Pictures will come later today with any luck, but here’s a brief update.  The puppies were temperament tested on Sunday the 29th using Sheila Booth’s Positive Puppy Preview method.   I was very pleased that all the puppies showed tremendous potential across the board, and were for the most part consistent with my observations over the last 8 weeks.  They were all good people dogs.  They all continued to show confidence, good drive, and desire to retrieve, even with repetition and after having to overcome some stressful situations.  There were different degrees of this between each puppy but it was generally very consistent throughout the litter.

They also were all tested to have a tremendous amount of desire with respect to birds.  This again was important to me as per the Breed Standard (”primarily a hunting dog”).

Last but not least, their structure is sound, and I will be posting those photos in a couple days.   In the meantime we are busy getting puppies ready to go to their new homes, which starts tomorrow!

Oh my goodness!  I didn’t realize how many days have gone by without a post!  It really only seemed like 2 days.

We have been super-busy around here, now that the puppies are at the peak of their activity and with our gearing up for them to go to their new homes. Our previous indoor puppy pen setup which allowed Sport free access to the puppies no longer works, as the puppies have figured out how to break out, multiple times now in the last two days.

They are all sweet, beautiful, curious little explorers with loads of confidence, talent, and joie de vivre. This warms and delights my heart, but I must admit to feeling more than a bit sad thinking that in just a few days they will not be here with us, though they will be going to wonderful homes that will love them dearly and become part of our Tigana Goldens extended family.

The latest photos aren’t ready to post yet– (it has been chaos around here!), but here are some from a few days ago for all to enjoy.

Raising the puppies is no small chore!  Our Lola has stepped in to help, and Sporty seems to appreciate the extra doggy attention given to her babies.

Sporty checks in to make sure everything is okay.

The puppies love Lola.

Lola thinks, “Boy am I glad I’m just an Auntie.”

Mama Sport teaches her daughter about bumpers.

“See?  You hold it like this.  Try it!”

Tug is fun, too!  (Notice Lola with the pups in the background)

Parting photo…

Here I am making up for the long break in posts again! A bunch of pictures from this morning…

Funny what toys they like. Puppies playing tug with a previously-stuffed toy duck “skin”.

“I love my slide”.

Puppies enjoying their visitors, and Ms. Pink posing for the camera

Mr. Red loves to rest his head on any available water source.

“How about this pose? Do I look cute enough?” (Ms. Purple)

The last few days were so hot that the puppies ended up spending most of the days inside, with the exception of early morning and late in the evening. While indoors they slept on ice packs and frozen 2-liter bottles (they *love* those!). Here they are staying cool this evening:

Waiting their turn on the slide…

They also got to stay cool by chomping on a frozen whole slab of beef ribs. Talk about brain freeze!

You know the story “Where’s Waldo”? Click on this image to see the larger size, and see if you can find Cooper.  (when this picture was taken we didn’t realize he was there!)

Happy 6 week birthday to the ‘Famous Jingles’ litter!  The pups continue to thrive, and will likely be 30 lbs in weight when it’s time to go to their new homes.  (just kidding, guys).

Don’s brother Jeff is here visiting this week, and here are a couple of pictures of him with the puppies from yesterday.

First greeting

Awwwww…… so sweet…

The puppies love the dogwalk-lounge.  Here they all are!

Here’s a puppy playing with a toy I carried all the way back from England last year. Yay!

Two puppies coming down the slide… watch out!

This puppy is wearing Sport’s typical expression.  “What wonderful, fun thing are we going to do now?!”

Handsome dude

The puppies continue to spend a good part of the day outside, usually in their pen out on the grass. However, we do take a few “field trips” around the yard so everyone gets a chance to really stretch their legs and explore. They are starting to run very fast! They also stay awake for much longer stretches, playing a lot with us, each other, and all their visitors.

The puppies have a new outdoor play area out on the grass, and thanks to friends have a makeshift dogwalk, a big mesh tunnel, and a Clifford plastic slide to play on! Not to mention the wobble-board that they still enjoy, and a small teeter that Don made for them.

Here are lots of pictures from today to make up for the lack of them the last few days.

Puppies on the slide– wheeee!

It’s a great view from the top!

Puppies on the dogwalk-lounge:

The big mesh tunnel is behind the puppy. They love to roll and play in it.

Enjoying the morning playtime…

Now for a treat. This is what the puppies had for breakfast. It is a mixture of primarily ground beef, with the following mixed in: an egg with the shell, a bit of rehydrated carrot mix, a spoonful of cottage cheese (not something I usually feed, but I had it available), a couple spoonfuls of yogurt, some salmon oil from Timberwolf Organics, a small scoop of Canine ProBalance vitamin supplement, and some organ meat. For dinner they each got to eat the meat off a big meaty beef rib. It was great exercise for them in addition to getting the meat. They are still nursing from mom several times a day. The puppies love their meals!

Yikes!  I just realized it has been a couple days without a post!  The puppies are getting very active, and with all the visitors and constant cleanup it is getting hard to keep up with everything else.  The pups are getting individual attention every day outdoors, and enjoy exploring and frapping around the yard.  They have been getting exposed to common household sounds like the vacuum cleaner (lots and lots of vacuuming, but things only stay clean for a few short minutes!), the air conditioner outdoors, TV, etc…  Each of the pups love to snuggle, but they also like to take flying leaps into your lap (or your face if you’re not paying attention).

Because it is important to me to produce retrievers interested in birds as per the Golden Retriever breed standard,  I tested the pups for their reaction to a dead bird yesterday.   The results were very good, as every pup had a positive reaction — just like their parents!

For those interested, I updated the Supplies page and the Jingle theme page.

Pictures to come later today.