[PyrNet-L] CHAT: New babes!

[Kshoffman@aol.com]

Well, I am so happy that I just had to get a shameless brag in here ...

Please welcome to the world 6 absolutely beautiful, plump, healthy new 
Pyrlets!

This past Monday we whelped 4 girls (2 blaireau, 2 white  ... well, 
quasi-white as these two actually have dark wolfgray shadings on the skin of 
the underside and outerside of their ears) and 2 boys (both blaireau).  One 
girl has double-dewclaws in the front, all else have precisely the correct 
number of toes.  Other than that, well, they are all just perfect in my eyes. 
*G*

Three of the four blaireau puppies have dark wolfgrey markings including full 
facial masks and spots on their tails and/or rumps. The other blaireau (girl) 
has badger markings (both tan and grey) on head/face and rump/tail.  I'm 
*hoping* at least some of these guys keep their striking and distinctive dark 
wolfgrey markings as adults (like their Granddad) but we'll just have to wait 
and see as it doesn't seem to turn out that way very often.  

This is an especially happy occasion for us since it is a repeat of a 
breeding that resulted in a major heartbreak early last year -- a litter that 
succumbed to "fading puppy syndrome".  All became ill within hours and died 
within a couple of days, and the cause could not be determined.  The good 
news is we have the exact same number of puppies and gender/color breakdowns 
this time, and everyone seems to be doing exceptionally well.  My gut feeling 
and intuition tell me that all are safe and sound and thriving and there 
won't be any foreseeable problems with these guys ... knock on wood.

We have excellent birthweights ranging from 20-24 ozs (which we didn't have 
with the ill-fated litter), and all 6 of these little squirmers are extremely 
vigorous, strong, fat and sassy, constantly busy eating up a storm and/or 
squawking for and crawling towards their mamma and/or twitching in their 
sleep, as healthy thriving newborn puppies should!

Deciding to repeat this breeding was a tough decision to make, considering 
the outcome the first time around.  Believe me, it took a lot of intestinal 
fortitude for me to go ahead and try this again, but hopefully, perseverance 
has its rewards.  Now I finally have an answer to a nagging question -- I 
know the problem with the previous litter most likely had little or nothing 
to do with genetics gone awry, so I can finally stop wondering whether or not 
that was the cause of the fading puppy litter.

The beaming and doting Mom is our beautiful and beloved cabochard "Claire" 
(Ch. VilleVieux AbsolutConspiracy) who is almost 6 yrs of age and has two 
champion offspring by Group and Specialty winning Am/Can Ch. VilleVieux McRoi 
of Killaloe from her first litter whelped in August 1996.  Proud as a peacock 
daddy is our exceptionally sweet and handsome boy "Bravo" (Limberlost Bravo 
d'BasqueLaine) who is almost 4 yrs of age and a late bloomer so has only be 
shown sparingly to date.  Extremely relieved, ecstatic, and tired 
whelper-helper is yours truly, but to be honest, I didn't do much more than 
keep a watchful eye on things and fret and worry alot <vbg>.  Claire quite 
uneventfully and without fanfare delivered 5 puppies within 2.5 hours and the 
last puppy a little over an hour later, not bad for a middle-aged Mom!  

Hopefully I'll have pictures and a pedigree of the litter up to share within 
a few days.  I'm really excited and looking forward to watching these guys 
grow up as this pedigree strongly represents most of my all-time favorites, 
including Mom and Dad. (Okay, so I have a somewhat biased opinion about these 
guys.*G*)  Hopefully, the kids in this litter will be my cornerstone for a 
new direction I plan on heading in with my breeding program, ideally, to 
incorporate some representative European bloodlines in the not too distant 
future.

Kelley Hoffman
(breathing a huge sigh of relief and grinning from ear to ear)
BasqueLaine Great Pyrenees & Belgian Shepherds
Tipp City, OH  USA
kshoffman@aol.com