Things are looking UP!  As most of you know, when my puppies are born, they cannot see – their eyes are sealed closed.  they cannot hear – their ear folds are sealed.  And they cannot walk.  They sort of swim across the whelping box to get in and out of the heat zone and to snuggle up together.  They can find their breakfast.  And lunch.  And dinner.  And several snacks throughout the day and night.  A nursing mother rarely...

Mornings belong to the lady.  She comes to our room and lets me out, while it’s still dark.  While I’m out, she moves my babies to the basket and changes our mat.  She puts the babies back in the box and then opens the door where I wait – sort of patiently – for her to let me in. The first thing I do is get in the box and check the puppies, you know, to make sure the lady hasn’t done anything to them or lost...

Another big day for me.  All my puppies reached that 2 pound target.  Jack put collars on the last two puppies.  When you see photos, you’ll be able to identify them by name based on their collars.  It’s much more dignified than being numbered, don’t you think? Duke, the bruiser, is wearing a red collar with bones on it.  Clint?  He’s got a plain black collar.  Bob is wearing a black collar….with skulls! ...

Jack just couldn’t hold back and he told his Facebook friends about the names of my puppies.  He may not have made it all very clear.  You see, the lady is really the one who handles the naming scheme.  And this year, she was talking about someone named Oscar and that the names had something to do with him. Ashton won the contest and she got to name one of my puppies.  I guess Ashton knows Oscar too, because Jack and the lady loved her...

Just a short note today.  Jack is doing his statistical stuff already.  My puppies are all bigger than either of my previous litters.  And all but my sweet little girl topped a pound today.  She’ll be there tomorrow.  I guess with less competition for “mama’s best”, they’re going to grow a bit faster than my other puppies did. Overall, we’re doing just fine. Mas hasn’t been by to visit the puppies...

I’m sure some of you have been wondering where I’ve been!  Jack is very good about keeping the 3 Cedars Retrievers Facebook page up to speed.  That’s not the format for me!  I want to tell my own story. So.  As you all know by now, there are puppies!  This time, the number is 5.  Four new sons and a lovely daughter.  The lady says she’s going to get names for everyone and they’ll have something to do with the...