Rita had a total of eight pups, four female and four male; however, one male was stillborn.  After we were up, Rita was in and out of labor until 3:15am when the next pup, a male, was born.  Unfortunately, he wasn't breathing, and no amount of rubbing and/or stimulation on our part helped.  The next two pups were born in quick succession, a mere seven and eight minutes later.  The final two were born twenty minutes and forty minutes later, respectively.

All little kids are very happy and healthy and range in weight from 410 to 494 grams.  All are black, most with the "bolo" markings on the feet; one little boy and one little girl each have a white star on their chest.  Some of the kids already resemble mom, being sleeker and having finer fur while others are chunkier with denser, wavy fur, just like their dad and grandma. We'll be taking a closer inventory later today to identify any other unique markings and verify that all pups are adding to their already substantial and very healthy birth weights.

We temporarily "nickname" our pups and I've so far christened two with names.  I've named the male "Palmer" because he's the "star" male, surrounding by four women in black. Get it?  Think 80's music:  he's "Simply Irresistible."   The last little pup out of the chute was a very feisty female who was literally clawing her way out of the bag.  When she arrived she was very vocal, very boisterous, and if I could speak dog, I could swear she swore at us twice and demanded an explanation, and reimbursement, for the delay.  She, too, has a little white star.  I've christened her "Maude" accordingly.

 The kids have a well pup check and dew claw removal on Saturday at 8:00am with Dr. Webb at Southeast Alaska Animal Medical Center.  We like to wait a couple of weeks before we have non-family folk over to look at the pups.  So, we anticipate having our first open-house on Saturday, April 30th, time yet to be determined, but probably between 11:00am and 1:00pm.

If you have any questions that I may answer for you would you be so kind as to let me know directly?

Lisa Anderson

586-6461