Red River Retrievers

The Puppies are Here!

oakfam5 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:24:50 +0000

Kadee's Rosebud snuggling in mom's paw.

Mama Kadee smiles for the camera.

Mom and day-old puppies snoozing.

Kadee’s litter arrived through the evening and night Saturday, January 14, 2012. She had 8 puppies, all yellow, 5 females, 3 males.

Then Sunday we could tell Tana was in labor, and stayed up with her through the night. She didn’t have any puppies until 5 am, Monday morning. Rich had taken the shift from 12-5, so he went to bed while I helped Tana with the puppies. Monday morning was my first day teaching 2 Spanish classes, but I helped deliver 7 puppies and got myself and the kids ready for school before 8, when Rich took over again. Fortunately he had the day off for MLK day, or I would have had to miss the first day of my classes. No sleep 2 nights in a row, but it is well worth it, because we now have 18 strong, healthy puppies on the ground.

On the 16th, Tana had 10 yellow puppies, 5 males and 5 females. LOTS of yellow puppies.

We are now taking reservations. Call soon to get your pick! We are as tired as parents of a newborn. But we will answer the phone. =)

Geez! That's a pile of puppies!

Kadee

oakfam5 — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:50:28 +0000

We’re on edge waiting for our new litters any day now. We could even have two litters on the same day! (I hope not–can’t monitor them closely enough.) Tana and Kadee look like they are about to pop, but they are troupers and don’t even seem uncomfortable. I know I would be! Kadee sat on the porch watching the squirrels the other day and I got some cute shots of her. She knew her dinner was waiting inside, and made it obvious when she was done. You’ll see what I mean!

Puppy News

oakfam5 — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:41:03 +0000

So, Teddy was adopted by a family who had another of our “puppies” from a few years ago. In fact, two puppies went to families who already had one “Red River Retriever,” and one went to a family to whom we were recommended by friends who have one of our dogs. There are no compliments like repeat customers and word of mouth recommendations!

In other news, our break between litters is very short lived. Tana’s litter is due sometime this week, and Kadie’s litter is due next week, sometime between the 11th and the 16th. They will be ready to go home mid-March.

Just reminiscing about Tana as a puppy since she is about to have hers. Soon after we got her we took her with us on a camping trip to Petit Jean State Park... on the hottest days of the year.

Tana and Ben decided to cool off by watering the plants and the patio. Tana tried to pull Ben by the diaper, Ben tried to ride Tana, and after the water was poured out, Tana laid down in the wet patch to stay cool. She was such a fun, easy puppy.

Teddy

oakfam5 — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:17:03 +0000

After all the puppies had been reserved, something came up with one of our adopting families, and Teddy is now available again. So he is featured in this update! He is now 7 weeks old, and will be available to go home Dec. 23 (next week!).

The largest of the bunch, Teddy is also the biggest snuggler. He is happiest as a lap dog, but wrestling on the ground runs a close second.

Teddy was either chasing the kids around the deck or leaning on and licking them, still in their pajamas, this morning.

More Puppy Pictures- 6 Weeks

oakfam5 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:36:34 +0000

Sasha’s Lucky had a ball last Friday, which was unseasonably warm, chasing leaves and playing with our cat, Moses, who is barely more than a kitten himself.

Feeling kind of feisty, Lucky was throwing leaves (really!), racing around in circles, having the time of his life.

So actually, Lucky is 6 1/2 weeks old and Ginger and Teddy are 5 1/2. They had their noses down in the grass sniffing a lot so I didn't get near as many good pictures of them

Ginger started her time in the yard by snuggling with our 6 year old on the front porch.

Look at those "puppy dog eyes!"

Ginger and Teddy

Puppy Time!

oakfam5 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:28:07 +0000

Everyone got into their Christmas jammies and there were just enough puppies to go around. Libby got Ginger, Ben got Lucky, and Addie got Teddy.

New Puppies!

oakfam5 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:41:22 +0000

Sasha’s litter was whelped Thursday, October 20, 2011. After delivering one puppy during the night, nothing else happened, and we took her in to the vet. After 8 years of breeding without a single incident, Sasha had an emergency c-section, and ended up having a total hysterectomy due to a uterine infection. No other puppies survived.

We were very thankful for the lone black male, whom we dubbed “Lucky” for obvious reasons. But we were devestated, on top of the stress and exhaustion caused by two back-to-back all-nighters, first with the laboring Sasha, and then with her in recovery from surgery. We racked our brains, and beat ourselves up, trying to figure out what we should have done differently. But our wonderful vet, as well as some more seasoned breeders, told us that sometimes these things just happen, and there is no way we could have known.

Lucky is already reserved, and he is thriving, with all the attention of his mama and his owners. He is now 3 1/2 weeks old, and started solid food today. One lick of those puppy kibbles softened by homemade beef broth and he went wild over it! Our children are fighting over who gets to feed him now.

A week after Sasha, on October 27, Java’s litter was born. Java was not supposed to have a litter, but Charlie, the scoundrel, found a way to tear a hole in the chain link of her kennel while they were supposed to have been kept separated. We figure by the time he got that heavy wire fencing out of the way, Java’s peak of the fertility had passed. So Java had a tiny litter of 2 puppies, one chocolate male and one black female.

The black female is reserved, and has already been named Ginger. We are calling the chocolate male “Teddy.” He is still available…

Java’s puppies are 2 1/2 weeks old. Their eyes are open and they are trying to totter around on their unsteady legs. Good thing we have enough to go around. We have 4 children, but one is only 11 months old and doesn’t know that there are just enough puppies for all her siblings to have one to hold (fortunately!)

We will be driving up with the puppies right before Christmas. Lucky will be 9 weeks old, and Teddy and Ginger will be 8 weeks. Just in time to get them settled in a little before Christmas day. One puppy left… (And if you were holding out for a yellow, we should be breeding Tana and Charlie any day for a litter that will go home in March.)

All gone!

oakfam5 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:17:35 +0000

All the puppies were reserved and went home this past weekend. Rich and Addie had a good trip and enjoyed meeting everyone. I pestered Rich for details about everyone, which puppy they chose, etc. If you missed your chance to get a puppy from us, check back late in the summer, since we are hoping for a fall litter. Blessings!

Count Down!

oakfam5 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:49:04 +0000

So, my mom has put me to shame! While visiting she took these pictures. I complained that it was hard to get the puppies to all look at the camera, when it turns out all you have to do is walk in the room! Tana's litter is almost 5 weeks old in this picture(taken last week). Tana's pups are harder to tell apart, so we're still working on "Who's Who."

Some of Tessa's puppies smiling for the camera. They are 6 weeks old here, hoping for their lunch. Clockwise from top right: June Bug, Allie, Jack, Sadie, Logger, Jasper, David.

Here are Java's puppies at 5 1/2 weeks. Clockwise from top: Joy, Hershey, Lindy, Nestle, Cad, and Coco.

Tessa's puppies are weaned, but they wouldn't mind if they weren't. They got excited smelling Tana as she walked by.

All the puppies crowding around to get some attention from Addie.

Tana's puppies know where to go for lovin'.

Clockwise from top right: David, Sadie, Amber, Jack

Puppies, Puppies, Everywhere!

oakfam5 — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:27:05 +0000

Tessa's big, fuzzy teddy bear of a black male, Jasper, was snuggling with Addie in the back yard during the gorgeous afternoon weather today, and looked right at the camera!

Even the baby is becoming a dog lover. She seemed to like the feel of the puppy's fur in her fingers, but we had to cut the snuggle (and the photo op) short when she tried to suck on him.

Nestle and Coco, two of Java's chocolate females. The other is Joy--as in Almond Joy. Have you noticed a theme? Java's pups are just shy of 9 weeks.

All of Tana's puppies are named after mountains. Cayley and Kates, two of her girls(on the right and left), are named after mountains in British Columbia, Canada. The one in the middle,looking right at the camera, is Ozark, one of her boys.

We couldn't ever get one with all the puppies looking at the camera at the same time, so here's another of the same puppies. Tana's puppies are 4 weeks old now.

Tessa's only black female was named Annabelle by our kids, but she will be Allie. Gotta love that eye contact. Tessa's puppies turned 5 weeks a few days ago.

June Bug, one of Tessa's chocolate females, sat contntedly with Ben for an admirably long time while the others squirmed all around.

Tried to get all 4 of Tessa's chocolate females (June Bug, Hope, Amber, and Sallie). Oh well.

The "out takes." Photographing puppies (and children) isn't easy. You see about 1 out of 97 shots!