Yay! It's BarkBox day!

Rini with today's BarkBox

Yay!! Our BarkBox arrived! Rini is excited!! My whippets loooove BarkBox. If you'd like to try BarkBox, use this link and both you and I will get a free box. =)
https://www.barkbox.com/r/JOW0F21DZ0

BarkBox is a monthly surprise box with 2 toys, 2 bags of treats or cookies, and a chewie -- all corresponding to the month's fun theme. There are options available for extra toys, and there is a free upgrade for super chewers. Every toy is guaranteed, so if your dog doesn't like it, or destroys it in 5 minutes, you can contact them for a credit in their BarkStore (with free shipping).

We have the "extra toy" option, so each month we get 3 premium guaranteed chew-proof toys instead of two. They have all been a hit with our whippets except for one, and BarkBox quickly offered a $15 credit to their store when I emailed them -- with free shipping, and didn't require me to return the toy. The themes are also fun -- my husband Derek loves the packaging, it always has fun stories and illustrations.

My dogs have become convinced lately that every single box that comes into the house is actually BarkBox, and they are disappointed when allowed to inspect and they discover a box is a non-BarkBox. Fiona's longtime conspiracy theory about the UPS man continues to stand, however. She doesn't seem to credit him with the monthly arrival of the BarkBox. 

Our puppycams

We invite you to visit our mamas with their babies ... Siren welcomed a litter in Virginia with Sharyn on June 12 and Fiona had her babies in South Carolina with Jo on July 14.

Siren's puppycam: http://waltah.camstreams.com/

Fiona's puppycam: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/timbreblue-whippets2

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New to whippets? 

The only book you need about whippets: http://amzn.to/2tfANFeThis is the BEST book about whippets ... it answers many of the questions you might have. It's a quick read and inexpensive. It covers the basics about the breed, pros and cons, quirks, and really captures the essence of whippets. It answers a lot of the basic questions about whippets, and can also teach experience whippet owners a thing or two. 

Visit our website to learn more about whippets and find out about our puppies and our breeding ethics. Fill out our questionnaire to start a conversation with us about whippets.

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

Kong frog toys are a big hit!

Rini with her granddaughter Brienne

We just got an order from Amazon, containing 3 of the medium-sized Kong brand toy frogs, and they are a big hit with our whippets!

They're a great size for whippets, and the fur on the toys is as soft as silk. They come with a squeaker in their heads and a velcro pocket in their backs with an extra squeaker included. You can open the velcro pocket and put in the squeaker, then if your dog "kills" the squeaker, you can replace it with a new one. I love this feature!

So far I've had a hard time convincing the younger puppies (Brienne and Jaime) not to take the frogs outside, they love to play keep away with them.

I highly recommend these toys, they're a great deal on Amazon right now at $4.69 with Prime shipping -- here's a link:  http://amzn.to/2nZUJg7

Timbreblue whippet tested and approved! 

The best way to make a whippet happy....a cozy cave!

We've discovered that whippets love cozy caves more than anything in the world. Cozy caves are a type of dog bed that has a built-in cover, sort of like a built-in blanket and your whippet can "nest" in the cozy cave without needing assistance with covers. They're just a requirement for any whippet owner, and multiple whippets require multiple cozy caves. The following is a link to the large-sized cozy cave, but you might want to look into the extra-large if you have the space and multiple dogs. Cozy caves rule!!

>> Find Cozy Caves on Amazon

Top 5 favorite chewies at Timbreblue

Ceri wants to know if there are chewies!

My dogs consider the UPS guy "the chewie man" because I order so many chewies from Amazon, and they greet him with enthusiasm! Rini and Ceri can spot an Amazon box from across the room!

Chewing is an essential part of keeping your whippet's teeth clean -- and keeping her entertained! We have tried all kinds of chewies, and there are tons of good ones, but these are the kinds we tend to order again and again.

1- Braided bully sticks

Bully sticks last a lot longer than most chewies, and braided bully sticks last even longer. This brand has very little mess or odor, and our dogs just love them. Beware, they are very addictive and your whippets will quickly learn what the words "bully sticks" mean, and will come running!

• Braided bully sticks: http://amzn.to/1QhCk7c

2- Beef tendons

Tendons are a bit faster to chew than bully sticks, but they cost a good bit less, as well. My dogs absolutely adore them, and I've heard only good reviews from other whippet owners, as well. My dogs go absolutely NUTS when they can smell beef tendons inside an Amazon box -- there is no fooling them! I tend to order the bigger bag and just keep them on hand. This brand is not messy or smelly.

• Beef tendons: http://amzn.to/1XtR6Hm

Also excellent are buffalo/bison tendons, cheaper than beef but a tad more messy. Buffalo tendons should be fine unless you have a white couch or carpet. They are basted, which makes them taste better to the dogs, but can leave a little bit of residue. If you do have light furniture, these would make a nice crate reward treat.

• Buffalo tendons: http://amzn.to/1XtRjdU

3- Rawhide mini bones, twists, and flips

Rawhide has gotten a bad reputation in the past few years, but it's a tried-and-true safe chewie for dogs and lasts a good long time. Whippets adore the tiny twisted bone-shaped rawhides, either plain or flavored.

You can also get rawhide twists (our favorites are Dingo brand) which last a little less time, but are smaller to store.

Chew flips last longer than any of the other rawhide products. Green Cow produces all-natural, made in the USA chew flips in a big 5-pound bag. Our dogs love them and they last for a long time! Natural rawhide bones, twists, and flips have no mess and no odor.

• Mini bones: http://amzn.to/1U4fAaD
• Twists: http://amzn.to/1VhNl6v
• Chew flips: http://amzn.to/1QhC3B5

4- Knuckle bones

Knuckle bones are an excellent way to naturally clean your whippet's teeth. They ADORE knuckle bones, even puppies who are too small to pick them up! Keep an eye on your dog though, if she chews too emphatically she could crack a tooth. Knuckle bones can be a bit messy, so you might want to try them as a crate reward treat. They last months and months!

• Knuckle bones: http://amzn.to/1XtRaXI

5- Chew hooves

Hooves are a natural source of protein, made from trimmed and sanitized cow hooves, and provide a firm chewing surface for whippets with an entertaining shape that helps massage gums and clean teeth. Chew hooves last a long time, and although they occasionally disappear under the sofa, when found again they provide tons of more entertainment for your dog. Chew hooves are another "very hard" chewie that could cause tooth fractures -- keep an eye on your whippet to make sure she doesn't chew too hard. No mess and no odor.

• Chew hooves: http://amzn.to/1XtRbuJ

Let me know in the comments if you have other suggestions for chewies that your whippets particularly loved -- I'm always looking for new ideas to entertain my oh-so-spoiled hounds!

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

It was a mystery...

Siren's pups are safely tucked into their wonderful homes. Jo is keeping Ceri and about now is wondering why. Puppies are fun, adorable, delightful, snuggly and maybe the best thing in the world. They are also mischievous, destructive, stubborn, and busy! But Ceri is too, too cute and no one can stay mad at her for long!

Just when I thought I would get the fall and winter off from puppy rearing, our Cirneco dell'Etna Rowan let me in on a little secret she'd been carrying.

It seems she had fallen deeply in love (or something) with...

 Denim, the blue whippet.

And she found herself in an awkward predicament.

But as I told her, though it was certainly not something we would plan, puppies are puppies and we love them all. She presented us with six black Cirpets (pronounced Chir-pets) on August 14,

Why black? Humor me while I give a micro-genetics lesson. The color blue in whippets is actually black with a dilution gene. Think of it as pouring bleach over a black dog (but don't try this at home). The dilution gene is recessive, though, which means both parents have to carry it before they can produce dilute puppies. Rowan, being a Cirneco, does not carry a dilute gene. Also, black is dominant to chestnut, so about the only color we could get was black. 

And boy were they black. We had to color code them as they were born so we could tell them apart. Two girls, four boys, all healthy.

Since we didn't know how Rowan got pregnant,we gave them a Mystery theme.  Well, wait. We did know how she got pregnant (we have, after all, been breeding dogs for 30 years or so), we just didn't know when or how they managed their little tryst. So the puppies were named for classic mystery writers: Edgar Allan Poe, Dashiell Hammett, Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Wilkie Collins.

Stay tuned for part two.

Siren's pups are 8 weeks old!

Today is Monday, September 14, and Siren's pups are 8 weeks old today!! They continue to be sweet, smart, intuitive, adorable, and charming puppies every single day.

We are lucky enough to have wonderful homes for all of her puppies, and though they are traveling wide and far -- Velvet to Charlottesville VA, Dita to Atlanta GA, Cherie staying here in Camden SC, Channing to Concord NH, Marco to Virginia Beach VA, and Cashmere to Durham NC -- all of our new owners are active online so we're confident that we can stay in touch and get photos via Facebook as the puppies grow up.

Here's a photo of the babies sleeping peacefully tonight. They're so sweet, they make my heart skip a beat!

Photos of Siren's pups at 5 wks old

Hi guys! Just wanted to share photos of Siren's pups at 5 weeks old with my husband, Derek.... enjoy!!

In birth order....

#1 -- Velvet / Beatrice:

#2 -- Dita / Raleigh:

#3 -- Satine / Cherie (she is our keeper):

#4 -- Channing:

#5 -- Marco / Argyle:

#6 -- Cashmere / Alice:

Siren's pups are 5 weeks old!

Siren's babies (the Glitter Litter!!) are five weeks old and we couldn't be prouder. They are fat, sassy, healthy and smart. This litter has been so vibrant since day one, they have been so easy and such good babies. We are lucky to have all of them placed. I'll introduce you to all of the puppies and where they are going.

Firstborn "Velvet" will be "Beatrice" and will be moving to Charlottesville, VA with the Yamauchi-Carson family.

Second born "Dita" will be "Raleigh" or "Timbreblue Suede Shoes" and will be going to Atlanta, Georgia with the Rhodes-Osborne family.

Third born "Satine" will be "Cherie" or "Timbreblue The Runaway" and will be staying here at Timbreblue in Camden, SC.

Fourth born "Channing" will be going to the Szpara family, to join his Timbreblue sister Lulu, in Virginia Beach, VA.

Fifth born "Marco" will be "Argyle" and will be moving to Concord, NH with the McNeal family.

Sixth born "Cashmere" will be "Alice" or "Timbreblue Alice in Glitterland" and will be moving to Durham, NC with Terry Kruger.

Siren is having a little morning sickness

Just like human mommies, dogs often have morning sickness. I have to be careful when I give her supplements, and make sure she eats something with them, or they upset her stomach. She's taking folic acid and fish oil (for the DHA) every day. She's looking bigger and bigger every day!!

Siren on day 38 with Jo

This is Siren pre-pregnancy (photo by Festiva)

Siren is expecting!

Our girl Siren and our Welsh import Denim were bred, and as of today -- day 36 -- it seems that they are expecting! Puppies will be whelped in South Carolina, but the puppy party will be in Virginia. Photos below of Siren's at 36 days preggo.

Siren at 36 days pregnant

Siren from above at 5 wks

Our puppy party was a great success!!

Aimee & Bomber's puppies went home this weekend, to great people, and we had a fun puppy party to celebrate the puppies and their new families! We've started doing this with every litter and it's SO MUCH FUN! All of the families come together, we put out a great picnic lunch, and we all just hang out for the afternoon with puppies and food and fun. We have a good bit of land -- 7 acres -- so there is plenty of room in the meadow behind our house to spread out blankets and a big exercise pen for the puppies (when they are not being cuddled!!). I can't wait till the next one!