Posts tagged ‘cuteness’
Puppies Arrive!
We are thrilled to be able to announce the safe arrival of our new generation of Belatarr puppies. 4 girls and 1 boy, all wriggling, chirruping and feeding vigorously! Proud mum Aja is wonderfully attentive and maternal but also very happy to resume her pre-pregnancy athletic lifestyle, now that she’s no longer carrying all that extra weight with her.
Puppies – week 3.
THE BOYS
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Green.
Mr Red.
THE GIRLS
Miss Fawn.
Miss Lime.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
GROWING UP FAST!
Chewing Mr Blue.
Up and About!
Coats coming in beautifully.
Miss Lime, ready to bust out of the whelping box.
Team 1 take their first grown-up meal using their weena-feeda.
….closely followed by team 2.
And, having eaten well, some of the girls take their first snooze in one of their new mini-dens.
…and then there were Twelve!
We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce the safe arrival of Lyra’s litter of 12 beautiful puppies, 7 girls and 5 boys who joined us in the early hours of Tuesday, 4th April. Lyra is, as expected, proving to be the most devoted mother imaginable, but still hasn’t lost her own sense of playfulness and joy – just 24hrs after giving birth she was once again excitedly running around with big sticks in the river on a quick break from mothering duties.
As with all of our previous litters the large number of puppies necessitates splitting them into two teams and letting one team feed whilst the other snoozes together under the heat lamp. The teams are then switched round every 90 mins or so, night and day, ensuring that everyone gets an even amount of milk, so much work and disrupted sleep lies ahead!
First born, newly arrived Mr Red tucks into his first meal.
Half-way home – the first 6 have arrived and will go on to become team 1.
and all twelve are safely with us.
Mr Blue snoozes on his sister.
Bat-eared baby girls.
Puppy Portraits – week 4.
The last two days have seen some wonderful Spring sunshine arrive in Devon allowing us to get the pups outside to experience the big wide world for the first time. The thermometer showed 70 degrees F in the sunshine and the pups were able to spend 4 hours in the fresh air on two successive afternoons. Sadly the forthcoming weather forecast suggests that they may not have another opportunity to get outdoors again for the foreseeable future, but we were just delighted to see them frolic in the fresh air and were also able to take this weeks portraits outside too.
THE BOYS
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Bronze, again.
Mr Red.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green (sleepy!)
Miss Mint.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss Yellow.
The gang get their first taste of the outdoors!
Mr Bronze takes a nap in the sunshine.
…and has a snoozy snuggle.
When indoors and out the pups love nothing more than to pile into one or other of their cat-carrier dens, which have been equally enjoyed by all of their older brothers and sisters before them.
The gang pile into their micro-den (note the chew marks from previous pup inhabitants!)
For the last week we have also been weaning the pups onto their solid food diet. Starting with Royal Canin weaning mousse the kids went absolutely nuts with excitement at their first sniff of the solid stuff and within a few days were lapping very efficiently. From mid-week they were old and tidy enough to be fed from their super-duper Weena-Feeder and by this weekend they have been transferred onto their raw food diet – essentially the same as their mum eats, but put through a food processor to remove all of the chunks and lumps.
Meanwhile teeth are erupting and everyone wants to chew everything, so new rubber chew toys and plastic bottles are going down a treat, when human arms, toes and ears are not available. Their nails are still being filed regularly too, and, when they are sleepy enough, each pup can be gently wiggled upside-down on your lap whilst having their teeny-tiny toes attended to, as beautifully illustrated below by a gently snoozing Mr Blue.
Mr Blue gets his nails filed
Lyra’s first birthday.
Our little baby, Belatarr Lyra, is 1 year old today!
Lyra in her typical, muddy-nosed pose!
A very rare/brief/fleeting moment of calm.
A very happy birthday to all other 11 of the ‘Constellation Litter’ brothers and sisters too: Ava, Cooroo, Fergus, Gertie, Halle, Hercules, Kaia, Kofi, Percy, Rusty & Twiglet…we can’t wait until the Belatarr reunion in Sept to see you again!
Lyra’s brother, the gorgeous Belatarr Hercules.
Introducing Lyra!
The Belatarr pack expands once again as we officially welcome Belatarr Lyra to the household.
Belatarr Lyra.
The pick of Phoenix & Mingus’ recent litter Lyra (formerly Miss Lime, for our puppy watchers!) is an absolutely gorgeous girl with her fathers deep red wire coat and a completely unflappable confidence in everything that she does.
Lyra was named after the heroine of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and also, in line with all of her litter-mates, after the Lyra constellation.
Riding in the sling, just like her parents and big brother before her…
…and wiggling to get down to hurtle around in the grass, just like her parents and big brother did before her…
The famous “butter-wouldn’t melt” expression.
Looking eager, as usual!
Lyra almost does her first point.
The determined explorer.
Trying cow parsley for size.
Lyra at nearly 7 weeks.
and at 6 weeks.
So Lyra carries the hopes and plans for Belatarr into the future and it’s a future that we are now extremely excited about!
Saying ‘hello’ back at 5 weeks old.
Puppy Portraits: Week 7
The final week that the babies will all be together – where did all that time go!? Most of the pups will be heading off to their new lives at the end of the week, so, now that everyone has been allocated, we can finally reveal their Kennel names & destinations.
Our previous Jazz litter were named after their father, Mingus’, so for this litter we wanted to continue Phoenix’ name theme. As a result all the pups have all been named after constellations, following on from the Phoenix Constallation.
THE BOYS
Belatarr Sculptor (Kofi)
Kofi, Mr Black, will be heading off to join Vivien, Lox & senior GWP Freddie in Berkshire. Always a very strikingly handsome boy right from birth, Kofi will be gundog trained and, along with some of his brothers and sisters, will also be heading to the show ring next year – can’t wait!
Belatarr Cepheus (Rusty)
Rusty, Mr Blue, was the first boy to leave the nest & this very sweet boy joins a thoroughly smitten Ian & Anita in Chichester where many cuddles and adventures undoubtedly await them all.
Belatarr Perseus (Percy)
Percy, Mr Bronze, is another very striking boy, picked out by many visitors and blog-watchers, particularly for his intensely dark red coat. He joins a very excited Copper the HWV along with Jan & family in Chichester and we hope to see him out in the ring next year too!
Belatarr Hercules (Herc)
Herc, Mr Green’s, specialty is soaking up as many cuddles as he can secure. His melting expression and super-huge ears mean that cuddles tend to come thick and fast! He joins big brother Belatarr Charlie Parker, along with David, Jenny & Oz the Lab in Northants and will also be joining Charlie in the showring from next year – very exciting!
Belatarr Indus (Fergus)
Fergus (Mr Red) is a big boy with a big heart and from a very young age looked like the spitting image of Finley, Belatarr Art Tatum, so it only seemed fitting that he now joins big brother Finley along with Carole, Chelsea & Emma. They are just 3 miles away from us here at Belatarr HQ, so we will be delighted to be able to watch this handsome chap growing up at close hand.
THE GIRLS
Belatarr Andromeda (Ava)
Ava, Miss Fawn, was pretty much always destined for the show ring, and now joins Liz, Barry, Scooby the HWV and Dodd the Leonberger in Telford where this elegant young lady will live right beside sister Halle. We can’t wait to see these two sisters growing up.
Belatarr Musca (Gertie)
Gertie, Miss Orange, heads even further West to Cornwall where she instantly became the centre of all attention for Sarah, Paul & a very excited young Jack. We hope that this confident, outgoing and beautiful girl will fulfill all of their long-held HWV dreams.
Belatarr Libra (Twiglet)
Twiglet, Miss Pink, is definitely the sweetest and most polite of the litter, and this pretty and gentle girl seemed like the perfect pup for Kathy, Paul & a thoroughly besotted young Millie in Surrey.
Belatarr Cassiopeia (Halle)
Halle, Miss Purple, very nearly stayed here with us, but was finally destined to live with Tom, Gail and their two Border Collies where she will undoubtedly share many adventures with her sister, Ava, who lives just a few houses away in Telford. Tom & Gail are very keen to learn to show and we are sure that Halle will make the most wonderful and rewarding girl for them to learn with.
Belatarr Noctua (Kaia)
Kaia, Miss White, is quite the adventurer and was the perfect match for experienced HWV owners Tim, Laura & family on the Kent/Sussex border where she will have a lovely outdoor life and may also be trained to track when she’s a little older.
Belatarr Corona (Cooroo)
Cooroo, Miss Yellow, is the only one of the pups who will be flying to their new home. A true adventure awaits her in a few days when she jets off to join Will, Jess & young Arlo for a life of endless beaches and woodlands on St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly.
Belatarr Andromeda
Proud Dad.
Puppy Portraits: Week 5 (a bumper crop!)
THE BOYS
Mr Black 1.
Mr Black 2.
Mr Black 3.
Mr Blue 1.
Mr Blue 2.
Mr Blue 3.
Mr Bronze 1.
Mr Bronze 2.
Mr Bronze 3.
Mr Green 1.
Mr Green 2.
Mr Green 3.
Mr Red 1.
Mr Red 2.
Mr Red 3.
THE GIRLS
Miss Fawn 1.
Miss Fawn 2.
Miss Fawn 3.
Miss Lime 1.
Miss Lime 2.
Miss Lime 3.
Miss Orange 1.
Miss Orange 2.
Miss Orange 3.
Miss Pink 1.
Miss Pink 2.
Miss Pink 3.
Miss Purple 1.
Miss Purple 2.
Miss Purple 3.
Miss White 1.
Miss White 2.
Miss White 3.
Miss Yellow 1.
Miss Yellow 2.
Miss Yellow 3.
Puppy Portraits: Week 4
The Boys
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Green.
Mr Red.
The Girls
Miss Fawn.
Miss Lime.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
A month old already and huge changes in the pups this week. Nearly fully weaned they’ve learned how to polish off pretty much every morsel of their raw food diet and now manage to eat in a very orderly fashion:
Team 2 tuck in.
They also started to come out of the whelping box into their indoor run about a week ago, and now merrily hurtle up and down squeaking and yipping as they go. They have also taken to their cozy mini-dens (aka cat carriers) with the same enthusiasm as did their older brothers and sisters and can regularly be found in randomly piled arrangements within in or more often spilling out of the dens:
Meanwhile… an unusual new puppy joins the litter.
Puppy Portraits: week 2.
The Boys
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Green.
Mr Red.
The Girls
Miss Fawn.
Miss Lime.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
Pup Report
This was a big week for the baby Beltarr’s. Their eyes started to open, with Mr Green taking an early lead by opening his eyes at day 10, which is very early indeed! The rest mainly waited until day 13 or 14 and a few are still only just on the verge even now. Mostly they keep eyes closed though, and can be seen in their pics, and vision is extremely limited/blurry for now in any case.
Coupled with their senses gradually coming on line they started to wobbly-walk around day 11 and 12 and are getting more proficient each day, although mostly walks still consist of a few wobbly quick steps and then a turn-turtle.
Weight increases briefly slowed at around day 9 so we started to supplement with bottle feeding. Within 24 hrs they had also got the hang of it (rather surprisingly, since the action required is totally different from that used when feeding from mum) and they are all now piling the weight on once again, most passing 1kg on day 14.
Finally their 2-week old claws have already turned into razor sharp needles, so claw-cutting began in earnest on day 14 – here’s a very compliant and super cute Miss Purple getting her tallons seen to:
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 