Down to four

Izza seems just fine with the idea of being down to four children. She spent the evening playing with her remaining boys. Still looking for homes: Black, Orange, Blue and possibly Brown.

Keeping them in the family

Thanks to Mozart's mom making arrangements for us, everyone got to pick up their puppies in the warm and dry home of a friend of hers. This wasn't the only great thing Bernie did for us today - she brought along her daughter Samantha who after much thought ended up taking a puppy as well! Now their family consists of Mozart (3 yrs old) and Ringo in New Mexico and Olive in Washington. Mozart is Ringo and Olive's uncle.

Red meets his girls

Red's new family wrote: We have named him Jack. We were going to go with Arthur but Jack just fit him better. He whined a bit on the way home but then fell asleep. So far he is a joy! He has played with the girls non stop since we got home. Went potty outside twice and ate like a horse. I think he will be easy to crate train as I put him in his crate when we ate dinner, he whined for a little bit but then settled down, played with his toys and fell asleep. We are sooo happy.

Stephanie

Raspberry meets her new family

As noted before, Raspberry will be called Yoshi now. Her family seemed very happy to finally meet their new family member. It was great to meet each of you for the first time. Enjoy her!

Can you hear me?

Tonight the babies had their BAER hearing test performed by Dr. Erickson who lives fairly close to the Monroe, WA show grounds. Dr. Erickson was kind enough to let us take the babies to his home so we could have them done while in town for the dog show. Everyone has hearing in both ears except Black who's deaf in his right ear and Light Blue who is deaf in her left ear. Being deaf in one ear doesn't really effect dogs and they make great pets. We even have a friend who has a uni (as they are called) that she's doing Agility with and he looks fantastic running the course! You'd never know there is anything different about him.

Getting bigger

Tonight the babies turned 6 weeks old - boy time flies! To celebrate, each of them received their first vaccination. This will hopefully boost their immune systems just in time to go visit the vet for their hearing tests which are scheduled for next Saturday evening near Monroe, Washington.

Tunnel Work

As part of the puppies learning and socialization we have a fabric tunnel we place in our living room for the puppies to explore. Everyone in the litter has now braved the scary tunnel all on their very own, several of which have decided running through it full tilt is a blast! The tunnel is great seeing it completely surrounds the puppies, it moves as they go through it and makes a funny sound - all great experiences for them.

Fun despite the weather

Our weather hasn't been good enough to let the pups our again this weekend, but they had fun anyhow. Today they had two more visitors, friends from town who have a 6 year old Dalmatian and a love of puppies. The more visitors the better from here on out, socialization, socialization, socialization is the name of the game and it makes a huge difference in the type of dog each of these babies will grow up to be. So if your reading this and live close enough to come visit, please do!

Visitors!

The puppies enjoyed their visitors from Pullman today. Our friend Jordan and one of her friends from work came to visit the babies today. Each puppy was handled lots which was a great experience for them. They also got to see their first non-spotted dog, Jordan's Rally star Kester. We truly appreciated the girls visiting and especially their help in taking the puppies 5 week stacked photos (see our website to view the photos).

Aunt Lilly Checking In

Lilly was born Sept 2009 and is these puppies father's, sister. :) All the other dogs in the house enjoy the pups and like peeking in on them each day. The pups are just starting to get tall enough to touch noses with the looky-loos.

Lost & Found

Every pup received their microchip tonight. Their 'great-grandma' helped out by loving on each pup before and after they received their chip and helped me by holding each pup while I implanted them. Microchips are implanted between the puppies shoulder blades and are an individual id number (like a social security number) that special scanners can read. Practically every vet and animal shelter now has scanners that can read these chips and can be the difference between never seeing your puppy again and having a successful reunion, if something ever happens and they disappear.

Airing Out

Today was warm and sunny and I had some projects to do in the front yard, so it worked out to be the perfect day for the babies to see the outdoors for the very first time. There were lots of sites and sounds for them to experience, lawns being moewed, cars driving by, dogs barking, leaves burning, etc. Once the sun went behind a cloud they got chilly and were ready to head in. Several of the pups managed to climb up the two steps into our front door all on their own! Wish we were going to more days for them to be outside, but I can't imagine November will hand us too many more days like today.

Birthdays

Today is the 3 year birthdate of our first Dalmatian litter, so we want to with everyone a Happy Birthday!! There mother is Jazz (Ch Patchmt's Jazzin It Up,CD,RN,CC) and their father is Radar (Ch Proctor's Dappled Doppler). This litter consists of: Annie, Lexi, Lola, Mozart, Ranger, Romeo, Tonto, and Willow. Take care everyone.

Ms Raspberry

Ms Raspberry has a black patch under her right ear, so she won't ever get to be a conformation show dog, despite being a beautiful girl. Therefore, our first pet pick home has chosen her. Her AKC name will be Black Diamond Twilight and will be called, Yoshi by her family.

Meet Mr Black

Late night play

I attended the WWKC Board meeting tonight and got home late. Apparently the pups were waiting for me, I was only home for a few minutes before they were all up and playing. In this photo is Brown (front bottom left of photo), Red (above and to the left), Powder Blue (walking in front of LPatch girl), Liver Patch Girl (who wears the purple collar), Raspberry (center of photo), Green (with the orange toy) and Black (far right of photo) - missing from the photo (either in the potty room or sleeping room) are Orange & Royal Blue.

Brown = liver boy

Red = liver boy

Powder blue = liver girl

Purple = liver patch girl

Raspberry = black girl

Green = black boy

Black = black boy

Orange = liver boy

Royal Blue = black boy (with one blue eye)

Color Coded

This afternoon we put collars on each of the babies, officially assigning them their 'colors'. This week we will start taking individual photos of the pups with their colored collars on.

Graduation Day

The pups are now old enough that they have graduated to their new puppy box. This box starts to teach them many things, it gives them more room for walking, running and playing, it teaches them to go through small spaces (like doggy doors) and will help start their potty training. Hit PLAY to watch the short video tour of their new home.

Izza enjoys the new puppy box

As soon as we set up the puppy's new box, Izza took advantage of the bigger space for nursing. She seems pretty happy with the new arrangement.

Play time

The puppies are starting to learn how to growl, bark and play with each other. Of course, each time I grab the camera they stop making sounds. This video they are playing inside their sleeping crate trying to play with each other. This upcoming weekend they will move into their 'puppy box' which gives them a 4x5 play area, a 2x3 sleeping area and a 2x3 potty area.

Itchy puppy

This pup was barking and trying to chase his tail... right up until I grabbed the camera. Oh well. Hit the play button and you'll get to see a short video of some cuteness anyhow.

First Meal

I have today off from work so I decided it would be a good day to give the puppies their first meal. They received a 1/2 can of dog food and a cup of dry Blue Buffalo Chicken & Brown Rice Puppy food, mixed with warm water. As you can see, they enjoyed it! They had it all over themselves - the two who are missing from the photo were over on the side licking food off of each other as they were both coated quite well.

Monty heads to Montana

Today was a great day for Monty - he finally got to meet his very own family, Susan and Chuck. His new parents are very active, hiking, jogging, mt. biking and x-country skiing and they have always taken their Dals with them. He's going to have a very active and wonderful life! Hopefully he will love his new buddies as well, two kitties with lots of personality. We're hoping Chuck figures out how to send us the photo we took of the three of them before hitting the road (I forgot my camera and my phone, so we had to use Chuck's phone camera). We're also looking forward to updates about his new life as time goes by.

Happy babies

The babies are almost 3 weeks old and everyone is still doing great. Everyone's eyes are starting to open, although we still can't tell eye colors for sure yet. They are also starting to figure out that they are puppies, starting to bark and growl when playing with each other.

Elliott's Montana Vacation

Elliott & Sunny got to spend a few weeks in Montana this fall. His parents were nice enough to share these photos with us.

Eyes not wide open

The puppies have started to open there eyes.Not all of the puppies have started but I am sure in the next day or too they all will be looking around and trying to take in all that they see.They are still gaining good weight everyday.Spots are coming through more and more each day.

First Bathes

As soon as I got home today, the first thing I did was grab our biggest pot, filled it with warm water and headed into the puppy room. They were getting pretty stinky and icky, but not any longer. A warm dip and scrub with clean towels and they are once again hugable, kissable and lovable!

Mid week run

Tonight we did a quick 13 miles in 1 hour (with two water breaks). Bow and Monty proved they are fastest in the pack by running at 25 mph for almost 2 miles before I decided we better stop and let everyone else catch up. I was quite impressed by the two boys and they were having a BLAST!

Dinner time

Izza's clan enjoying dinner.

Long trip cut short

Our day started off beautiful, warm, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, so I decided it would be the perfect day for a nice long dog run. I was thinking 30+ miles and maybe 3 or 4 hours of eventure. Too bad mother nature had other plans! The sky got black, the wind came up and it started raining. I had to call Adrian and find a meeting spot so he could bring me my jacket and gloves, but the dogs didn't seem to notice, they were still enjoying themselves. We ended up doing 20 miles and 2 hours, and all of us were quite wet by time we got home.

Liver spots

This little boy was showing off his belly spots tonight, but so far that's the only place we can see them, on their bellies, nose or ears.

No more dewclaws

Tonight Adrian held each of the pups while I removed their dewclaws. After a rocky start (I forgot to borrow the surgical instruments from my office and had to drive back to the office to get them before we could get started). Everyone did well and only one bled much at all. Everyone is gaining weight, so all is well so far. We won't sleep sound and feel confident until eyes and ears have opened.

Alls Well

Izza is very happy about her clan, she clearly loves being a momma. No big updates today.

Babies have arrived!

Izza (Beachcomber Black Diamond Iz, RN, RD) x Romeo (Ch. Black Diamond's Where Art Thou) puppies have arrived! Starting at 4:00am Izza started having babies. We were very happy with her to start with anyhow... she had Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, Boy, Boy. Everyone is healthy, nursing and doing well.

Ready to roll

Heading out for our evening run. We live on the edge of town so our dogs have to be leashed until we are out in the fields, then they are turned loose to run. We only did 10 miles tonight but everyone enjoyed it. Monty and Izza had to stay home tonight so it was only 6, making it much easier.

Visit to the cabin

Adrian needed to cut up some wood for his mom at her cabin, so I took 1/2 our pack and our 4 wheeler so we could have a different place to log some miles. Unfortunately there aren't many trails near the cabin, but there is a very long gravel road which climbs up, up, up. The crew had a nice (although short seeing we were only allowed 45 minutes before Adrian wanted us back so he could use the 4 wheeler) run. Bow, Sky, Romeo and Monty enjoyed the views and then playing in the creek afterwards.

Romeo saying.. "Do you see how high up we are?"

Elliott II update

Photos from California. Elliott is one of the 5 boys Izza had June 2009. His budy in the second photos is Sony who is also from Oregon. Looks like they are best buddies still and all the other photos sent demonstrate Elliott's love to play ball. Both boys are beautiful and look like they have a wonderful life together!

Dixie and Indy at Jubilee Lake

This matched pair of livers is Indy (from our June 2009 litter) and Dixie (from our Sept 2009 litter). Looks like the pair had a great time up at Jubilee Lake (in the Blue Mountains of Oregon) "duck hunting". These two live a great life at the base of the Blues and get to do lots of 'hunting' and swimming.

Chaplin goes BOB 2 days in a row!

This weekend Chaplin got to go with his handler Valerie to a couple of shows in California. At just one year and a couple of weeks old, Chaplin won Best Of Breed both days in a row! Chaplin is one of Romeo's sons and his mom is Zinda (she lives in WA State). This win was pretty cool seeing there was 4 other Specials at the show that he had to beat (as well as the rest of the Dalmatians) to become Best Of Breed. Way to go Chap!! Daddy's proud of you!

Bow supervises

I had to stop while doing the dishes tonight and snap this photo of Bow. He's been sitting on the couch watching me for over a half hour while doing the dishes, washing down the counters, etc. Apparently he's studying my ways so he can take over next time I'm gone for the weekend! He's such a silly, sweet boy - how can you refuse that face??

Brotherly Love

Here is Romeo (Born November 2007) and Monty (born September 2009) having a great time on our deck. Both these boys are out of Jazz, but have different father's. Romeo has a great temperament and loves to play with any dogs who will play with him, male or female. Monty lives to play and hasn't ever met a 'stranger' - human or k9! The end of the video shows Willow standing in the background, she is Romeo's full sister and Monty's 1/2 sister.

4H Show

Last year I was asked to judge the Walla Walla Fair's Dog Show, but as luck had it, we had a litter of puppies decide to arrive that morning, so I had to cancel within a couple of hours of the show. I felt horrible, but got to make up for it today. I spent the day judging their obedience and rally kids. It was a very fun and enjoyable day. Hopefully the kids felt the same way!

Calendar Girl

We received notice today that Lexi will be making an appearance in a calendar for Anacortes, WA. This is just one of the 3 photos that will be in next year's calendar. We've always known that she's beautiful, now the everyone else will get to as well!

Worth the trip

Seeing our trip to Portland turned out to be pointless (literally as well as metaphorically), we decided to do something to make the trip worth it after all. Since moving out here in 1996 I've wanted to go see Mt. St. Helen. My mother was with me on this trip and she also wanted to see the mountain up close, so we made a day (and night) of it. We had a great time taking the northern driving tour and visiting all four visitor centers along the route. The 7 hour round trip wasn't enough... we then took the southern route to see the difference on that side of the mountain. We arrived home safe, tired and with lots of photos at 2am. Good thing I have today off of work!

Headed to Portland

Today we took a drive down the Gorge to go to the Portland dog show. The whole plan was to go so Willow and Romeo could have their hips x-rayed, and I decided that if we were going anyhow, I might as well show Romeo and Bow. For some reason, BVS never got back to me and when we arrived we discovered that their x-ray equipment was down and non operational this weekend. (This photo is of Willow, Bow, Romeo and The Dalles dam in the background).

Water Lilly

I was too slow getting the camera out to capture Lilly laying in the doggy pool splashing and playing in the water. Lilly truly loves the water and always looks forward to arriving at the creek four miles down the road from us (a destination we make frequently). It's been in the high 90's and 100's again around here, so the dogs enjoy their pool in the backyard when it's too hot to go for a run.

Lilly comes home

Today was a sad day... Lilly didn't work out and had to come home. In two weeks of being with her new family, she just couldn't figure out how to get along with their Chihuahua. She also had issues with their youngest daughter, although they said she was getting better with her. We are very happy that this family is considering getting a puppy from us when we have our next litter, so they are still hoping to end up with a Dalmatian some day. Lilly on the other hand, was very happy to see us as well as Chip (our 6 pound Rat Terrier), and merged back into the swing of things quickly once she arrived home.