Life in the Black and White litter is FUN!! The “walkabouts” have gotten longer, more frequent and filled with adventure!!!  All these new experiences, sights, sounds, textures and new ‘things’, help us see how each pup views and reacts to the world.  Some are confident, some courageous, some very curious, some reserved, some like to observe and some are happy go lucky galoots!   I walk, they play, I observe, they get tired!!  Yes!!!   Never forget, a tired puppy is a good puppy.  This is the Law of the Land!!
 
Their final vet visit was Monday.  No big surprises, just little things that I had noted before. Certainly, nothing in black and white!!  All hearts, lungs and testicles (where appropriate!) were good!!  A couple had little tiny hernias that will ‘reduce’ as the vet calls it, which means ‘go away’ ! Same with the couple pups that had very slight overbites that will ‘reduce’ with the arrival of adult teeth.  All were weighed- biggest are the boys of course – Oreo, Pango and Domino were within .4 oz of each other – 15.6 to 15.2.  The girls started at 14.4 -12.2 with Flower, Daisy, Dice, and Lamb leading the way, and Soccer, Panda, and Zebra bringing up the rear.   Hard to believe these guys started at 14-16 oz only 7 weeks ago!!   After lots of poking, prodding, measuring and manipulating, the first vaccines (little ouch!) were over, dewormed for the last of three times, and then the BIG OUCH – microchipping!!  Good thing they did not see the size of that needle coming at them!!  All this great health information will be in their ‘going home’ packet, along with all their AKC registration papers, microchip papers, and lots of Grandma June rearing and training advice.
 
Their mask is black, their feet are white.  The whole family looks upon the sight - a beautiful sight!
 
Females:
 
Zebra (ZZ) – perfect ridge, red wheaten, minimal mask, white on all four feet, two long ziggee’s on the chest, minor overbite.  Smaller.  Playful, goofy, curious, a little bit snuggle, a little bit sassy
 
Lamb (Lammie) – perfect ridge, very dark red wheaten, very dark mask, almost no white on feet, small spot on chest .  Tiny hernia.  Eager to please, quiet and attentive, loves to play, a lover
 
Soccer (Sox) – perfect ridge, red wheaten with roaning, dark mask, big sock on front, and white on other three, two long spots on chest.  Smaller.  Spunky, silly, loves to explore, adventurous, very athletic
 
Panda – perfect ridge, red wheaten, dark mask, small amount of white on feet, big spot on chest. Smaller.  Sweet, gentle lap lover, sooo expressive, so willing to please

Holstein (Daisy) – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, dark mask, white on all four feet, big spot on chest.  Rear dew claw remnant. Biggest.  Easy going, watchful and observant, a thinker, likes to snuggle. 
 
Skunk (Flower) – perfect ridge, very dark red wheaten, very dark mask, almost no white on feet, star on chest.  Biggest.  Very attentive, loves attention, watch me attitude, lots of swag
 
Dice – perfect ridge, very dark red wheaten, very dark mask, small amount of white on feet, tiny dots on chest. Tiny hernia.  Happy go lucky, playful, don’t worry be happy attitude
 
Males:
 
Pango – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, dark mask, white on front feet, medium spot on chest.  Curious, loves attention, interested in new things, first in line for everything
 
Oreo – long ridge with tiny 3^rd cowlick (you will have to look hard for it!), red wheaten with slight roaning, dark mask, white on left front foot, medium spot on chest.  Slight overbite.  Kind and gentle, the BIG Easy, huggable, snuggly lap lover
 
Domino – perfect ridge, red wheaten, minimal mask, almost no white on feet, small spots on chest.  Rear dew claw remnant.  Confident, brave, let’s go attitude, big easy going galoot
 

Once again, the Black & Whites have doubled in size this week.  Honestly, it is amazing how fast they grow.  Legs have sprouted up, necks are longer, bodies look like little sausages!!!  Health wise, toe nails were assaulted again much to the B & W’s consternation.  They certainly prefer the yummy tasting de-wormer!  In the future, you should just KNOW that toenails and deworming are a monthly NEED!
 
They are into EVERYTHING!  Everything outside included!  We have begun the “Grandma June Walkabouts” mostly to wear them out a little every day!!  They are learning about grass, big rocks, trees, bushes, raspberry patches (ouch), fallen apples (organic balls) and how much fun is it to trash the lily patches? This does not make Grandma happy!  Additionally, they have met many of their adult relatives, and observed horses, cars, trucks, golf carts, motorcycles, 4 wheelers, and great big farm equipment.   Even the Sioux Falls Search and Rescue team came out to practice.  So many sounds and things that MOVE!!  For Grandma June, watching them explore and adjust to new things can be very insightful, funny and sweet.  At this point, they are all just little darlings.  In the coming weeks, each will develop their own unique personalities.  The watching and noting by Grandma June will become more and more focused so I can tell YOU who each of the pups are.
 
LuLu is done --- so done!!  She loves her puppies, but the teeth --- all those teeth!! To make matters worse, LuLu decided that feeding them while standing up was the way to go which means the puppies HANG from her while eating.  Egad!! I think the long suffering look on LuLu’s face pretty well sums up how much she was NOT enjoying this part of parenting!!  I helped her out by starting the weaning process.  First they enjoyed just artificial puppy milk, then I added just a little bit of puppy chow, and then more puppy chow and then more puppy chow!!  They loved it immediately, but what a mess when they snorkel in it too.  Thankfully, LuLu is happy to clean them up!! The pups are going it alone much of the day without LuLu.  They are learning to sleep in their crate and learning where to go to the bathroom.  Sleeping in a ‘den’ is safe, warm, and cozy.  Going to the bathroom where you sleep is unacceptable and going in the same place, so as not to mess up your whole territory, is a must!  In the future, I strongly recommend that you continue to take advantage of these natural instincts!!
 
“If you’re thinking about my baby, they ain’t second to none!!”  -  Meet the Black and Whites!!
 
 Females:
 
 Zebra (ZZ) – perfect ridge, red wheaten, minimal mask, white on all four feet, two long ziggee’s on the chest
 
 Lamb (Lammie) – perfect ridge, red wheaten, medium mask, almost no white on feet, small spot on chest 
 
 Soccer (Sox) – perfect ridge, red wheaten, dark mask, big sock on front, and white on other three, two long spots on chest
 
 Panda – perfect ridge, red wheaten, dark mask, small amount of white on feet, big spot on chest
 
 Holstein (Daisy) – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, very dark mask, white on all four feet, big spot on chest.
 
 Skunk (Flower) – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, very dark mask, almost no white on feet, star on chest
 
 Dice – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, very dark mask, small amount of white on feet, tiny dots on chest.
 
 Males:
 
 Pango – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, dark mask, white on front feet, medium spot on chest
 
 Oreo – perfect ridge, dark red wheaten, dark mask, white on left front foot, medium spot on chest
 
 Domino – perfect ridge, red wheaten, medium mask, almost no white on feet, small spots on chest
 

The puppies have turned into PUPPIES!!  They are attempting the fine art of hopping, jumping, bouncing and rolling.  They have down pat the equally fine art of falling!!  Doing laps around the whelping box has become a great version of Catch me, Catch me!  The ‘trilling,’ which is a pathetic cross between a growl, a bark and a whine, has turned into very recognizable growls, barks, and whines!!  They are a noisy bunch now, especially when it is lunch time and Momma Lulu has not shown any interest in feeding them.  Poor little chubbys are not suffering at all, having doubled in size again this week.  Soon it will be time to help LuLu out and begin the weaning process by introducing puppy milk replacer.  It is a messy process, but a necessary one!
 
Playing has become a major part of their busy day along with sleeping and eating.  Their ears, nose, tail and toes are all fair game and pretty much take a licking – literal sometimes – if someone bites too hard and has to make amends!!  LuLu is not nearly as amused by their new knowledge and spends more and more time OUT of the whelping box where she can see them but not be pestered by them relentlessly.  Grandma June spends a lot MORE time in the whelping box now where they have begun to learn that people are a big part of their lives too.
 
Grandma June insisted on another annoying toe nail trim – just another part of the life ahead of them.  LuLu deeply appreciates the dulling of 80 little daggers and so do their own little eyes and noses.  This week they also got their first taste of the yummy de-worming stuff.  Again another part of life that they just have to learn to endure!! 
 
They are a very consistent little bunch.  All of them are various shades of red wheaten, all have various shades of black masks, and all have gorgeous ridges.  The only way I am attempting to tell them apart is by their unique white on the chest and feet.  Color is purely a personal preference but it does really help to try to tell them apart.  If you like the white though, enjoy it now as there will be less of it as an adult!!
 
I’ve been giving hints as to what the litter theme is …. Have you guessed it?...
The BLACK and WHITE litter!!!
 
It will be fun to see which puppy earns a name such as:  Domino, Zebra, Oreo, Panda, Dice, Eight Ball, Orca (Willey), Lamb, Dalmation, Holstein (Bessie), Tux, Snoopy, Sylvester, Zorro, Soccer, Skunk (Flower) Salt, Pepper, Ebony, Ivory.  Who knew there are so many black and white things?!
 
We Learn to Live, We Learn to Give!!