Orchid earned a high honor from one of Poodledoms most prestigious organizations - Versatility in Poodles (VIP).
She was awarded a Versatility Certificate (VC). That means Orchid met the point requirments in a number of different areas including health reporting(CHIC), conformation champion award (AKC CH) and performance awards (AKC OAJ).
Orchid’s registered name with titles is
Ch Gladystar Obsidian Flower OAJ.
Puppies are starting to open their eyes and trying to walk. Not all the puppies’ eyes were open with some only having small slits showing. The pups that do have eyes open fully can’t see much of anything. Here’s a youtube video of the puppies wandering around in the whelping box.
All the puppies went for a little adventure - one at a time out to sniff the living room rug this morning. Their little heads were bobbing like a bobble-head toy with their nose kind of bouncing to the ground taking in the new scent. I only have them out there about 10 seconds or so just enough for them to exercise the ol’ olfactory organ.
Here are all 11 Standard Poodle Puppies sleeping in the “ready” box while their whelping box gets cleaned up and Orchid, their Dam, is outside exercising during a cold Wisconsin morning. There’s a heating pad in the bottom of the cardboard box which seems to make the pups instantly fall asleep in addition to keeping them warm and very cozy. The “ready” box is used during whelping to keep the pups warm while getting them dried off, weighed, and marked. It’s also used to transport the puppies to the Vet for dew claw removal and tail docking.
Part of the morning routine is to weigh and chart each Standard Poodle Puppy. If a Puppy doesn’t gain any weight or loses weight, those puppies will get supplemental tube fed formula. Vanilla puppy boy is over one pound already which is more than five ounces more than Merlot and Forest. So, the light-weights were supplemented even though they gained weight from the previous day. We don’t want them to get too far behind or they’ll always get out-muscled for the best feeding position.
Orchid is doing well taking care of her 11 Standard Poodle Puppies. The puppies get weighed every morning and those that didn’t gain much are supplemented a little. We do that, not only to help the puppies, but to give Orchid a little break. Here are two pups that seem too hungry!
Here’s a video of the puppies demanding to know where Mom went. I think I’d hide if I were Orchid.
I was so lucky to catch up with Andrea Nepras and her Poodle girl, Eve, at the big four day indoor AKC Agility Trial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this past week. It was so nice to see her - Andrea and Eve, although Eve does get quite a more excited when I bend down to pet her. Eve is a “Klara - Mick” puppy which makes her Orchid’s full litter mate.
Eve and Orchid have opposite issues in Agility. Eve is racking up the Standard legs (qualifying scores) and Orchid is cruising along in the Jumpers ring. That’s a little surprising to me because Eve is a bit more driven and all-out personality-wise than Orchid so I would’ve predicted Eve liking a wide-open Jumpers course as opposed to a Standard course with contacts. That’s a tribute to Andrea’s training skills.
The nice photo of Eve was taken at the WAG Agility Trial by Scott Persky - “Photos by Toto”. Aside from taking great action pictures, Scott runs an awesome Cairn Terrier. They’re from McHenry, Illinois.
One little, two little, three little Poodles
four little, five little, six little Poodles
seven little, eight little, nine little Poodles
TEN little Poodle Pups!
Late breaking news! Another female pup arrived - 2 1/2 hours after the “last” one. That makes seven females and four males.
Now, who’ll take the Poodle with the skinny legs?
(Try, Leroy)
Stand right there baby, I’m ‘on give you away in a minute.
Come on, somebody please take the Poodle with the skinny legs?
(I don’t ‘wan ‘em!)
Now, ya’all know the Poodle with skinny legs got to have somebody too, now.
(No, I don’t wanna help that person!)
Will somebody, please take the Poodle with the skinny legs, please?
(Ay, Joe!)
Yeah, Bobby
(Why don’t you take her?)
She ain’t no fool!
I don’t want no Poodle with no skinny legs
(Paraphrasing Joe Tex “Skinny Legs and All”)
Orchid’s hair is very long for a pet Poodle trim. We’ve been growing it out for months to get enough hair to spin into yarn. Linda from Door County(WI) is going to spin it for me. She’s an expert knitter that recently took up spinning. Linda thinks the hair needs to be at least two inches long to spin. Most dog fur needs to be blended with another fiber. Linda knows someone on Washington Island, WI that has black Alpacas. I’m hoping for 100% pure Poodle hair. Linda won’t know how the Poodle hair spins until she tries it. Orchid’s hair is about five inches long in the before picture.
Wrong time of year to get clipped down to almost nothing! Especially in Wisconsin! The hair came off in sheets and and weighs over one and one half pounds. This is a great maternity trim for a Poodle. Now Orchid will be all set for whelping - much easier and faster to clean up. And, this nice short clip should grow out just in time for when she’ll be able to compete again towards the end of January. I really much prefer a Poodle with some hair.
While brushing out Orchid tonight, I couldn’t help but notice Orchid’s chubby belly. She’s past her ‘morning sickness’ stage and eating normally and acting like her playful self. I’ll have to teach her some nose games to keep her active but without too much exertion.
Orchid is moving right along with her Agility career. At the Oshkosh Kennel Club Agility Trial today, she earned two first places. One in Novice Standard and the other in Open Jumpers. As usual Orchid performed better in Jumpers. Who wants to slow down for contacts!
Although her contacts in the Novice course were impeccable, getting on the contact obstacles can be challenging. The usual scenario is to try blowing past the teeter and dog walk the first time to see if I’ll notice. Not today though! She looked like the champ that she can be. I’ll have to think about rewarding the upside of the contacts more effectively. With the ‘jumpiness’ of Poodles, the main focus is back-chaining the contacts to get that steady two-on-two-off behavior.