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Puppy time line expected for Blondie: ( Blondie did not get pregnant this time!)

Breed : First or second week in September, 2015.

Start showing a tummy : October 12 - 19, 2015.

Deliver : November 6 - 13, 2015.

Call for deposits : November 20 - 27, 2015.

Eyes open : November 20 - 27th, 2015.

Eat dry puppy chow and drink water : November 27- Dec 4th, 2015.

Ready for their new home : Shortly after December 18th, 2015.

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Puppy time line expected for Taka. (Taka did not get pregnant this time!)

Breed: 9/16/2015 to 9/23/2015.

Start showing a tummy: October 21, 2015 to October 28, 2015.

Deliver: November 16, 2015 - November 23, 2015.

Call for deposits: November 30, 2015 - December 7, 2015.

Eyes open: November 30, 2015 - December 7, 2015.

Eat dry dog food and drink water: December 14, 2015 - December 21, 2015.

Ready for their new homes: December 28, 2015 - January 4, 2016.

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Puppy time line expected for Miss Vader: ( Miss Vader did not get pregnant this time!)

Breed:

Start showing a tummy: To be determined shortly.

Deliver: To be determined shortly.

Call for deposits: To be determined shortly.

Eyes open: To be determined shortly.

Eat dry dog food and drink water: To be determined shortly.

Ready for their new homes: To be determined shortly.

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8/31/2015 Monday 8:28 AM; Blondie is progressing faster than I thought. She may stand for Baxter as early as later today. This morning there was no rejection towards Baxter from Blondie and she will be let out at least two more times today with Baxter when we go to the creek. She had 10 and raised 10 from Baxter on her last two litters, one in the Fall of 2014 , and one in the Spring of 2015. Well, I was hoping for a brief breather from the breeding/puppy stage but it does not look like I will get one. The last puppies from CoCo were picked up yesterday at 1:10 PM. At 10:00 PM tonight when I let the dogs out Baxter would not go back into his cage and wanted to stay with Blondie. It took 3 of his tennis balls thrown into his cage to put him up and even that will not work tomorrow. I will have to either put a collar on him and drag him in or let Blondie go into his cage then have a major struggle getting her back out without him also coming out. It is going to be a difficult three weeks and that is if none of the other girls come in heat. A man brought one of Blondie's and Baxter's male puppies by today, from her Fall of 2014 litter, and he was the best looking dog I can ever remember seeing. At 11 months of age he was tall, lean, stout, and weighed over 80 pounds. This was the first of Baxter's puppies that I have seen since they left here and I was very satisfied with the looks of him. I have a few pictures I may add tomorrow. I am too tired to do it now.

9/1/2015 Tuesday 9:07 AM; Blondie is tempting Baxter but she is still not quite ready yet. She bit him this morning for trying to mount her. Baxter is not getting discouraged though. He did go into his cage to retrieve his ball around 8:15 PM so maybe I will have a few more days of calm before things get out of control. Below are three images of a Yellow Male at eleven months old and 80+ pounds from Blondie and Baxter born in the Fall of 2014- a very beautiful dog. I was busy and did not have time to set the camera up for good pictures. I will try to get better pictures of him next week and replace these.

9/2/2015 Wednesday, 8:21 PM; I am still able to get Baxter away from Blondie and back into his cage if I get his attention and time throwing the ball right. Gave Blondie and Miss Vader a flea bath today. For some reason I have never seen a flea on Baxter and so he has not had a flea bath since I got him. The creek has stopped flowing but there is still a deep hole to wash the Dawn off the dogs.

9/3/2015 Thursday, 10:14 AM; Things are progressing normally and well with Blondie and Baxter. Blondie went in Baxter's cage after our 7 AM morning walk but shortly after, I heard her mournful bark wanting back out. All dogs have some form of mournful bark but Blondie's is different and you can not listen to it long before you have to do something. Her's is the most mournful I have ever heard and it gets results fast. I did not see anything happen so I will not count this as a start time on the puppies.

9/5/2015 Saturday, 7:25 PM; Well Blondie and Baxter pulled a fast one on me this morning. When they were let out around 7:15 AM the two lovers took off to the woods for some private time and it took a while to get them back. It made us late leaving for Mayberry to eat a pork chop sandwich at the Snappy Lunch Counter. We made it in time and it was good. Blondie stayed with Baxter last night and will again tonight but I have observed no activity yet. Who knows what goes on when the lights go out but I will hopefully start the puppy count down from the first confirmed mating. Either this past Spring or this past Fall I never did see a breeding but Blondie had ten puppies both times so something was going on. Blondie is completely ready now. Baxter had his first truck ride in the bed of my truck today and did ok.

9/8/2015 Tuesday, 9:10 AM; Blondie stayed with her sister Sunday night but as soon as she was let out she went to the other side of the hangar to potty and then trotted straight to Baxter's cage door and I let her in. Except for our trips to the creek she stayed in his cage all day. She was in his cage all last night.

9/11/2015 Friday, 12:39 PM; Things are progressing. Blondie stayed with her sister last night and when let out this morning she still went ahead of me and walked straight to  Baxter’s cage but only half heartily. After about one hour she wanted back out so she is coming out of heat and the breeding is probably over with. She will still carry the scent and keep Baxter excited for another week but as it stands now she will not be put back in with him this round. If Blondie will not go into Baxter's cage then I will have a difficult time getting him put back up and will have to put a leash on him. They will still be together for our trips to the creek so I can still evaluate them to see if they need to be put back together. Now it is just a waiting game to see if she starts getting a belly around 5 weeks from now, around the 15th of October. Once again I have no definite starting date which increases the worry factor several times. The last time I had a difficult time keeping her from having her puppies under the wood pile in the hangar so she will probably try to do the same again. At least I can see her start digging which is usually the day before delivery. Estimated delivery Saturday, November 10th and estimated pickup, Saturday, December 15th.

9/16/2015 Wednesday 8:12 AM; Well things have started changing on the farm again. After Taka is let out the first time in the morning, she is fed then walks beside the hangar on her way to the woods for her break. Baxter's cage is about 25 feet from the hangar. Well, Monday and Tuesday mornings, after Taka was fed, instead of walking beside the hangar, she walked along the side of Baxter's cage on the way to the woods. Baxter noticed the new path immediately. Well this morning she went to Baxter's cage and stopped at the door, turned and looked at me so I went over and let her in. They seemed glad to see each other.

9/18/2015 Friday 11:01 AM; Taka would not leave Baxter's cage yesterday. Every time I walked up to the cage she would run and get in Baxter's house, afraid I would take her out. This morning I guess she was hungry so she met me at the door and now Baxter tried every trick he knew to keep her from leaving. I finally got them separated enough for Taka to slip out but as soon as she was fed, she went right back to his cage and wanted in again. Breeding time is very difficult in trying to figure what is going on and what is the best thing to do about it. I have not witnessed a mating yet on Taka.

9/23/2015 Wednesday, 10:00 AM; Summer is gone. The temperature has dropped considerably over the last two days and Fall is in the air. For the first time this breeding period Taka jumped out of Baxter's cage this morning. I then fed her and after her break put her in her own pen out of site of Baxter so he has finally stopped barking. She may be thru with Baxter so I do not plan to put them back together tonight which will not only make the night quieter with little barking but will give him, my wife and I, some much needed rest. The next thing to happen is when the girls start showing a tummy at around 5 weeks.

9/24/2015 Thursday, 8:20 AM; With Taka in her cage last night it was all quiet around the house and the much needed rest was welcomed. After feeding her and her taking her break, Taka again went to Baxter's door and wanted in so she will stay with him most if not all day. Well things have started changing on the farm again. Miss Vader has been getting extra attention from all the dogs the last several days. Yesterday she bit Baxter for his messing around with her and the other girls have also detected some changes going on ??????- to be continued......

9/25/2015 Friday, 9:40 AM; Well the trouble has intensified. Blondie, CoCo, Miss Vader, and Baxter were out for a break and chasing the ball. I noticed Baxter was always beside Miss Vader and when time to kennel up he would not go in his pen and when I tried to catch him and put a leash on him he was always on the other side of Miss Vader. Miss Vader is not ready, and will not be ready for around a week, so she would not put up with him messing with her. Taka finally came out from hiding in Baxter's house and when Baxter saw her he ran thru the door into his pen so all is back to a controllable situation now. After caring for the other dogs I finally got Taka out and she will stay in her pen today and tonight hopefully. It looks like November, December and January will busy times. UPDATE: Noon, When Taka was let out around Noon today she ate, took her break, and when she was told to kennel up she went to her own cage so hopefully she is thru with Baxter and I only have to manage Miss Vader. ***** Miss Vader was my savior around 12:15 PM today. She started barking a very concerned bark so I jumped up from the computer to see what direction she was barking and it was toward the hangar. I saw lots of smoke between the hangar and the plane that was sitting on the runway so I ran out to where the smoke was coming from and saw a small fire in the grass about 4" wide. The drop cord I had going to the plane to charge the battery had shorted out and set the grass on fire. Luckily the grass was wet so it did not make a big fire but it could have been very bad. Thank you Miss Vader. Miss Vader was the only one that barked although all the other dogs could see the smoke and were closer to it except Taka whose dog house faced away from the smoke. This is a clear demonstration that each dog will have their own personality, just like human kids do. Even though Blondie is the sweetest- she will stand and look you in the eyes till you pet her, and CoCo is the most affectionate- she will stop in front of you and lift your hand with her head to get petted, today it was the most protective , Miss Vader, that saved the day.

9/28/2015, Monday, 5:48 PM; Fairly calm on the farm for the last several days. I plan to see how Miss Vader is coming along tomorrow when I will return to the regular schedule of letting Taka out first and after putting her back up I will let the rest out. Miss Vader should be close to getting ready and as soon as she is I will put her in Baxter's cage with him.

9/29/2015, Tuesday, 2:03 PM; Well Baxter showed no interest in Miss Vader this morning so it must have a false signal. That will leave only Taka and Blondie that I am expecting puppies from this Fall and I have removed the expected litter time line for Miss Vader. Taka still will go to Baxter's cage about half the time when told to kennel up but it is only for companionship as Baxter pays her no attention and only want out.

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The following is copied from the May 2014 litter. I think it is very appropriate and I may include it in some or all future litter updates. This generally happens when the puppy is about 3-1/2 to 4 weeks old:

Sitting in the kitchen watching TV with my back close to the puppy cage it seemed one puppy was very unhappy. I finally looked around and a Black puppy was standing on its back legs with its front legs on the cage just behind me and I realized it wanted picked up. This is a normal development phase but the first time a puppy does it in each litter it is very special. This act is the beginning of a lifetime of faithfully service, not only wanting to be fed, scratched, and played with, but to risk its life to protect its human family. I picked it up, rubbed its ears and scratched its chest and the base of the tail and it seemed satisfied. I put it back down in the cage and it quietly started snuggling up to the others and went to sleep. It is the dog that most contributed to the rapid wide spread success of the human race. It is the dog that is not afraid of the dark and when a noise is heard beyond the light of the campfire, it is the dog that will hear the noise first and not only alert the possibly sleeping humans, but will go out into the darkness where the early humans would not go and challenge an intruder even at the risk of its own life. Mark Twain, "Samuel Clemens ", said, " If dogs can not go to Heaven, then I want to go where dogs go."

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10/5/2015 Monday, 7:28 PM; Well things are progressing I hope. Around two more weeks before Blondie's tummy starts showing. Updates will slow until then.

10/12/2015 Monday, 8:21 PM; Things had started to settle down after this round of breeding but have started to pick up again in the last several days. All the dogs and especially Baxter have picked up on a change in Miss Vader. She fooled everybody several weeks ago but nothing came of it but things seem to be changing on the farm again. I am again having trouble putting Baxter back up after our walks and this morning he followed Miss Vader into her cage which he had never done before. At least I could get a leash on him while in the cage so that worked out ok although it consumed more time than our usual walks. Miss Vader is still playing hard to get and growls at and bites Baxter when he comes courting. Stay tuned ...... .

10/13/2015 Tuesday, 7:45 PM; Things have really exploded on the farm. Miss Vader has started accepting Baxter and actually went in his cage when all the dogs were told to kennel up. The suddenness of this has caught me by surprise. She will stay in his cage tonight and I will see what will happen tomorrow.

10/20/2015 Tuesday,9:29 AM; Miss Vader is still going in Baxter's cage when I put her up. I have seen no confirmed breeding this round with any of the three girls and Blondie seems several days late showing a tummy this time. I hope everything is going as planned. Stay tuned.

10/21/2015 Wednesday, 9:09 AM; Thank goodness, things have returned to normal, at least what some people would call normal for around here. Baxter gives all the girls a quick check and then wants to retrieve the ball. This reduces the anxiety many times while they are all out and makes it 10 times easier to get all the dogs back in their kennels. For the last while I had to either trick Miss Vader to go into Baxter's cage and then try to get her back out without Baxter, and that was a major struggle, or try to put something around his neck to pull him in - none of my dogs wear collars and he seems to always be just out of reach. This morning I just threw a tennis ball in his cage and when he went in to get it I latched the door. This is the usual way to get him back in he's cage. I would have expected to see a change in Blondie by now but nothing is showing that I can detect yet. I will just have to wait and see what develops.

10/28/2015 Wednesday, 11:31 AM; Well Blondie is not showing which is probably a bad sign. I am not able to determine on Taka either. Next week should show something. Keep your fingers crossed.

11/5/2015 Thursday, 8:57 AM; Well it looks like there will be No puppies this Fall. Blondie was estimated to deliver tomorrow and she is showing no signs. Taka was around a week behind and she is showing No signs. Miss Vader is a maybe for Winter puppies but she has had very small litters for the past several years. It will be around six months before Blondie, Taka, and Miss Vader are ready again. CoCo should be next and she may be ready to breed around January. Sorry for all the unfulfilled plans for your new puppy(s). Miss Vader has hidden three before and did not show till the day before delivery when her portable feeding stations started enlarging so only time will tell for sure.

11/11/2015 Wednesday, 6:00 PM; Got delivery of 1000 pounds of dog food today. I usually get one ton or 2000 pounds but I had to change suppliers so I will try out a single pallet to see how the dogs like it before ordering two pallets.

11/15/2015 Sunday, 7:44 AM; UPDATE: I noticed things seem to be changing on the farm this morning. After I let all the dog out and was coming back in the house I noticed some evidence on the back porch that one of the girls may be coming in heat. All but CoCo came in around three months ago so it seems CoCo may be starting the cycle again to make some more pretty Lab puppies. If this assumption is correct then her puppies will be ready for their new homes around the first of March. She had 9 this past Summer.

11/24/2015 Tuesday, 7:45 PM; Well nothing has come from the evidence on the back porch yet so it must have been something else. CoCo still will be next with some of those beautiful Lab puppies and it has been so long since there was a litter around for me to play with that I am getting withdrawal symptoms. I hope she hurries up.

12/13/2015 Sunday, Things are happening on the farm. After a ten day struggle my most beautiful and smartest, Taka, went to doggie heaven at 4PM today. She will be greatly missed. Please make no comments on this for awhile. Since Friday, Baxter has been giving CoCo more attention than he does retrieving the ball for the first several minutes each time they are let out and since the next girl to come in heat is expected to be CoCo I will be keeping a close watch on them in the coming days. This has been a long update period with no puppies and I hope the puppy drought will soon be over with.