Nessa's Pups

Orange Boy

Blue Girl and Pink (formerly White) Girl

Yellow Girl

Letterbomb - American Idiot - Pittsburgh Regional Premiere

No, it's not all dogs around here. We're also incredibly proud of our kids! Here's our daughter Isabel as Whatsername in the Green Day musical, American Idiot, earlier this month with Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

Barbet Puppy

Three Weeks Today!

Puppy Pile

Just walked in to find this cute pile of snuggling pups <3

Claire's Puppies, One Week and Two Days :)

Claire's pups are sporting their new collars with dots to differentiate them from Nessa's litter. These puppies are doing really well, and Claire enjoys doting on them.

Boy, Girl

Boy

Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl

Girl

This is not an illusion. Claire's Light Blue boy is as big as Nessa's puppies that are one week older! Nessa's puppies weigh between 731g and 937g and this boy weighs 874g. He's a hulk! Claire's other pups weigh from 530g to 674g. 

Nessa's Two Week Old Puppies

Yesterday's snippet of video was so popular with the puppy families that today I've put up a longer clip. These puppies are really getting around! You can really see the importance of the pig rail around the box near the end when Nessa comes in and lays down on top of one of the babies. This rail allows the puppy to be safe under the rail where it is protected from the full weight of mom. 

Baby Barbet Puppy Step

The older puppies got a new bed for their two week birthday. Here's one of the girls using her brother as a handy step!

Sunshine Pups

Today we took advantage of the wonderful sun and warm weather and took the older puppies outside for about ten minutes. They seemed to love their time in the sun! The orange boy's eyes are now starting to open. They are really beautiful puppies.

Nessa's Girls

Here are three of Nessa's girls. So sweet! These puppies are now up and wobbling around the box on their little legs. Pretty soon they'll be opening their eyes!

Portraits of Barbet Puppies -- Nessa x Murdoch

Here they are, at one week and two days, the 8 beautiful puppies of Nessa and Murdoch

Nessa's Blue Girl

Nessa's Red Boy

Nessa's Yellow Girl

Nessa's White Girl

Nessa's Light Blue Boy

Nessa's Green Girl

Nessa's Orange Boy

Nessa's Purple Girl

Portraits of the Puppies -- Claire x Thunus Georgii

Finally we had some sun and good lighting to take individual pictures of the puppies. These are the Claire - Georgii pups, born April 8, 2015.

Claire's Blue Girl

Claire's Red Boy

Claire's Yellow Boy

Claire's White Girl

Claire's Light Blue Boy

Claire's Green Girl

Claire's Orange Girl

Barbet Puppies

Claire's puppies did very well in their first 24 hours, a critical milestone for a newborn. She is enjoying her own puppies immensely, after longingly watching Nessa's through the doorway.

Nessa Green Girl

This is Nessa's green collared girl. What a sweet face! All of Nessa's pups have more than doubled their birthweight, which is exactly where they should be at one week. Each litter is set up in a different area of my house so that the moms have privacy to bond with and care for their little pups.

Claire's Puppies Are Here!

Claire's beautiful little George puppies were born early this morning. Just like Nessa, she started exactly at 5:00 AM. All of Claire's pups are black, and there are 4 girls - 3 boys.  They are extremely strong puppies, and the yellow collared boy was sitting up and nursing when he was an hour old.

5:00 AM    #1    Girl   305g    black    blue collar
5:08 AM    #2    Boy   263g    black    red collar
5:25 AM    #3    Boy    227g    black    yellow collar
5:33 AM    #4    Girl    225g    black    white collar
5:45 AM    #5    Boy    323g    black    light blue collar
6:18 AM    #6    Girl    242g    black    green collar
6:50 AM    #7    Girl    225g    black    orange collar

I always use the same colors so that I know which order they were born, i.e. blue = 1st, red = 2nd

One hour old and sitting up to nurse

Light Blue Boy

Green Girl

Barbet Puppy Love

Isabel loves spending time with the pups every day

Every day, the puppies are gaining 30-40 grams, and are getting stronger. Already they are trying to stand on their wobbly little legs to get around the box. Nessa continues to be an attentive mother, although she did decide that my bed would make a more comfortable home for her babies when she started carrying them to my room after arranging the pillows and blankets. Unfortunately for her, the puppy she was carrying was very loud, and she was quickly thwarted! Silly girl.

The puppies are handled multiple times a day, and I am doing a version of Early Neurological Stimulation that provides mild stresses in order to strengthen the puppy. It's really enjoyable to see the changes in the pups each day.

Snoozy boy

Getting bigger!

Four Day Old Barbet Puppies

Friday Puppy Update

This picture has two fun things: the white collar puppy who passed out headfirst and the other under Nessa's chest where just the back legs are sticking out. All puppies gained weight nicely and are doing great so far!

 Sleeping Comfortably!

This little girl is wiped out on Nessa's front leg!

Very proud mamma Ness

American Barbet Puppies!

Our Dutch import, Nessa, gave birth to 8 beautiful puppies this morning, sired by Canada's #1 Barbet, Murdoch. A first time mom, Nessa easily delivered her babies in under two hours. All of the puppies came out head first, fully encased in their sacs, for a smooth passage into the world.

5:00 AM    #1    Girl   228g    brown    blue collar

5:36 AM    #2    Boy   263g    black    red collar

5:51 AM    #3    Girl    200g    black    yellow collar

5:58 AM    #4    Girl    202g    black    white collar

6:10 AM    #5    Boy    233g    black    light blue collar

6:36 AM    #6    Girl    197g    black    green collar

6:50 AM    #7    Boy    250g    black    orange collar

6:57 AM    #8    Girl    256g    brown    purple collar

Birth size doesn't really indicate adult size, but it's interesting to watch as they grow. Sometimes the biggest pups in the litter stay the biggest, and other times the smaller pups end up being the exact right size as adults. I'll get individual shots of the pups posted over the next few days.