3 weeks

All puppers are doing well, up on their feet, playing, growling, and so on. Pretty soon they will be out of the whelping box and into a pen with some form of litter. And food. I will start feeding solid food. Then my work begins. Satin will be happy to reduce her duties a bit since puppy claws are scratchy even after I have trimmed them, and teeth are not long in coming.

Belted boy

Belted boy

Belted Boy

Tweed boy

Tweed boy

tweed boy

Patch boy

O

Patch boy

Blue Girl

blue girl

Blue girl

Dark boy

Dark boy

dark boy

tri girl

tri girl

tri girl

tri boy

tri boy

tri boy

7-pack

tri girl snoozing

2 weeks

Satin's litter is 3 weeks old tomorrow but I have not gotten new photos yet so here the pups are at 2 weeks. All healthy and happy and Satin is doing great, a wonderful mother.

Forgive the utilitarian names but I like to wait on 'good' names til owners choose, whether it is me or a buyer. For now, descriptive names.

belted boy

black boy

black girl

blue girl

dark boy

Patch boy

Tweed boy

We have babies!

Well Satin delivered her litter in the most middle portion of the night (3-5am) on December 17, with no problems or delays. The final count is 7 nice healthy puppies:  4 blue merles and 3 black tri's. 5 boys and 2 girls, because this has been the pattern ever since the first litter ever born under the Inkwell prefix: 30% girls and 70% boys!  No complaints however, they are beautiful!

Her first day as a mother.

Now she has the hard work, ALL the work, of feeding them and cleaning them for the next 3 weeks, after which I will introduce mushy food. Then my work will begin as mom only does minimal cleaning up once puppies are eating any solid food. That does coincide with them being more mobile of course, and once they start looking like puppies instead of hamsters they are hard to stay away from, so of course I don't.

#1, boy

#2, boy

#3, boy

#4, girl

#5, boy

#6, girl

#7, boy

So there they are. It will be weeks before I know who stays and who goes; most likely only boys will go but depends upon a few factors co-breeder Debbie Mills and I will look at. I am very happy that there are no excessive white markings and everyone looks happy and fat. Most of the litter had natural bob tails (half tails) so all were docked yesterday (Thursday) along with dewclaws, with minimal disruption to their schedule.

I will be posting many photos in the coming weeks, check back! Here is one now!

all of 'em

Congratulations are in order....

To Valerie Yates , Ninebark Aussies, on the Hall of Fame Dam recognition given to her Henna (

ASCA/CKC Ch. Sonrise Little Red Hen) in ASCA.  7 ASCA champions out of her and 3 of them are sired by Thumper. Her hard work and dedication as a breeder and owner resulted in all of her puppies going to homes that brought them to their maximum potential.I am fortunate Thumper got to be a part of this.

Henna

Litter Plans

After 3 1/2 years Inkwell has litter plans!  First up will be a breeding of Satin (ASCA Ch. Milwin Inkwell Black Satin CGC) to Scooter, AKC/ASCA Ch. Harmony Hills American Graffiti. If all is as it is thought to be, this litter should be due on or about December 20. Merry Christmas to Inkwell!!

I expect puppies from this cross to be moderate to smaller in size (Satin is very refined in size, 18" at the shoulder, 37 pounds). Should be athletic, gregarious, and pretty. Blacks and blues for sure. Could get some reds, I don't know if Satin is red factored.

Satin

Satin

Scooter

In addition we have plans to use some of Thumper's frozen semen with a couple of breedings this winter. Will share details once breedings are done and confirmed, since surgical implants carry a degree of uncertainty. So stay tuned!

Monarch (Thumper son from his first litter) is now AKC Ch. Milwin's Monarch of Dove Creek DJ CGC. I mentioned before that Monarch is the first Aussie to be titled under the new AKC dock jumping program, and now I have some photos of the wild man in his element.  Thanks to owner Lisa Friel for all the hard work getting him out there and having fun!

In flight. Since this first title he has spent another weekend increasing his distances.

He gets a bit enthusiastic. 

The supposed object of his attention, though I think he really just likes to jump into the water. 

Its been a while...

It has been a while since we posted anything, it has been a quiet summer. We haven't been showing in Obedience and decided that a trip to Texas for ASCA Nationals was out of the question for financial reasons, not to mention not really having any dogs to take aside from Ribbon, as a veteran. So, we stay home and work.

In the process of trying to declutter I decided I did not really need the hundreds of ribbons and rosettes collected over the course of my dogs' show careers, so I pulled them out of their bins and looked them over for condition. The ASCA club shows award ribbons that only show the club name (and 'ASCA', of course) so if their condition is good they can be recycled back to the host clubs for use in Their future shows. AKC ribbons do have the specific date and event stamped on so they cannot be reused, nor can the major rosettes for ASCA Nationals and preshows.

Anyway, I decided to sort and return a lot of ribbons. But first I wanted some photos, of course!  First up was Ribbon. Not because she was my first to win a ribbon, but just because she had a manageable number. So here she is with her show career summed up in one photo (well, 2 including her RWB win at ASCA Nationals; I didn't want to haul that rosette, in a frame, out to the garden).

Ribbon's ribbons

Ribbon RWB ASCA Nationals 2005. Judge Ann Atkinson

I showed Ribbon start to finish in all her shows until the past couple of years as a veteran, when she went out with Maria Neff to ASCA Nationals and preshows in Bakersfield CA in 2012. Ribbon really taught me how to show a dog and how to highlight strengths.

My FIRST show dog was, of course, Flash. Well, my first Conformation dog. I wish I had a photo of my first Aussie and first competition dog, Bobby, with HIS ribbons, but I don't. So, I have Flash. I had a wonderful handler for him in AKC for his championship but I finished him in ASCA after Ribbon finished her ASCA Championship.

Flash and his ribbon haul. I didn't special him for very long.

Ribbon's son Thumper I did special, for 1 1/2 years. A little with me and one year with Maria Neff, his gifted and hard working young handler for whom Thumper was her first full time Special after graduating college. Since Thumper's year she has gone on to other excellent Specials of course, but I was sure happy he had his year with her.

Thumper and his ribbons minus his Best of Breed rosette for Canadian Nationals, which is framed so I did not want to haul it outside. Oh and no obedience ribbons shown. That will get its own little photo some day. LOL.

Satin is my most recent ribbon-winner, daughter to Ribbon and sister to Luster and Favor. She has not finished in AKC so these are her ASCA ribbons. I handled her in ASCA.

She had a good puppy competiton career and a short lucky career in regular ASCA classes.

Meanwhile other relatives are doing well. Lock (Thumper son AKC GrCh/ASCA/CKC Ch. Ninebark Cops and Robbers) high ranked in the Owner-Handler series. Another Thumper son Monarch (AKC Ch. Milwin Monarch of Dove Creek) became the first Aussie in AKC history to acheive a Dock Diving title under the newly AKC-recognized registry for the sport.   Favor (Milwin Inkwell Token of Affection Lots Of Agility Titles) competing successfully in her agility trials. Sammy (Inkwell's Imagine That UD, RE) halfway to his UDX. Luster (AKC/ASCA Ch. Milwin Inkwell Iridescent) siring several lovely litters. And everyone in happy loving homes. What more could we ask??