Tori and her Halloween litter, Oct 2002

9 Years ago today, I whelped my first litter of Standard Poodle puppies!  The mom was Tori and the dad was Merlot.  This was an ‘oops’ litter!  We were moving from Huntsville, AL to Yuma, AZ.  Tori was ready to breed and the movers did me a favor by letting Merlot and Tori outside together.  This was our first and only “oops” litter of poodles, and thankfully Tori was unrelated to Merlot.

Photo of Tori, taken when she was pregnant. She was 2 years old.

Photo of Merlot taken when the pups were born. He was 3 years old.

8 puppies were born, 4 boys and 4 girls.  The boys are Boo, Radar, Ozzie, and Derek.  The girls are Jackie, Dixie, Dia, and Elvira.   As far as I know, they are all still alive and doing well.  One girl was fostered for breeding (Jackie), but a canine tooth came in wrong so we had her mom get her spayed at 9 months of age.  One male was kept intact (Boo) but was never bred and was neutered last week, Oct 2011.  A small tumor was found on his testicle and it has been sent to a lab for testing.  Hopefully it is benign.

Health wise the litter has been pretty good.  No allergies, no autoimmune issues to date.   Elvira and Radar both bloated last summer (2010), thankfully both dogs survived.  Derek suffered from a round of seizures at age three, but he was on a cheap dog food and his owners started cooking his meals and the seizures stopped.  He has been seizure free from that point on, as far as I know.

Radar, an exceptional service dog!

Radar lives in Alaska is a service dog for his mom Summer who has seizures.  He has given her freedom to live her life and confidence to get out there.  Summer is now in college and working in the Job Corp!!

Elvria, an amazing Therapy Dog!

Elvira is an active therapy dog in California with her mom, Sherri.  They visit many many people a year and specialize in special needs.  Many dogs do not do well with really low functioning children and adults, but Elvira thrives.  She is an amazing girl who is making a difference in her community.

Boo, an remarkable Performance Dog!

Boo is a performance master.  With his mom Patti they are currently active in Agility up in Dallas, TX.  Boo has titles in Conformation, Agility, Obedience, Rally, and Freestyle.  He is also a certified therapy dog!   Yes, a poodle CAN do anything!

If you ever stop to think “Oh no, that wasn’t suppose to happen!” just remember, even an unplanned event can change lives and make a difference in our world.

Happy Halloween from Anutta Poodles!!

~Becky