An update of puppies

Uno, Teddy and their mother Ribbon.

Mandi gaiting in Cumberland; she took a reserve that weekend. Couldn't catch her in the right phase of her trot!
Painter gaiting at the Cumberland shows last month. He has his first Championship points from that show weekend.

Gabby her and above, at the Carolina ASC shows in October; a reserve to majors and showed well. Very pretty outline, looking like a showdog!
It has been a very long time since I posted any new puppy pictures and they are growing fast; 10 months old, at this point. I haven't seen Gabby or pictures of her, nor Gracie, but I have seen Teddy pictures, and saw Uno, and I saw both Mandi and Painter at a dog show last month. In fact Painter has his first points and Mandi showed well and garnered a reserve. In addition she has her CGC (AKC's Canine Good Citizen title) and has started training in agility.
Gabby has her CGC now too, as well as her Herding Instinct test and a UKC Championship! So the babies have been busy.
Anyway here are a couple of pictures; hope to see more and post them soon.

Painter stacked



Mandi stacked

I saw Mandi (Ribbonette from Ribbon's litter) and Painter (Coal). Mandi is her mother's daughter for sure, in body shape. Painter is a handsome fellow as well. Both move really beautifully and have great personalities. They will debut in the show ring in a couple of weeks in Cumberland MD.

Painter pictures

I don't know what his registered name is but here is Painter, the black boy of Ribbon's litter, at about 6 months. Looking very pretty. I haven't seen him in person yet but hope to soon.

The sunset picture is Gabby, Painter's sister.

The creamy boy is Uno. I will see all yellow puppers again in a week or so and will post new pictures of them after that.

Some new pictures of the little darlings (or some of them, at least)

OK, so here are some updated photos from this month. Puppies are 6 months old. Mandi in blue, and Teddy with Encore the Sheltie (all 8 legs off the ground as far as I can tell) and the portrait is of Uno. Hoping to see Gracie soon, and to see photos of the black puppies at some point!

Gabby at 5.5 months

Saw Gabby this past weekend and she is very pretty, shaped a lot like her mother. She won Best of Breed Puppy at our Blue Ridge Australian Shepherd Club show in Weyer's Cave one of the shows and had fun all weekend playing with her mother Ribbon. She is all legs at present, as one would expect at this age, but she has a great temperament and promises to be a good girl as she grows up. Here she is in the field behind the show site.

Also showed Ribbon and Gabby's mom Stephanie took her into the ring for me since I was doing judge stuff for that show; she went Best Opp to a very nice male Special twice this weekend (neither time with me handling, go figure!). Anyway here are Stephanie and Ribbon!

Updated photos

Saw Teddy and Uno on different days last week and so now everyon is represented by some recent photos.




Teddy went for an impromptu swim in the water garden that his mother falls into accidentally-on-purpose on a regular basis.


Uno shows off his ever-changing ears. Everyone is healthy, happy, and looking great.

New pictures

This is Gabby at 4.5 months



And this is Gracie. I saw her today and she is beautiful as always even with her ears going all kerflooey! Teething time is here and with it comes all manner of eccentric and changing ear-do's in Aussies.

About time to see what these puppies look like!

So here are some of the puppies at 4.5 months. Thanks to their mommies for the new pictures!


Painter is the black tri boy (formerly Coal) and he is looking handsome indeed. The blue girl is Mandi (formerly Ribbonette) and she is certainly favoring her mother.


This is future MIT scholarship winner Uno, showing off his down-stay. He is an accomplished horse dog, diver, and all around SmartyPants. :)

Saw the blonde puppies this past couple of days but completely forgot to get new pictures of beautiful bad Gracie! Will remedy this as soon as I can, either when I see her next or when her mommy takes new pictures. Not sure when I might get to see the other puppies, hoped to see the black boy Painter or the blue girl Mandi also but didn't get the chance; hope to see them somewhere else soon.
At any rate those I saw and visited are growing, active (rambunctious), smart, and wonderful, and are learning very fast. From the top:

Uno playing with his Mommy up at Westminster yesterday, and
Two of Teddy: with his Mommy and a portrait of him alone.
Ribbon is 14 weeks post-puppy and has less hair than I have ever seen her wearing; she is looking pretty sparse and will look a lot better once the hair starts growing back. This is normal with new mothers and takes a couple of months before they grow a nice coat. Hope to get her back into the ring later in the summer, but will have to see how she looks!

Finally, updated puppy pictures!

I was able to see Gracie, and Teddy recently and Gabby's and Uno's newest pictures were sent to me too, and everyone is growing very fast.

Top is Uno, after swimming at the beach.
Second is Gabby, looking very pretty in her profile with toy.
Third is Teddy in profile, after a good run with his mommy last week.
Fourth is Gracie in her back yard.

Well, time I posted some news and new puppy photos, and will add more when I get updated pictures. The puppies are now about 12 weeks old and growing like weeds. Here are a few:
1)Uno is on his mommy's bed, taking in the scenery on the eastern shore;
2)Gracie is in her back yard playing in the new grass;
3)The whole lot of them on their last day here before going to their new homes;
4)And 'Painter' (the new name for the black boy) and 'Mandi' (the blue girl's new name) with their mommies, in front of their training facility. Or at least their club's facility.

Everyone is growing up fast. I should have a picture of Teddy soon, when I can get over to see him.

A Day outdoors, 6 weeks old

Coal practising his stack

Fizz and her dressage moves (with Ribbonette)

Linda & Uno, tired from playing for an hour

Gracie and Lisa, saying hello to Jill!



Ribbonette practising HER stack


Teddy tired too

CK and Uno

Uno and his litter mates are now 5 weeks old. They go outside for brief periods under close supervision and are being weaned. They can go from deep sleep to mach speed in short seconds and back again just as quickly. This is a fun age, they change every day. Uno looks sleepy here but this was a brief respite from his running on the floor and exploring the landscape of the studio.

Gracie

Gracie just woke up and she is considering her next move. I was unable to catch that move on camera!

Fizz

Fizz knows how to relax. Amazing how they can just crash when they need to.

Teddy

'Shine' became Teddy because he really is a teddy bear face. He is the sweetest, most people-oriented puppy in this people-oriented litter. He lies cradled in your arms on his back, gazing up at you with, well, whatever it is puppies gaze up at you with. He also tries to jump into your arms and lap, just like his mother Ribbon did as a baby; she now jumps into my arms when I am standing upright.
He is still available for the perfect home.

Little Miss Ribbonette

At least she sure looks like Ribbon to me, except for the amount of white on her muzzle and head. 'Legal' in the ring, but would hav preferred to see a bit less. She will probably be about the same size and substance as her mother. She is doing great.

My little black doggy

I am really liking this puppy right now, he seems to be chunking up nicely. Like everyone else he is bold and comfortable with noises, new people, and new situations. He might be a nice show prospect, time will tell.

The great outdoors

Haven't posted new pictures in a few days. 5 weeks old today, all fat and healthy. Went outdoors for the first time the other day but rainy since; this morning we got a few of them outside and they got over their hesitation pretty quickly. Here is Uno with his sister Gracie behind him.

A few pictures-babies out of the box now and eating solid food

New Digs

Today the puppies got to leave the confine sof the whelping box for the confines of a larger pen. It was fun to see their reactions when they saw that their view had lengthened far beyond the 3 foot distance across the whelping box. They are running (though walking is still a bit of a project). Today they were served their first meal and it was a rousing success. Now the work begins as Ribbon will quickly withdraw from cleanup duty. She will nurse them for a good number of days to come but as their food intake increases they will get fewer milk bar sessions. As you can see in the puppy pile picture Ribbon is on the other side of the penning. This was her choice entirely! She will probably wean them pretty quickly. Can't blame her, they have some sharp needle teeth coming in now.

Little Shine

This little (BIG!) boy's nose is already almost all filled in with black pigment and he looks like a little polar bear cub to me! He has a very sweet face. Here he is with brother Coal and sister Gracie.

Coal sitting

He is a really pretty black tri with nice markings and is as active as the rest.

Uno and his new mommy

He was the first one out of the mom and today he was the first one out of the whelping box, by himself, so the doorway is now closed and Ribbon has to jump in. They are all very mobile!

Yeah, SO?!!!

Basically the look I got when I interrupted the Ribbonator's beauty sleep. Basically centerfold stuff here. She is spending a bit more time NOT fussing over the babies now!

Here is the little blue girl, walking (sort of). Her eyes are starting to open.

Shine and Coal race to the source of the sound (food, maybe???!!!)

Uno says Hi to Christine and is starting to open his eyes. so he can see her on Saturday!

Splash is now Meg, and Meg is as active as the rest. Her eyes are still shut tight but I am betting by tomorrow they too will be opening.

Coal the black boy is extremely mobile as well.

This pretty black tri girl Fizz is getting on her feet here. You can't tell in this picture but her eyes are opening too.

Uno

Here is puppy #1, first born, 'Uno'.

Shine

He has a 'smutty' nose, lots of black pigment on the skin of his muzzle. His nose leather is already filling in!

A few pictures of Splash the blond girl!

She is fat and vigorous, up on her front legs and close to opening her eyes, I believe. The others are at the same stage, pictures coming soon.

9 days old...

And already showing good design sense.
From left to right:
Uno (puppy #1, boy); Coal (puppy#2, boy); Shine, (puppy #5,boy); Fizz, (puppy # 6,girl); Ribbonette (puppy#4, girl); and Splash (puppy #3, girl).

A Good Mommy

See? Room for 6!

Blue Girl #4

This is Ribbon's only blue puppy from this litter. Like her litter mates she is strong and healthy.

Black girl #6

She looks like a pretty girl

boy#5

Here is another pretty boy, healthy and fat!

Girl#3

She has a white splash on her side, very pretty girl!

Black Boy #2

Puppies are 4 days old

Here are new pictures of Ribbon's babies. This is boy#1.

They're here!

Well after we finished watching Westminster Best In Show on Tuesday night Ribbon got serious with her labor and in short order there were 6 fat happy puppies lying st her feet. There is a blue girl, a black girl, a black boy, 2 e-locus yellow boys, and an e-locus yellow girl. The yellow color is a recessive gene which will appear in the litter if both parents are yellow-factored. http://www.ashgi.org/color/yellow_aussies.htm So it would appear that they are in this case! There are no negative health issues associated with yellow pigment, it simply isn't an accepted color for Australian Shepherds in the Breed ring so these 3 pretty puppies willbe destined for performance and pet homes.
All the puppies weighed in at between 15 and 18 ounces and probably have already gained judging from the way they are all eating. Ribbon is being a terrific mom.

Due dates

Ribbon was bred this week. Her earliest whelp date should be February 15, 2008. I will not be using a Valentine's Day theme to name them! (Nor President's Day, I don't think...).

If you are considering a puppy from this litter I will have a puppy questionnaire for you to fill out to help me to determine which puppy might best suit your situation and hopes. If you are looking at show prospects for conformation, only time will tell what we get of course. I would love to encourage some performance homes and see some puppies go to people doing agility or obedience, activities this breed is very suited to and which I have confidence Ribbon can produce.I wish I had the time to take her into agility myself, but alas...

This is Ribbon as a baby, and now. The tri is her cousin Milwins' Memorandum.

Flash X Ribbon

AKC/ASCA Ch. Milwin's Silver Ribbon at Inkwell is 3 1/2 yo blue merle bitch bred by Debbie Mills, Milwin Kennel in Virginia. She is owned by Debbie Mills and Paula Waterman and resides with Paula. Ribbon was Reserve Winners Bitch at the Georgia ASCA National Specialty in October 2005. That same show her sire Apollo was a Premier 10 Dog and her aunt Breeze was Best of Breed; her cousin Miranda was Best of Breed Puppy, so it was a good day for the family! (This under 3 different judges, I might add!). She finished her ASCA Ch. in May of 2006 and her AKC Ch. a few months later, owner handled by Paula.

Since her Championship she has garnered frequent Bests of Breed and Best Opposite Sex awards as a Special in ASCA competition. In 5 Preshows in the past 2 years' National Specialty weeks she has garnered 3 Premier 10 bitch awards, including the First Premier award under judge David Clayton at the GAASC Preshow in NJ this year.

If I had to describe Ribbon's personality it would be effervescent. She is extremely agile and athletic, confident and smart. She is a 'natural' as a show dog, comfortable in the ring, tolerant and always expressive. Around the house she is silly, playful and always ready for a really rollicking game of frisbee. She cannot allow Flash, her house mate (not the 'Flash' to which she is being bred) to bring back the ball or the frisbee and so has perfected a technique of removing a tennis ball from Flash's mouth while both are running full-out to return the ball to me.

Ribbon is 19" and 35 pounds in hard condition. She has absolutely sound movement coming and going, good side gait and perfect foot timing. She has a flawless topline, lovely almond shaped eye and head planes resulting in a beautiful expression, excellent bite with full dentition, lovely straight bone, and, oh, pretty feet!

Ribbon is bred to Ch. Bayshore's Paparazzi. (not her housemate Flash) Flash is a handsome, moderately sized Black tri dog who spent his first several years in the UK showing quite successfully there. He was Crufts Best of Breed winner in 2003 and returned home to the US a couple of years ago. His strengths include sound movement with a truly ground-covering side gait, nice substance without excess, a wonderfully kind and good natured temperament, proper coat, correct head, and proven quality as a sire.

We hope he will help add a bit of substance for Ribbon, and a bit more shoulder layback and stifle bend while preserving that topline and timing she has, and we also hope to keep some of that really lovely expression and beauty. We should have good temperaments from this cross given what sire and dam show us.

She should be a good mother. We expect a mid-February litter. The litter is co-bred and co-owned by Debbie Mills, Milwin.

I will maintain this blog as a progress journal for the upcoming litter. Contact me privately at any time if this litter interests you at inkwellstudio@comcast.net
I will send you a puppy questionnaire to start and we can go from there. My goal is permanent great homes for some great puppies!