Crossed Pines Ridgebacks

Hi, Our house is slowly getting back to normal. We kept Purple (Lacy) and White and BRG have been
here waiting to head to their new homes.

BRG will go home tomorrow with his new family. Not sure what they will call him. We have been calling him Tough Guy.
He plays hard with Reddington and often backs Reddington down. It's quite fun to watch since Reddington is over 50 pounds
at 5 months old and Tough Guy is under 30 pounds at 11 weeks.

White has a new name Daenery and will head to her new home on Tuesday. Then we will turn the
puppy room back into a guest room. I've already started cleaning carpets and washing puppy bedding.

We went to a Lure Coursing Event last weekend where Lila won Best of Breed on Saturday and acquired enough points
to finish her Field Champion Title.  Yeah Momma.

We also left the greyhounds and the 3 puppies in the hands of a house sitter. Thank-you Jenny.

Based on reports all the other puppies have settled into their new homes and are doing well.

Pink is called Ellie Mae
Lime is Bella Luna
Blue is Kai
Red is Rigel
Yellow is Emmet
Brown is Harley

We have named Purple, Lacy

Plans for White are to name her Daenery
and BRG is currently called Tuff Guy.

Bella came over yesterday for a play date. Puppies had lots of fun and Reddington got into the play game
as well.

Please send me pictures as the puppies grow and I will post them on our site.

Call if you have problems, questions, accolades or news.

Thanks,

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

We conducted conformation examinations yesterday. Susan Ralston, president of RRCUS, Kathleen Russell,
Jeff Hayes and Stefanie (Litter sire "Ethan's" parents), Linda Thal and her daughter and me were in attendance.

Several additional experts were called in for consultation when the choices became very close. The internet
was humming with pictures and video for a bit.

After much debating Jeff chose Pink to take home with him as Pick of the Litter. Stephanie
took Yellow home for a future in the show ring as well.

The general consensus was that this is a very nice litter with many show ring worthy puppies.

We will keep Purple and name her Lacy. She is destined for the show ring and hopefully the lure coursing
field.

Lime also went home yesterday and her new name is Bella. She seems to have settled right in to her
new home.

Last week all puppies had their first vaccinations, worming and a microchip inserted.

Thankfully I have a wonderful vet who makes house calls. Not sure how I would manage 9 very active puppies
on a road trip.

We weighed all puppies at 8 weeks with the Brown weighing in at a hefty 18 pounds. Most everyone else
weighed between 15 and 17 pounds. Little miss Lime was 14 pounds 10 ounces.

Brown was also chosen as an outstanding show ring potential. We have decided to keep him for a few
weeks in hopes that we find a perfect committed show home for him.

This weekend we will send Blue and Red to their new homes with White and Green staying until
mid-February when they will head out as well.

We will always love them and be interested in their successes and challenges. Hopefully, their new
families will keep up current with news and photos.





 

Puppies at 6 weeks old

It's been a busy week for us and our puppy kids. All the puppies are
eating adult dog food kibble and doing great. Lila is ready to be done
with the nursing as the puppies have extremely sharp teeth.

At weigh-in time the puppies range in weight from 9 to 11 pounds. With Lime being the
smallest and brown the largest.

Puppies ventured outside for the first time in pairs. Each pair had 5 minutes or so to explore
our front yard. Lila was there to supervise and to keep them from venturing too far. Overall a successful
first trip to the outside world.

We also had our friend Jenny Willis come over with her camera. All puppies got lots of
pictures taken and I will post them as time permits. There are lots. Many really good shots of individuals.

Today was the temperament test. Overall the test showed that all puppies are good natured and
fairly consistent in temperament. Interesting enough, the consensus was.... we wish the ridgeless
puppies had ridges. They as a group were quite confident and stable in each test scenario. A key
trait needed in the conformation show ring. 

All did fine with a couple a bit more shy and a couple a bit more outgoing.  We are very pleased
with the results. The stud dog "Ethan's" owners were here to
participate in the evaluation. It was Jeff and Stephanie's first opportunity to meet the puppies.

Kathleen and I will go over the results later in the week and make some preliminary placement notations.
We will still need to evaluate their conformation at 8 weeks to determine the puppies that could be
viable show prospects. The current plan is for puppies to go to their new homes the week end of
January 31 - February 1.  Unless other wise arranged. I'll call or e-mail puppy buyers specifics that week.



 

Puppies were 5 weeks old yesterday.

We had a grand escape during the night when the baby gate was knocked down and all the puppies went exploring.
Tom heard the noise and found them having a grand time in the living room. He played pied piper and all
puppies followed him back to their own room. Cleaned up the big stuff and I got great use of
my Hoover Steam Shampooer the next morning.  We make sure the gate is well closed now.

In their own room, puppies are sleeping in the whelping box and playing and messing in an attached gated
area.  For the most part they hit the newspapers and have not made any boo-boos in the whelping box for about a week.
It's still a lot to clean up but hitting the newspapers sure does reduce my laundry loads.

Everyone is very active and they spend lots of time playing and wrestling with their siblings. They also love to chew on
us. Ankles, pant legs, shoes, elbows.. have all been targets. Their teeth are sharp. Reddington is allowed
strictly supervised play time with the crew as well. He does a pretty good job of being careful and
loves to lick anyone who will stand still.

The puppies are begin weaned and are being fed regular dog food. We soak it in warm water for about an
hour before we give it to them.  We feed 4 times a day or every 6 hours. They eat heartily to say the least.
Lila goes in for an occasional visit but does not lay down with them. They nurse reaching up and only for a few short
minutes. Then Lila is back out with the "big" dogs. She sleeps in her own bed in our bedroom and seems
pretty content to just visit occasionally.

Since the puppies grand adventure they often crowd around the door and "holler" to be let out.
It's tough to ignore, but I do.   No unsupervised puppies in my living room please.

This weekend is the temperament testing. That will help us know who is the most confident etc... It will help
with deciding what puppy will do the best in a home with kids and who works better with adults or a more
quiet environment.  I also have a friend, who is a wonderful photographer, coming to do a group photo shoot.
That will be challenging but fun.

Took a few pictures yesterday to post for this week.  Let me know what you like.

I can't believe how fast they have grown this week.

We have moving, running, climbing and noisy puppies.
They climb on top of each other, Lila and us when we are in there. Tom sits on one side of the room and
Lila and I the other. Then puppies run back and forth in mass, climbing on and around us. It's fun....so far.

Everybody has very sharp teeth. Yesterday Red decided to try his on my pant leg.  Every time I
got near him he grabbed the same pant leg and held on. We have almost perfected the "puppy shuffle".
Walking with little foot lifting to avoid stepping on anyone. They move fast.

We seem to spend Saturdays rearranging the whelping room and this Saturday was no different.
We took out the second Whelping box and added panels to the whole room.

Now the whelping room has one whelping box and a big play pen. Lots of newspapers on the floor.
Did I mention we need newspapers???
In our bedroom we can tell when they are awake by the sound of running feet on the newspapers.
We thought they would like to sleep in the whelping box but so far they sleep in a big pile on the one
dog bed we put in the play area.

The whelping box is a fun game to see who can climb over the little doorway the fastest. Lime goes in and out
a lot.

Tom may have a new favorite.

That's purple getting a long snuggle. She is incredibly sweet. Linda, can we keep 2 girls???  NOT

Brown lost his collar this week and is now wearing orange. Blue gets awards for most times caught
sleeping on his back. White is still the most adventurous.  She and BRG got out of the whelping box during
the night in spite of the blocked door.  We may need a nanny cam to figure the escape route.

Pink loves to pounce on toys and BRG pounces on anything. Newspapers, siblings, toys, our feet.
Red is the most friendly. He loves to climb in and around our laps as we sit on the floor.
Lime runs the most. Back and forth, into the whelping box... just running.
Yellow has lost the little white "Y" on his belly and has lightened in color.  He is down right handsome.
Brown is the biggest and a hunk.

In case you're wondering, I have a clipboard and take notes during the week while we play. That's how I
know who did what cute thing this week. I have also added the camera and sit and wait for cute pictures.
I'm not that great of a photographer but managed to have the camera in hand for a few good shots.


I'll add the puppy weights when Tom and I have completed that task this afternoon. We do love these kids and
are enjoying having them in our lives. Tom is now talking about adding more than just a master bedroom to
our tiny little cabin to accommodate easier puppy care.  I on the other hand am doing lots of laundry and
need a bigger laundry room.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. We sure did.

Sunday December 28 Four  weeks  old Stats:

Purple Girl:  birth weight 14 ounces, Week Four 5 lbs.  2 ounces.

Pink Girl: birth weight 17 ounces,  Week Four 5 lbs.  10 ounces.

Lime Girl: birth weight 13.5 ounces  Week Four 4 lbs.  14 ounces

Blue Boy: birth weight 16 ounces     Week Four 5 lbs.  2 ounces

Red Boy: birth weight 14.5 ounces   Week Four 5 lbs.  8 ounces

Green (BRG) Boy: birth weight 13 ounces   Week Four 5 lbs.  6 ounces

Yellow Boy: birth weight 13.5 ounces   Week Four 5 lbs. 12 ounces

White Girl: birth weight 16 ounces   Week Four 5 lbs.  6 ounces

Brown Boy: birth weight 17 ounces   Week Four 6 lbs.  2 ounces.


 

Sunday, December 21, 2014     3 Weeks Old

Puppies are 3 weeks old today. All are over 3 pounds and doing great. We continue to trim their nails once a week. Kathleen came over Friday to visit and brought puppy's first meal and other supplies. Thank-you. Anyone who comes to visit, WE NEED NEWSPAPER. We have a stack but it will soon start going quickly.

We had planned to wait another week to start them on solid food. But...

Yesterday we gave each puppy a little one-on-one time to play and hang out with us. No siblings in the way. We took lots of pictures which I will be posting today. 

During their private play time Pink explored the room and discovered Lila's food bowl. Pink took a bite and managed to eat some. We decided to try their baby food.

In the puppy pictures you will see the results. Everybody dove right in and had their first baby food not from Lila.

Also this week, everyone has their eyes and ears wide open. This has resulted in various puppies trying out their vocal chords. From barking to howling to just humming. We have had a range of noises. Some not at the best times... like 3 am. Brown decided to try out his coyote howl. We rushed down to the whelping room to find everyone fine. He was just "talking". Then Pink got in the game with a cute little "O" mouth and loud sounds. We are a little more tired this week.

Reddington, our boy puppy turned 3 months old this week. He is 39 pounds. Quite the comparison to the 3 week olds at 3 to 3 1/2 pounds. Lila has allowed Reddington to meet the puppies. He licks them... A Lot. She seems to think she is also his mommy. During Reddington's weekly nail trim, with the dremmel, he had a bit of a tantrum. Lila  came rushing to his aide and supervised as we completed the job.

Lila is a Super Mom. She keeps the kids clean and fed. Allowed them to eat their puppy food while she looked on. When they had finished, I moved them back to their whelping box and signaled Lila to clean up the mess. She made sure all kids were good then washed the bowl clean.

Puppies are starting to romp and play more. They are trying to climb out of the whelping box so we attached the second box for the playpen. No one has made it over the door yet but Lila uses the extra side to sleep in peace while keeping watch over her kids. I have missed Lila at my side so much that I climbed in and she and I had a nice snuggle. Just the two of us, watching the puppies from the next box.



 

They're 2 weeks old.
It's been a wonderful week. We took pictures of everyone at 8 days old. I just got them put on the site this morning. As of today: Everyone has their eyes open. Bright light will be an issue for several days so no new pictures until the end of week. Also exciting news, everyone is "motoring" around on all 4 feet. Not always steady but fun to watch. White and Brown get awards for first to conquer 4 legged travel. They're both pretty good at it by now. Of course that means speedy White is even harder to keep track of.

All puppies got their nails trimmed and weighed on Saturday. It's becoming a ritual. We've learned to catch them while sleepy. Far less wiggling when it's a sleepy puppy.

Weight stats are as follows:

Purple  2 lbs. 2 oz.
Pink     2 lbs. 4 oz.
Lime    2 lbs. 0 oz.  This is our petite girl
Blue     2 lbs. 3 oz.
Red     2 lbs. 3 oz.
BRG    2 lbs. 2 oz.
Yellow 2 lbs. 4 oz.
White   2 lbs. 3 oz.
Brown  2 lbs. 4 oz.

Lime and Purple opened their eyes first. Now that they have their eyes open, I feel stared at. I know they aren't supposed to be able to actually see this early, BUT... I still feel all eyes on me.

Oh on a different note, Brown Barks. Mostly they all make little baby noises but Brown likes to show off his attitude with a bark.

The puppies got to meet their 3 month old big brother Reddington this weekend. Reddington loves Lila and follows her everywhere when she is out of the whelping room. Lila allowed Reddington to enter the whelping room on Sunday. She didn't seem to mind at all when he ate her spare bowl of food or drank from her water dish. Then he walked over and gave Purple a big lick on the head. Lila just watched with patience. She's a great Mom.

Lila has been going for walks every morning with Tori and Reddington. They seem to enjoy this time together and Lila has been more willing to spend time away from her puppies. Tom takes the gang out while I clean the whelping room. No Lila or Reddington underfoot makes the job go faster. Rocket just stays in bed so he's never a problem.

Puppy visits start next week. If you would like to get on my schedule feel free to drop me an e-mail or call.

Puppies and Mom are doing great. Lila is a super mom. The first 2-3 days we had to put a leash on her to get her to go for doggie business.

Kathleen came by on Monday, puppies one day old, and we got lots of pictures. Lila was super pleased to see "grandma"  and actually left the whelping room to greet Kathleen as she came in the front door.  That's Rhodesian Ridgeback bonding for life. Kathleen took a look at all the puppies, with me doing the handling. Even bonded, the smart, safe and healthy thing is to keep outside handling to a minimum. We think pink and purple girls may be liver nosed. They currently have very pink noses.

Tom has gotten very attached to the pink girl. We are planning to keep a girl if she tests as "show-quality". Let's hope pink passes because that's the one Tom coos with when he helps move them during whelp box cleaning time.

The puppies will be evaluated at 8 weeks old by outsiders who are experts in the conformation world.  Show quality is only an issue if you plan to show in conformation. Which we do. All the puppies are great, but subtle differences, like too much white, could keep them out of the conformation ring.  All have been checked for health, kinked tails, DM etc... I would encourage anyone interested in just a companion to look at the ridgeless puppies. They are super and often built better than the ridged. Nice thing about this entire litter. They should have the wonderful temperament of their parents. Lila is my sunshine on 4 legs. Even with her pregnant hormones she has been very nice to our new puppy. This was a major concern when we brought him home.

Our greyhound Tori, is dying to get into the whelping room. We keep a child gate at the door and Tori has taken to sleeping at the gate. She would love to be a surrogate mommy.  When we brought Reddington home 2 weeks ago Tori immediately started mothering him. Our other greyhound Rocket is not interested. FYI, those greyhounds got Reddington house-broken within a week.

All the puppies have been vet checked and had their dew-claws removed.

I have weighed the puppies everyday and everyone has gained weight everyday.

At 1 week old we trimmed all their nails. Brown puppy gets gold stars for best behavior during nail trimming.

Sunday December 7 One week old Stats:

Purple Girl:  birth weight 14 ounces, Week One 25 ounces.

Pink Girl: birth weight 17 ounces,  Week One 29 ounces.

Lime Girl: birth weight 13.5 ounces  Week One 23 ounces

Blue Boy: birth weight 16 ounces     Week One 29 ounces

Red Boy: birth weight 14.5 ounces   Week One 29 ounces

Green (BRG) Boy: birth weight 13 ounces   Week One 28 ounces

Yellow Boy: birth weight 13.5 ounces   Week One 28 ounces

White Girl: birth weight 16 ounces   Week One 27 ounces

Brown Boy: birth weight 17 ounces   Week One 30 ounces.


All puppies are healthy and very strong. After a week we are getting to see little differences in their little selves. This may change but it's fun to see. White likes to scoot off on her own and Red likes to burrow under everyone. Brown "talks" when he is eating and Pink sleeps with the teat in her mouth. Lime is a cuddle bunny and snuggles with any sibling she can find. Blue has cute little white "paddles" on his back feet while yellow has a white "butterfly" on his chest and a thin white little "y" near his belly. Purple's nose is changing colors. Green is the one I enjoy cuddling with the most. He seems to catch my eye and next thing I know I am snuggling with him.

Lila has become more relaxed. She is very comfortable with Tom and me handling her "kids".  We do a puppy count every hour or so, to be sure no one has gotten buried in the pads or otherwise harmed. We also rotate the "fatties" off and the smaller ones on to nurse.

Lila started short walks with Daddy, Tori and Reddington each morning on day 4. All seem to enjoy their morning outings and Lila needs exercise, even if just a little. Lila is very patient with her own puppies and our now 11 week old puppy Reddington. The 2 Ridgebacks are off-leash and Tori on-leash on these short walks into the forest. The distance is usually determined my Tori as she has bone cancer in her shoulder and some days she is less able to walk the rough ground.

Day 5 Lila started to come out of the whelping room to spend a few minutes with the family. It was a nice surprise to have her jump the baby gate and come spend time with me at my desk yesterday. I miss having her at my side. Tom's puppy chewing on my shoe laces is not the same.

I will update the gallery with individual pictures soon but the puppies mostly look the same in pictures. Their eyes are still closed and it takes close up inspection to see the differences in markings, ridges and size.

They are all loved and I will always consider them part of my family.
 

Here is the story of the puppies birth. Oh, and did I say, our first whelping? Thanks to Kathleen Russell, we were prepared.

Puppy 1: Purple collar, Girl,  born 6:06 am,  birth weight 14 ounces.


I was sleeping in the whelping room. Lila woke me up around 5:30 am to go outside. She did her business then started running around the yard kind of frantic. We came back in the house and in the box Lila went. We had a baby monitor up to our bedroom where my husband slept. I told him he might want to come down to the room as I thought Lila was in labor. A few minutes later I heard him getting dressed, he was slow, at 6:06 am we had a puppy. Tom missed it. He arrive in time to take the weight notes and help with the first pictures.


Puppy 2: Pink Collar, Girl, born 6:36 am, birth weight 17 ounces.

After all the excitement of the first puppy settled down, Tom went to take our 10 week old puppy Reddington out. Red was slow and
we had puppy 2 while Tom was out of the room.  Lila and I were doing OK on our own because things went relatively smoothly. And fast.


Puppy 3: Lime Green collar, Girl, born 6:57 am, birth weight 13.5 ounces, she may be ridgeless.

Tom was in the room for this one. Very smooth and quick. Lila is doing great.

Puppy 4: Blue Collar, Boy, born at 7:06 am, birth weight 16 ounces.

Wow, 4 puppies in an hour!  Our first boy. Tom is picking the collar colors so blue for the first boy seems natural.


An hour goes by with no puppies. After 4 within the first hour, we're nervous. Kathleen, our mentor, friend and Lila's co-owner is
an the final day of her cruise. She was supposed to be back in time but no one figured that Lila would have the puppies on the first possible
delivery date. Next time we'll check with Lila. I call backup expert Patty Olney. She was a life line. Patty had two suggestions. Take Lila for a brief walk AND  have Tom leave the room.  LOL.  We did both and puppy number 5 came at 8:22am. while Tom was feeding our 2 greyhounds and Reddington.


Puppy 5: Red Collar, Boy, born at 8:22 am, birth weight 14.5 ounces.

Leave it to a boy to take his time. Tom missed this birth but came back in time to pick the collar color.


Puppy 6: Green Collar (BRG), Boy, born 8:35 am, birth weight 13 ounces, may be ridgeless.

He's a cutie. Lila is doing good. She's being a great Mom so far, cleaning puppies, nursing and
quick contractions for the next puppy.

Puppy 7: Yellow Collar, Boy, born 8:52 am, birth weight 13.5 ounces.

How many puppies do we have? It's happening so fast I'm getting confused. Thank Tom for
keeping the clipboard accurate.

Puppy 8: White Collar, Girl, born 9:22 am, birth weight 16 ounces, may be ridgeless.

White girl is independent. She would rather crawl around then get weighed, collared and nurse. If I set her
down to reach for something,...   off she goes.

Puppy 9: Brown Collar, Boy, born 9:38 am. birth weight 17 ounces.

He is a hunk. Ridge looks like a long Mohawk. Oh, reminder to self, we don't need a boy, we don't need a boy, we don't need a boy.



Are we done??  Actually talked to Patty Olney a couple of times during whelping. At one point I had to ask her how many puppies we had since last we spoke. It seemed we would have a question and boom,  Lila would have another puppy.  Anyway, after puppy 9 it was a wait to see if Lila was done.  Kathleen called between ship to plane transfers and that was reassuring. I can't imagine doing this without experienced help available for dumb questions.  

Lila is resting, cleaning puppies, nursing and overall being a GREAT Mom. I called the vet for a brief assurance and then we cleaned up the whelping box. Lila was most upset to have her bed disturbed but we got everything cleaned and changed, Mom and puppies settled and time for breakfast, by 11am. Not a bad mornings work.