Oh How They Have Grown!

Dianne emailed me some more pictures of the litter. They have grown so much and they are starting to go to their new homes. I have detailed their birth, and I have posted pictures here, here and here.

They look like little dachshunds now. They still have that adorable puppy squishiness, but there is no doubt about what they are.

In this montage the sleepy pup in the upper left corner is Gretel. Her picture was taken as she was going home. Her new family is wild about her and she fits right in. The rest of the pictures were taken by Dianne’s family. I like the next picture; to me it looks like the pup is thinking “Hey what is that? Maybe I should grab it.” The last picture on the top row is a very sweet head shot.

Puppies!

The bottom three pictures are classic “stacked” poses. At a dog show a dog is placed in a stacked position. It allows the judge a clear view of the dog and its structure. It is a useful when evaluating puppies, but it very hard to get them to stay still long enough to get a good view. When one end is all lined up and squared away, the other is all cock-eyed. As you reach over to straighten out the errant paws something grabs the pup’s attention and you have to start all over again. It is helpful, nay critical, to have another person there to take a picture when the stars are all aligned.

Gretel was not the first pup to go home. One of her sisters has already gone off to Canada. There she’ll be a good friend and (hopefully) a show dog. The rest of the pups will go as their families are ready to collect them. When I last talked to Dianne it looks like they will keep one male and one female to grow out.

Breeding dogs is not an exact science. At best it is an educated guess as to how a particular pup will turn out. If there is some doubt a breeder may hold on to a puppy and take a wait and see approach. I know that Crunch’s line is slow to mature and he was at his peak at around 4 years. At 12 ½ he is still an incredibly fit dog. Other lines take off like rockets and look amazing at 6 months. John is very much like his father and is taking his own sweet time. It wouldn’t surprise me if his half-siblings are the same way.