We're having Spike babies! (Right now!)

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#25
So, updates. I forgot to post this here. From my FB:



And, poof, we magically have a 7th puppy.

In all seriousness, though, this puppy (a beautiful red male) was intended to be culled from birth due to having a kink/hook at the end of the tail, as per our policy, and so I did not announce him. We still firmly believe in culling, but after some internal discussion (read: I'm becoming soft in my old age), we've decided to dock the tail just before the defect and seek out a pet (or, more likely, working) home for him.

He'll be the red collared boy in future photos.

To answer the inevitable question, quoting my kennel partner...
Docking and putting in a pet home is the preferred option. However, with this breed it is extremely difficult to find appropriate homes willing to take perfect puppies, much less find pet homes willing to take ones with a physical defect. Add to that the drive, energy and dog aggression levels that this litter has the potential to produce and it limits that already small number of appropriate homes down even further.
To add to that, ideally, if he has his parents' drive and mind, we'll be able to find him a working home. The typical pet home simply can't handle a dog like Spike, who went through four homes prior to us acquiring him for that reason, or Layla for that matter. I spared this pup because of his "attitude" (what little you can tell at a few days old, of course, but this pup has consistently been the first to reach every milestone, the one who bulldozes in and takes the best spot at the "milk bar" for himself, etc...and I like that) and hope to see it when they really start to develop individual personalities in several weeks.





And blue collared boy is the first to graduate to a "real" collar.

 

Oko

Silence, peasants.
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#27
Look at him, you spare his life and he stinks out his tongue at the camera in thanks!! :p
 
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#30
If the red pup is going to a pet home, why dock at all? Or is a kinked tail part of some larger problem with the structure of the tail?
 
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#31
Gah! If I didn't know that DA was such a risk, and the timing was a little better for my finances, I would take the red boy in a heartbeat for my next working dog! (Drive and whatnot turning out as hoped, of course.) Alas, I know that long-term C&R is not for me. So I will instead just oooh and aahhhh and sigh over the pups. Great looking litter. Can't wait to watch them grow.
 
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#32
If the red pup is going to a pet home, why dock at all? Or is a kinked tail part of some larger problem with the structure of the tail?
Because of the location and nature of some kinks, because the tail vertebrae are "fused" in that position, it's much easier to cause an injury, especially in a working dog. He's actually staying and we're going to start him and then put him in a working/hunting home, not a "just pet" home, but we figured that would be the case (why we didn't cull this pup was his spunk from birth and he hasn't let up yet :p).
 

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