Shamrock

Born 3/9/12

AVAILABLE 

Update 6/8/12:

The other St. Patrick’s Day pups have been adopted, but the girl in the middle—Miss Shamrock, the fourth out of eight pups to be born—is still waiting for her new home.  This shiny black charmer is just barely 12 weeks old, and she is doing great.

She loves kids and doesn’t really jump on them. She loves other dogs, too, though she is still trying to figure out how to play with the big dogs and the grown-up Bichon (who is closer to Shamrock’s size) keeps trying to explain to her that biting hindquarters is not acceptable!

Of course she is a typical puppy, and when she is in crazy-puppy mode nothing in her path is safe! Once she takes a nap, though, she is OUT. So far she doesn’t have much interest in retrieving, but she does love her toys and likes to gather them around her. She also enjoys hiding herself in secret places, such as behind couches and under furniture.

Shamrock is doing great on her housebreaking. “I am very proud of her!” says foster mom.  

This adorable 15-pounder needs a puppy home – namely, stay-at-home or work-at-home folks who will enjoy all the entertainment, laughter, challenges & rewards a puppy brings!

PS: This just in from Shamrock’s respite care home (foster mom & dad are on vacation for a few days):

Here are some photos of Shamrock.  Hard to get a good pic of a black pup!  I also included a video of Sandy and Shammy playing.

We are enjoying this little cutie.  She is ALL puppy!  But I would say she doesn't have as much crazy puppy energy as our Sandy did at that age. She is playing VERY well with Sandy (who is 18 months old and ten times her size).  She loves to wrestle and play tug-o-war.  The two get along great because both are submissive—Shamrock accepts Sandy's "invitation to play" bows. 

And yes, Shamrock loves to nestle and hide.  She created a nest of our sofa pillows and buried herself last night.  When she's tired, she'd prefer to snuggle next to a person or another dog, if not a pillow.

She's vocal, crate-trained (loves to go to her crate, on her own, when she's ready for a nap), and snuggly/cuddly (will "hug" your neck when you hold her).  This morning she cuddled with us and napped from about 5:30 into the morning in our bed (foster mom reports that they "co-sleep" with her).

Update 5/13/12:

Update 4/18/12:

Jelly Beans Now Jumping Beans!

I have had many litters here at my house, but this one seems to have a unique characteristic.  Instead of trying to climb out of enclosures, they scoot back and attempt a flying leap out of the enclosure.  They think they are high jumpers.   Of course, this fails as they don’t have much lift in their stumpy little legs yet, especially with their fat little puppy bellies, but they are not discouraged by their attempts.  I am sure they will be good climbers soon, but for now, their preferred method is attempting to jump over things.   They are nearly ready for the agility course jump bar! 

There is such a variety of coat type, color and size of puppy in this group.  It will be interesting to see what type of temperaments emerge over the next 2 weeks.  So far, they are all very social and come bustling up eagerly when a person approaches.  They are all excited at first but calm down when held, which are good features. This is a really nice litter. I have a new favorite every day!

Update 4/17/12:

... and growing some more!

Update 4/2/12:

They are growing fast!

Update 3/30/12:

There is always a Litter Boss, and it’s always a girl! Miss Purple Shamrock is living up to her reputation as “first in line” for all new achievements.  Today, she was the first to climb out of the whelping box.  It is always so adorable to look in the room and see the first puppy out of the box and wandering around the big room. Time to put up the taller door on the box!

Update 3/29/12:

The pups are growing fast and now look more like dogs and less like fat little guinea pigs. Their little puppy faces are getting so cute! There is a definite difference in the coats on some of the puppies. A few of them are now showing off a longer coat type (rough coated) but several still have the shorter coats (smooth coated).

The past week has seen lots of firsts:

1. First real look at the world – their eyes are open now. Shamrock was the first to open her eyes and the other pups followed right along behind. Right now their eyes are black or a deep midnight blue, but that may change. As a side note, we’re kind of hoping that Galway Girl’s eyes stay blue, so that she matches the song she was named for! then we can sing:

“And I ask you friend, what’s a fella to do,

‘Cause her fur is black and her eyes are blue.

So I took her paw, and I gave her a twirl,

And I lost my heart to the Galway Girl!”

2. First bark! Shamrock (again! She is definitely the leader of the pack in her way) was unhappy about something and instead of the usual cry/whine, she attempted a high-pitched squeaky bark.  Aww…cute.

3. First attempts to play with each other.  This past weekend, a few of them attempted to wrestle with each other a tiny bit, but just kind of rolled over and then went their separate ways.  They will mainly “commando crawl” around—but they are trying to get their bellies off on the ground, though they mostly just push forward and fall on their faces.  Funny. In another week we’ll probably be able to report that they are starting to waddle on their short little legs.

In short – we have eight healthy pups  developing just exactly the way they ought to!

Update 3/12/12:

It was March 7 when the owner appeared at a small animal shelter with a female Golden in tow. “She’s pregnant again and we don’t want any more pups.” One glance at Daizy was enough to confirm the “pregnant” comment: the young redhead was clearly bursting with pups, so round and fat she looked like a super-size watermelon! Further questioning revealed that Dad was almost certainly the family’s other dog, a black Border Collie. Now the shelter was in a tight spot. They just didn’t have a way to deal with a litter of pups. They put in an immediate emergency call to a local GRR volunteer: “Please can you take her? Otherwise we will have to put her down before the puppies come. She is a sweet girl, wants to get into everyone’s lap.”

Daizy was whisked out of the shelter within a few hours & zoomed into the vet’s for a speedy check-up (underweight, and heartworm positive, darn it) and X-rays of her giant tummy. Talk about “just in the nick of time” -- the vet saw seven pups all lined up and ready to make their debut at any moment. By that afternoon, Daizy had arrived at her foster home, where a super-deluxe padded, fleece-carpeted whelping box was waiting for her. And all along the road, she lived up to early reports, proving herself to be a true sugar cube where people are concerned, leaning up against anyone and everyone for pets and attention. “Still acts pretty puppylike,” reported her foster mom, “likes to pull things off counters & pounces around on toys as best she  can, given her big belly.”

Daizy took one more day to settle in—and then, at around 4:30 PM on March 9, she went into labor. The pups appeared as if on an efficient conveyor belt, one every twenty minutes, and throughout the proceedings Miss Daizy had a happy, self-satisfied look on her little face—and why not? Such plush surroundings sure beat a cold, damp, muddy yard somewhere! We figured it was close enough to St Patrick’s Day to give the little family Irish names: first-born Seamus (Mr Blue); then O’Reilly (Mr Green) and Galway Girl (Miss Pink); then Shamrock (Miss Purple), Emerald (Miss White), Jig (Miss Yellow), and Cork (Mr Red). Seven pups – all done, right? Wrong! To everyone’s surprise, an eighth “bonus” pup appeared: Shandy (Mr Orange), nicely rounding out the litter at four boys, four girls. They’re all healthy and all weighed just about a pound at birth. And every one of them is as black and shiny as a licorice jelly bean, which is kind of what they look like right now, too.    

On closer look, the pups DO differ a bit in coloration, and as they get bigger the differences will show up more. They all have white blazes of various shapes & sizes on their chests, and most have white socks on one or two or all paws. O’Reilly and Emerald also have patches of gold fur (at last, a trace of Mom!) on chins, chests, forelegs, and bottoms. In about 2 weeks, their eyes will open, and we’re hoping to get individual pictures. For now, Daizy doesn’t like to let them out of her sight for more than a minute or so for their daily weigh-ins. And they’re just doing what tiny puppies do, namely eating, sleeping, squeaking, piling on top of each other or Mom, and growing fast. 

Around May 1, eight fuzzy Golden Retriever/Border Collie mixes will be ready for adoption. Let us know if you’re interested! Daizy will be available, too, though she will need heartworm treatment. If you are willing to take this sweet girl through the treatment, please let us know and we’ll tell you all about it.

 Shamrock celebrates St Paddy's Day and a 1 week Birthday!

 Week 2:

Adoption Procedures