Ransom gave birth around 7:45 the morning of December 2nd to a single puppy via c-section. Mom and puppy are both doing well. I got the girl puppy I was hoping for and was surprised by a very RED girl! She was 12 oz so a big baby for a dog Ransom sized. She came out screaming before the vet even got her out! Must take after her father!
Update 12/30/06: I've decided on a name. Registered name will be Ransom's Live Wire, call name "Shock!". I think it suits her. She's a whopping 4 lbs 10 3/4 oz. (74 3/4 oz.). Her coat is getting very thick and it's getting very difficult to get pictures now. She's all over the place! She's eating soaked puppy food now and is awake a LOT! We've had lots of visitors this week and she got to meet my oldest dog, Sidney earlier in the week. Sidney is SOOO good with puppies. Shock! thinks Sidney is a littermate, which is just what she needs! Ransom has started to play with her and correct her. Shock's a regular little puppy now!
Update 01/13/07: Well, today Shock! is six weeks old. Lot's of big things happened this week. Hard to get still pictures. She's moving ALL the time! I had to wait until she got very tired to get any good shots. Getting bigger and bigger all the time and has a lot of thick coat. It's about two inches long. Looks chubby because of it, but is really quite thin. She's now eating regular puppy food and is completely weaned. She wasn't eating very well (just wanted to nurse) so Ransom (who has had ENOUGH!) and I decided no more nursing. Boy did she start eating then! She didn't like the mushy puppy food so I tried the hard stuff and she loves it! She had her first trip to the backyard and ran around like a little maniac. We also took a trip to my parent's house and she had a lot of fun there. Shock has decided she's big enough to do the stairs. To my surprise, Thursday, she bolted right up them, hopping until I caught her at step number six. Off to buy ANOTHER baby gate :)
Update 01/20/07: Today, hard to believe but little Shock! is seven weeks old today! Time goes by so quickly. I just want her to stay this age forever! I am having the time of my life with her. She's in trouble all the time but it's SOOO darned cute! Especially when she steals something she not supposed to have (usually a shoe, blanket, the end of a roll of paper towels or newspaper) and drags it away as fast as her little legs will carry her. Ransom has been a great mom and has been teaching her so much this week. They play together all the time and it's clear that Ran is trying to teach her to do it right! Shock! reminds me of her mother in so many ways. She's very verbal and bright. She already knows how to come, sit, down, and wait (a little while). Also will potty on the paper on command and knows "get it" to grab the toy. Even watches TV already with her mommy! It's so cute to see the two of them, side by side, watching Animal Planet together! She's started retrieving her toys when I throw them and she and Ransom play tug together a lot. I moved her upstairs and out of the ex-pen at night. She sleeps in her little crate and will sleep at least 6 or 7 hours already. Shock! had her first trip to the vet but wasn't particularly happy to be there. It's funny how they sense things. She's been good and confident everywhere else but seemed to know where she was at after a few minutes there. The vet loved her though (especially her color and markings) and she's healthy as can be! Her eyes are starting to change from blue to a greenish color, actually, right now, a very pretty aqua. I suspect they will end up an Amber color eventually.
Update 01/29/07: Well, Shock turned eight weeks old on Saturday. This has been such a busy week for us. Shock had her first puppy class Monday night. She was a little apprehensive at first but only took her a couple of minutes to settle in. Since she had never even SEEN a puppy before, I wasn't sure what she would do. She did very well, so much better than I ever expected. This week was her first time out to the barn (where I teach) with me. She had SOOO much fun. A real little ham. She loved all the attention AND the equipment. Ransom showed her how to do the tunnel so she decided that she would run about 70 feet across the arena with her toy in mouth to do the tunnel. She did it a BUNCH of times. Pretty cute to see with a seven week old pup. Probably not too cute when she gets older though She also JUMPED a 12" jump in front of her so all the jumps have to be taken down or put all the way up when she out running around! She got to meet lots of people and lots of dogs. So good for a singleton pup. Then this weekend, she had her first stay in a hotel. I went to Champaign, IL to teach so had to bring the pups along. Everyone there was SOOO good with her. So many people played with her and cared for her while I taught. Thanks to Dave Stone and Lisa Pellum for all the help. Did have a couple scary episodes. While I was setting up, I had Ransom and Shock out with me and didn't notice Shock walking up the dogwalk. She was almost all the way up when she fell off. Thankfully, pups are made of rubber and she is fine. Not scared either, since she tried it again a little later AND tried to go up the teeter. Definitely a BOLD pup! Good for agility, that's for sure! At the end of the weekend, the last student brought along her new 14 wk old Corgi puppy. It was the first puppy Shock had EVER played with. She had a ball beating up on the little guy although she got her own share of beatings too! You think she's be tired this morning but no luck!
Update 02/03/07: Well, little Shock! is nine weeks old ALREADY today! She's really grown in the last week. The only major physical change is her eye color. Definitely green at the moment. I've been told they can change up to 12 wks. old (or longer). We'll see. Right now, look pretty darned green. Had her second week of puppy school and is doing so well. She's very bright and picks up things so quickly. She IS definitely a little devil though. She's into something EVERY waking minute. Ransom wasn't quite as bad as a pup. In fact, she was really a little angel in comparison. It's a lot of work but so much fun! She's just so darned CUTE! Hard not to laugh when she's being a little monster. She and Ransom still play all the time. She likes to attack her mom when they go outside so I've been working on that. The only real training I'm doing so far is some baby groundwork, attention games and a little basic obedience with LOTS of recalls. I don't plan to do too much with her until she gets a little older. She WAS on the teeter board this week and wasn't at all concerned about the movement. That's something I'll probably do on occasion, just to make sure she's not afraid. Mostly, I just plan to have fun and play with my puppy. She's the first pup I've had since Ransom and I'm loving every minute of it.
Update 02/12/07: Shock turned 10 weeks old on Saturday. The biggest physical change would be that her ears are starting to go up. Appears they will stay tipped, which will be nice. I was out of town again teaching so the pups came along. Shock has gotten really big in the last couple of weeks. I would guess she's close to 14 inches tall already. Lots of leg. One of the students in the seminar this weekend said she's at the stage where she looks like one of those big mechanical bug things from star wars, all leg, little body. That's about it! Shock's a really BUSY, into everything kind of puppy. She's been trying to jump on the furniture for weeks now. I suspected she would be able to do it soon and sure enough, on her 10 week birthday, she jumped onto the bed in the hotel room. Life as Ransom and I have know it is over! No more getting away from the little monster by sitting on the bed or couch. The bad part about it is that Shock really has little regard for her own well being and has no problem jumping OFF the bed. Ransom was smart enough to stay ON the furniture and not jump off when she was a baby. Shock doesn't really care. Really have to keep a close eye on her, every minute. She's a maniac, running into stuff and jumping all over the place. Definitely keeps me busy! Still having so much fun with her though. She makes me laugh with her little antics.
Update 02/12/07: Time goes by so quickly. Shock's eleven weeks old today. Getting bigger every minute, it seems. She had a trip to the vet on Tuesday for her second set of shots. She was so much different. Very outgoing. Ran up to both the receptionist and vet and kissed them! Definitely different than the last time! We've had lots of snow this week but it's been cold. Today is the first day they can actually stay outside long enough to play. She just loves the snow. She got her pictures taken Monday in the snow by Tammy Fanter (Fotopup), hopefully for a BC Puppy Calendar. She gave me one of the pictures and it's beautiful. We'll see if Shock! gets picked! Ransom made the 2007 Calendar so it would be fun to see her daughter in the 2008! It was good she got the shots on Monday since her eyes changed on Tuesday. Definitely more yellow now. Getting to that Amber color I expect. Hoping to put her in the breed ring when she turns six months old and green eyes probably won't be good. She moves very nicely for a pretty young pup. Hoping it stays that way As much as I'm enjoying her puppyhood, I can't wait to see what she looks like when she grows up. She's really a pretty pup. The pictures don't really do her justice. My photography leaves something to be desired.
Update 02/12/07: Today Shock! is three months old. We've had a lot going on the last couple of weeks and will be VERY busy until after AKC Nationals. Finally showed Ransom again after four months off. Went to the Penn-Ohio USDAA Trial outside of Cleveland. Ransom ran MUCH better than I ever expected her first time out. Got a much needed Grand Prix Q which made the trip worthwhile. Shock had a BALL there. So many people to kiss and so many dogs to meet. Even met a little Aussie pup a few days older. Shock was quite a bit taller. At the moment, she's nothing but legs LOTS of leg. Funny how different parts of her are growing at different rates. She looked IN proportion for about an hour on Tuesday! She weighs about 16 lbs but is quite thin. I would guess close to 15" already. At the trial, we also got to work a lot on attention and NOT trying to lunge, chase and bark at the dogs running. She got the idea pretty quickly when there was cheese involved She still has no fear and is all over the place. I have to really watch her in my home office. I have a daybed and she has no problem jumping up on it. It's easily three feet high. I certainly don't want her jumping OFF it. I even try to carry her up stairs although she's pretty sneaky now and runs up them as fast as she can before I can pick her up and carry her. She's very good at going down them. Ransom was five months old before she got the nerve to go down the stairs. Not this one! She's doing well in puppy class too. She's very bright and picks up on things quickly. Eyes are now pretty much an Amber color with a little green still there. Her ears are going up. Not sure where they will end up at this point. Have a LONG way to go with those. I wish they would stay how they are now!
Update 03/19/07: Well, little (OK, not so little anymore) Shock! turned 15 weeks old on Saturday. She's a whopping 18.5 lbs and about 15 1/2" tall. She's a big sturdy girl. I think she's really starting to look a lot more like her daddy. She definitely has her mother's light eye, which I love! Tons of leg, which thrills me! She's grown a lot on the last couple of weeks. Lost her first tooth this weekend. She learned how to catch a frisbee and to my surprise, caught a tennis ball that I threw to Ransom on one bounce. Very coordinated with pretty quick reflexes so far. We haven't done much agility training, really working on the incredibly important relationship building. She has learned the tunnel (taught to her by Ransom) and the chute (which she was DYING to do after watching about 100 dogs go through it during my classes). Also have played with weave entries. Will start to work on some ground work after AKC Nationals. She's learned to stay for a little longer so pictures are easier to take. The only BAD thing about her is that she's a BIG barker. Bark, bark, bark! We're working on it. Apparently, she's got a lot to say!!
Update 04/03/07: Yesterday, Shock turned four months old. We've had an incredibly busy and fun last couple of weeks. We spent the last 10 or 11 days in Ohio. Shock got to meet her Grandma and her Daddy for the first time. Also got to meet some of her half siblings as well. She spent a LOT of time playing with her best friend, Brooke, who is an Irish Terrier owned by the Constants from our area.They played for HOURS a day. I also had to leave her for the first time ever. Since the AKC Nationals won't allow pups under six months old, she stayed with Leanne Baird (daughter of Lisa Baird) for the weekend. She got to meet their cat and spent a LOT of time playing with Leanne's little one year old dog, Panic. I bothered poor Leanne a lot but all the reports were good. The dogs had a ball. It was a good experience for Shock. She handled it all very well and didn't have any separation issues. Ransom, on the other hand, spent the entire first night without her baby, looking for her. Up all night, wandering. She seemed better the next day. She was very happy to see her when I went to pick her up on Sunday. As far a physical changes, she's grown a lot. I noticed that when I picked her up, she got LONGER, not taller. I put her under the wicket last night and she's around 16" tall and about 20 lbs. Still a sturdy girl. Her puppy coat is blowing and she's got a racoon look going around her face since her face has her grown up coat and her head still has the puppy coat. Watching her run in the backyard with her mom is so interesting to me. She covers a lot of ground. Seems to have a long stride so far. Will be interesting to see how she ends up. Still a big mouth barker though. Still working on that. Not sure if it's getting better or worse!!
Update 04/16/07: Little Shock is already four and a half months old! Hard to believe. Time flies by so quickly. More socializing over the last couple of weeks. We were in Lebanon (in the snow!) for a USDAA trial this past weekend. I wish I had my camera with me then. She played with a couple other pups, one about a month older and one about a month younger. There was a large mostly enclosed arena we were able to cut them loose in. I could watch them play all day. Shock's social skills are pretty good. I'm very happy about that. She also got a chance to play with her Cousin, Captain Jack (belonging to Kelly Garver). They play so well together. Have their own little system. As far as physical developments go, Shock's gotten longer and lankier. Also taller. Just put her under the wicket and got 16 3/4" with it resting on her withers. Her ears are pretty nicely tipped at the moment and stand up most of the time. They are still up and down and probably will be until she's done teething. Losing LOTS of teeth and her adult coat is coming in nicely. Even getting longer on the tail. It's definitely darker, as I expected. She had a lot of puppy coat so it made her look pretty light. Still won't be very dark but a really nice shade of red, I think. She's a pretty dog (at least at the moment!) and seems pretty darned athletic. Definitely built more like her father, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Still has her mother's intense eyes and is very bright. I did some teeter training last week and it took her just a few minutes to figure out that I wanted her to run to the down end and get on it without me there to help. Not afraid of it at this point. Really could care less about the movement and banging. I waited to do any training on it until I could get her outside. Just want to start with a quieter teeter and work up to the noisy one inside at the barn. Still, not doing much agility training. Started back chaining the 2O2O on the dogwalk. She figured that out in about 2 minutes. Done a little ground work as well and she knows tunnels, chutes, weave entries and the low table. Will start more ground work and contact work in the next month or so. Attention and recalls are the number one priority at this age. So far, so good in that area. She and the other puppies got out of the pen they were playing in yesterday and she came running as soon as I called. Good girl :) !!
Update 06/01/07: Shock will be six months old tomorrow. I can't believe it. She's close to 19" tall so still expect her to end up a little taller than her mom. She's really growing up. Training is going well although not doing all that much. She did get to do the dogwalk and A-frame in the last month at very low heights. I've just been back-chaining a 2o2o on those pieces up until the time I did the whole obstacle. I expected her to go a little carefully over the contacts the first time but Shock doesn't seem to do anything slowly :) She raced over each one (trained a week apart) at full speed to a 2o2o! Smart girl. I've since played around with alternating running vs. 2o2o and she adapts well so far. No hesitation. Hope that stays! She just really likes to do anything. Also started some more groundwork, preparing for turns and crosses. Also started stays. She likes to do them so we'll continue. I don't like to do too much stay work when their young but she really likes it. Have also started some conformation training. We'll see how she turns out. She's got enough coat, that's for sure. Below are pictures from today (6-1-07). She had a bath today so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of her wet and dry. Interesting how different she looks.
Update 07/02/07: Today, Shock turned seven months old. She's a crazy dog. Busy ALL THE TIME! Plays well alone when no one is up for playing with her. Frisco still adores her. She can do just about ANYTHING to him and he still loves her. They like to race around the yard, which makes me nervous. Ruckus is still afraid of her and she's pretty much taken over Sidney. Sid just pretty much stays away. I think the little red wild child is a bit much for her. She got to see her Grandma Linda a couple of weeks ago. Went to Linda's camp with Ruckus, and of course, brought Ransom, Shock and Frisco along. Worked out well since Shock got to see Grandma, her Daddy and her half siblings, Super and Kelsey. Been a very busy month of traveling. Also went to Perry Georgia for the USDAA Regional so she got play with cousin Jack in the big pond there (thanks to Aunt Kelly). As far as physical traits go, her growth has slowed CONSIDERABLY! She's only grown about 1/4 inch or so in the last month and is still around 19" tall. I'm hoping she grows at least a little more. If not, 19" isn't bad :) She does have a few more months before her growth plates close so there's still hope! Training is going well. I'm going VERY slowly with her. She's been on the contacts about six times each in the last month or so. Done some ground work and very little else as far as agility goes. Been working on more self controls stuff like stays before going outside and through doors as well as stays when throwing a toy. She loves her toys. She moves very nicely too. That has really changed in the last week or so. She's longer, and at the moment, has pretty good angles, both front and rear. A little more in the rear but the front seems to be coming along. She's definitely got a lot of physical maturing to do but so far, not bad :) We're off to NJ to teach in a couple of hours so that should be a fun trip!
Update 08/03/07: Baby Shock turned 8 months old yesterday. She appears to be starting a bit of a growth spurt. She up to just about 19 1/2" so seems to be on an upswing. She a little gawky at the moment with some long looking legs :) That's good because I like legs ::)) She's really a nice dog. A little spoiled and sassy but a really biddable, nice working, focused girl. She's so much like her mother sometimes, it's scary. She actually is starting to look more like her all the time. Everyone says she looks like a red Ransom. Little different head but a lot like her. All the bone and substance she seemed to have as a smaller pup is gone. Now, she's a much more slight dog. Definitely looks like a girl :) Has a little more angulation than her mother. Must have gotten from her wonderful daddy (Stellar). Makes me very happy :) Not much of an "off" switch at the moment but she's still a pup. As far as training goes, I started directional training a bit and working on more groundwork. Mainly turns and flatwork. Also get out and go's. Won't do too much of that since I definitely want to keep her working tightly. I can already see the same tendencies in her that her mother has to go wide and circle into me so we are working on a lot of coming in tight laterally. A LOT of it. Probably won't be able to overdo that with this dog! Doing a little contact training still on low equipment. Mostly working the dogwalk. She runs it full speed, just like everything else :) We'll see how it progresses.
Update 09/04/07: Shock turned 9 months old on Sept. 2. Where does the time go? I still think of her as my little baby. I finally took down her baby ex-pen. It was like taking down a crib :( She's coming along very nicely. I couldn't be happier with her! She's bright, focused and has tons of personality. She's very active and busy all the time, but that's the kind of dog I like :) Structurally, I'm thrilled. Lots of angles, nice length of leg and overall a nice looking little girl. She's about 19 3/4" tall and still has some growing to do. I had her checked over on Friday by Dr. Mayer at Integrative and she felt she still had some room left to grow in the wrist plates. She said not to bother x-raying for hips/growth plates until 11-12 mos. I'll be patient and wait. Dr. Mayer said she had very good muscle tone at this age and is symmetrical in size, muscling, ets. She's a skinny thing though, just 29 lbs. or so as of Friday. I've included a couple of pictures of Shock playing with her little 1/2 brother Rumor. He's out of Stellar/Neat and is about 11 wks. old!
Update 10/02/07: Today, Shock! is 10 months old. It's been a very exciting last month! Most exciting is that her Daddy Stellar and Grandma Linda are now World Championship SILVER MEDALISTS!!!! The USA Large Dog Team won the Silver Medal at the FCI World Agility Championships in Norway this past weekend. How PROUD we are!!!! As far as Shock's progress, she's right around 20" tall but only weighs about 29 lbs. All the substance and bone she had as a young pup is gone! She is a very lean fast girl. She's got a nice temperament and work ethic. She had a pretty exciting month, getting to meet THREE more of her little 1/2 brothers. She spent quite a while playing with Thriller a couple of weeks ago in Michigan and also played with Wonder. Today, she got to meet little brother Ben. Lisa Pellum came out so the two got to play. There are lots of pictures below. They got along great. Thanks to Lisa for helping me get some nice pictures of Shock. Structurally, I love how she's turning out. I can't stop staring at her most of the time. She has blown all of her coat over the summer and it's now coming back in. I can't wait to see how it turns out. As far as training goes, still not doing too much. I just scheduled x-rays for mid Nov. to see where her growth plates are and to of course, do hip prelims.
Update 12/03/07: I can't believe it but little baby Shock! was born a year ago on Sunday 12/2! Seems like just yesterday when I took Ransom in for the C-Section and the little red girl came out screaming! She's grown into a lovely little dog. I measure her at around 19 3/4-20" tall. Hasn't really grown in the last two months. Her coat has been a real mess though. Her light puppy hair is shedding and being replaced by a much darker red coat. It's going to be really pretty but over the last two months, it's been pretty awful. Even been told she looks like Donald Trump with two plots of coarse old dead light hair on her back. A couple of my terrier friends helped strip some of it so, it a least, looked somewhat presentable. Lots has gone on in the last two months. I had her x-rays done mid-Nov. to see where her growth was and to do her hip prelims. I haven't heard back from OFA yet but the vet who did the x-rays (does a LOT of the OFA films around here) thinks they should come back "good". Hopefully, he's right :) Since it looks like she's done growing, I started a some jump work with her and weaves. Just like her mommy, she learned the weaves instantly. Within five days (working them just a couple times), she started doing the poles straight up. So bright. Her entries are really good as well. I was amazed at some of the entries she could hit right off the bat. I really believe that the entry work I do with my dogs in the beginning, really helps when the poles go straight up, not just with the entries but with the whole concept of weaving. I was so excited to start the jump work, I couldn't wait to see if she jumped like her 1/2 siblings. And, she does. She's an amazing athlete. She just pours over the jumps and can turn mid-air. I thought Ransom had tight turns, this pup, even more so. I haven't really done much with the contacts yet. Just a little work on Friday. That will be our focus going forward along with more jump work. I am having the time of my life training her. I can't wait to get to the building each day to work with her. She's a little (OK, a lot!) sassy but I like it. So much fun. Also, have to mention that her lovely Daddy Stellar WON the 20" class at the AKC Invitational on Sunday (Shock's 1st birthday!). Pretty cool!!! I was VERY excited about that. I had a hard time getting good pictures by myself this am (it's VERY cold outside) so I may send more out tomorrow if I can get some help tonight before my classes
