Our color selection for identifying each of the puppies from one another didn't turn out to be as distinguishable in the pictures as we were hoping, so we decided to change the colors for a few of the puppies to make them a little easier to tell a part in the pictures. In person it's easy to see which is which, but in the pictures it's a little more difficult. I'll post a table of the changes below for anyone who wants to reference any of the older pictures we have of the puppies before the color change. *The new color for each puppy will be the color directly across from the old color for that puppy - some will stay the same.
The puppies are almost three weeks old, and they're doing great! Their eyes and ears are open, they're walking around confidently, and the playful side of them is really starting to come out. It took quite a while to get their pictures taken because they've become so active, but I think we were able to capture a few decent shots. That's Alysse and one of the boys to the left after she had taken all of their pictures - the life of a puppy model can be pretty taxing! We took group pictures of the boys and the girls, and several individual pictures as well. We thought we would go ahead and post a few of the group pictures we took - the pictures of each individual puppy will be up soon, so check back in later. Feel free to call or email if you have any questions about the puppies, and we'd love to talk to you. I hope you all had a good Christmas, and that your new year is off to a great start! The BoysClick the on the images to enlarge. The GirlsThe puppies are a week and a half old, and they're growing very well. We weigh them everyday to be sure that they're all getting enough milk, and growing as they should be. We keep track of who's who by using different colored nail polish. It's the safest method of identification in our opinion - many other highly respected breeders and vets agree, too. We're using 5 different colors for this litter; you'll see that a few of the colors have been used twice, and that's because one is a male and the other is a female (for that color). For this litter, we use a stripe going along the spine to show that the puppy is a male, and we use a stripe going perpendicular to the spine to show that it's a female. We use this method so that anyone looking at the pictures can see which gender each puppy is. Enjoy the pictures, and give us a call or send an email if you have any questions about the puppies. Please don't forget to remember the reason for the season - hope you have all had a merry Christmas! I just thought I'd add a few of the newer pictures we have of Layna and the puppies. In the top picture she still had one more puppy on the way, and all 8 puppies are in the picture to the left. The puppies and Layna are doing great. We're taking them to the vet on Wednesday to get a check up and their dew claws removed. Keep checking back in - we'll try to post new pictures and updates in a few days. Thanks! We just found out that Fish River's Belle Of The Ball Park "Lu" (Homer puppy) just finished her first Open, and WON the Amateur this last weekend! And she just turned 3 in November!
Layna x Homer puppies' half sister Lu has seen some quick success in her competitive career! She ran 4 derbies, and got a jam, a 3rd and a 2nd. She was Qualified All Age before turning 2 on her second attempt with a WIN. A few months later she Jammed her first Amateur, and a few weeks after that earned a Reserve Jam! I've seen Lu run a few times, and it's easy to see that she is a very talented dog with a bright future! Layna x Homer puppies: DOB: 12/15/2013 5 Males 3 Females This picture shows the first 4 puppies that were born - 2 males, and 2 females. Though this is Layna's first litter, she has very naturally been an ideal mom throughout the whole process! Overall, everything went extremely smoothly. She finished up with a nice, healthy litter of 3 girls and 5 boys. There will be more pictures and updates throughout the week, so check back in! "I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness. If it takes my dog being there (in Heaven), I believe he'll be there." Billy Graham Well, I've put off posting about this for a while now, but about a month ago I lost one of my best friends. It would be sad to lose her at any age, but it was pretty tragic to lose her when we did. I love these dogs for a lot of reasons, but one that stands out is how it seems that they are created to be such loving and devoted friends. That was definitely Keeva. She was everything that I could have asked for, and I loved coming home to that ray of sunshine every day - she always made me smile. I think I could literally write a novel about all of Keeva's wonderful characteristics, but I'll sum it all up by saying that she was the ultimate hunting retriever and friend, I will miss her very much, and I'll be very happy when I get to see her again. There are people all over the world that wake up hungry and impoverished, and go to bed the same way their whole lives. Many of us tend to have far more than we need, and we also get to come home to those wagging tails. Be sure to count your blessings, and maybe give your devoted companion some extra attention today. We are extremely lucky that our dogs are able to train on such exceptional grounds everyday - the options are as close to endless as you can get, and we're always able to keep the work fresh! These are some pictures we took at one of our recent training days, and we thought we might post them so you can have a look at what Jessie and Geuse get to see when they go to work. We'll post some pictures of a typical training day with Layna and Keeva soon! On this day we did two different set ups for water marks, one set up for land marks, two land blinds, and one water blind - a lot of long swims, in and outs, thick/high cover, etc to work through. (click on pictures to enlarge) (Above) The left mark. They have to swim by the island, cross the road, and go through a thick hedge of cover to get to the mark. (Below) The right mark - the starting point is to the right of the camera. They have to go down the hill into the mid-left area of the inlet, swim, go across the end of the point, swim to the other side, run through cover, cross the road, go through a thick hedge of cover to the mark on the other side. Jessie! click on the pictures below to see the progression of one of the marks. Geuse!
We couldn't be happier with the placement of these puppies in their new homes. It's the greatest satisfaction of a breeder to see that the puppies have made it to a place where they can be happy and thrive. Over the past few months we've kept in touch with the new puppy owners, and thought we'd post some pictures and a little bit about their new homes. (Click on the pictures to enlarge) "Blue" at her new home in Texas with the Robinson Family. Blue will make an excellent duck dog for all of the hunting trips the Robinsons will take for many seasons down the road! "Mace" riding around the farm with the Massengill family in Northern Arkansas. Mace is in the process of being trained to be a hunt test competitor, and will be a guide dog right in the heart of the Mississippi Flyway - truly a paradise for Retrievers during duck season! This is "Cash" trying to adjust to a strenuous schedule of playing hard and sleeping on the couch with his new buddy. Cash went to the Sanders Family in Northern Arkansas to a be a Field Trial Competitor. Cash is in Training with Scott Bollman at Slackwater Retrievers. This is Roxie with her new friend Rebel. They live in Texas with Dr. Brewster on a beautiful piece of land with a lot of room to retrieve. Roxie will be a great companion, retriever and possibly competitor for many years to come! "Trip" winding down after a few retrieves at his new home with the Mottola family in Canada. Trip is currently in training to compete in Field Trials and leisure activities - we can see that he's well on his way to being a champ in at least one of those arenas! This is "Jewel" at her new home in California with the Pappas family. Jewel is currently in training to be a hunting companion and Field Trial competitor. That look coupled with her stellar performance is sure to get her plenty of ribbons! This is "Ruger" at his new home in Florida with the MacGregor Family. Ruger is in training to be a Field Trial competitor and hunting companion. He's an intense retriever, but also has an off switch for when he's at home - definitely a quality we were going for with this breeding! This is "Jazzy" at her new home with the Weber Family in California. Jazzy is currently in training with Josh Conrad at Sargenti Kennels in California. Jazzy is a fun dog that loves to play hard, and has no fear - it sounds like she's maintained those wonderful characteristics that she left our place with. We're excited to see how she progresses! The puppies have started to eat their puppy food to kick off the weaning process. They're also becoming more active and pouncing on each other, climbing up the side of the whelping box and even attempting to run a little bit as they test out their new capabilities. We let them eat outside in the grass a little bit today; it got a little messy, but it was fun to see them gain confidence in a new environment. We put individual pictures up of each puppy. Check out the current litters page, or click here! |
AuthorJason and Alysse Ottinger of Stonebrook Retrievers - we thought this would be a good way to keep everyone updated on what's currently going on at Stonebrook Retrievers. Thanks for viewing! Archives
February 2017
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