Kira & Dillon's Litter 2008 Litter

Litter G
For updated pictures on the puppies,
click on each individual picture below.

The litter arrived on November 21st. Everyone
is healthy and growing bigger on a daily basis.
This litter has 6 girls and 1 boy, with a variety of
colors and white markings.
Parents to this litter are Dillon and Kira.

I am deviating from my normal litter names,
which usually are based on NC or SC locations. I
truly did look at the maps, but just couldn't
come up with enough reasonable names. So,
Litter G will be in honor of my Grandparents, and
be based on family names. I figure it is the right
thing to do, since my grandparents were the ones
who introduced me to the wonderful world of
English Shepherds.

Week 1 - All the pups are growing bigger on a
daily basis. They can quickly find Mom whenever
she enters the pen. Eyes will be opening during
the coming week! In the picture of Kira with the
pups, the coloring on Holly is truer to life than
the individual picture of her below. You can also
see Roz's sable coloring beginning to show up
more as she gets older. The tan on Cara is
"tanning up" so you can really see she is b&t now.

Week 2 - Eyes began opening up on the 10th day
with Roz & Holly being the first to open. By day
14, all puppies had opened their eyes. With this
major development, pups are beginning to truly
walk around and "see" what is going on or if Mom
is nearby. They still do a lot of scent work
(sniffing the air to see who is nearby, but out of
sight) which is kind of neat to watch. When
awake and calling out for Mom, they can raise
quite a ruckus. ;-) Otherwise, they still do quite
a bit of sleeping and are beginning to explore the
world inside the pen.

Week 3 - Pups became steadier on their feet so
they can run around. Teeth have erupted & they
are learning to be a little more careful with
their teeth as they nurse. Kira is handling it
well. Pups are coming out of the pen, into the
den, playing on some mats covering the rug. They
are walking not only on the mats, but the wood
floor without too much trouble.

Week 4 - I have finally begun giving them some
semi-solid food several times a day. Kira is still
doing the bulk of the feeding. Puppies are
interacting with one another, Kira &
Grandmother Bec (when Kira is outside!). They
generally come when called, all seem to love to
be held & cuddled. E. C., Cara & Clo are beginning
to carry their tails curled up over their back,
with Cara's being the tightest curl.

Week 5 - Pups are making daily trips in and out
of the house, still nursing some, but eating quite
a bit of regular kibble now as well. They are
getting quite a bit of time with Bec, who they
adore. All pups seem to know their names,
pretty much come when called and get terribly
excited when the food pan is presented. They
learned in one day (normally takes longer) how to
climb the set of 3 steps to the porch, and within
24 hours, how to safely go back down. They now
quickly and easily perform this feat!

Week 7 - I didn't realize I had forgotten to
update this page last week! The pups are in their
final days of being at my house. They all
definitely have a lot more energy, so can play
longer before crashing. They are sleeping
through the night, eating hard kibble (not
softened), playing hard with Granny Bec & Mama
Kira (at separate times). They would love to
socialize with Dad & Bela, but the boys really
would rather not. ;-) We did the agility
equipment trip early in the 7th week, so those
pictures were included with the 6 week update.
They also traveled to Claire Apple's house for
the puppy herding instinct test a few days ago.
Most of the pups will be leaving within the week
and going to their new homes.