We're expecting July puppies

Hi guys! We're so happy to announce a repeat breeding of Fiona and Denim, the parents of last year's May 23 litter ("Fiona's Thirteen") -- new puppies due July 13, 2017. We have a waiting list for this litter, but if you'd like more information, please contact us at inquiries@timbreblue.com

Fiona

Sweet FiFi

Fiona is past the rough morning sickness phase and is feeling great! We're keeping up with her daily exercise, and she's had an increased appetite. She's getting daily fish oil (wild Alaskan salmon oil) for DHA and amino acids, folic acid, and Solid Gold Seameal vitamin supplement. At day 40, she will start getting an extra meal with fresh fish and Panacur (see our website for info on our Panacur Protocol).

We keep our puppies with their mothers until ten weeks old, so this litter will be ready to go home in late September. We do not ship puppies, but new families are welcome to fly to Virginia (we're convenient to the Richmond airport) and fly their puppies home with them in the cabin. We insist on meeting all of our new families, and we're very selective about placing our puppies. A Timbreblue puppy comes with the lifetime support of the Timbreblue extended family. Most litters are all promised before they are born.

If you're interested in this litter, please visit our website and fill out our questionnaire under "Contact Us" to start a conversation. If you have trouble with the form, email us at inquiries@timbreblue.com -- some people have trouble with the form on mobile devices.

Fiona's Thirteen -- May 23, 2016

Fiona's Thirteen at age one week

Fiona's Thirteen at age 9 weeks -- 7/22/2016

Puppies Available!

UPDATE: Thank you for your interest! These puppies have all been placed with families. Visit our website to find out more about our puppies or submit a questionnaire to start a conversation with us about our whippets.

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Hi guys! We have a puppy or two available from our Aimee and Tula litter, born January 22, 2017. They are 9 weeks old and will be available to go home as soon as the first week of April. We'll be having a puppy party at our home in Virginia on April 1st for the new puppy families to meet, have some lunch, play with puppies, and take their puppies home.

We have a very close-knit Facebook group for our puppy owners, and it's always fun to put a name to a face with the people you'll be chatting with and comparing notes over the next few weeks (and years!) of your puppy's life. We're here to help with any and all issues, from housetraining to choosing sweaters and coats, any health problems or concerns, and, many years from now, letting go. Our puppies and puppy owners span the years and life stages of all dogs.

If you're interested in talking with us about a  puppy from Aimee's litter, please check out our website at Timbreblue.com and fill out a questionnaire, or contact Sharyn at either (540) 464-8046 or (540) 784-8948 (or email inquiries@timbreblue.com). We'd love to get to know you, and discover if you're a fit for one of our babies!

More Good Dogs in Flux and the Story of Babs

A couple of months ago-- okay, three months ago -- I posted about a couple of good dogs looking for homes. We were inundated with emails about them and they found homes very quickly. Thanks so much to all of you willing to open your hearts and homes to them.

Now we know of a few more. They are not here at Timbreblue, but I can put you in touch with their owners. I can tell you about a couple of them now and there are a couple more I believe with be available soon. None of these dogs are rescues. They are well-bred, well-loved and well-cared-for and are only looking for homes because life has a way of throwing curveballs. Most of them are mature adults...eight or nine years old, Their owners have decided that their circumstances have changed to the point that it would be better for the dogs to start the second halves of their lives in new homes where they will be just as pampered. This is a hard, hard decision to make and shows how much these dogs are loved.

Before we get to them, though, let me tell you about Babs. Babs came to us when she was 12 years old and many of our friends were horrified that her owners could let such an old girl go. But when the family had acquired Babs, they were mostly-at-home folks with a stay-at-home mom and three kids. Years came and went and suddenly the kids went to college, Dad was working out of town all week, and Mom went back to an eight-hour job...with a two-hour commute.  Suddenly little Babs was spending all day and half the evening alone. She was miserable. Her family called to ask if we thought rescue would take her. She was still in good health, but her quality of life had been greatly reduced in the last year or two. We said sure rescue would take her, but we had a better idea. She could come live with us.

It took Babs all of two days to adjust to us as her new family and we enjoyed her for a year before she was diagnosed with cancer. We wouldn't have missed that time with her for the world, and her last year was spent surrounded with love and other whippets, The moral of Babs' story is that older dogs can be perfectly content in a new home as long as they are spoiled adequately.

Babs changed my attitude entirely about rehoming older dogs. I came to realize that these owners, far from being uncaring or irresponsible, are taking the best option for the dog rather than for themselves. It is an extremely difficult and selfless decision to allow an old friend to start a new life in another loving home when the first one is no longer the best one. Once when I was placing a young adult dog with  family with children, the eight-year-old daughter exclaimed, "Now she will have more people who love her as much as you do!" Out of the mouths of babes...

Next up, more good dogs looking for homes!

A couple of great dogs looking for homes

UPDATE: Thank you for your interest! These whippets have all been placed with families. Visit our website to find out more about our puppies or submit a questionnaire to start a conversation with us about our whippets.

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We have a couple of boys here available to special homes.

Pepper

  

Pepper is a gorgeous brindle and white boy, two years old, who just wants love. We are helping his owner rehome him due to some catastrophic personal events. Pepper is housetrained, leash trained, trained to use a dog door, and good with other dogs. He will stay in a crate (though not too happily), but left loose in the house has not been destructive at all. 

We didn't breed him -- we just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help him out.

Pepper is a little anxious and really wants to be with you -- touching you! -- all the time. He needs a home with:
-- an owner who is home most of every day
-- another whippet
-- someone who has lots of love to give him,
-- a home where there are not too many surprises and things are on an even keel.

There is nothing he loves better than to snuggle up next to you on the couch while you read or watch TV.




Some of the anxiety will probably ease as he gets comfortable in his new home.He has had a confusing couple of weeks.

Pepper is neutered and AKC registered. I'll get some better pictures in the next day or two.

 Dashiell

Dashiell is a three-month-old Cirpet (cross between whippet and Cirneco dell'Etna - see earlier posts). He is a typical, rowdy little boy, quick to learn and mostly cooperative. He's three quarters of the way to housetrained and 100 percent paper trained. We're working on leash and crate training!

He seems to have more whippet qualities than Cirneco at this point and looks pretty much like a purebred black whippet. He will probably mature out to about whippet size or a bit smaller.



Dashiell would make a wonderful dog for someone with an active lifestyle. He'd be thrilled to live with a runner or someone interested in agility, flyball, obedience, etc. Or he'd be fine in a less active household if he had another dog to play with an a fenced yard. He is energetic, but not Jack Russell energetic, if you know what I mean.



Both of these dogs come with the Timbreblue "lifetime takeback" guarantee -- they can come back at any time in their lives if life doesn't go as planned for the owner. You also get a lifetime of support with any problems or questions; a bag of books, chewies, treats, toys, and other stuff; an invitation to the Timbreblue reunion every October; and support and encouragement from the ever wonderful Timbreblue family of owners.

Dashiell and Pepper have been vet checked and are healthy, up to date on all vaccinations, and microchipped.

I would love to get these boys into their new homes within the next week or so. If you are interested, fill out our questionnaire (under contact us at timbreblue.com) and then drop me a note or call me at 540-464-8046 and we'll talk!

Another Visitor and Some Naps!

If you have not been following this blog and don't know the story of the Cirpets (pronounced Chur-pets), please note that this is an unintended but cherished litter. The sire is our whippet

 Denim and dam is Rowan, the Cirneco dell'Etna. It is a breeding that will certainly not be repeated, but it has been fun to watch them grow and develop. We're considering a chastity belt for Mom.

So our friend Bev came to visit the Cirpets yesterday and they had a ball showing her just how much fun and mischief they could get into!

Daphne claimed Bev immediately. 

  ...and a bone.

Dashiell and Wilkie shared another bone (for awhile...the brotherly love did not last long with a bone in play.)

 Conan, ever sensible, found his own chewie.

  Checked out the situation

   Wilkie looked for trouble

    Recruited brother Dashiell  

And together they claimed the favorite chair. declaring it a girl-free zone.

   

Dashiell nodded off while Wilkie kept watch for intruders.

Daphne didn't care. She knew she was Bev's favorite.

 Conan, as usual, was minding his own business and staying out of trouble, 

  

 And even outlaws have to sleep sometimes.

Timbreblue Talks in Class "Whisper," Bev's constant companion and freestyle dancing queen, was not sorry to see them pass out.

Daphne held out for a little longer before joining Conan for her nap.

The End

Dashiell and Wilkie are still available as of November 12.  Write Sharyn if you're interested in a funny, active companion who will be ready to do whatever strikes your fancy!

And the Cirpets began to grow and develop little personalities. They acted a lot like whippets and looked a lot like whippets. Or maybe they looked like Lab puppies.

Maybe their faces were a little sharper than whippets, but overall, they weren't too different.

 

They were smart and funny like whippet puppies and got into just as much mischief. They might have been just a it more agile, believe it or not. 

We only have the one Cirneco, so I don't know a lot about them as baby puppies. We got Rowan at six months old. 

 She has fairly small "golden" eyes, they have large dark whippety eyes.I couldn't say they looked much like her.

But then...

Maybe some of them did.

Part three to come tomorrow