Misty x Stormy babies

Misty 's litter is here! DOB March, 3d.

Delivery itself was perfect. 4 1/2 hours , 5 puppies,  no breech positions , intense contractions , and no complications -  Misty is experienced Mom and know exactly what to do , when to breath , when to push. Though , before she decided it was good day to have her kids born to this world , she also made sure she plays a bit of pregnant Diva , tossing and turning and nesting , and everybody watching that performance few nights on a row. By the time of action we about forgot what does "sleep" mean. :-)

But it all was so worth it!

Pretty big puppies from 7.6oz to 9.3oz.  Active, healthy , and for sure know where milk is. 

Black boy , 2 black girls , 2 salt/pepper girls.

Zoe X Eddy pups, transitional period.

Everything is great in life of Zoe's little ones. We are on Transitional period - the period of development between time puppies open their  eyes and time when ears become open as well.

Candy was first to open eyes at 12 days old. She was the first to try out her little legs as well. Few days later Valentine and Tina followed. 

Here is Candy The Explorer

and Tina , trying to pull sophisticated look,

and handsome Valentine.

By now  their ENS program is finished. We will continue to play touch games and new smell introductions as part of Socialization  games , when all pups will officially be in the new period,called - you ,probably , guessed it right - Socialization period of puppy life.

Right now it is lots of  short handling and cuddles, and just sitting with pups few times daily to give them possibility to imprint on humans smell and start to interact with us when they are ready.

 

What is the world is ENS and ESI and why my puppies need it.

So , as promised, here is a little bit more information about ESI and ENS programs, what we use concurrently for neonatal puppies.

Early Scent Introduction program was developed by Gayle Watkins for the working Retrievers and then widely adopted by breeders of dogs involved in Scent , Field trials and Search work. There are a special protocol of introduction of different groups of scents to puppies from 3 to 16 days of their life.The idea behind it is stimulation  of areas of brain responsible for scent processing.

Puppies are born with their eyes and ears closed . They interacting with this world by smell and touch predominantly in first 2 weeks  period  .Therefor , we have unique possibility to help their brain build more neural connection for scent memories and develop better .

Once a day we introduce  new scent to puppies  and keep record of their reaction to each . Scents items can be natural - like grass in these pictures , cloth , metal , birds feathers ,  etc. Selection of scents for this program is  different then in our Socialization to Scents program what we will  run a bit later with these babies.

Another neonatal program is Early Neurological Stimulation  (ENS) - also known as "Super dog  program" and "Bio-sensor program". Based on  scientific research for military dogs , it was then  popularized by 

Dr. Battaglia . Method applies the series of specially formulated  holding positions or light tactile or thermal interaction , which provide right amount of eustress to stimulate  nervous system . Short, few seconds stimulation shapes neonatal development to give puppies more tolerance to stress , greater immune response and resistance to diseases and more .

It need to be done carefully and with individual approach to each litter and each puppy to avoid an over-stimulation. In case of this Zoe's litter - they were  great candidates for ENS to give them extra bonus in their development : this babies were born naturally , quick and easy, Mommy Zoe has plenty of milk and she is fantastic mother , cleaning and licking her pups , nursing with no problem , pups are gaining weight  right on schedule . There is no stress in their little life, therefor ENS is very beneficial  for them. Here is a couple of short videos for you , if you are interested how it is done.

 

Almost Valentine's Day babies.

 Our first litter of 2021 is here! 

We did not have puppies for awhile , and now truly are enjoying our time with them .

 It was textbook perfect delivery. When we have first-time Mom-to-be in our hands, it always is a bit worrisome as you never know how it will turn . This time we were blessed with easiest , cleanest and fast delivery : 3 pups born in 1 hour 22 minutes. Add to it it was morning time event - no breeder can wish for better.

As it was "almost"  Valentine's Day , February ,13th  - therefor the litter names theme .

We have Valentine , big boy with  the most adorable wrinkled face. Born at 10AM , 7.8oz weight

And there is Valentina -  "Tina" .  Born 10.12AM , 7.5oz . I think I see a lot of her mother in her .

                                        

And then - Candy , because there is no real Valentine's Day without candies , right? 

She was ,actually , born first , 8.50am .7.2oz. She has her Grandfather Chant's smile.

                                               

Babies are 10 days old today , and everything goes very well.  In my next post we will talk about puppies neonatal period , ENS and ESI programs , how these pups are doing with it and more. 

Hello again!

 

   

    Hello , everybody!

    We are back. :-)  

    As life goes on and puts everything in right places , here came a time when we  can again spend some

  time blogging. Today looks like great day for new start , there is something charming in 2/22/2021  numbers. And it is Monday. And it's snow day here in PA, which dogs are positively enjoying.

    We are thinking about new  ideas for our blog , have some exciting news to share  and hope you all will enjoy follow us in our journey of life with Schnauzers.

     

After long break...

Somehow we ended up with another long break in our blogging...

It is not such a good thing, but it IS a good thing, 

because it mean we had pretty busy time here.

I guess I should give some updates, before we can start talking about new things...

After her maternity leave Lusha went back in agility ring.

So far we finished her Open title in standard agility.

She also started in Master/Excellent Class and got her first Q in Jumpers.

Go Lusha!

  

Gigi also came back after maternity leave 

and finished her Standard Novice title.

Chant started in agility Novice with Irina.

We having a great progress with him, but no Qs so far.

Chant also expressing a lot of interest to Barn Hunt sport 

and we take him out as often as we could.

He got his first Q in Senior division what is very impressive!

We also went at our All-Terrier National performance events.

Did a little bit of everything, even tried a lure coursing!

It was much fun!

Below - few moment from All-Terriers National event.

Above-  Tatiana and Stormy.

Below - Tatiana, Stormy and Chant.

In The Net Sport Center, October 2018.

Below - Irina and Stormy.

Below - Lusha in Agility.

Of course right after Terrier performance event we had our

National All Terrier Conformation Show

hosted by Montgomery County Kennel Club.

This year it was a debut show for our little Stormy - 

beautiful son of Lusha and Pilot.

Stormy was presented in 6-9 puppy class by our friend Krystal Mason.

They did very well and got second placement.

Stormy is a very special chapter in our life 

and I'll do separate blog post just for him.

But so far I'm trying to keep things short and simple.

This September we brought out our beautiful Dora for the last time.

She was shown at Macungie, PA 

and finished like a boss with another 3 points major.

Next goal was to finish Championship on Josie.

That was went extremely well two.

She picked up her majors one after another 

and now we have new AKC Champion

CH Shazzam Of Oz Josefina.

She is the third Champion for her Dam - "Bea"

CH Adamis Tragic Beauty.

Now Bea will go in record as top producing bitch.

Above and below - Josie picking up her two majors 

and finishing her Championship.

October 2018.

After his short debut in 6-9 months puppy class,

Stormy came back in Bred/By class.

Still at the age of 7 months only, 

he quickly received his first major

under breeder-Judge John Constantine-Amodei.

And the year is not yet over...

To be continued, stay tuned!

2018 updates and news... Chapter III. Josie and others.

Surely enough on my return back to homeland I got bored

and decided to try something new... sort of.

Basically I strted working on more dog sculptures

what I used to do before, but this time - in ceramics.

It was totally new medium for me, I wasn't in a hurry.

Meanwhile Post Office was delivering more and more mail for our dogs.

It was bunch of certificates earned at the end of last year, but 

printed and delivered at beginning of 2018.

Out of all of above I was looking forward to last one -

Rally Advanced Title for Enchanter - AKA "Chant"

What made him a qualifier for American Miniature Schnauzer Club Versatility Award.

Chant's daughter Josie (Shazzam Of Oz Josefina)

was going to become my "Show Diva of the year".

We started easy with just one show in January...

What she won.

We got her Winner, BOS, BOBOH.

What a way to start new year!

Meanwhile first dogs came out of my kiln...

I found myself totally in love with this new project!

We had to get our own portable kiln

and soon we did just that...

...to be continued.....