I know, you are freaking out right? Puppies? Is Jazz pregnant? Nope, not even close. You see, I had the pleasure of aptitude testing Connie Hutchin’s (Highview Poodles) litter of Standard Poodle puppies today while she was visiting Gloria Ogdahl (Tintlet Poodles) in North Carolina. I’ll fill in all the details below and give you the full story, but for now I’ll just say that Connie and I have decided some puppies should go home with me next week for placement. Yep… I get to play with a litter of babies and help find them homes!!
You might be thinking “Ok, I’m confused” and that is understandable. Here is the story, and I will attempt to keep it as brief as possible. Connie Hutchin’s placed a brown Standard Poodle with me 5 years ago this month. Mocha was purchased as a show / breeding girl, but at 1.5 years of age I had her hips checked because she was sitting very sloppy and moving rather stiff. Sure enough Mocha had hip dysplasia. Connie was great about it and has been attempting to replace Mocha for over 3 years. You see, Highview isn’t a mass production kennel and many of Connie’s dogs are closely related to my dogs. This leaves few suitable litters for me to select a puppy from. I purchased Mocha because she was what we call an ‘outcross’ and unrelated to my bloodlines. I wasn’t really interested in getting another girl or a boy who would not add in new traits and diversity. Plus, I really really wanted a brown or a dog who carried brown. I’ve been trying to add in browns for about 10 years now, but have met with little success.
Eight weeks ago a litter was born and Connie sent me the head count. Nine pups… but only one single girl and she was black. Two of the boys were brown, but the remainder were all blacks. Connie told me I could have pick even if it was the girl, because I have been so patient about taking a puppy to replace Mocha. Today Gloria and Connie decided to meet up, because Connie is currently living with a friend near Knoxville, TN and only a few short hours from Gloria in North Carolina. I was obviously invited to the Poodle Party!! Gloria did her magic and groomed the entire litter. I did the temperament evaluations and photography. I was so impressed with the litter, I told Connie I wasn’t sure I would be able to pick just one!
Connie and I started talking about the pups, how many she had homes for, and what she was going to do about moving to Florida to live in her travel trailer while her new home is being built. She admitted they really needed to move out of her friends home, but it would be impossible to stay in the travel trailer with a litter of pups. Connie has 3 great homes lined up, but with 9 pups that left her with 6 and no firm plans. That is when I told her I would be willing to take the pups and help her find them homes. There are three reasons for this and it will benefit both Connie and myself.
- The pups are in a crucial period for socialization. I can provide a very enriching environment with kids, hikes, horses, etc to keep them social while homes are found. I can start their house manners and obedience training and maintain their awesome temperaments. Connie is exceptional for allowing them to go to me for this service. This then free’s up Connie to move down to Florida and oversea the home building process.
- I really would like to test the pup’s DNA for diversity and the black puppies for the brown gene. As I stated, there were several puppies I loved, but the top 4 all blacks. One brown has an umbilical hernia and must be placed as a pet because he cannot be shown. The other is a little long in body and unless something dramatic happens he will also be placed as a pet. That leaves me with the blacks as the top picks. If I just select one without DNA testing there is a 50% chance the puppy will not carry the brown gene and I will have no idea on the diversity.
- I love playing with 7-12 week old puppies. It is by far my favorite age. If I can help Connie out and play with babies… well why not? Last year I helped Gloria with Billie’s litter when Howard was so very sick. Now Connie is in a bind, partly due to the fact she wanted to produce a litter for me and she doesn’t even have her own home to live in currently.
What does this mean for you, the potential puppy buyers? It means the puppies that arrive here next weekend will be placed by me, on my contract, with all that comes with an Anutta puppy. I will be tracking these pups, helping the new owners with training, and interviewing all the homes. As I have stated these babies are extremely nice. They have very stable temperaments and low prey drive. They are very similar to the Billie litter in temperament and drives, with only one boy that seems to need a very active home or a job. I cannot tell which of the puppies will be available at this point, because one home is selecting her puppy next weekend and I will need to DNA test a few as well. Connie believes the person selecting next weekend will take one of the brown boys, another home is taking a black boy, and Connie is placing one male puppy with the family she is currently living with in Knoxville, TN. Once those three pups are placed, I will get the remaining litter mates to evaluate, DNA test, and place as I see fit. If you think you might be interested, let me know.
Tomorrow I will make a blog post featuring each puppy in a stack shot. For today, I will leave you with some SUPER CUTENESS, the candid photos I took today after their long day of testing, grooming, and structural evaluations.
Amazing things happen when Poodle people UNITE!
~Becky