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

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 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