Important Update: Blondie's puppies may come as early as Wednesday, 4/15/2015. New web page was started, 4/14/2015, 3D, on Blondie's coming litter. If you are on the list and did not get a call for Taka's puppies and still want a puppy then drop me an email.

This is Link 3C, PUPPY UPDATE ON THE LITTER Born 3/2/2015 from Taka with two Black Females, two Black Males and two Blond Males, CoCo did not get pregnant, Miss Vader lost her only puppy- a Blond Male. Blondie was bred the week of 2/24/2015 and will have a litter maybe as soon as April 15th. All puppies are sold at 6 weeks of age. To get one of my puppies you must fill out the form at the bottom of link 5 so I will know what you want.

This page was started 12:26 PM 12/12/2014, Friday when I noticed one of my Chocolate girls, CoCo, starting the process of making some more beautiful Lab puppies. The first of the three expected litters should be born in late February or early March of 2015. Page updated regularly.

3/7/2014 11:02 AM, NOTICE:::: All Taka's puppies born 3/2/2015 have a deposit on them as of 3/27/2015. I will start calling for deposits on Blondie's litter when they are around two weeks old, sometime around April 29th if she delivers on the time I estimated. See link 3D on my home page for Blondie's information.

12/11/2014 Thursday: Baxter not at all interested in his favorite thing of retrieving the ball this morning ???............ He followed CoCo around as long as both were out. Later Taka had been out for around 30 minutes and as I walked by Baxter's cage she went to his door, turned towards me, and wanted in. After letting her in they did the head to head play thing by putting one fore arm on the others back, aorta like a boy putting his arm around a girl. This act of wanting to play with a Male is one of the first sign that the girl may be starting another puppy cycle. After around 30 minutes Taka wanted back out. Nether Taka nor CoCo had puppies in the last round of litters in the Fall of 2014 so to be continued .....

12/12/2014 Friday, Noon. CoCo had been out all morning, mostly laying in the sun on the back porch while watching me thru the sliding glass doors. I went out to the carport and when she came around the house to the carport I noticed the first sign I had seen that a new breeding cycle probably is starting. After closer examination, she is definitely getting ready. Looks like Baxter beat me again as to recognizing when the girls are starting to get ready for breeding. You can not fool a stud male.

12/12/2014 Friday 1 PM. When Miss Vader, Blondie, CoCo, and Baxter were let out for their Noon romp, Baxter paid the ball no attention, he was only interested in CoCo. CoCo should be ready around Sunday 12/14/2014. If this is the case then following is the puppy time line: The first puppies may be born around February 15th ( Ended up being March 2nd from Taka) even though I did not see a confirmed breeding this time. The puppies will be ready for their new homes at 6 weeks of age, around March 29th.( Ended up being April 13th) Videos will not normally start until the puppies come.

12/19/2014 Friday 7:20 PM, CoCo still ready. I have not witnessed a mating yet so I hope all is progressing as expected. I am alternating between letting her stay in Baxter's cage during the day then skipping a day and letting her in over night the next time. CoCo has been in ready for about a week. Taka still wants in Baxter's cage to play but is not ready yet. Baxter at times shows a lot of interest in Miss Vader but she lets him know right away that she is not interested and has bitten him several times already.

12/22/2014 Monday 8:52 PM, Strange things happening on the farm. I was planning to update only once per week but that may change. CoCo is still ready to breed. Miss Vader is getting a lots less aggressive in her rejection when Baxter checks her out. She does not try to bite him now but will only take his messing around for a very short time, this time will gradually get longer and longer. I had let Taka out earlier and forgot about her so everything looked normal when I let Blondie and Miss Vader out, I then walked to the two cages, one containing CoCo and one containing Baxter. If Taka had been out she would have met me at the back door when I came out and I would have known to put her up before letting the other dogs out. I let CoCo out and walked to Baxter's cage and all of a sudden there was a Chocolate dog in with him. After a second or two I got a better look and realized it was Taka. She has been interested in him for several days and when I did not put her back up fast enough then she jumped a four foot section in his cage to be with him. She is not ready yet but is really starting to like to play with a Male. I may leave Taka with Baxter tonight. Stay tuned !

12/25/2014 Thursday 9:50 AM, CoCo still wants in Baxter's cage but he is starting to show more interest in Miss Vader now. Miss Vader has stopped all her aggressive actions when Baxter comes calling. She is starting to allow him more liberties so she is starting to be ready for another breeding cycle shortly. When let out this morning, Taka disappeared. I again found her in Baxter's cage. She had jumped in with him for the third time in about a week. That leaves only Blondie showing no signs now and, after having and raising 10 puppies in the last litter, she may miss this time.

12/26/2014 Friday 7:25 PM, First notice that Baxter may be getting interested in Blondie. If she does come into heat now then it will be the first time all four of my girls are ready since I got my new stud Baxter and it will be a very good test of 2-1/2 year old Baxter. Thank goodness CoCo is finished or almost finished. Miss Vader was in Baxter's cage all afternoon but Taka will be with him tonight. I will have to wait to see how Blondie progresses.

12/30/2014 Tuesday 9:13 AM, Baxter has lost all interest in CoCo. His main interest is now in Miss Vader. She had three puppies with him this Fall. When I tell Taka to kennel up, she is still going to Baxter's cage door and turning around to watch me so I will let her in with him. Taka did not have any puppies during the Fall round. Blondie has shown no sign so far that she is ready to have some more puppies. She may sit out this round of breeding. Blondie did an excellent job of delivering and raising 10 this last round.

12/31/2014 Wednesday 9:50 PM, Do not want to start daily updates till puppies come but did see first confirmed mating with Baxter and Miss Vader at 10 AM this morning. Do not know what goes on at night when the girls are in with Baxter. I am sure he is not getting much sleep though. After Miss Vader was put back in her cage, and Taka was let out for her potty break and she jumped the fence to get back in with Baxter, she treats a four foot high section of fence in his cage like a door which is amazing since she is over ten years old. Last update for this year. Happy New Year. Don't do anything my dogs would not do!

1/1/2015 Thursday 10:47 AM, Well Taka did it to me again. She was pacing her cage so I let her out first this morning at 7:50 AM, fed her, and then she went for her break. When I turned my back for a minute or so I found she had jumped in with Baxter and I observed the first mating between them. I kept a check on them for 45 minutes before they quit and before I could get to the cage to let her out she had jumped back out and was 200 yards down the runway for another potty break. I called her back and put her back in her own cage. She is a very unique girl. I have never observed her run flat out like the other dogs because she thinks she is too dignified for that but she is long and lean and and even at a lope she is moving faster than some dogs at a flat out run. It is a beautiful site to see her move, even at a walk she is so gracefully that I fell in love with her the first time I ever saw her. She is the smartest dog I have. I had double locks on her cage that had to be opened at the same time and she still opened them so I had to put a drop pin clevis type lock on her cage. After that, when she was let out, she started unlocking Blondie's and Miss Vader's door so they would come out and play. I finally had to change all cage locks to the clevis type. 5:55 PM, let CoCo, Blondie, Miss Vader, and Baxter out. When told to kennel up Miss Vader ran into Baxter's cage with him so I shut them up so I could put CoCo and Blondie up and then come back and put Miss Vader back in her cage and then put Taka in with Baxter tonight. Before I could get back Baxter and Miss Vader were mating for the second observed time and it was too cold to wait on them to finish so I will let Miss Vader stay with Baxter tonight.

1/2/2015 Friday 1:51 PM, Baxter bred Taka 7:55 AM. I am glad he is only 2-1/2 years old. He is not getting much sleep and is getting very thin but for some reason seems very happy.

1/8/2015 Thursday 11:16 AM, The breeding is complete for the February 2015 litters. I hope to have a litter from Taka, CoCo, and Miss Vader. It appears Blondie will miss this cycle. The updates will slow or stop until around week 5 around the first week in February when the mothers start showing a baby bump.

1/16/2014 Friday 10:40A, Close call this morning. All dogs had been let out around 8 AM and put back up except CoCo who was left out to guard the place from critters. Later around 10:30 AM Taka started barking aggressively towards the North and when I looked CoCo was sitting on the ramp off the back porch looking to the North concerned about something. I stepped out side and immediately picked up a strong odor of a skunk. Skunks first appeared during my lifetime in Harrisburg about 25 years ago but were wiped out in a rabies epidemic about 13 years ago. They are evidently returning as I have smelled several on the local roads during the past year but thankfully CoCo had brains enough not to mess with it. By the time I had her put up and returned to the porch the odor was gone so it did not spray. What I smelled was the skunk itself so I am very lucky to get off so lightly. Thank you CoCo.

1/30/2015 Friday, Will be out of town till Monday 02 Feb15 and may not answer any correspondence or acknowledge receiving the form until Tuesday.

2/4/2015 Wednesday 9:00 AM, On my 2nd try, I received a successful DNA test report back on my stud Baxter. I have done this on 4 different studs and every first sample so far has failed to obtain enough cheek cells for a DNA record so then they send what they call is a better sampler and so far it has worked each time. I do not know why they do not send the better one out first. To register a litter, the AKC requires a DNA sample of the stud if he is used more than three times in a twelve month period or seven times in a lifetime. So now he is good for breeding for the rest of his life. It is still too early to confirm a pregnancy on my three girls that have been bred- maybe next week- stay tuned.

2/5/2015 Thursday Update: 11:34 AM ... The American style Lab girl generally shows a baby bump first due their tall thin shape. Today is week five for Taka. Generally the girls show around week 5. When I put Taka up around 10:20 AM today she seems to have an extra bump in her tummy ??? , Stay tuned !

2/6/2015 Friday 9:57 AM, Well my prediction of the winter breeding period being over that I made on January 8th may not be correct. Blondie seems to be getting some extra attention lately from the other dogs ????? . Both Males and Females will show a reaction when one of the girls starts wearing her perfume. Just like humans, when one girl starts getting all the attention from the boys the other girls get jealous and want to find out why.

2/7/2015 Saturday 2:36 PM, Blondie did not get any extra attention this morning during the morning walk so ???. Even though it is not as obvious as with Taka, both Miss Vader and CoCo may be getting a tummy.... I would estimate Taka and Miss Vader will deliver on March 3rd or 4th. Since I did not observe CoCo mating then it could be several days earlier than the other two or she may again not be pregnant. I can imagine a baby bump very readily and really do better when I do not try to look early. Update: 4:29 PM, Re-examined Miss Vader and CoCo, I would say they are both expecting. Yesterday with a quick glance thru the sliding glass on the kitchen door I noticed what I thought was a change in Blondie. Finally got around to checking on her - she is fairly obviously getting ready to have Baxter start calling on her. If this is the case then it will be the first time all four of my girls are pregnant at the same time in many years. Since Miss Vader is already bred then I will also have trouble with Miss Vader because she protects her sister Blondie and does not like a Male messing with her. She will try to chase him away. I may have to lock her up to avoid any interruptions in Blondie's breeding as in the past. There has been only one time in the past that I have had four litters at one time. I had one in the bedroom, one in the den, one in the kitchen and one in the basement. You would think with four litters one would get tired of looking at Lab puppies but that never happened. I could look at a Lab puppy all day with a continuous smile on my face. Evidently Budweiser thinks the same way after two winning Super Bowl commercials.

2/11/2015 Wednesday 7:45 PM, Blondie is progressing nicely. She stood for Baxter about 5 seconds when let out for the last time today but no breeding yet. I may put her in his cage for them to be alone with out the other dogs running around and distracting them tomorrow or Friday.

2/13/2015 Friday 7:40 AM, Taka had been let out, fed and put back up. Being an American style Lab she is showing her baby bump very well now at an estimated six weeks. Then the other four were let out. Baxter and Blondie stayed close together and when I started back toward the cages Blondie ran ahead and went in to Baxter's cage for the first time this breeding period and he was hot on her heels. She had decided this was the time so she was left with Baxter and then I put CoCo up. Miss Vader was to be left out to roam around on her own for a while. Then Blondie changed her mind, imagine that, a woman changing her mind, and wanted back out. I went back out in the 23 degree air and finally got her out while keeping Baxter in, he did not think much of that as he has already made up his mind. So I am still waiting on Blondie to decide when she will be ready. I would guess tomorrow or Sunday and that would put Blondie delivering around 6-1/2 weeks after Taka meaning some litters will already be gone when Blondie delivers and therefore I will not have four at one time. Took CoCo, Blondie, and Miss Vader for a six mile ride in the back of my truck for the Friday hot dog sale at a local church- probably very cold ride for them at 29 degrees but they seemed not to notice. UPDATE 9:17 PM, Taka had been let out and put back up for the fourth and last walk of the day. During the 6 PM walk with the remaining four I noticed Blondie seemed to be ready. When told to kennel up at 6:15 PM she went into Baxter's cage again and he followed her in and then I shut the door. It was too cold to stay and observe anything so she will stay with him tonight. I will start the 61 day count down for the puppy delivery from today. Later around 9 PM I heard Baxter barking a certain way which meant Blondie had laid down and he wanted her to get back up. For large long legged mammals to breed the female has to be standing. I will probably have to listen to a lot of barking tonight as his cage is only about 20 feet from my bedroom window.

2/19/2015 Thursday 1:19P, The first time Taka was put in with Baxter was 10 weeks ago. It only takes 62 days or 9 weeks from breeding to delivery. If Taka had been bred that first day, which was not observed, it would have been 10 weeks or 70 days which is way too long so breeding did not occur then. I only started counting from the first confirmed breeding which gives a March 3rd or 4th delivery date. There were many opportunities for Baxter to breed Taka before then but I only started counting from the first observed breeding. This means Taka could actually start delivering any time. At the time I posted this update it is still only 21 degrees outside. I had let Taka in beside the wood stove to warm her up a bit and she was very uncomfortable at first and I thought she may be starting labor but then she settled down. I will start keeping a closer watch on her and may bring her in the house at night. Update 10:17 PM, At 2 PM app. a rug was placed in the kitchen and a cage installed on it, the towels have not been placed yet but have been brought up from the basement. Brought Taka in to kitchen around 2:30 PM. She had seemed very restless in her cage so to be safe I am getting ready. She was let out several times and the second time she went out side, she stood for several seconds then turned around deciding it was too cold and was let back in. It is supposed to be around 5 degrees tonight so she will stay in the house at least for tonight. She is in the eight sided collapsible cage and I will have to get a stronger cage from the barn and swap it out before the puppies come. She will destroy the collapsible cage if she is in it with puppies and another dog or someone she does not know gets too close. Me and possibly my wife are the only people that can mess with Taka's puppies and even then she gets very concerned and upset which could result in a change of milk flow or a puppy getting stepped on or laid on. If everything is ok and I can account for all the puppies then I stay back. The worst part is not being able to see all the puppies and then have to go looking for the missing ones. Taka will always have her head between her puppies and my hand so I have to hold her head with one hand and move her around with the other hand which means other puppies may end up under her. Taka is by far the most protective mother I have and it is very difficult messing with her puppies.

2/21/2015 Saturday 12:05 PM, Thank goodness it was a false alarm on Taka. Maybe something she ate. She is not ready for a normal delivery as her feeding stations have not enlarged and if the puppies were to have come it would have been more of an abortion instead of a delivery and all probably would have been lost. She is back in her cage now. Blondie is still going in Baxter's cage when told to kennel up. I will be glad when she finally decides she is thru with him and everything can return to the normal rhythm. It still looks like maybe the first of March for the first puppies. CoCo is not showing as much as in previous pregnancies so I hope she has some in her. Miss Vader is getting larger but does not show a well defined bump. I was not sure she was expecting the last time and only when her feeding stations enlarged the day before delivery did I know something was happening. She only had three puppies that time.

2/22/2015 Sunday 9:44 PM, Blondie is getting easier to separate from Baxter now so she may be thru with him even though she is still standing for him. She has been staying with her sister the last several nights so we can sleep better without that much barking. Baxter still has this strange look on his face when I separate them and sneak Blondie out like he is thinking, where did my girl friend go. I may not let Blondie stay with him anymore this breeding time. I never did see a confirmed breeding between them but am almost certain it happened.

2/24/2015 Tuesday 9:44 AM, Well the breeding for the late February or March litters which started 2-1/2 months ago on 12/12/2014 is finally over with, and things have returned to normal. Baxter only briefly checked Blondie out this morning and when I started walking back toward his cage he took his ball and went in without being told to or looking over his shoulder to see where Blondie was. Peace at last on the farm as breeding can become stressful. The posts will slow again until things start happening again.

2/25/2015 Wednesday 6:03 PM, The kitchen is still ready and waiting for the first delivery. Coco is not ready yet and Miss Vader is not ready yet and both, I would guess, are at least a week or more away from delivering. Taka seems to to show a slight increase in the size of her feeding stations which means delivery may be within 4 days ???. Blondie's earliest delivery is 61 days from 2/13/2015 which is April 15th. Stay tuned.... Update: The national evening news just reported that the Labrador Retriever once again is the most popular dog in the USA which makes for a consecutive twenty four (24) years with this honor. One more and it will be a quarter of a century. I do not think they will be dethroned as Labs are registered over twice as much as the dog in second place.

2/27/2015 Friday 11:59 AM, Taka spent the night in the house last night and I plan to continue her night house stays. She came into the bedroom at 12:15 AM and was let out and then again at 6:45 AM. She was put up in her outside cage so I could let the other dogs out but is back in the house now and even though she may not stay all day in the house she will be brought in often enough to monitor her for any signs of labor. There is usually several hours of labor so I will be ready to monitor the first puppy but I have seen labor last 12 hours under a special condition. Update 5:11 PM- Taka showing signs of going into labor- Stand by. 6:05 PM- All Friday night activities are cancelled. The fish supper will have to wait till next Friday. 7:15 PM- Taka breathing heavily every once in a while- she seems uncomfortable.

2/28/2015 Saturday 9:05 AM, The house is full of very sad noises this morning. Miss Vader's first puppy was still born. It is very depressing to hear her cry over her motionless puppy. From the small size of her tummy she may not have any more in her. I was never sure she was pregnant although her feeding stations looked slightly bigger yesterday.Taka is still waiting and if she would hurry up I would put several of hers with Miss Vader to ease her pain. CoCo came in heat before Miss Vader but I did not see a mating so right now I would say she is not pregnant due to her both not showing and being late. It will be several weeks before I will know about Blondie. Update 3:02 PM, No changes, still waiting. 8:02 PM, Missed surprise birthday party with free home cooked food due to fairly continuous watch on Taka now. I do not know if I will stay up all night but it will be very late if I do go to bed. If no puppies before I go to bed, this may be the last post for today.

3/1/2015 Sunday 9:11 AM , Stayed up till 3:05 AM this morning watching Taka. My wife got up at 5 AM and took over. Taka is not showing any signs of labor now. Previous signs may have simply been discomfort from such a big belly. On February 7th I remember changing the delivery on Taka to March 3rd or 4th and I derived that date from my first observed mating.That may end up being fairly close. It could still be earlier than that as males are sneaky and sometimes get away with things I did not see. It has been 26 hours since Miss Vader lost her only puppy so I put her back outside with her sister Blondie around 8 AM and have dissembled her inside cage. I would say for this time that she is not going to have any more puppies. If Taka hurries up and Miss Vader still has some milk, I may still try to get several puppies from her and put with Miss Vader so she will have some babies to look after and satisfy her mother instinct and it will also reduce the chance of a puppy getting laid on. It is very hard to get a puppy from Taka though and I do not want to get her upset. She will go ballistic if she thinks her puppies are in danger.

PUPPIES BEING DELIVERED :

3/2/2015 Monday 6:27 AM Day 1, 0 days old, We almost lost the first puppy. I had stayed up till 3 AM Saturday morning watching Taka and got up 8:45 AM Saturday morning. I had stayed up till 2AM Sunday morning and got up at 7:30 Sunday morning. Feeling pretty bad. Stayed up till 2 AM this morning, Monday, and was planning to sleep till 9 AM. My wife had gotten up around 5:20 AM to check on Taka and let her out. All of a sudden she ran back into the bedroom and said that while she was on the back porch she had heard a terrible noise towards the creek so as I was getting out of bed she opened the bed room window facing the creek but I heard nothing. I started getting dressed and she returned to the kitchen and decided to cary the garbage out to the back porch. When I got to the kitchen my wife was just coming back in thru the kitchen door with a puppy in her hand. Taka had had it outside and as there was no place prepared for her to put it she returned to the kitchen all upset. Well my wife had already closed the door and put the obliviously distressed Taka back in her cage. If my wife had not at that time decided to take some garbage out we may not have heard the puppy on the partially snow covered ground and it would have been lost. That episode upset me a lot but it is life and life has to go on. First puppy came or was found around 5:58 AM, a Yellow, seems healthy, mama has already cleaned it and it is snuggled under mama's neck. Later determined it was a Male..... 8:25 AM, 2nd puppy, Black Female. Put chair in cage so I could sit and talk to and pet Taka and now she accepts my touching her puppies better than she has in her past litters.... 10:33 Third puppy, Black Male..... 11:45 Fourth puppy, Black Female. Well 6 hours into the delivery and have a total of 4 puppies. I am hoping for at least 4 more- stay tuned. 9:28 PM, I am fairly sure Taka is thru with her delivery. There have been no more puppies since 11:45 AM, over 8-1/2 hours. Taka's first video. , Taka's second video. , Taka's third video . Taka's puppies 3/2/2015-4 . Taka's puppies 3/2/2015-5 . Taka's puppies 3/2/2015-6-Black . Well Taka did it to me again. Please ignore the 2nd line above talking about the delivery being thru. The reason I am on the computer uploading videos is that I thought it was thru. I had heard several noises from the kitchen and checked on each one and found Taka in a new position each time. This is very unusual as she had only changed which side she was laying on once all day. I have seen new mothers not move or change the side they started delivering on for 24 hours. Well at 10:58 PM, 17 hours after the first puppy I shut the computer down and checked on Taka again. Then I noticed that the Blond puppy had somehow gotten dirty and wet and as I was looking at it, it dawned on me it was not the old puppy that had gotten dirty and wet , it was a new puppy and was just still wet from the delivery. At least it justified me thinking from the size of her tummy there should have been more than four puppies in there. Here is the new video. Taka's puppies 3/2/2015-7 . ----- 12:10 AM Tuesday, Well around 12 Midnight I had shut the computer down again and was going into the den where I could watch Netflix but still hear Taka if anything happened. I stopped by Taka's cage and counted puppies again, something I do EVERY time I pass her cage and will do hundreds of times during each litter. 1,2,3,4,5,6. Well I am so tired it did not register right away but now I have a count of 6 and it should be only 5, so I counted by color which you do if the count gets high, 2 Yellows and 4 Blacks. Now things do not add up so I went back to basic logic like Spock does. I had 4, 1 blond and 3 Blacks. Now I have two Blonds and 4 Blacks. What had happened during the time I checked on Taka while she was changing sides so often was that she had popped a Black out and if two blacks are side by side it just looks like a big Black so I missed the new one and do not know what time it was born or the order of birth on it. As you can tell from the videos you can not see the dividing line between two blacks laying against each other. I had originally guessed 8 puppies from the size of her belly and we are up to 6 so we will see. I hope this is the last update tonight as I am very tired and starting to make mistakes.

3/3/2015 Tuesday 10:03 AM Day 2, 1 day old, All Taka's puppies survived their first night. The final count for Taka is two Yellow Males, two Black Males, two Black Females. The 6 week pickup date for Taka's puppies is April 13th. I will allow them to be picked up on Sunday the 12th. I am not sure I will allow them to be picked up on Saturday 11th, call if you need a pickup on the 11th. If Blondie's breeding was successful then she will deliver on/around 4/15/2015, 2 days after Taka's have been picked up, and I will call for Blondie's deposits around April 29th and Blondie's puppy pickup date will be on/around May 27th. 12:25 PM, Taka was fed then let her out for the first time since puppies came Monday morning. It was so hectic neither my wife nor I can remember if she was fed Monday morning but probably was not which means she had not had anything to eat for 1-1/4 days, since Sunday morning. This is fairly normal as new mothers will not eat, drink, or even get up during the delivery and for some time afterwards.... 4:44 PM Taka resting peacefully or sleeping. Half of the puppies are sleeping which means their tummies are full. It will be a while before I can walk up and everybody will be sleeping. There will be one dark Yellow Male and one almost white Yellow Male. I will try to place them side by side in my next video.

3/4/2015 Wednesday 11:39 PM Day 3, 2 days old, Things progressing smoothly. Taka was let out four times today. Here is the two black sisters, The two Sisters , Here is one of the Yellow Males . Taka's YM 3/4/2015 . Well my wife stayed up all last night and tonight it is my turn. She actually slept on the couch about 10 feet away from the puppies. I will probably watch Netflix. Finally got to bed 5:30 AM Thursday morning.

3/5/2015 Thursday 12:52 PM Day 4, 3 days old, Running late today. Yesterday, for the first time, tried separating Taka's puppies into two groups of three. Three with her and three in a pan. There are only 5 drive up windows to get something to eat on each side so with all six puppies out then one gets left out or has to crawl under mama to feed and this increases the risk of being laid on. The first try she seemed concerned and I realized the pan had to be the correct distance from her. If the pan was too close the puppies, either thru smell, noise, or heat from Taka's body knew that she was near and they would not settle down keeping a constant concern on Taka's face. If they were too far away then the puppies went to sleep but again Taka would not settle down. If the puppy pan is no less than 14 inches away and no more than 18 inches away, then Taka and the puppies seem ok with that arrangement. 1:31 PM, Well the bucket approach may not work with Taka, at least not yet. I just heard a lot of complaints from the puppies and ran in there. Taka had a puppy from the pan in her mouth and now was looking for a clear place to lay back down as when she got up all the puppies that were out went to the warm place that smelled like MaMa, the place that she just left. That space is now filled with puppies. This is how a puppy may be laid on and lost. Some of the puppies are not yet four days old so I may have to wait a few more days before trying again. The puppies eyes should start opening in ten more days and that may present another opportunity to try the pan system. They will at some time start staying and sleeping farther from MaMa.

3/6/2015 Friday 11:04 PM, Day 5, 4 days old All ok. Left house for first time since puppies came for monthly Lions Club fish fry. My wife and I took turns so one of us was at the house all the time. Have new video but too tired to upload- may do tomorrow. My wife slept in den beside puppies last night and she will do the same tonight. I finally slept all night without even getting up last night.

3/7/2015 Saturday 10:33 AM Day 6, 5 days old, Puppy 5 day weights: BM 1.03, BM 1.27, BF 1.27, BF 1.27, Dark YM 1.34, Light YM 1.23.

3/9/2015 Monday 3:41 PM Day 8, 7 days old, Observed for the first time this litter that Taka was sleeping on other side of her cage away from her puppies. I hope to weigh the puppies for their one week weights after this upload and may add a video of the two Yellow males to better show their color difference. 4:08 PM, One week weights, BM 1.21, BM 1.54, BF 1.52, BF 1.60, Dark YM 1.52, Light LM 1.54. Videos taken Friday: Taka 3/9/2015 A , Taka 3/9/2015 B . Videos taken and uploaded today: Taka 3/9/2015 C , Taka 3/9/2015 D .

3/10/2015 Tuesday, Day 9, 8 days old, Noticed the light colored Male raising his chest up clear of the floor with his nose pointing up sniffing the air for the first time. He stayed that way for about 5 seconds. They are all still crawling to search for MaMa but the next development stage will be when they pick their bellies off the floor to walk. On around day 14 their eyes will open showing those pretty Blue eyes.

3/13/2015 Friday10 AM Day 12, 11 days old, Yesterday - Noticed the light Yellow Male had his left eye partially open although it was not open enough to see any Blue. This morning saw the small Male walking with his belly off the ground, they can move much faster when they can lift their belly from the ground. MaMa and all six puppies doing good. 2:57 PM Picked one of the Black Females up for a face to face inspection and both it's eyes were open and looking back at me. 3:11 PM, Added address to Deposit section below.

3/14/2015 Saturday 8:10 PM Day 13, 12 days old, I have deposits promised on all Taka's puppies. I did not receive the deposit on one Black Male so I posted that on the web and received another commitment to mail in a deposit on 3/24/2015 so as of the 24th I would say all puppies have a deposit. The pickup date for Taka's puppies will be Sunday April 12th or Monday April 13. Thanks to everybody that expressed an interest in my puppies. It will still be around four more weeks before I know if Blondie is expecting.

3/15/2015 Sunday 7:44 PM Day 14, 13 days old, Here are today's videos: The road trip , Black Male , First trip outside , The Blacks were starting to get hot very quickly in the sun at 72 degrees and the new owners will need to be VERY careful that they ALWAYS have shade. I placed the clothes basket that I used to transport them outside as a shade after about 4 minutes.They stayed outside around 20 minutes and I stayed with them the whole time as the clothes basket providing their shade could be easily tipped over and they would have lost their shade.

3/16/2015 Monday 8:43 PM Day 15, 14 days old, Two week weights: BM 2.13, BM 1.91, BF 2.31, BF 2.29, Dark YM 2.51, Light YM 2.09. The Black sisters continue in this weighing to be very close and will expect to be very close the remainder of their lives. The small Male is the lightest in all three weighing's but this has little significance. The Guinness book of records " The largest dog in the world ", "George", was picked from the litter as the runt because they wanted a smaller dog and look what happened when the BIG T kicks in. You are really taking a chance trying to guess the male dogs adult weights. George died in 2014 I think.

3/17/2015 Tuesday 9:31 PM Day 16, 15 days old, Taka came into the bedroom wanting out at 1:15 AM this morning. It took her around 20 minutes to come back and when she did I locked her in her cage so I could get some sleep. I made a new 6 foot x 6 foot x 14" high puppy cage that has small holes to prevent their heads getting caught like they can in the chain link fence. The cage was put in the yard and they stayed in it from 3 PM till 6:30 PM near where I was working and all went well. After bring the puppies back into the house I reassembled the new cage with a heavy sun shade within my big dog cage so they will be protected if any strange animals come by and I will plan on keeping them outside most if not all day tomorrow as I will be working nearby and Taka will be with them except when let out for her break.

3/19/2015 Thursday 12:58 PM Day 18, 17 days old, Puppies were out in their new enclosure 6 hours yesterday. Slightly colder today so I may not put them out today. All puppies are walking with their bellies off the ground now and have stopped squirming when I pick them up, they are getting used to being picked up and seem to have started to enjoy it. Several will start walking towards me when I step into the cage. As of Noon today I have received the deposit on four puppies. They are getting round and muscular and getting hard to pick up with one hand unless they are standing. Taka's puppies 3/19/2015A, http://youtu.be/snw4LjXqYd , Taka's Puppies 3/19/2015B . Taka's litter was registered with the AKC at 3 PM today.

3/20/2015 Friday 7:26 PM, Day 19, 18 days old, I have received the deposit on five puppies and made a call to check on the sixth. Today's video: Taka's puppy 3/20/2015 ABE. If you are getting a puppy and if you have children and want a personal video with their information similar to the preceding video, then email me the information you want included.

3/22/2015 Sunday 7:37 PM Day 21, 20 days old, Taka's Puppy Drake. Taka's puppy Drake. If you are getting a puppy and if you have children and want a personal video with their information similar to the preceding video, then email me the information you want included.

3/23/2015 Monday 8:22 PM, Day 22, 21 days old, Three week weights, BM 2.68, BM 2.97, BF 3.08, BF 2.80, DYM 3.19, LYM 2.75. As expected for this age, the female average weight is slightly more than the Male average weight. The puppies stayed outside all day today from 10AM till 8:10 PM. They sleep more outside and Taka is free to enter or leave the one foot high puppy cage but she is still contained within the larger cage. Everybody in the house now. Taka is let out just before we go to bed and is not let out till we get up which helps our sleep greatly. I saw one puppy start nursing while Taka was standing for the first time today. The puppies are half way to their pickup day.

3/24/2015 Tuesday 1:33 PM, Day 23, 22 days old, I am expecting the registration papers to arrive soon.

3/26/2015 Thursday 7:15 PM, Day 25, 24 days old, Puppies have been brought in for the night. Received the registration papers today, took one week to get the papers back which is a little longer than usual. The puppies are getting very strong and round and have started barking some. They are not quite old enough to bark at anything in particular yet but they just let out one loud bark. It may even startle them when they do it. In about a week they will start barking as people approach them but if the person keeps coming, then the puppy will turn and high tail it back to mama. Then sometime after that, may be around 5 weeks old, when I come up and call out puppy they will run towards me as shown in some of the previous litter videos. I meant to try them on some Purina puppy chow today but got busy and forgot. I will try to post more individual puppy videos later.

3/27/2015 Friday 9:28 AM, day 26, 25 days old, Seven videos of the First meal of purina Puppy Chow with about a spoon full of cows milk in the center to make it smell like milk. Caution some dogs suffer from lactose intolerance so be careful with dairy products around your puppies. Now may be a good time to review Link 2 from my home page, it was expanded 3/27/2015. First meal-A , First meal-C , First meal-B , First meal-D , First meal-E , First meal-F , First meal-G . . Fed 2nd bowl Purina with out any milk and they jumped right on it and cleaned the bowl again so the one spoon full of milk on the first bowl was all that was needed to start them eating puppy food. I will see what they can do with a little bit of water sometime tomorrow. All six of Taka's puppies have deposits on them as of 3/27/2015.

3/28/2015 Saturday 9:55 AM Day 27, 24 days old, Well I got barked at for the first time when I approached the cage at 9:55 AM today by the Dark Yellow Male. Puppies been fed small amount of Purina twice this morning. I am getting them used to hearing the food hit the food bowl so they will learn that sound means food.

3/29/2015 Sunday 8:40 PM, Day 28, 27 days old, Running late, had to replace my well pump, out of water for two days, got it back on 3 PM today. Puppies outside 3:30 PM till 8:25 PM today. Gave puppies their first water and they all drank some, should have done it several days ago but busy. When I went outside to bring them in I found one out of the puppy cage but still in the large pen with mama. After this cold snap leaves I will put them out all day unless it is to rain. I also plan to put some brick in there large water trough so they can not get their whole body in the water yet. The puppies have started to look towards me when I walk up to the cage and have realized that when they hear food being pored in their bowl that there is something in it to eat.

3/30/2015 Monday 7:35 PM, Day 29, 28 days old, Video of the two Black sisters, Charlotte and Grace. , These two sisters are going to the same home and will spend the rest of their lives together. The video says they will be in their new home in three weeks but it is actually less than two weeks until they go to their new home. All puppies doing very good.

3/31/2015 Tuesday, 8:43 AM, Day 30, 29 days old, Taka stayed in her outside cage all last night for the first time this litter and the puppies stayed in the kitchen. It worked out good. Taka has been fed and put back in her pen, The puppies have been given puppy chow, water, have full bellies, and are in their outside cage asleep now so I can start catching up on my work around here. Last Friday my well pump quit around 4 PM and I was out of well water till Sunday around 3 PM. I have several hundred gallons of rain water storage so it was no big problem. Blondie starting to show an enlarged tummy. This announcement is shown in very light print so I can deny it if it turns out that she is not pregnant. Puppies brought back in house around 8:35 PM and put with mama and then later mama will be put back in her outside cage like last night. Already a day late weighing the puppies for their 4 week weights but may do later tonight. 9:01 PM, 4 Week weights, DYM 5.09, LYM 4.32, BF 4.78, BF 5.11, BM 4.73, BM 4.27. The heaviest puppy is a Female and the lightest is a Male, This is normal. You can graft your puppy weight out to see where it will be in 2 more weeks. Many of my puppies have weighed over 10 pounds at 6 weeks of age, my puppies are usually very large.

4/3/2015 Friday,7:00 PM, Day 33, 32 days old, There will be a price increase after Taka's litter. I have been way under priced for over a year and I was so low that I suspected that some of my puppies from the 2014 litters were immediately resold for a profit of hundreds of dollars. This means that I do not know who ended up with my puppies and maybe I would not have approved of the 2nd buyer. I did change the advertised price back in February to $500 and that will be the price for Blondie's coming litter. This is still below the average price for a Registered Lab with the parents on site and the daily updates from the day they were born. If anyone on the list feels this is an unfair price then email or call and we will discuss it. Sorry for any incontinence this may cause anyone but as stated in the web page my puppy list is a no obligation list for anyone until a deposit is made when the puppies are two weeks old. Wheel barrow ride! , Taka 4-3-2015B , Taka 4-3-2015C , Taka 4-3-2015D , Taka 4-3-2015E , Taka 4-3-2015F , Taka 4-3-2015G . Time consumed on this daily update: Started 7:00 PM, finished 10:25 PM, uploaded 10:27 PM.

4/5/2015 Sunday, 9:04 PM, Day 35, 34 days old, All puppies doing good. They stayed out side from 8 AM till 8:30 PM. Yesterday they were taken out at 8 AM and brought back in at 10:40 PM. They are spending most of the day outside their 5 foot square puppy cage but still within a 12x30 foot adult cage. I have been working near the cage in case someone gets in trouble. Mama is let in periodically but the puppies are getting fairly aggressive when mama is near so she wants back out after a while. The people who are getting a puppy this time from Taka's litter should call to schedule a pickup date and time. I hope to weigh the puppies for their 5 week weights tomorrow. They are all in the kitchen asleep now making their little puppy noises.

4/6/2015 Monday, 1:28 PM, Day 36, 35 days old, Puppy weights at 5 weeks old, DYM 6.87, LYM 5.81, BF 6.81, BF 6.01, BM 6.21, BM 5.19. All puppies still doing good. Blondie continuing to get bigger.

4/7/2015 Tuesday, 12:04 PM, Day 37, 36 days old, Took video of Taka seeking refuge from all those sharp puppy teeth and claws on top of the sun shade, see link 2 for sun shade design. Saw light Yellow Male walking the 15x30 foot cage fence towards the back of the cage, climbing on top of grass clumps and desperately trying to climb the fence- he wanted out to use the bathroom, grabbed him and sat him outside the cage and he walked about 10 feet from the cage and did his business and then came straight back to the cage door to get back in. All these puppies are already naturally house broke if you will only watch them- try to always take them out the door you want them to use for their break. Try to take them out for their potty break using the potty break door every hour, set a timer for the first couple of days, and also take them outside as soon as you get up and just before you go to bed. Try not do things to make the puppy go to sleep that you are not willing to do for the next 12-14 years, See link 2. If you can not stand to hear a lonely puppy for one or two nights just get up and walk by the cage, do not talk to or pet it and that will let it know there is someone near. Be sure they can not get hung or trapped by anything- they need to be in easy earshot at all times. Blondie looks like she ate a small watermelon and runs so slow now that she has no chance of getting the ball unless I cheat and throw it when the other dogs are not looking or when they are so far away they can not get there before Blondie. Taka 4-6-2015 , Taka 4-7-2015 .

4/8/2015 Wednesday, 9:02 AM, Day 38, 37 days old, Serious error in Blondie's due date, Had said April 28th but I miss counted. Due date is now may be as early as April 15th. I never did witness a mating but her tummy shows Baxter evidently was on the job. I was hoping for 2 weeks of rest between litters but now may be only two days. IF she does deliver on the 15th then I will call for Blondie's deposits on/around April 29th and Blondie's puppy pickup date will be on/around May 27th.

4/9/2015 Thursday,10:31 PM, Day 39, 38 days old, Wheel barrow ride to pen. , Breakfast on ramp-A , Breakfast on ramp-B .

4/10/2015 Friday, 8:42 PM, Day 39, 38 days old. The puppies are gaining weight very fast it seems now, it is getting hard picking up two at the same time to put in the wheel barrow to transport to and from their cage. Tomorrow five of them will go to their new home.

4/11/2015 Saturday, 7:40 PM, Day 40, 39 days old. Taka's first puppy was picked up around 12 noon and the last one was picked up around 4:30 PM. I let Taka out around around 7:40 PM and walked her to the cage that last held her puppies, she sniffed around a while then we walked back to the house and I let her in the kitchen where her puppies were. She walked around the kitchen table and back out the door and started eating. I will probably do the same thing tomorrow several times. All puppies are gone now until Blondie deliverers in a few days. I will probably bring her into the house at night starting shortly. I will probably just continue this page with Blondie's litter rather than make a new page.

4/13/2015 Monday,1:42 PM, Blondie's first tummy picture , Puppies can not be very far off. Blondie brought into house 8 PM for puppy watch.

4/15/2015 Tuesday 9:04 AM. Nothing happened last night with Blondie. This is the end of this update page. A new page for Blondie's litter that ended up being born 4/19/2015 will be started today on link 3D from my home page. Blondie's puppies will be ready for deposits starting May 1st and will be ready for pickup May 31st.