on a non-stop flight to be loved and cherished by the Howard family.  Her new name is Cukla, and she will have a 2-year old setter brother named Bailey to play with. We think they will become fast friends. Her new family has done all kinds of preparations to make her homecoming special. She's got tons of toys and a comfy orthopedic bed just waiting with her name on it. She's also got a little girl (granddaughter) also waiting with loving arms to love and snuggle her.  She is going to be one spoiled puppy!

UPDATE:  Ulianne is now back at Hickory Hollow... she was unable to fly today at last minute due to issues with airflow in the aircraft's cargo hold.  We are going to try again tomorrow.

Thursday, July 19th, 2018 (Week 8, Day 57)

Unity is ONE LUCKY GIRL! She was sold like a hot cake last evening to the Stewart family in Urbandale Iowa and now will get to leave before three of her siblings.  Her new family has three kids that will be super surprised when they get home from camp today to find a new puppy girl to snuggle with.  Her new name will be Hickory's Hazelbean Stewart and she will also have the opportunity to hunt pheasant and quail with her new family.  

Later in the day Ulaylee was able to hop a flight to Seattle on American Airlines to meet her new family, the Bishops.  After a couple flight delays and a cancellation during her layover in Chicago, luckily she was able to fly on the last plane out of Chicago and arrived in Seattle after midnight. She had a LONG day, but her new family greeted her at the airport with tons of love an affection and all decked out in their Llewellin Setter Loot!  Of course she hit the ground running like it was no big deal. Her new name is Isla and she will have a great life, hunting pheasant, quail, grouse, woodcock, huns and chukar with her new family.

Tuesday, July 17th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 55)

Unity is ONE LUCKY GIRL! She was sold like a hot cake last evening to the Stewart family in Urbandale Iowa and now will get to leave before three of her siblings.  Her new family has three kids that will be super surprised when they get home from camp today to find a new puppy girl to snuggle with.  Her new name will be Hickory's Hazelbean Stewart and she will also have the opportunity to hunt pheasant and quail with her new family.  

Sunday, July 15th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 53)

Today it's Urielle's turn to head out! Her new name will be Harper and she will be going to Onalaska WI to live with the Brewer family. She will have a 6 yr old Golden Retriever named Luke as a fur sibling and a 12 year old girl named Sarah to play with. She will also have the opportunity to hunt with her family. We are so excited for her to embark on her new life.

Saturday, July 14th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 52)

Next up is Urbana, this sweet little darling left today with our good friends and former clients Jon and Liz Grandon, headed for Moorhead Minnesota. Her new name will be "Hickory's Sota Fancy", just Fancy for short, LOL!  She will have Piper (Emma, Litter E) and Wilson (Hunter, Litter H) as older Llew siblings along with a French Brittany named Chloe as her new doggie family along with a young little boy named Wyatt who already loves his Fancy girl! She will have the opportunity to hunt one day with a few other Llew pups, Gordon (Litter G) along with Deacon (Lancelot, Litter L) and Duke (Pierce, Litter P) who are all very close friends or family. We look forward to more HHLS pup group hunting photos! (wink, Jon..)  I'm sad to see this pup go because she was my fave, but also really excited for her to be going to such a great home!  

Friday, July 13th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 51)

Uno is the second pup to embark on her new life, she is going to live in Davenport Iowa with the Ringdahl family! Her new name is "Iggy Piggy Azalea". She will have a 2-yr old setter sister and also a young little boy named Mason as her constant companions. They came for our Puppy Playdate Saturday a couple weeks ago, and according to Mason this was a reaally LONG couple weeks and kept asking mom why the time was going so S-L-O-W... We are so excited for Uno / Azalea, she's got an AWESOME new family and will be spoiled rotten!

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018 (Week 7, Day 49)

Week 7 Developmental Milestone: Pups go home!

Now is the time the pups are able to embark on a new life and head out to their new homes. The pups in this litter are scattered literally from coast to coast, North Carolina to Washington state.  They are SO ready to leave as they are tired and completely bored with their playpen and are ready for so much more.  They are eating the dry kibble really well and are now fully weaned. They've had their 6 week distemper/parvo vaccination and have been checked over really well, no umbilical hernias, improper bite alignment or ear infections, so this litter is really great and ready to go!

Puppy portraits for week seven will be taken with their new families for the pups that are leaving this week, the other pups are flying as soon as the hot weather breaks.

Upton is the first pup to fly the coop today, he's going to live in Moberly Missouri with the Smith family (mom, dad and three kids), his new name will either be Hank or Cooper but the final decision had not been made yet at the time the pup left HHLS.  We look forward to the updates soon!

Sunday, July 8th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 46)

Week 6 Puppy Portraits are now posted along with Week 5 miscellaneous litter photos. I'm sure you've noticed that I have posted a lower number of miscellaneous photos this week... This is because the pups are moving so fast now that they all turn out blurry. They hardly sit still for a split second which makes it really hard to capture anything of value.

These pups continue to be some of the sweetest pups we've ever had. I just love Usher, he's such a little Teddy Bear, he loves to be held and his coat is so thick and plush just makes you want to tote him around everywhere with you.  Upton is another favorite, he's a quick little dude, but also very affectionate and gives tons of puppy kisses, I just love his perky attitude. Urbana is always a crowd favorite when folks come to visit, she's such a little dolly, loves to be cuddled and doesn't complain about much.  She is usually one of the few pups that I can still get a good candid of because she's not ALWAYS on the move like some of the others. And as for Urielle, I know I have called her our little resident "piglette" throughout my blog posts on this litter, but she is really a sweetheart and also a stunning beauty of a pup. I see hints of her great-grandmother "Duchess" in her soft sweet face, and if her personality also turns out to be similar, her new parents will be truly blessed. Another beauty is Ulaylee, her big doe eyes just melt my heart when I look at her sweet face.  She is also quite a lover and readily gives big kisses, ...and Ulrick... such a cool dude, so laid back and non-chalant about everything. He kinda just goes with the flow and is happy whereever he is and didn't even flinch an inch when he got microchipped. I'm so impressed with his personality, he's going to be such a great companion. Our little busy-bodies, Uno, Ulianne and Unity are quite the threesome, usually hanging out together and into everything together, they are great sissies to each other.  I just can't say enough good things about the personalities of these pups, you all who are getting one are a lucky bunch of puppy parents!

Friday, July 6th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 44)

Well folks, we are in the final stretch of this journey.  The pups are 6 weeks old already and will be leaving Hickory Hollow very soon to embark on a whole new life!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts, this final stretch is a busy time for me trying to get all the puppy paperwork done between invoicing and putting together puppy information packets for everyone as well as taking care of the pups!

Pups are now completely on dry kibble and are still getting the supplemental enzymes and probiotics powder added to the top. I think this is working pretty well, as I am now seeing normal, formed poops! Yay for that!  Hopefully it will stay that way until time for pups to go home.  I might suggest getting some of these products to add to your pup's food at home for a while if they revert back to loose stool.

Pups also had their first Distemper/Parvo vaccination today.

Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 (Week 6, Day 42)

Week 6 Developmental Milestone: Eye color changes from blue to brown

This week, the puppies eyes will start to transition from their current baby blues to their final adult color; gold (chestnuts) or brown (tri-colors). It's too bad they have to lose those beautiful baby blues so soon... The transition takes about a week or so and the color mix during the transition is neat to see.

Here's how the pups weigh-in at 6 weeks old:

Pups were microchipped today for those folks who requested that service.

Puppy portraits for week six will be taken on Friday and posted above and on Facebook sometime this weekend. But in the meantime, enjoy these special edition July 4th photos. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY everyone!