2:30 PM, Thursday, 4/10/2014, : Taka was in an eight sided, 6 foot diameter collapsible cage in the kitchen waiting for the puppies to come. This is where I hope she will have her puppies. Taka had been let outside from her kitchen cage several times before, but at 2:10 PM she did not come back from her potty break. At 2:30 PM I got a mirror and started walking the back yard shining sun light in all the available holes and under buildings. As I was walking up to a metal building I heard a tail wagging and hitting the floor joists. Taka as well as my other girls have had several litters under this building in the past. I reflected sun light under the building and there she was. I did not waste my time trying to get her out so there is where the puppies will be born. It is only one foot off the ground and previously I had to dig a trench for me to get under there but that got old so I put a trap door in the floor 4-5 years ago. Now I will be able to check on the puppies but not nearly as close as when they are in the house. I will just have to let mother look after them. I, or rather my wife, can hear the new born puppies from our bedroom window so I guess if they are not born by bed time we will leave the window open.

04:10PM, Thursday, 10th : Taka came back out from under the building and is now in the kitchen cage again- very nerve racking. At least now I have an opportunity to move my 4 wheeler from the building to give access to the trap door. She is getting very nervous as the delivery time approaches.

05:35 PM, Thursday, 10th : Taka back under metal building. I found when I moved the 4 wheeler that the trap door is in the wrong place and I may have to cut a new one. I did not want to relocate her hole while the trap door was opened because I do not have the hole specifications. Every time I build a hole the mother re does it.

Above is BP (before puppies came), Below is AP, (after puppies came)

06:25 PM, Thursday, 10th Day 1 : First puppy, a Chocolate, probably born 10 minutes ago because it looked partly cleaned up. Have not 100 % decided whether to leave Taka under building. It is very upsetting to the mother to move her during her delivery but I can watch them better in the house.

07:30 PM, Thursday, 10th Day 1 : First puppy was not Chocolate, it just still had dirt on it and was a Yellow. Second puppy looks Black but so does a wet Chocolate when using a flashlight. Tried one time to get puppies out but could not get under the building.

08:05 PM, Thursday, 10th Day 1 : Could not stand risking Taka laying on a puppy in those cramped quarters so dug another trench, got the puppies, and moved everybody into the kitchen. Now the kitchen is full of puppy noises. They are very loud to be so small. Will put some pictures to web tonight.

08:30 PM, Thursday, 10th Day 1 : Third puppy a Yellow. I do not want to handle them yet to check the sex, the less I handle them for a while the better. All you have to do is touch one and she will re clean it to get your smell off it. Probably the last update for the night. Went to bed 12:30 AM Friday morning..

03:55 AM, Friday, 11th Day 2 : 4 Blacks and 3 Yellows surviving. Lost one Yellow during delivery. Taka's litter puppy weights, Friday 8:55 PM, end of day 2, one day old ( 24 hours old ). Yellow weights in pounds: 0.68, 0.97, 1.03. Black Females weight: 0.74, 0.90, 1.03, Black Male 1.08 pounds.

11:22 AM, Friday, 11th Day 2 : All Taka's puppies are Female except for one Black Male. They will be ready for pickup May 22 Thursday, 23 Friday, 24th Saturday, or 25th Sunday. I will call around a week before this time period to schedule the pickup times.

07:25 PM, Friday, 11th Day 2 : All Taka's puppies are doing very good in the kitchen. I did remove a very full belly puppy from nursing and replaced it with one with a small belly. The rest of Taka's puppy weights will be shown in her puppy litter pictures below. Coco is in labor I think in her cage. I can monitor her pretty good with binoculars but when my wife comes home she can hear the puppies, when they come, from our open bedroom window.

10:05 PM, Friday, 11th Day 2 : CoCo has 2 Yellow puppies under her shelter. May move her inside the house to the den tomorrow. I am afraid to try it in the dark while she is still delivering because she may drop one in the confusion and it will be hard to find in the dark. They will be ready to pickup Thursday 5/22/2014 thru Sunday 5/25/2014.

06:50 AM, Saturday 12th Day 3 : Coco has 3 Yellows, two Females and 1 Male. I do not know if she is thru yet.

08:20 AM, Saturday, 12th Day 3 : All 10 puppies doing good. Had let Taka out of the kitchen and on to the back porch for my wife to feed- I thought she was back in kitchen so I let Coco out and she went to the back porch and started toward the open kitchen sliding glass door where Taka's puppies were. Taka who is older and lighter than Coco jumped on her and sent Coco back off the porch- don't mess with Taka's puppies no matter what size or age you are. Last update for today.

03:40 AM, Tuesday Day 6 : Heavy rain. Had the bedroom window open so I could hear if it started raining because Coco's gage will flood under a heavy rain. 3:40 AM - Got out of bed and moved Coco's puppies to metal building. She took the move very well. I got soaking wet laying on the ground in the mud in a pouring rain reaching over Coco to feel for the puppies. I sure am glad it was not Taka's puppies in the same situation because it would have been very difficult to get the puppies while reaching over her, she would block your every move in your trying to get one of her puppies. I did not get back in bed till around 4:30 AM.

7:20 PM, Wednesday, 4/16/2014 Day 7 : Taka's one week puppy weight in pounds ( actually lacks one day from being a week- I was thinking today was Thursday probably from lack of sleep ). Three blonds, 1.34, 1.52, 1.74. Three Black Females 1.23, 1.49, 1.69. Only Black Male 1.67, He is not the heaviest now. Will weigh Coco's puppies tomorrow. May reweigh Taka's tomorrow and Coco's Friday. Coco is free to roam since her relocation to the building. I had Taka on the back porch and for the second time Coco came up but thank goodness the kitchen sliding glass door was closed this time so no fight this time but Taka did very aggressively escort Coco back off the porch. Taka is my most laid back dog but do not mess with her puppies. Even being almost a week old, if I pick a puppy up she will not get up now but she watches that puppy like a hawk and if I start to leave with it Taka is immediately beside me with her nose up against the puppy.

8:55 AM, Thursday 4/17/2014 Day 8 : All Taka's Blondes will be Black nosed. It looks like all CoCo's will be Black nosed also. All 10 puppies still doing good.

09:25 AM, Saturday, 4/19/2014 Day 10 : All puppies doing very good. I still have not checked CoCo's Blonds for black noses. I thought the feet were turning several days ago but I also thought Blondie and Miss Vader were pregnant and they were not.

09:05 AM, Monday, 04/21/2014 Day 12 : All puppies doing good. Registered both Litters. CoCo has dirt on her nose- I hope she is not planning to move her puppies under the metal building she is in now, it is the one with the trap door in the floor where Taka started out. I will start calling for a deposit on the puppies Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th. That will cover one week day and one weekend day. I should be able to contact most people during this period.

12 Noon, Tuesday, 4/22/14 Day 13 : One of Taka's Blonde Females has her eyes about one half open on Day 13. Taka has not mellowed yet with her puppies so it may be a little longer than two weeks before I will allow visitors. All Coco's Yellows will be Black nosed.

1:40 AM, and again at 3:35 AM Wednesday, 4/23/2014 Day 14 : Taka jumped out of her cage in the kitchen and came in the bedroom wanting out so got I up and let her out and had to wait for her to return, not much sleep.

10:35 AM, Friday, 4/25/2014 Day 16 : Taka's two week puppy weights , Yellow Females ( YF ) : 2.22, 2.57, 2.86. Black Females 2.13, 2.55, 2.79. Jamie's Black Male 2.68. CoCo's two week puppy weights YF, 2.51, 2.88. Chris's YM 3.17.

1:45 PM, Friday, 4/25/2014 Day 16 : All puppies have a deposit promised as of 12 noon. If any deposits are not received which would make that puppy available again I will continue down my list. You will not have to do anything. Sorry for the people that missed out. I did not have the number of puppies I was expecting. It will be around six months, September / October before I will have any more puppies available. If you wish to stay on the list I will put a mark beside your name and you can keep the same place in line at the same price for the Fall litters if you contact me even though I may have a price increase for future litters.

5:25 PM, Friday, 4/25/2014 Day 16 : Previously the puppies only made puppy noises but now they are starting to growl and bark. I guess they think they are ferocious but they are really very funny. Shortly, as their eyesight improves, they will start barking and growling at people approaching but if you keep coming they turn and high tale it back back to mama. Later as their eye site gets better and they can identify people, they will start running towards you. This will happen around week 4-5 and makes some good picture opportunities.

9:00 AM, Sunday, 4/27/2014 Day 18 : All 10 puppies doing good. Interesting note, I had recently seen one Lab advertisement that was selling Labs puppies like mine at 8 weeks old for $1250. They even offered to keep them till 12 weeks old and house break them for another $500. Strange but I just noticed my 2-1/2 week old Labs are already moving away from the puppy pile to use the bathroom. Mine must be very exceptional or the other breeder may be a little greedy. See my "puppy notes , link 2 " to see what a Lab normally does for free.

9:05 PM, Sunday, 4/27/2014 Day 18 : Taka is staying in her cage outside except at feeding time now. She needs relief from the puppies and is getting bad about jumping out of the foldable cage that might collapse and fall on the puppies. Taka even at her age is still the highest jumper I have. She generally comes to the bedroom around 3 AM and again around 6AM to be let out and that had gotten old. I saw two of Taka's puppies tussling for the first time this afternoon. Also for the first time, I saw one puppy stand on its back legs to nurse Taka while Taka was standing up. CoCo has been relocated back to her cage so the puppies can lay on the cool dirt. The metal house they were in was getting hot even with the double doors open. I will have more control over CoCo also while she is in her cage.

12:30 PM, Monday, 4/28/2014 Day 19 : Morning update, running late. I have received three deposits on (1)BM, (1)BF, and (1)YF . All puppies doing great. I will take a Black and a Blond to the Harrisburg Farmers Market today, 3P to 6P. Taka still outside- is working much better. If these were wild dogs, MaMa may have to be gone 8-12 hours to find food to feed herself and make enough baby milk. The puppies rest and sleep better now when MaMa is gone. They are changing very fast now in their actions and sounds they are making.

08:45 PM, Monday, 4/28/2014 Day 19 : Taka is having trouble with her seven puppies and their puppy claws. I will trim them tomorrow. I tried to put the Black Females with CoCo to nurse her but Taka and CoCo have an ongoing argument as to who is the top girl and CoCo would have nothing to do with Taka's puppies. It worked great this past Fall with Taka and Miss Vader, each would feed the others puppies like they were their own. Puppy deposit and pickup information will be shown at the top of my home page.

08:40 PM, Tuesday, 4/29/2014 Day 20 : Moved all Taka's puppies to yard in special made puppy cage. They stayed outside from around 10 AM to 7 PM and seemed to enjoy it. Will post 3-4 more videos tonight.

09:55 AM, Wednesday, 4/30/2012 Day 21 : Rain predicted at 2 AM and started at 02:10 AM , Got up and looked at CoCo with flashlight and binoculars from bedroom window and everybody seemed ok. Intermittent heavy rain so finally got up and relocated small one foot high puppy cage shown in video from the yard to the back porch. Lay on wet muddy ground again and collected CoCo's puppies in a bucket and relocated them to the back porch to the cage. The puppies are so big I have to use a bucket to move three at a time now. Got back in bed 4:20 AM but could not go to sleep. Was very happy it was not Taka's puppies that needed moving because she would not move out of the way so I could get the puppies. She would use her body as a shield around her puppies. Long night. Ended up that the cage did not flood but I could not take a chance. 09:45 AM, relocated CoCo's puppies back to her cage and then moved Taka's puppies to back porch to take rubber backed mats outside to pressure wash.

07:15 PM, Thursday, 5/01/14 : Day 22 :Taka is showing the wear and tear of seven puppies. I brushed her coat some today and got some winter hair off. CoCo is doing great as well as all ten puppies. For several days I have put Taka's small Black Male and a Small Yellow Female feeding separately so they get a belly full of milk. The small Female will stay small but all bets are off on the Male. The present tallest dog in the world is a Great Dane and was picked because he was the runt of the litter. When the big T kicks in a Male can change a lot. I offered Taka's litter both water and Purina Puppy Food sprinkled with milk but could not get any takers. They did eat some puppy food the next day.

04:10 PM, Friday, 5/2/14 Day 23 : Added video of Taka's puppies to home page eating their first dry Purina Puppy Chow.

9:45 AM, Saturday, 5/3/14 Day 24 : All puppies may be visited starting today, call to schedule time.Very bad scare last night: When there are no puppies around either Taka or CoCo is left out to roam around and guard the farm from raccoons, deer, coyotes, etc. Went to Lions club around 5:30 PM yesterday and CoCo was out watching us drive out of site around the curve. Returned 8:30 PM and CoCo did not meet us. Let all the dogs out and called, rang the bell, walked around the house and no CoCo. Rode around the block both ways to cover both ditches in case she had been hit by a car but she has never gotten far enough from the house to reach the road by herself. Called neighbors, continued ringing the bell, made plans in the morning to drive block again, call animal control, fly around the property and surrounding areas. Did not sleep well. My wife and I got up multiple times to shine a flashlight towards her cage to see her eyes but no CoCo. 5:00 AM thought I heard a dog barking around 100 yards to the North of house, got up, opened kitchen sliding glass door to back porch and barking stopped as the door opened, called but did not ring bell. Got up again 6:15 as was turning light where I could see and stepped on back porch and listened- nothing. Looked North to the empty stud cage about 100 yards away and something dark was there not moving but sitting up- it was CoCo. This cage is where my studs are kept sometimes and has the only self closing door on any of the cages to help control them. She had gone in and got trapped and is the only dog I have that almost never barks when she wants out. We were very glad to see each other ! On day 24 saw Taka's and CoCo's puppies drinking water this morning and have been eating puppy chow for several days so that hurdle is over with.

11:25 PM, Sunday, 5/4/14 Day 25 : Last deposit promised around 10 PM tonight on the last puppy, a Black Female. Sitting in the kitchen with my back close to the puppy cage it seemed one puppy was very unhappy. I finally looked around and a Black 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 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." The puppies are eating and drinking good and that has taken a lot of pressure off of both MaMas. Taka even stays with her puppies longer now that she does not get mauled so bad when she shows up. She is a lot more relaxed now and had no problem with visitors showing up to handle her puppies today. She did go around and check each and every person out though before they got near her puppies. The next visit on the following day I found out how important this checking out process is. The puppies stayed out side around 15 hours today.

6:15 PM, Monday, 5/5/14 Day 26 : Taka was nursing her puppies when some visitors arrived. Unlike yesterday, she did not have the opportunity to meet the visitors and check every body out before they got too close to her puppies but I did not think too much about it. About one or two minutes later as they moved towards the back side of the cage where Taka was still nursing her puppies I saw the look described in CoCo still pictures in the forth picture in the forth section below and knew I had about one second to react to Taka's stare but the problem was, I was two seconds away. After about one second as expected Taka reacted. Me being two seconds away I could not physically stop her but I shouted for everybody to head to the car. She charged them and sent everybody flying but even though she can still clear a four foot high fence she was evidently satisfied with the high speed retreat and she remained in the one foot high puppy cage. After that I put her up in her cage. She sure got everybody's attention though ! I learned another lesson, " Let Taka meet the visitors and check them out before they get too close to her puppies ". I will keep her put up for another week to help insure she is ok. There are two signs in the yard saying to " Stay in car, Mama dogs will bite" All 10 puppies still doing good. I will probably start calling to schedule pickup times around May 15th. Be sure to have my name in your phone contacts if you can.

7:15 PM, Wednesday, 5/7/14 Day 28 : Taka was out when I left and then came back from the store. Guess where I found her when I got back home- Locked in the stud cage like CoCo had been. This time after letting her out I locked the door to the unused cage, smart move. I would love to leave the puppies out tonight but I am not quite brave enough yet. Maybe this weekend. 09:15 PM Decided the puppies will spend the night outside, almost. I am still afraid to leave in yard so they will stay on the back porch. The 3 gallon bucket I could carry the four small ones in or the three big ones has gotten too small to carry them in now so I will use one of my wife's clothes basket. This will still be the first time they did not spend the night in the kitchen. We will sleep with the East bedroom window open to hopefully hear any problems.

8:00 AM, Thursday, 4/8/14 Day 29 : Took one puppy to the vet for a slight swelling under its chin. Vet lanced it, gave it a shot and said will be ok.

07:30 PM Sunday 5/11/14 Day 32 : Taka's puppies stayed in cage in carport last night due to the 2" of heavy rain. CoCo's cage flooded but the puppies can now seek higher ground and they were not bothered with the flooding. Taka's puppies will stay outside in grass in special cage tonight and from now on unless there is bad weather. My wife gave Taka a whole chicken that had gotten old in the refrigerator. With out us realizing it Taka had given it to her puppies and they ate the whole thing. They look like they would bust. Dogs are after all hunters / scavengers and when food is available they have to eat a lot and eat it fast because in the wild they may get chased off their meal and the next meal may be days away. Taka is a very good mother and the most protective mother I have. The way she loves chicken and likes to eat, it took a lot to give her chicken away to her puppies. I also thin slice a hot dog and give one to each litter to teach the puppies to come when I call and to eat from my hand. New video of CoCo's puppies linked from home page.

08:15 PM Tuesday 5/13/2014 Day 34 : I am now moving Taka's puppies between their day time cage with Shade, Food, and Water to their night time cage with the use of a high sided wagon. Those two trips in the morning and two at night with three or four puppies in a clothes basket is getting old as they gain weight and hurting my back. I move them about 120 feet one way. As I was leaning over the one foot high cage and petting the puppies two of them climbed out today. I may switch to an eighteen inch high tomorrow on the side I pet them from. They are not quite smart enough to go to the lower back side yet but that day will come.

08:50 PM Thursday 5/15/2014 Day 36 : Moved Taka's puppies back to the carport due to the 2" rain that started while I was walking Baxter, CoCo, Miss Vader, and Blondie around 7AM. There cage and everything else around here is soaking wet. Uploaded 1 video taken around 7 PM today of the puppies back in the carport and a second of them climbing out of their one foot high cage before they were relocated to the stud cage. Taka's puppies are staying in the stud cage at the curve in the drive both day and night now and this should be their last move.

09:20 PM Sunday 5/18/2014 Day 39 : Went Hampton, Va over the weekend to visit my daughter and my son watched the puppies. The puppies are all doing great. Taka is sleeping and staying on top of the weather shelter in the cage to get a little R&R from the puppies most of the time. It is very challenging now to walk in the cage with seven puppies around your feet. I have to wear long pants now around the puppies because all want to put their front feet on my legs wanting picked up and they have very sharp claws.

1:00 PM Sunday, 5/25/2014 Day 45 and Monday Day 47 ; The last of Taka's seven puppies was picked up 5/24/2014. For several days after that Taka kept sniffing and hanging around the cage that last held her puppies.

The last puppy of CoCo's three puppies I held till Monday 5/26/2014 around 12:30 PM and was picked up on the way back from a beach vacation for the trip to its new home in Virginia. All references to CoCo's puppies is one less day than shown.

Second section "VIDEOS"

All click able you tube video links from the May litters may not work due to some old links. You may have to copy and paste to your browser top address bar to view the You Tube videos of the May litters.

Here are several links to Taka's puppy videos on Day 9 and 10, and Day 15, All these links may be removed sometime after the puppies are picked up so if you wish to copy them do it before June 1st, 2014. http://youtu.be/FEvnscL_XUA ,http://youtu.be/u3yDG7H4hog , http://youtu.be/M6imDa5-v7k , http://youtu.be/o_ZjjfDbf48 , http://youtu.be/7ieZxMQcAGI , http://youtu.be/PjE5fCDE-FE .

Here are several links to CoCo's puppy videos on Day 8, and Day 14 , http://youtu.be/39AfRJNDGLM , http://youtu.be/y2mXtfyhup4 , http://youtu.be/v7MBbrMTpq4 , http://youtu.be/s2WVcaZqKio , http://youtu.be/IPTMj4wH_t0 .

NEW Video Links 4/29/2014, Day 20 ::: http://youtu.be/SbSdwperEvA , http://youtu.be/O7Jx1MxXfkQ , http://youtu.be/hn3G7K-9LZA , http://youtu.be/hn3G7K-9LZA , http://youtu.be/-6RbEqPCfBE , http://youtu.be/EO9gJVhmGKE .

New Video: http://youtu.be/d5e_AOUkMXA

New video 5/6/14 : http://youtu.be/ZILIyIJY1Lo , http://youtu.be/0Xgwxcbq2xQ , http://youtu.be/uz5uu5v_bys

Four week Plus 2 days, New Video, 5/10/14, Saturday : Taka's puppies-4 weeks-1 ; Taka's 4 week old puppies-2 ; Taka's 4 week old puppies-3 ; Taka's 4 week old puppies-4 ; Moved all Taka's puppies from yard to carport when we got 0.95" rain and yard flooded. Dried puppies off with towel and they seemed to like pulling on it.

New Video 5/11/14 Sunday : Chris's Yellow Male from CoCo

New Video 05/13/2014 Tuesday : Taka's seven feeding ; Taka's puppies climbing the fence

New Video 5/15/14 Thursday : James's and Vicki's Black Male

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