Darby- One Year Old 12/10

My baby Vallhund, she's looking so grown up! And what a good sport Darby has been, especially since I've been so busy with Syd and Breezy's puppies recently. She didn't complain {much} when she did not get a big birthday celebration for her first birthday. She did get some new toys, and she did have to have a little fit of dramatic facial expressions. I expect nothing less from Baby Show Dog. Hmm, well, that's OK, she'll always be Baby Show Dog to me!

"Hello? Is anyone going to come out and play with me on my birthday?"

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"What's that? You are telling me there is no party for my birthday? Stoopid puppies."

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"No, no, that's OK, I'll survive. Really, it's not that big of a deal."

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"Excuse me? I'm sorry, did you say presents, and COOKIES??? Oh, that's much better!"

"Look at me, I just finished Baby Show Dog obedience classes, I can lay down and look Super Cute to wait for my cookies!"

Happy Belated Barkday, Baby Show Dog!

Indignant (Darby)

Darby says -cuz some people thought maybe it was Hawk (who would never dream of acting so dramatic or demanding). sorry for the confusion!

How. Dare. You... Lock. Me. Out.
Ignore. Me.

Tell. Me. To. Be. Quiet.

I. ..Demand... A... Lawyer

signed, I can bark louder than you can

Hawk-Daddy

Hawk is a proud dad again! This time he has some red and some stub-tailed babies. A first for the Hawk Man, as Bitsy's pup Frankie was grey and had a full tail, and all of Mele's pups were grey, full tailed babies.

11, count 'em. Nikita (CH Bodatorp Nikita) free-whelped a total of 12 puppies last night. I was talking to her owner, Lori, on the phone last night when there were a total of nine puppies. Then Lori said that she thought Nikita was having another, and out came #10, a boy. Another 20 minutes, and Lori said another was here, but sadly it was stillborn. Five minutes later, #11, another girl, arrived, alive and healthy. Whew, that's a lot of puppies. I finally got off the phone with Lori, and she called me about an hour later and said, "You know how I said I wouldn't call unless there was another puppy?" Well, Nikita had ANOTHER puppy. TWELVE total delivered, ELEVEN living. The breakdown on tail types and colors are as follows:

7 tailed girls (5 red, 2 grey), 2 stub girls (1 red, 1 grey) (the stillborn was a tailed girl)

1 tailed boy (red), 1 stub boy (grey)

Lori was able to take a few pictures last night. Look at that pile o'puppies! What gets me is how happy and refreshed Nikita looks. Shouldn't she be exhausted?

Rotating the puppies so everyone can nurse without competition last night.

Maybe Nikita is just happy she doesn't look like this anymore!

Photographing Wrestling Vall-Pups

When Vall-pups are playing and wrestling, it's serious business. But first, before getting to the photography portion of our program, doesn't The Hawklet look so grown up in this photo? He hardly looks like a puppy, maybe it's the demonic wrestling side of his ownself taking over!

OK, so the Vall-pup wrestling is serious stuff. They get so wound up, and they always end up jumping into these oval dog beds (thank you Costco!). Whoever makes the first leap into the bed ends up at a total disadvantage, as you can see. Darby didn't stand a chance against The Hawklet. So, I pick up the camera, hoping to get a few shots of them playing but maybe looking at me.

Me: "Puppies, Darby, baby-dog, hello, look at me." (infer high-pitched voice)

Me: "Hey, Darby, look, I have the camera. Hawklet, puppy, here pups."

Me: "Come on you guys, I just want ONE picture, puppy-puppy-puppy"

Me: "OK, then, I guess nobody wants a COOKIE!"

I wish I could express the instant Vallhund reaction where Darby literally flung herself up and tossed The Hawklet off of her and out of the dog bed! And it's a real shame that I was so busy laughing about how quickly Darby was all smiles (and I think The Hawklet is learning the smile too!), the photo is out of focus!

Hi there, handsome...

Summer and Michelle helped me get pix of The Hawklet (4 mos) today at a puppy match. Little guy got a Group 3 and he actually walked on a leash and tried his best to behave. My standard disclaimer is that YES, I know I'm biased, but I think the little dude is getting more and more handsome. It appears we do need to do some work with that inside back leg, it seems to be doing its own thing in a couple of the photos!