Gallery of First Pics

  The "Big" day has come and gone and Bokya is so proud of her first litter of puppies! So far they are all fighting to get on the nipple and from all the noise coming out of the whelping box I can hear that things are as they should be.
  Due to the cooler autumn temperatures we have a heat lamp on at all times. The pups need the extra heat not only to stay warm but it calms them and stops them from crawling into a huge pile to stay warm. Of course it is always the biggest puppy that finds their way to the top of the heap and many pups on the bottom are already complaining about this fact!
  All of the puppies are lovely and I hope that I am able to get some nice pictures in the days to come.

  Well I'm happy to say that week two and three are now behind us! It was a very tense time with the pups as the feeding schedule had to shift into high gear. As you can see by the picture of Blue combo there was no shortage of food...at least for her!
  I am also happy to say that Bokya has found a new balance with her pups and has learned how to deal with the frantic demand put on her when she enters the breeding box. She is begining to blossom into the mother that we hoped she would be.

  As you can see from the gallery for week four and five the pups are growing ever bigger and have had the pleasure of many visitors! Life in the big kennel has given the pups more room to play and explore and has given us the opportunity to interact with smaller groups outside of the kennel.
  We have cleared out all the furniture from the room the whelping box used to occupy and the puppies find it a fantastic place to play. They feel right at home and wear themselves out quickly. When everyone gets tired they all pile into mommy's basket and fall fast asleep in one big pile.
  Now and then one puppy is removed from the group and place in a single bed to see how they react. Some pups absolutely love this idea and others find it warrants excessive complaining!
 

  Week 6 was a big week for the puppies. They received their microchip and vaccinations and were officially inspected not only by the Belgian Ridgeback club and the K.M.S.H but by the owners of Jukati. Thanks to Willemijn and Dick there are some pictures to show for it! All of the photos in the six week gallery so far are courtesy of their visit!!
  Fortunately they came prepared with tins of liver pate and we were able to have a good posing session with the puppies. I'm working on getting that up right now.
  As you can see from the photos, the pups have grown considerably and all are going great! All of this series of pictures was taken in the evening where the light was low and a flash was required. The colour of the pups is fairly accurate with the exception of a few.
  We had a great visit with Willemijn and Dick and it was such a pleasure tto show them such a beautiful litter of RIdgebacks.